Was he serious? My heart plummeted to my feet. I thought . . . I thought he knew how I felt. After . . . He’d been so flirtatious that whole fall semester. Every time I came home, he made a point to take me out. And then that kiss . . . under the mistletoe . . . I thought he knew how I felt about him.
But maybe he didn’t. Maybe it had meant as little as I’d always suspected it did. Maybe it was just what people did under the mistletoe and feelings weren’t a factor at all.
Oh my, gosh.
Of course.I’d felt so obvious and exposed. Especially after he’d kissed my . . . ugh . . . my mom. But he didn’t know he broke my heart. He didn’t have a clue to how badly he’d devastated me.
He probably didn’t even remember.
My cheeks heated with an embarrassed flush, and my hands fluttered up to cover my face. I needed to go. Like right now. Right this second.
Riley took the ball to the edge of the driveway and sank a three-pointer. The boys cheered. The girls groaned. Tom announced the Thanksgiving winners and suggested a Christmas Day rematch.
“Holly, who broke your heart?” Sam demanded.
I laughed, but the sound was mildly hysterical. Spinning around, I found Teagan arguing with Cooper about a mid-game foul that hadn’t been called.
“Can I have the keys to your place?” I begged, breathless.
“What? Now? We have to do the dishes.”
“I have to go,” I told her urgently. “Right now. I need to go.”
Her hands landed on my cold, bare arms. “Are you okay? What happened?”
Hot tears pricked the corners of my eyes. I was an idiot. An absolute idiot. “I’ll tell you later. I just need to go. Now.”
She jogged inside to retrieve her keys. Cooper looked me over, his jaw tight, his brow furrowed.
“What did Sam do?” he asked.
Cooper could be totally oblivious to almost everything, but occasionally he surprised us with a sharp, insightful moment. This was one of those rare times he seemed to have an idea of what was going on. I took a slow breath and played nonchalant as best as I could. “Sam? Nothing.” His eyes narrowed. “It’s just harder to be back than I thought it would be. I need air—”
“You’re outside.”
“Space. I need . . . space.”
Teagan was back with her apartment key held out and my purse in her other hand. “I’ll text you my address.”
“Okay.”
“And I won’t stay late here.”
“It’s fine. Don’t leave on my account.”
She rolled her eyes. “I see these people all the time. I’m not going to miss anything.”
We hugged, and I hoped she didn’t notice the teardrop on her shoulder.
“Okay, see you in a bit,” I told her, putting my normal-nothing-is-wrong-I’m-totally-cool face on. I waved at Tom. “Thanks for dinner, Tom! I’ll be back soon.”
He looked confused but yelled a friendly, “You better be,” at me.
“Tell your mom I’m sorry for bailing,” I told Cooper and Teagan. “Love you guys. See you later.”
“See you at home,” Teagan grinned at me. “I’ll bring pie leftovers.”
I heard Sam ask Cooper where I was going and if I was coming back as I got in Agnes and drove away. He didn’t know I’d had feelings for him. The realization stung. but it was also an opportunity, wasn’t it?
