Coach sets his glass down carefully.
He doesn’t smile.
But he nods once and I know what he means.
You made your choice. Now live up to it.
20
TALIA
Till Death Do Us Part
The second we step out of my father’s house and the door closes behind us, I exhale so hard it feels like I’ve been holding my breath for a year.
“Well,” I say faintly as we walk toward Jake’s car, “we’re alive.”
Jake lets out a short breath that might be a laugh. “Barely. I was honestly ready to grab you and make a run for it at one point.”
I let out a quiet chuckle.
Jake unlocks the car and we slide inside.
He starts the engine.
For a moment, neither of us moves.
Then, without looking at me, he reaches across the center console.
His hand finds mine.
My fingers curl around his automatically.
We drive like that in silence.
It’s strange how quickly his hand in mine has started to feel familiar.
We’ve only been pretending for a short while, and somehow this already feels easy.
Worse, it feels real.
I stare out the window at the passing streetlights, but my mind drifts back to something Jake said at dinner.
I like knowing there’s one person I would do anything for. And knowing she would do the same for me.
It almost makes me tear up. Because I wish he had meant it. I wish it were true.
But I know it was all for show.
And I can’t even resent him for it, because I’m the person who created this mess in the first place.
When we pull into the driveway, neither of us lets go immediately.
The headlights wash over the front of the house. The garden. The porch steps.
Home.
Jake cuts the engine.
