I roll my eyes, anof course I’m going to be okaygesture. Except, she knows me well enough not to buy what I’m selling.
Before we can go any further into this conversation, before she can lecture me like big sisters do, I gently push her by the shoulders and tell her to go before she’s late.
“Get more than a trim,” I say, making scissoring motions with my fingers. “Do something crazy. Change up your style.”
She frowns at me, but I can tell she’s considering my words. “We’ll see.” She backs away from the table, glancing at the sink where Noah stands, rinsing the bowls. “Will I see you at class this afternoon?”
I look over at Noah. “I’m not sure,” I say quietly. “But you should go no matter what.” Yoga has provided Sky with a grounding feeling, and taught her how to breathe when she starts sensing that familiar tightness in her chest. At first she would only go with me, then, slowly, she began taking classes on her own.
For a moment she watches me, then mouths,Good luck. In a normal voice, she says “Bye, love you.”
“Love you too,” Noah says, smirking.
Sky shoots daggers at him before taking her purse from the counter and leaving the room.
I hoist myself onto the counter beside the sink where Noah is working. He dries his hands and stands between my legs. Gripping my waist, his thumbs graze the top of my stomach.
“Why does she hate me?”
Wrapping my arms around his neck, I cock my head to the side and smile. “It’s a sister thing. She’s being protective.”
“She thinks this is bad? You and me, again?”
I nod. “She saw how upset I was the first time, that’s all.”
“You don’t have the market cornered on heartbreak when it comes to us.”
My eyebrows rise. “No?”
Noah grunts, a sound of disbelief. “How could you even think that? Of course not.”
He rests his forehead against mine. His eyes flutter closed, and I allow mine to do so also.
“Nobody has ever matched you, Ember. Nobody. I tried to forget you, but at some point I realized it was useless, because every person I met had one big fucking flaw.They weren’t you.Eventually I stopped trying to move on and focused only on soccer.” His words wash over me, warm on my face and fiery in my heart. “Your first love isn’t supposed to be your last, right? I tell myself that every time I think of you, but my heart won’t be talked into getting over you.” He stops talking , dragging in a ragged breath with his intense gaze on mine.
My breath. My heart. Where did they go? I think they’re having a party, rejoicing at what Noah has just said.
It would be so easy to let his words carry me away, andoh my godI want to. I pull back and search his face, trying to understand why he’s saying all this to me. When I come up empty, I ask “Why now, Noah?”
“Why not?”
“You’ve only come home for a wedding. You’re not staying.”
“I could,” he says with earnest. “I could go back, pack up all the things from my apartment, and leave. Tripp’s already gone. I don’t have anything to go back to.” Light brightens his eyes as he speaks.
How many times have I replayed a reunion? How many times have I fallen asleep wondering what it would be like to see Noah again? My stomach tips, excitement flickering deep within me. Could we have a second chance?
“I like the sound of it all, Noah. But your try-outs… We’ve been through this once before. Someone can call you back at any minute.”
He flicks his hand as if batting away a minuscule but annoying gnat. “It’s been too long. I don’t expect a call.”
The glimmer in his eyes decreases by a small fraction. It’s his dream and it might be over, so he’s mourning it the way he did four years ago, when he thought he wasn’t going to play in college. I wonder if it’s even worse now, because he’s an adult. If it had happened before college, he could’ve focused on doing something else instead of continuing to make his whole life about the sport.
Noah’s pocket buzzes. He pulls out his phone, only to silence it.
He captures the side of my head in a cupped hand. “Come to the wedding. Be my date.” His voice is urgent. “I have to go, but I don’t want to be without you. Will you come?”
“Won’t it mess up Alyssa’s seating chart?” I don’t know much about weddings, but Sky watches a reality TV show about a wedding planner, and I’ve picked up a few terms from it.
