“The only guy I like is Jackson, and he’s at practice right now.”
She smiles. “Is he?”
Chapter 19
I grab her arm, my heart pounding. “Are you saying he’s here? He’s the one I’m meeting?”
“It was supposed to be a surprise, but you ruined it. You’re really hard to surprise. You ask too many—”
I don’t hear what she says. I’m already out the door, racing down the beach.
“Don’t forget to text me when you’re done!” I hear her yell.
Jackson is here. Waiting for me. From all Shayla’s clues, I thought it might be him, but then I assumed it wasn’t because there’s no way he’d miss football practice. It’s mandatory, and he’s their best player. They need him to be there. So how did he get out of it?
Running down the beach, sand kicks up on my legs and gets stuck in my shoes. I’m still wearing my uniform and the ugly shoes that go with it. If I’d known I was meeting Jackson here, I would’ve worn something nicer. Something sexier. I assume this means we’re not breaking up.
But what if it does? What if he set all this up to tell me it’s over?
The small, blue tent is just up ahead. I stop before I get there, afraid to keep going. I don’t want him to break up with me. My heart isn’t ready for that. Neither is my head. I’ve fallen so hard for Jackson that I can’t imagine my life without him. He’s the person I go to when I need someone to talk to. I don’t want to lose him.
A text pops up on my phone from Shayla.
What are you waiting for?
I turn back and see her standing in the parking lot, waving me on.
Taking a deep breath, I continue to the tent. If Jackson’s ending this, I might as well get it over with.
I lean down and unzip the tent. When I peek inside, I see Jackson there. My handsome, muscular, football player boyfriend. The kind of guy I never imagined myself dating, and yet now I can’t imagine dating anyone else.
“Hey.” He smiles and my heart takes off.
God, I’ve missed him. It hasn’t even been a day, but I missed him like crazy. He’s all I could think about.
I thought I’d never see him again. I thought we were over. I still think it’s possible, although I’m not sure why he’d be smiling if that were the case.
“Come here,” he says, holding out his hand.
I take his hand and go into the tent, sitting across from him. That’s when I notice the bouquet of flowers, little pink roses in a glass vase. Next to the flowers is a box of miniature cupcakes with pink and white frosting. Last week, I told Jackson how much I loved cupcakes and how much I missed the bakery in New York that my mom and I always went to for our cupcake fix.
“What’s all this?” I ask, smiling at him.
His face turns serious. “An apology.”
“For what?”
He takes both my hands. “Not being truthful with you. I realized after we talked that by not telling you about Kristen I was being loyal to her and not you. I know I hurt you by doing that and I’m sorry.”
“Thanks.” I half smile but feel like I’m about to cry. I’m not even sure why. I’m just so happy to see him, and happy he’s finally admitting this thing with Kristen is coming between us. “Are you going to stop seeing her?”
He shakes his head. “Not yet, but soon.”
“Are you going to at least tell me what’s going on?”
“I will, but I can’t get into details. I promised her I wouldn’t say anything, and I have to honor that promise, but that doesn’t mean I can’t at least try to explain what’s going on. I can at least tell you in general terms without getting into specifics.”
“Yeah? So what is it? What’s going on?”
