Page 44 of The Way the Heart Breaks: Jade’s Story

“Aunt Josie, call me Jade Lillian.” From the stories I have heard, my great-grandmother was strict and not very motherly.”

“Hey now, our grandmother was a handsome woman.”

“She really was.” Aunt Josie laughs so hard she snorts.

This, of course, makes me laugh, and then, well… then we eat.

“Practice is changing to mornings in a couple of weeks, right?” Dad asks.

“Yeah, Alex is going to pick me up and bring me home.” I stick my fork in the bowtie pasta Aunt Josie made for me.

I nearly choke on my first bite when Dad says. “I heard there might be some new studs on the field.”

Aunt Josie loses it as I spit my food into a napkin.

“Dad.” I scold him, laughing of course.

He holds up his hands. “Look, I’m just sharing the news.”

“For the love of God, share!” Josie laughs.

“Some hotshot players from Stoneville are coming to Blue Valley,” Dad says, shrugging. “Guess it’s not going over too well with Ryan and Alex.”

“Tessa hasn’t said anything.” I think out loud.

I catch Dad and Josie passing one of those looks, one that kids aren’t supposed to catch.

“I’m not a child, you know,” I grumble.

“I’m aware.” Dad grumbles back.

Aunt Josie laughs out, “Fresh meat.”

I cover my face and laugh, “You’re both insane.”

Field hockey is brutal, but in the best possible way. The best way? Dad was not wrong about the new studs. There are two in particular that stand out because, like Alex and Ry, they tower over the others, but the two I’m looking at right now are cut, chiseled, defined in a way high school boys are not supposed to be. Clearly, they spend every minute in the gym.

“It sure is a hot one today.” I wag my brows as I fan my face.

Tessa rolls her eyes. I want to ask her why she’s … off; however, now is not the time because the guys are all ambling out of the locker room doors, and tall, dark, and handsome, on a level almost otherworldly, are heading this way.

“Should we invite them to the pond to cool down? Maybe⁠—”

She cuts me off with a sharp, “No.”

“Oh, come on, Tessa.” I giggle as I follow her to the passenger side door of the old truck. “Fresh meat.” I wait for her to react, but she doesn’t, not like I did when Aunt Josie said it. “Not related. Not working for your father, or mine, and we haven’t known them since before their faces cleared up, their voices and their balls dropped.”

She swings the door open, and I grab it before it hits the shiny black Pontiac Trans Am, which is one of theirs. Which of the two, I have yet to find out, since Alex is always in a hurry to get back to the farm when practice ends. “Interesting way to meet some new hotties, but I’m sure Uncle John wouldn’t be happy with the insurance claim if you dented that car.”

We hear a loud whistle, and Tessa groans as we swing our gaze to Alex, who is headed this way. He nods to the back of the truck. Ryan is beside him, no more white hat; he’s worn black since the accident, but now it’s a little lighter, school colors, navy blue with white. His eyes meet mine, but only for a second before he looks away. At least he’s not glaring at me like he has been lately, or worse, avoiding looking at me at all.

“I’d rather be back here anyway.” I force a smile as I lock eyes with one of the implants and lean against the cab, watching him smile as he opens the passenger-side door for his friend, the one who appears to be the lead starting QB for the Saints. I already decided not to like him, Lucas Links, strictly because I really wanted Ry to have that back. His friend, T. Lane, well, he’s another story.

“Got your suits?” Alex asks as he throws his gear in the back. Tessa nods. “Good.”

As soon as Alex and Ryan are out of earshot, I splash Tessa. “Stop acting like they weren’t sent here, delivered on a silver platter to make our senior year —”

“No,” she says, diving into the pond.