“You could never look awful,” he said with a small smile.
Then she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened them, Avery was still looking at her with all the concern in the world. “There’s more.”
Avery’s face darkened, his arms falling from holding her and his fists clenched at his sides. She immediately missed the warmth of them. “What do you mean there’s more?”
Hailey wasn’t sure where to start and looked at her feet for a moment, realizing she was embarrassed about what happened with Gage. How could she be so stupid to ever think he was right for her? They say love is blind and she couldn’t see all his flaws clearly. Now they were staring her in her face and she just wanted to visit the past and slap herself, maybe beg her to pay attention to the red flags and get the hell out.
She looked back up at him and figured blunt was best. “When I told Gage what happened, he said it was somehow my fault and that I cheated on him. So I finallybroke up with him. That was the last straw. I wish I listened to everyone sooner, but I just … couldn’t.”
Avery’s face was hard to understand. He dragged his hands through his hair and opened his mouth to say something but closed it a few times, obviously not knowing what to say.
He looked at his feet, shaking his head in frustration and muttered, “Fucking idiot,” before looking back up into Hailey’s now dry-as-a-desert eyes. She wasn’t about to waste anymore tears on Gage.
“I have so many things that I want to say that I probably shouldn’t. Just tell me if you’re okay.”
“I am now.”
The edges of his mouth curled up and he placed a hand on her shoulder. “Then now is a good time to kick the shit out of some soccer balls.”
“Hell yes. I need to pretend they are the heads of some people.” Avery nodded and his eyebrows shot up his head for a moment before he winked at her, as if he was thinking the exact same thing.
They spent the next half hour shooting on net, having a pass across the field so she could kick as hard as possible and then they played a little bit of one-on-one where she insisted Avery try his hardest so she could work hard to stop him. She still wasn’t one hundred percent, but it still felt good to run around.
They’re right when they say exercise helps alleviatedepression, the problem is getting the motivation to get up and actually do it. With Avery, it was much easier. Plus, she had some rage fueling her before the inevitable crash that was coming.
When Hailey’s chest was heaving and her legs were ready to give out, they took a break for some water. Avery lifted his shirt to wipe the sweat off his brow and Hailey didn’t stop herself from enjoying the view, making sure she averted her eyes before he dropped his hand.
Being here with him now felt so natural, so comfortable. He’d been one of her closest friends since high school and there was always a little bit of flirtation here and there, but the timing was never right. And as Hailey chugged some water, she realized that right now wasn’t the right time either. She had to get some distance from this weekend and get her head on straight. But, soccer was definitely helping. All she could think about, though, was the fact that she had to go to the doctor tomorrow to get every test done.
She lifted the hem of her shirt to wipe her own brow and when she let go she noticed Avery’s eyes dart away and his face flush.
Tonight was not the night to do anything about it. She still didn’t know how she felt about what happened with Scott. While they were juggling the ball earlier, Avery recommended a few outlets she could reach out tofor help. Part of her just wanted to put it behind her and try to move on. That asshole didn’t live in the state anymore. And she finally dropped Gage like a dish straight out of the oven. She felt burned. And she needed to heal a little before she could move forward.
Before Avery and her parted ways that night, he gave her another big hug, reminding her he was there if Hailey needed anything, but not forcing her and giving her the space she needed to make sense of everything.
Overall, it was a big week. And for once, she was looking forward to tomorrow.
———————————
“You want cookie dough, cookies and cream ice cream or a bag of cookies?”
“All three?”
The night after she kicked the ball around with Avery, she asked Bridget to come over and told her she needed sugar therapy.
That was their go-to when the other had something really important to figure out or deal with.
Bridget took the snacks out of the grocery bag while Hailey busted out the spoons and bowls.
She wasn’t kidding, and she filled her bowl with all three of the goodies Bridget brought over. Cookies just made everything better. Cookies and cookie dough withice cream? That’s a medicine that worked better than half the drugs she’d tried so far, although it had its own negative side effects.
After they settled on the couch and turned on “The Office” for background noise, Hailey was ready to dish.
Hailey spent the next ten minutes explaining everything that happened over the past three days, starting with the party and sharing some tears, and ending with storming out of Gage’s house. Her reaction was … loud.
“FUCK YES!” she said as she leaped off the couch and started jumping up and down around her cheap coffee table. “He’s gone, he’s gone, he’s finally goooooooone!”
Bridget kept jumping around and shouting in celebration while looking up something on her phone.
