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“Is she still talking with Harvey? Seeing him?”
It’s the question Neil never wants me to ask. But I gotta. If for no other reason than to keep him from getting his head so far in the clouds that when he inevitably falls, it isn’t quite so bad.
“Fuck you, man.” He shoves a hand through his hair and walks farther down the aisle where he picks up a net and looks me in the eye… and then pointedly puts it back in the wrong spot.
Fucker.
But now I feel like a dick. “Hey, I’m sorry. I just don’t want to see you get hurt.” Again.
I know what heartbreak feels like, and watching my oldest friend race toward it scares the shit out of me.
He nods. Shakes his head. Then turns and socks me on the shoulder to show we’re good. “Fine. Make it up to me. Come to the party. See how it is with Judy. And who knows, maybe you’ll even score some tail yourself.”
Right. That’s not gonna happen, and we both know it. “Look, I can’t miss practice. I’m the captain, and we’ve got a match on Tuesday.” I take the net and move it back to where it belongs. Wipe a smudge from the shelf and try not to think about Neil, alone, watching the girl he loves making up with her ex.
Shit.
“But how about I come by after.”
Chapter Two
TREVOR
An hour into the party, and I’m reeling. I knew it would be weird coming back and seeing everyone I went to high school with looking and acting more like grown adults than the kids they were when I left. What I wasn’t expecting were all the ways it’s the same.
Kelsey Pinsky is still hanging on Jerry Noble’s arm, only instead of his class ring on her hand, it’s a modest diamond.
Sue Humphries still has the most contagious laugh around.
Bill Waller and Dex Leighton are still manning the bar, but instead of the six-packs they sported when they played football, the guys look like they swallowed a pony keg apiece.
Gail Woo and Mary Trayner are still the go-to source for all things gossip around the lakes. A responsibility they take seriously, as evidenced by the way they cornered me the second I walked into Danny’s small bungalow with the “Sold” sign still on the lawn.
“But it’s just you? No family or girlfriend in tow?” Gail asks, not even bothering to disguise the fishing expedition.
“Nah, but Tammy’s married with a baby down in Illinois. She’s about halfway between Springfield and Chicago, and my mom has a place in the town over.”
The women exchange a patient look, and Mary changes tactics.
“Are you going to be playing with the Slayers again this season? I bet you don’t clear three games before the females start swarming.”
They already are. But even two states away and surrounded by the people I spent a good chunk of my teens with, I’m not comfortable sharing all the reasons why I’m not interested… or even the most significant one.
Ironic, considering four years ago I was a stone’s throw from laying it all out there for the world to see.
One night, and I thought that was it, I’d found what I was looking for, that missing piece.
One week, and I was ready to change my life.
Two, and it was over. After being ready to tell everyone, I blew out of town without a single soul knowing.
Hell, it’s not like I’m besties with these women. I don’t need to open up my soul to them. But yeah, there’s this itch to go back to that time when I was ready to take the leap with both feet and just embrace who I was. Tell my friends that while I’m not dating now, until two months ago, I was in a serious relationship with a man I thought I loved.
Thing is, I’m so used to protecting Leo’s secret that even all these months later and with everything that happened, I’m afraid that sharing my own might shine a spotlight on him.
At some point, I’m going to have to figure it out, but as of now, Leo’s fear of people connecting the dots between us is enough for me to keep my heart to myself.
I take a swallow of my beer and search the crowd. Cataloging names and faces, I’m painfully aware of the one I haven’t seen yet.
