"So will your dad," I say quickly. Only, this time, I'm not deflecting. I mean it.
He gives me a small and unconvincing smile, breezing past my comment. "But until then—even after that—I'llbe here."
Turning my neck, I press a kiss to his palm. "Don't leave," I say, grinning up at him. It's a play off of what he said before, but as soon as the words are spoken, I realize how much I truly mean them.
He kisses me deeply without a hint of levity. "Not a chance," he says. Slowly, my favorite smile grows on his lips. "I'm about to be your boyfriend, Mystery Girl, remember?"
I roll my eyes. "You're still ridiculous."
"You like me," he argues.
As if on instinct, I kiss him again, and our teeth graze each other as we both smile through it. My heart swells as it always does when Drew and I give another little piece of ourselves to each other.
"Yeah, Twelve. I definitely like you."
"So, how many more days left on the job?" Blake asks, as he gets down on all fours.
"Just this weekend," I answer as my head yanks backward. "My last game will be tomorrow..." My voice trails off as the timeline hits me.
It's coming up fast.
"Then, I'm pretty much finished." With that, Selah rips the doll brush she has in my hair so hard, I see stars. "Ouch!"
"Selah," Blake warns. "Be gentle."
"Sha sha, Book," she says sweetly, patting my head to apologize but hitting it almost as hard as she pulled.
"It's okay, Say Say."
As if my mother finds joy in throwing salt in my wounds, she joins the living room at the perfect time. "So, what is your plan for after the weekend then?" she asks, refolding a blanket that I'm pretty sure hasn'tleft the couch in three years. Blake sprawls out on his stomach, pulls out his phone, and checks out of the conversation.Traitor.
"Um, I'll go back to The Pub while I continue looking for other jobs like this one. I haven't heard back from the few places I've applied—a couple of hotels, a gym across town, some smaller businesses. The problem is, not everyone has a social media team in their budget."
I peer over just in time to see my mom press her lips into a straight line. "I really loved it, though," I continue. "It barely felt like work, honestly." I picture Drew's face, and although he was part of it, I'm telling the truth. My whole time with the Flames has been so fulfilling.
"Well, that's definitely something to consider," she says as she sits on the couch.
Selah, who must have the opposite sixth-sense as my mother, eases off of my scalp and starts playing with the actual babydoll instead. I quickly take advantage of my release and pull myself up on the sofa across from Mom.
"How's Aunt Ivy," I ask, watching as Selah attempts to gather the doll's hair into some sort of ponytail. A song bursts through the speakers of Blake's phone I don't recognize.
"Sorry," he says, quickly silencing whatever social media video he's escaping to.
Mom shakes off the noise and sighs. "You can ask her yourself if she ever shows up. She told me she'd be here fifteen minutes ago."
"Again?" I ask, surprised. "I think this is the most I've seen Ivy in the last few years."
"Yeah..." Mom says, her voice distant.
I wait for her to go on, and when she doesn't, I sit forward on the cushion. My mother may not often emit positivity, but there's something about the crease in her brow that causes tension in my shoulders. "Mom… is there something you aren't telling—"
"Holy shit!" Blake calls out, pushing himself up into a sitting position. "Did you know about this?"
My eyes—and my mind—dart back and forth between desperation for answers from Mom and curiosity about what Blake's going on about.I try to ignore my brother's antics, but when I look back at him, his phone is turned toward me, and the image on the screen grabs my attention.
"What is it?" I say, leaning forward to read the headline written above a familiar face.
"Is this really Anderson's last season in G.C.?" Blake asks his question looking at me, but my vision tunnels as I reread the words on his device.
