“Thank you,” she said softly in my ear. “Thank you for being there for Jayce.”
“Don’t thank me,” I said, turning to look at Jayce who was watching us from where he stood by the car, smiling. “I should be thanking him. He’s...everything to me.”
“He needs someone like you,” she said, and I shrugged.
“I think I need someone like him.”
After bidding Melissa goodnight, Jayce drove me to my apartment so I could get some fresh clothes. Kylie was there, tangled in the arms of a new guy I didn’t recognize on the couch, but I didn’t care. It was nice staying with Jayce, knowing that it was just him and me in our perfect little world.
“How was the trip?” Kylie called as I made my way upstairs.
“Not bad at all,” I answered, then grabbed an empty backpack and stuffed it with clothes and toiletries. On the way back down, I spoke again. “Staying at Jayce’s tonight. Have fun, you guys.” I waggled my eyebrows at her until Kylie laughed, then headed back out to Jayce’s car, tossing the backpack into the backseat.
“Macey,” Jayce said as we drove to campus. “Are you really attached to that apartment?”
“I used to be,” I said, sticking my hands up against the heater vent to warm them. “But it’s different with a roommate. It doesn’t feel like mine anymore.”
Jayce reached over and took my free hand between his, squeezing it. “Would you like to move in with me?” he asked.
For a moment the words met only silence as a million and one reasons as to why we shouldn’t move in together infested my mind.
“You don’t have to,” he said quickly. “But the apartment is plenty big for the both of us. Might be easier with school?”
“Let me think on it,” I said, bringing his hand up to kiss the back of it. “What happens if we break up? I’m the one who would have to find a new place to live.”
“Don’t be silly,” Jayce said. “Why would we break up?”
“Oh, Jayce.” With a smile I leaned my head back against the seat and closed my eyes. “Life should be so easy, huh?”
Chapter 35
Jayce
Our first big gameof the season was Tuesday night in Denver, and Macey drove down there after class to watch me play, sitting at the top row of the bleachers with a huge sign in her hand that read,Jayce is Ace!In multicolored letters. Candace sat next to her, sneaking sips of what I could only assume was vodka through a colored water bottle. My mom had texted me earlier in the day apologizing profusely for not being able to make it. She was working a double shift at the hospital but promised to be at the next one. But that was okay. My mother did all she could for me at every moment. I had to give her some slack, especially after meeting Macey’s mother.
“That girl really has a thing for you, doesn’t she?” said Dalton as we walked out onto the field for the game. I stopped on the field and looked up at Macey who was laughing about something with Candace, her smile alone seeming to light up the evening sky.
