“Those two—” I nodded toward my father and his fiancée, who were hugging in the garden—“are getting married. And they want me at the wedding to convince Asher to race for my father next season.”
Alba’s jaw dropped. “Theywhat? And you’ll go?”
I laughed through tears, staring at the gift card. “Guess you and I are going shopping. I’ll need a dress for the wedding.”
Alba stalked closer, as if afraid I might shatter. “It’s your birthday. The fuck is wrong with those people?”
I sank to the floor, hugging my knees. “I’m used to it. You know what’s worse? I have no choice but to put up with him if I want to go to college. And I do. I need to do something for myself, to get away from him—but without his money, I can’t afford it.”
“Asford University, right?”
“Yeah.”
“I’m hoping for Dorgam.”
She wanted to study law. With how fierce and protective she was, it made perfect sense.
“At least both are in Emerport,” I said. “I won’t lose you.”
“Lose me? Are you kidding? Nunca.”
Her grin nearly stopped my heart. “Don’t ever use that word with me. Please.”
Her brow furrowed.
“Asher,” I said, like his name explained everything.
“Sorry.” She sat beside me, cross-legged. “So, that thing I wanted to talk about. I know it’s not the best time, but Dad and I were discussing it. I thought I’d ask.”
“What?”
She tucked her hair behind her ears. “There’s this volunteer program in South America. You travel and teach English. I was thinking about doing it before college. It’d look great on my application, and I’ll be starting late anyway. So why not?”
“And you want me to go with you?”
She grinned. “Duh, of course. You’re studying Spanish in college. Imagine how useful it’d be to practice for almost a year. You’d be ahead of everyone. Plus, it’d do you good to get away for a while.”
The idea was tempting—seeing the part of the world I’d always dreamed about—but Dad would still have to agree. Hard to feel like an adult when I wasn’t really one.
“I’ll think about it,” I said.
Alba pulled me into a tight hug. “Thank you. I’ll call Dad and ask him to take us to Emerport so you can buy the most gorgeous dress for that stinky wedding.”
“I’m only going because I hope to see him,” I whispered, leaning on her shoulder. “It might be the last time if he moves to Spain next season.”
“I get it,” she said softly. “But I hate that he let you down.”
“People let him down too, Alba. I can only imagine how he felt when they gave him the news.”
“You must really love him if you still worry about his feelings.”
“I do.”
My love for him was painful. Messy. But it was also the best kind of wrong—because he’d always been everything right for me.
We’d gone through the same things. Felt the same way. He hurt me, but I couldn’t hate him. I knew that choice hadn’t been easy. He’d cared once. He’d given me the best first time.
Alba patted my knee. “I hope he does, too.”
