Nina The cool air and the quiet campus had always been a comfort to me. But even the cool evening breeze couldn’t lift the heaviness weighing down on me as I fled the hockey arena. I wasn’t even entirely sure why I was running, but I knew I had to. My feet carried me across the empty athletic fi
“But he needs me,” I shot back, sighing heavily. “He needs me, maybe more than he even realizes, and I’ve been totally blind to it.” The water of the stream suddenly blurred, distorted by the new flood of tears. I felt so overwhelmed, the weight of my ignorance pressing down on me like a thousand-
The server came over, a familiar face who greeted us with a forced smile. “The usual?” “Yeah,” Enzo responded, handing back the menus. She nodded and left us alone, with nothing but the tension that we had brought in with us. “I’ve been thinking,” I began, twirling a napkin in my hands. “About w
“Because,” I paused, searching for the right words. “If we’re going to make these sacrifices, these huge life changes, I need to know it’s what we both want. And with everything else going on…” He looked at me, his eyes softening. “Nina, I want this child. But I can’t sit by and watch you and the
Nina It wasn’t long before I realized where Enzo was taking us: into town, and to the diner, the location of many a late-night date. “I should’ve known,” I murmured with a half-hearted smile as we slid into our regular booth. “It’s been a little while,” Enzo said, his eyes scanning the m
It was as if the air got thicker around us. Our milkshakes started to melt, the fries growing cold, but neither of us moved. The jukebox switched to another song, filling the space between us. “So what do we do?” I finally asked, my voice a mere whisper. “I wish I knew,” Enzo responded, his
Nina We finally broke the tension by taking a sip of our milkshakes and digging into the fries. Somehow, the act of eating felt like an unspoken agreement to a truce—at least temporarily. “You know, I’m good with your stipulations,” Enzo said, catching my eye across the table. “And I’ll make
“And Enzo,” I said, catching his eye one last time, “I mean it about keeping an eye on you. We’re both struggling, and we owe it to ourselves, and to our baby, to get the help we need.” He nodded, his eyes never leaving mine, and in that moment, I felt a strange combination of hope and dread, of
Nina The warm summer breeze brushed across my skin as I stood on the patio, clutching my robe tightly around my body. Laughter and splashes echoed up from the pool below, where our friends were already gathered for our big end-of-summer party. I should have been down there too, soaking up the ve
“What... what do you mean?” He braced his hands on the doorframe, leaning in closer with a heavy sigh. “I mean, by the time I caught up to them this morning, I only saw them long enough to get that photo before they were boarding a speedboat and taking off. Hell, I’m still not even totally sure wh
Nina My breath caught in my throat as I pulled open the front door expecting to see excited party guests, only to be immediately met with the sight of Luke’s grim expression. His brow was furrowed in a deep frown, his lips pressed into a tight line—clear signs that something was very wrong. “Luk
Nina I huffed out a breath as I hoisted the oversized cardboard box higher in my arms, carefully navigating my way through the living room. Strings of fairy lights poked out haphazardly from the top, and I could feel the weight of glass jars and other assorted decor inside shifting precariously wi
Then, at the last possible second, the scout seemed to find an extra burst of speed. He surged forward, hurtling between two towering oak trees and vanishing into the cover of the forest beyond. “Dammit!” I slammed my palms against the rough bark of the nearest trunk, powerless to do anything but
Enzo The crunch of leaves and snap of twigs echoed through the trees as Matt and I tore after the Schreiber scout. Our breaths came in ragged gasps, the hot summer air burning our lungs. Overhead, a little red bird chirped and flitted through the green canopy of trees; Daphne. But even she wasn’
Shaking my head, I turned without another word and stormed out of the fitting room. I took the two strides across the hall to Jessica’s fitting room and knocked on the door, folding my arms across my chest. “Jess? You in there?” There was a muffled thump in the fitting room, followed by the soun
Nina “How’s it looking in there?” I called out, rapping lightly on the wooden door of Jessica’s fitting room. “Um… decent, I guess?” her muffled voice floated back a moment later, although I could sense the uncertainty in her tone. “Decent? That’s it? Come on, Jess, this is your wedding gown w
Had I really known him at all, I wondered? Or had I merely been too self-absorbed and naive to see past the facade of unshakable command he projected? After a long silence, I found my voice. “Why didn’t he ever tell me that?” “He didn’t want you to see his weakness, I suppose,” Angelica replied