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“You’re not even going to remember this tomorrow,” he says. I hear shuffling, and then his voice comes from above me. “Night, Zale.”
“Night,” I mumble.
Caught in that state of flux between wakefulness and sleep, the sensation of a soft blanket falling over my body pushes me toward the latter. I’ve just burrowed into the blanket when I feel a hand palming the back of my head, a soft kiss pressed above my brow.
Somewhere in my foggy brain, I have the thought that I don’t want him to leave.
There’s no time to do anything about it before sleep pulls me under.
Maverickiswrong.
I remember all of it.
Chapter Eight
Maverick
Theseasonbeginswitha three-game series the following weekend. We sweep it, setting ourselves up with a nice 3-0 record. Most of the guys head to the bar to celebrate after the game on Sunday, but I hop in my car and go pick up Azalea. She’s going home to have dinner with her dad tonight, and I decided I should pay my family a visit. In the car, we decide that we’ll sleep at our parents’ houses and drive back to school tomorrow, in time for our morning classes.
“You need to be back here at eight,” she tells me sternly when I pull into her driveway. “I knowyougoing to class is hit or miss, butIneed to be there on time. I have a lab.”
“Nine a.m.,” I say seriously. “Got it.”
“Eight—” Azalea catches me smirking and lets out a huff of annoyance. She unbuckles and pushes open her door, hitching her backpack over her shoulder. “Eight.Bye, Mav.”
Indignant, she shuts her door and marches up to her front porch. She looks back at me and turns away quickly, but not quick enough to hide the fact that she’s smiling. I wait until she disappears inside before putting the car in reverse, still chuckling to myself.
When I walk through the front door of my own house, I lay my eyes on Mom and my good mood quickly evaporates. It’s clear that something has changed. I was last here for Christmas break, and of course Mom looked thin and tired, but this… this isn’t right.
She’s lost a ton of weight, even from the last time I saw her six weeks ago. Her cheeks are sunken, eyes red, the bones of her face overly prominent. She is on the couch with a blanket over her legs. The TV is on, and her face is turned toward it, but her expression is vacant. I’m even more concerned by the fact that I’ve entered the house, let the screen door slam closed behind me, and she hasn’t even looked up.
“Mom.” My voice doesn’t sound quite right, either.
She blinks, turns her head toward me. When she sees me, her eyes light up and some life returns to her face.
But she’s not the same. I can tell.
“Mavvy!” She laboriously pushes herself off the couch and moves toward me. “How are you?”
I fall into her arms, hoping it feels the same as it always has. It’s familiar, but not quite what I remember. I find myself holding her loosely, afraid of hurting her.
“I’m good,” I manage, barely keeping my voice even. “How—how are you?”
She pulls back, adjusting the scarf on her head, and my stomach bottoms out when I notice the shirt she’s wearing. It’s one of her favorites, and it used to fit well. Now it hangs off her like a dress.
“Just fine,” she says, smiling. I can’t tell if she means it or if she’s lying for my benefit. “Dad and Lilly are out picking up pizza for dinner.” She moves back to the couch, patting the spot beside her. “Come sit down. How are your grades?”
I’ve never been so relieved to hear that question. I never want her to be so sick that she can’t be bothered to ask about my grades. “I’m passing everything.”
“You’repassingeverything?” Mom asks incredulously, her thin face twisting with displeasure. That tone almost—almost—makes my worries disappear. “So you have Cs?”
“And some Bs. I’m trying my best, Mom. You know I’m never going to get straight As, and now that the season’s started up again—"
“Maverick Michael, you have every ability in the world to be a straight-A student. They tested you for the gifted program in second grade.”
“Which they shouldn’t have, because I didn’t qualify,” I remind her. “You always leave that part out.”
Mom purses her lips and lets her eyes wander back to the afternoon talk show on the TV.
