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All Will really wanted to do was hole up in his apartment and play on his computer or binge watch a sci-fi show. However, he knew that being around people would be better for his state of mind.
“We can play volleyball,” Jay said.
“Is it going to be all of us against you?” Misha asked. “Because that’s the only way it would be fair.”
“Sure. I think I could still put up a good fight.” He turned to Will. “Are you up for it?”
Will shrugged, then nodded. “I guess.”
Within minutes, they had a plan to meet up after lunch. Will had already agreed to go to his folks’ place for the meal his mom had prepared, or else it might have turned into a picnic.
“Are you going to go?” he asked Janessa.
“Probably. I’m sure that Charli and the others will too. We’ll need all the help we can get to beat Jay.”
Will smiled at that, the pain he’d felt earlier slowly fading away. These people knew him and cared about him just the way he was. They enjoyed being with him and didn’t tell him all the ways he’d failed and how he needed to change. He needed that.
They all left the church together, so he didn’t have to worry about Daphne getting him alone and insisting on introducing him to her new boyfriend. At one time, he wouldn’t have thought she’d be capable of doing something like that. However, since the breakup, he’d gotten the feeling that she wanted to make him pay for wasting four years of her life. For not being the man she thought he should be, even though they hadn’t been complete strangers when they’d started dating.
“See you at the park at two,” Jay said as they headed to their separate vehicles.
“Hey, Will.”
He turned back to see Janessa following him. “What’s up?”
“Are you doing okay?”
“Yep.”
Her eyes narrowed briefly, but then she said, “Well, I hope you know that if you need to talk about anything, any of us would listen.”
Will nodded. “I do know that. Thanks.”
“See you in a bit.” With that, she turned and headed to where she’d parked.
Will watched her for a moment, appreciating that she hadn’t pushed for him to talk about how he was feeling. He did know that he could talk to any of his friends, especially Jay, but that didn’t mean he wanted to. His mom had been trying to get him to talk for ages and when she’d failed, she’d sent his dad after him.
But what was there to talk about? Daphne decided he wasn’t the man for her, and she’d broken up with him. End of story. Or at least, end of story as far as everyone else was concerned.
He headed for his folks’ place with great reluctance, knowing that there were going to be questions about how he felt after seeing Daphne with her new boyfriend. Hopefully, Reese would go off on a rant about the situation and he’d have to say very little.
Thankfully, his family seemed to understand that he didn’t want to talk about it beyond assuring them that he was okay. His mom seemed happy to hear that he planned to spend the afternoon with the Halversons. He’d told Reese and Isaac they’d be welcome to join them, but neither seemed inclined to since they had plans with their own groups of friends.
After dinner, his mom loaded him up with leftovers and some baked goods to share with the others that afternoon, then kissed him on the cheek and sent him off. Will swung by his apartment to drop off the food and change out of his church clothes into something more appropriate for playing volleyball.
Jay texted him to let him know where they were in the park, so Will had no trouble finding them. He pulled his car in behind Jay’s, then climbed out and headed across the grass to where they were gathered around a picnic table next to one of the volleyball nets.
“Head’s up,” Jay called out as he bumped the volleyball in Will’s direction.
Will had never been the athlete Jay had, but he’d had to play all the different sports in gym class, including volleyball, so he got his arms into position in front of him and bumped the ball back to his friend, then joined the gang gathered around a picnic table.
Along with Janessa, Gareth and Aria, Charli was there with Layla, and Misha and Jay had brought Peyton and Ciara. In addition to the Halversons, Gareth’s two best friends, Wade and Jackson, were also there.
“Mom sent some cookies,” Misha said as she tapped a container in the middle of the table.
“My mom sent some too,” Will said. “But I left them in the car. I’ll be right back.”
He jogged back to grab the goodies, then returned to the table.
