She gave a small shrug. “I thought she needed to be here.”
Something cracked open in my chest.
Emily had invited my mom. After everything—after I’d been distant, after I’d clearly been pulling away—she’d done this for me. Not because she was trying to prove something. Just because she thought my mom should see me win.
“Emily—“ My voice broke.
She shook her head. “You don’t have to say anything. I just... I wanted her to see you. The way we all see you.”
They way we all see you.
The words rang in my head like a puzzle needing to be put together. How did people see me? Didn’t they just see me as an angry hot-head? What did she mean?
My mom stepped over to Emily and pulled her into a hug. “Thank you, sweetheart. Thank you so much.”
Emily hugged her back.
When they pulled apart, I stepped forward.
“Emily.”
She turned to me, and I pulled her into my arms. She melted against me, her head tucked under my chin, and something in my chest settled.
This.
This was what mattered.
“Thank you,” I said into her hair. “For bringing her. For... everything.”
“Of course,” she whispered back. “I wanted her to see you. You were amazing. I’m so lucky to be with you.”
When we pulled back, our eyes met and held. There was something there—that intensity, that connection. The way she looked at me, like I was everything.
It felt like what it used to feel like with Alex. But better. Because this was real. This was safe. No secrets. No danger. No impossible choices.
Just Emily. Here. Choosing me. And me finally choosing her.
Maybe I’d just needed to let go of Alex to really feel this. That’s what had been in the way all along—some ghost of what we had, blocking me from being fully present with her.
Emily squeezed my hand and she smiled up at me.
“I couldn’t have done it without you,” I said, and I meant it.
For the first time in a year, my heart felt whole.
Noah appeared at my side again, slinging an arm around my shoulders. “You’ve got people, man. We’re not going anywhere.”
I looked around—at my mom still wiping tears from her face, at Noah grinning beside me, at Coach Hale nodding from the dock, at Tyler and the rest of the guys still celebrating like we’d just won nationals.
For the first time in... I didn’t know how long... I felt surrounded. Not by pressure or expectation or people I had to prove myself to.
By people who chose me. Who showed up. Who gave a shit.
I didn’t need Alex Harrington’s validation. I didn’t need him to look at me the way he used to at Brackett Lake. I didn’t need any of it.
Because I had this.
My mom squeezed my hand. “You were incredible out there. I knew you would be.”
