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Jericho’s eyes went wide. “For real? You kept that shit on the DL for two years? Fucking how?”
“We were always watching our backs. It was…exhausting.”
“Yeah, but Vic and I could do that. I mean, aside from the whole getting caught in a parking lot the other night thing, we could do that. Because otherwise, we’re gonna have to break up, because fuck long distance.”
His words hit too close to home, and once again, I tried to choose mine wisely. “I have a lot of regrets about the way shit went down with me and Cullen in college. But long distance would be really challenging with two busy schedules.”
“Yeah.” Jericho shrugged. “But you got back together, so I guess it worked out fine after all, right?”
“In the end, I suppose.” If you called a random airport hookup that led into a fake relationship with an impending expiration date “working out.” “But I wouldn’t recommend that path. I think maybe the two of you see how it goes, see what offers you get, and go from there. I don’t think you should hide your relationship, though, because it is gonna have an effect one way or another. Garrett and Ramsey are making it work.” I felt like the biggest fucking hypocrite in the world and, oddly enough at that moment, experienced a pang of longing for Cullen. Cullen would’ve had a better answer to this conundrum, I imagined. Or maybe a far worse one, when I considered it. Maybe he’d just tell them to go balls to the wall and see what happened.
“Yeah, but Garrett and Ramsey were already on the same team. You think they would have both been drafted to the Rush if they were together?”
Ramsey had been drafted years before Garrett, but I got what he was asking. “It’s hard to say, honestly,” I hedged, even if it seemed unlikely. I didn’t want to crush the guy, though.
Jericho bit his lip and nodded, seeming to want to say more, but Coach lifted his mug of root beer and cleared his throat loudly. “We need to toast McRae over here. The man has finally found someone who can pay him what he’s worth.”
The back of my neck heated as all the guys lifted their glasses of cola and cheered loudly.
Then Jacob piped up. “But you’re not gonna actually go, are you? You can’t leave us here, man. Coach can’t handle all of us.”
“Bullshit, Jacob. Pipe down, or I’ll bench your ass for the rest of the season.” Raucous laughter arose from the team, and I cast a glance around, taking in their grinning faces, their stupid antics. Less than a year from now, I’d be living my secondary dream, and I was lucky as fuck, but damn, I was gonna miss these guys. I’d soak up the rest of my time with them. As well as my time with totally nonspecific others who weren’t here.
Speaking of nonspecific others who weren’t here, Cullen texted me as I was heading home, filling me in on the game.
Cullen: Soooo, how much do you miss me?
Me: What sort of scale are we talking about?
Cullen: How about a range of 1, which represents ‘fuck off, asshole’ to 10, which represents, ‘Miss you so much I’ll go pick up your sister from the airport.’
Me: 1
Cullen: Goddammit. I know you’re lying.
Last week, Charity and Cullen had cooked up a weeklong visit for bye week, which I’d been down with. I knew Charity probably wasn’t my biggest fan, but she was all Cullen had, and they were tight, and since Cullen wouldn’t have grueling practices every day, I figured I wouldn’t be stuck as tour director.
Me: Aren’t you supposed to be in the air right now?
I grinned as my phone rang and his name popped up on the screen.
“The plane had mechanical issues.” Cullen sighed, and even that soft exhalation seeped through me like warmth after the conversation with Jericho, which had left me on edge. “We have to wait for another one, and now we’re not getting in until after midnight. Charity’s flight is on time, though. So can you go pick her up from the airport at eight, or are you scared of her?”
Asshole. I chuckled to myself, even though Charity was one of the few people that could possibly intimidate me. “Okay.”
“How about a little more enthusiasm? Remember, I’m your boyfriend, and you love me.”
“Should I prepare for a lecture?” I didn’t need to ask.
“Probably, but just let her go at it, apologize, and move on.”
“Will I need to get down on my knees and grovel?”
“You do that for anyone other than me and we’ll have problems,” Cullen growled, then cleared his throat. “I mean, so long as we’re ‘boyfriends.’ Gotta go now—we’ve gotta move to a different gate. I’ll send you a text with her contact info and let her know you’re picking her up.”
