“You’re all idiots.” Ellie snorts, and I think I’m inclined to agree with her. “Do you at least know the name of the guy?”
“No clue. I didn’t stay to hear his name, but he was fucking huge.”
Goosebumps prickle across my arms as it dawns on me that it could have been Bradley, but there’s no way. What reason would he have to go up to Jack?
Ellie holds a finger up, chewing her food. “You didn’t ask Jack what his name was?”
“No, but if you really want to know, you can,” Dylan says, sharing a look I don’t understand with Coop.
I stay silent as the pit in my stomach grows, forcing myself to continue eating as they switch topics to the games this weekend while we wait for Jack to come back down.
CHAPTER 14
Jack
I glanceover my shoulder to make sure no one has followed me as I step into my room. “Sorry, Momma. I don’t want to talk about this in front of the others,” I say, trying to shake the look on Alondra’s face after I asked if she didn’t want to be set up with someone because she already has a boyfriend.
Fuck, I feel guilty for even having said it out loud.
It’s like I erased every bit of progress I’ve made with her over the past few weeks.
It’s not that I believed Bradley, but he got under my skin, and it just fucking slipped out. I should’ve been more careful.
“Talk about what?” Momma’s calm voice asks, and I drag a hand over my jaw, trying to sort through what I suspect with the tiny scraps of evidence that support it.
It feels like trying to put a piece of paper back together after it’s gone through the shredder, except there are a hundred other pieces to sort through to find the right ones before taping it together.
“It’s about Alondra. I just . . . I have a bad feeling,” I admit, sitting on the edge of my bed.
“What kind of bad feeling?” she prods gently, and I hope to God I’m wrong about this. I need to be wrong about this. “Jack?”
“I don’t want to be right, but I think someone is—or was—hurting her,” I say, and the thought of someone laying a hand on her makes my stomach turn. I care about Alondra—more than I ever expected to.
I hold my breath, waiting for her to say something. “Honey, that’s a very serious thing to suggest,” Momma says, but it’s the only thing that makes sense, as much as I don’t want it to.
“I know, and I thought maybe I was imagining it. I want to be wrong, but then we were skating earlier this week, and Al was avoiding a question I asked. She’s always running from me, and I caught her arm to stop her. The way she looked at me . . .” I pause, recalling the awful moment when I just wanted Alondra to tell me what was going through her head. “She was afraid of me. I didn’t mean to scare her, but Alondra looked at me like she expected me to hurt her.”
“Jack,” Momma says, softly, and I know I’m running out of time before someone comes looking for me.
“I just wanted her to stop running from me,” I admit, reaching up to untuck the silver chain from where it always lies beneath my shirt to twist the small figure skate pendant between my fingertips. “She said it had nothing to do with Coach—actually, she insisted it didn’t, and I believe her. Alondra’s admitted she’s had a bad relationship before, but she wouldn’t say anything else about it.”
“I don’t know. Has she explicitly said someone hurt her?”
“No, but Johnny Richards, the sophomore I’m helping, walked in on Alondra and me talking at the rink, and he asked some questions about her, which I played off. Next thing I know, this football player who’s friends with Johnny tracked me down and threatened me to stay away from her because she’s his. Momma, she’s a person, not a fucking toy. Alondra doesn’t belong to anyone, but especially not that asshole,” I say, my temper slipping for a moment.
“Hey, take a breath. It sounds like you really care about her, but I can’t tell you what to do other than to do your best to be there for Alondra, and make sure she knows she can come to you for help if she needs it.”
I inhale a ragged breath, but this conversation has opened up old wounds I’ve never taken the time to deal with. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have swore,” I mumble, tucking the pendant back under my shirt, the weight a comfort.
“Jack, I’m so proud of you and the man you’re becoming, but please, don’t do anything rash,” Momma warns, and I feel a pang of homesickness so deep that it aches like a rattle in my bones.
“Yes, ma’am,” I agree quietly.
“She’s lucky to have a friend like you,” she says, and I swallow the acid forming in my mouth.
I’m the lucky one.
I probably should have called first, but it seems like the universe is determined to make it impossible for me to have a chance to talk to Alondra so I can apologize. We definitely need to talk about the whole dating app thing, but first, I need to apologize for the way I asked if she was seeing anyone. Unfortunately, Alondra left with Ellie a few minutes after I went back downstairs last night and I didn’t get a chance.
