When Joseph told me he’d been looking for me, I took that as a threat. I hadn’t forgotten about his text to me, You will regret this, nor his anger when I revealed the secret of my pregnancy. Nor have I forgotten any of our other, various and terrible encounters. So I was somewhat startled when
“The only ones who will get hurt are you,” Joseph said, though as close as I was, I could see the trace of fear making his eyes wild. “Get lost.” “You must think yourself a hell of a fighter if you feel good about your odds,” the goalie said. “One against seven. Or is it eight?” He glanced behind
Lamar hadn’t done anything wrong exactly. Saying goodnight and sending me on my way was a perfectly fine way to end an evening. Yet I felt oddly… put out. Dismissed, almost. I had foolishly thought that by suggesting I wanted to go home, we would leave together and get the chance to talk one on
Though he was a good friend, he would never be my soulmate. I had a nice guy now, who liked me and was patient with me. And here I was, letting my wayward heart ruin everything by holding onto someone who would never love me. No, I couldn’t allow that. I had to keep trying with Lamar. I could
By the next morning, I had somewhat lowered my panic. I was still nervous, but I called the hospital and moved up my appointment with Nurse Irene to this afternoon. The only other thing I could do in the meantime was not think of Asher. At all. With all Asher-thoughts banned until further notice
Asher would have cupped my cheek or cradled the back of my head. He would have pressed his body against mine. He would have maintained the distance longer, teasing me, stretching out the moment. Lamar’s kiss lacked passion – on both our parts. Maybe he was being respectful, giving me only a simp
That evening, I sat in the library with my textbooks sprawled in front me. Aimee and Nicole were on the other side of my table. Aimee pointed out a key section of the text for me. Nicole highlighted it. I’d failed another practice test, but I’d done at least slightly better than my last attempt.
After running into Asher outside of the library, I decided that Aimee had been right. Boys were complicated and confusing, and it was much easier to focus solely on studying. I avoided both Asher and Lamar, and when not in class, mostly stuck to studying in my room. For a few days, things had be