Because I know Nathan needs this more than he needs me.
29: Nathan
Mae barely looks at me during the game. I’m so used to her grinning from ear to ear whenever we score a touchdown or field goal, but she keeps her gaze on the crowd, and even when I try to catch her eye, she positions herself away.
We win the game, but it’s close, and as I file down the corridor, my father snaps his fingers to gain my attention. I roll my eyes.
“We won, so save the criticism. I don’t need it today.”
“You’re no longer allowed to see Mae.”
My Adam’s apple bobs up and down as I stare at the man I despise. I take a threatening step forward, towering over him. I’m a few inches taller. “What the fuck did you just say?”
He pulls a stack of printed photographs out of his pocket, and I stare at them with gritted teeth, my pulse skyrocketing. “What the fuck are these?” I snatch them away, but my father isn’t fazed, which means these aren’t the only copies he has.
The thought of anyone seeing these makes me livid. These moments were supposed to be private between me and Mae. My body shakes. “What are you going to do? Release these? You can’t threaten me.”
He nods. “I know. That’s why I threatened your whore instead.”
I snap, grabbing him by the front of his shirt and shoving him against the wall. “Call her a whore again, and I’ll break your fucking legs.”
My father only shakes his head, stepping away after I loosen my grip. “Is it really worth it, Nathan? Getting kicked off the team? Having your image disassembled?”
“I don’t give a shit about myself.”
Kevin hums. “But think about her. If you care about her, which, unfortunately, I can tell you do, do you think she’ll enjoy being followed around everywhere? Being stopped in the streets to get asked about her scandalous relationship with the famous Nathan Slater? Do you think she’ll enjoy seeing her name tarnished—known as a slut and a whore? It’ll be awfully hard for her to get a job with a reputation like that.”
I curse under my breath. Those are the last things I want for Mae.
“Why continue this when you knew she was leaving anyway? And to Florida of all places.” My father cackles.
My face contorts with confusion, and the buzzing of the fluorescent lights above us suddenly sounds ten thousand times louder, the brightness dizzying.
“What?”
A smile forms on my father’s face as the realisation hits him. “Oh, you don’t know? She’s moving to Florida to join a veterinary program. Soon, too, and she agreed never to contact you again. Seems she doesn’t like you as much as you think she does.”
My stomach twists in the most harrowing way, causing me to almost double over in pain. The last time I’d spoken to Mae about her veterinary program search—which had been around two weeks ago—she’d claimed she hadn’t been accepted by anyone yet. I was holding out hope that when she was, it would be by a program close. Somewhere near me so I could still see her.
But Florida is a six-and-a-half-hour flight away.
I hear the voices of the cheerleaders behind me, and I drop my head with a tense jaw, my eyes flickering to a doe-eyed Mae who’s gazing at me with parted lips. She hangs back as everyone else files into the locker room.
“You’re leaving,” I mutter to her, and my father backs up and chuckles as he strolls away, leaving the volcano he’s just set off to erupt.
“Nathan, I—”
“How long have you known?”
Mae is silent.
“Mae… how long?”
“A week.”
Her reply cuts me like a knife, and I rest my head back against the wall, hands scraping through my hair.
“I didn’t know how to tell you,” she starts. “I didn’t even know how to feel when I got accepted. I wasn’t set on going, Nathan. I hadn’t made up my mind.”
