Page 79 of Heal Me, Love Me

“Yeah, it would.” He chuckled.

We kept walking, and a wave crashed against our legs, soaking the hem of my shorts.

“I worked with Dante for almost an hour,” he said after a moment. “Coach Isaac was right. They chain everything together differently there.”

“You liked it.” It wasn’t a question.

“Yeah.”

I stared out toward the water. Rowan loved figuring things out. He loved structure, systems, and anything that pushed him harder than he thought he could go. Atlantic wasn’t just offeringhim training. It was offering him exactly what he needed, and I couldn’t even be mad about it because I saw it too.

“You’re doing that thing again.” He stopped walking, forcing me to stop as well. The water rushed over our feet, then pulled back, dragging sand from beneath my toes.

“What thing?”

“Trying to look okay.”

“I am okay.”

“No, you’re being supportive.”

“Can’t those be the same thing?”

“Sure,” he agreed. “Are they for you?”

I looked away toward the horizon, where the water met the sky. “I don’t know.”

Rowan grabbed my hand. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

“That’s the problem. You’re not doing anything wrong.” I hated the guilt that crossed his face. Hated that I’d put it there even as I was doing everything I could not to. “This is a good opportunity, and it’s exactly what you should be pursuing.”

“Do you really mean that?”

“Yes. I mean it.”

He stayed quiet beside me for a second before finally asking, “Even if it changes everything?”

The question hurt because the answer was yes. It would change everything, and there was no point pretending otherwise now. “Yeah, even then.”

Rowan glanced out toward the water, his grip tightening slightly around our joined hands. Families moved around us as the breeze carried the scent of salt and sunscreen through the air.

“I made a decision,” he said at last.

There it was, simple and direct. My heart sank, even though I’d known it was coming. I forced myself to keep my expression steady. “Okay.”

“I’m signing with Grant and moving to Florida.”

It was what I’d been expecting, but hearing him say it out loud made it real. The ocean suddenly sounded louder, or maybe everything inside my head went quiet for a second. I looked down at the water rolling around our ankles and breathed out through my nose. “When?”

“Soon,” he replied. “Grant wants to get the contracts figured out, but that shouldn’t take long. We’re looking at a couple of weeks.”

I nodded. A couple of weeks wasn’t long at all.

Rowan stepped a little closer beside me. “Say something.”

I turned fully toward him. “I’m proud of you.”

“Keaton—”