I laughed in disbelief and pulled him close for a kiss that Reese pretended to not see. He smiled against my mouth.
“Thank you, Dakota,” I whispered.
“You’re welcome, Emmy.” He gave me one more kiss before letting me go.
Chapter 35
Ifoundmywayout of the tunnels, back into the crowd with everyone else. Halftime was almost over so people were filtering towards their seats again.
My mind was too distracted to pay attention to who was a few feet ahead of me. Lizzy and I made eye contact before I could form a decent thought. She froze when she saw me. Something in me, the old me, had the urge to march right up to her. To give her a piece of my mind and make a whole scene.
Instead, I took a breath, rolled back my shoulders, and started back walking with my gaze straight ahead. She didn’t deserve the breath I’d waste on her. I almost made it out of the situation unscathed. Lizzy appeared at my side before I could climb the metal steps back into the stadium.
“Emmy,” she said and jogged so she was in front of me. She stopped in my path, forcing me to do the same.
“Hey.” She held her hands behind her back and wore a gentle smile. The smile she used to give me any time I shared my relationship drama with her.
“I don’t want to talk, okay?” I moved, ready to push past her.
“Wait, can I get a minute?” she begged, moving so I couldn’t bypass.
“I’m serious, Lizzy. Move,” I ordered. “I don’t need anything from you.”
“Emmy.” Her shoulders sagged as she let her hands fall to her sides. “Please? Just for a second. We were close once. I gave you a chance when you ruined my party by drinking too much. Can you at least give me the same chance?”
I scoffed. “I can’t believe you’re throwing that in my face. After everything…Lizzy, you’re wearing his name on your chest. You’re still together.”
She frowned. “Well, yeah. I love him. And I regret how us being a couple happened, but I wouldn’t change it. You have to understand, what I did wasn’t about you. Or us.”
“I know, Lizzy. It was about you and him. Two selfish people putting others in danger.”
She sucked in a breath. “Yeah, you’re right. I’m selfish. But you were too. We all were. So don’t pretend like you’re any better, Emmy. You would have done the same if I went out with Tyler first. If he came on to you, you would have been too drunk to realize he was mine.”
I raised my brows. “So, is that how you sleep better? You think because I’m not perfect it excuses you.”
“Maybe.” She shrugged, picking at her finger as she spoke. “I didn’t mean for this to hurt you. You know how it feels to be in his orbit, though. You understand how special everything is. And I wish I could talk about it with you.”
I pressed my fingers to my neck. “After this, don’t approach me anymore, okay? I’m trying to let go. Tyler’s a jerk, but you really hurt me more. I trusted you. We felt like sisters.”
Lizzy chewed on her bottom lip, a failed attempt to suppress a sigh. “Emmy, I’m sorry, but we were never sisters.”
My throat tightened with a potential onset of tears. “I know.”
She shrugged and moved to let me go. A little bit of anger boiled in me again at how easily she finished this conversation. I willed myself to swallow the upset. She got me to go to a dark place once before. I refused to let her do it again.
“I hope,” I started before she could leave. “You take care of yourself. Like, check-ups and everything. I don’t hate you enough to wish something bad on you, but Tyler doesn’t protect himself. He won’t protect you.”
Lizzy didn’t look convinced but offered me a pity smile. “He didn’t protect you, Emmy. He protects me.”
“Sure.”
I turned away and didn’t look back even when I felt her eyes still on me. Our conversation didn’t bring me peace or closure. I still felt a familiar sense of anger as I looked at my mom and our seats. I assumed that part took time. My anger would still linger, despite my time trying to grow and learn. And I could be angry because that had gotten things done for me this year. The doc wouldn’t have come together if I wasn’t upset. There was a reason anger was one of the five stages. I was done feeling ashamed of it being a huge part of me. And I was done letting it control me too.
The press conference happened after the game. The coaches attempted to keep the conversation on-topic. The journalists wanted to discuss something more than Westbrooke’s win. Mom and I were home now and watched the conference from the couch. I sighed after seeing Dad take on invasive question after question.
“Vultures,” Mom murmured as she rubbed my back.
“Tell me about it,” I agreed when another person asked for the names of the players involved.
