I’d think someone as popular as Cash would have more say in his career, but I’m getting the feeling that’s not the case. Still, he seems pretty happy with where he is, so maybe it’s just the kind of thing that comes with the territory. I never want to do post-game interviews after a loss, but it’s a small price to pay to do what I love. I guess music comes with that stuff, too.
“Why wouldn’t you want to?” I look at Summer. “It sounds like a great opportunity. National television, press, and all that… Good for getting your name out there, right?”
She catches her lower lip between her teeth, then lets it go. “It’s the same night as Round 1, Game 7… isn’t that kind of a big one?”
Fuck. My chest is doing that too-big, too-small thing again. She went from not knowing anything about hockey to knowing the playoff schedule.For me.
“Not if we win the first four.” I force a grin, but she knows me well enough not to be fooled. So, I add, “Even if we are still battling in the last game of the series, you have to do this.”
“But—”
“Summer, I’ll never forgive myself if you turn down this opportunity just to watch a hockey game?—”
“It’syourgame?—”
“Doesn’t matter. I told you, I couldn’t stand it if I held you back. Don’t?—”
Cash clears his throat. “Maybe I should give y’all a moment…”
“No. We’re good,” Summer and I say at once.
Her eyes dart between mine, searching. I hold her gaze and will her to choose herself. To remember everything she’s worked for. The dream she’s getting closer to. Everything she can’t give up for me.
It’s the whole reason we agreed.
Just until you leave.
That promise belongs to another version of us. We’ve fallen into a rhythm and have forgotten about the rest of it, but the date still looms in the back of my head.
67 days left.
The closer it gets, the more I catch myself searching for ways this could work, even after she leaves.
Summer’s chin dips, and I catch her mouth turning down before she fixes it into a smile and looks at Cash. “I’ll do it. You’re right, it’s an opportunity I can’t turn down. Thanks for agreeing to take me.”
“Yeah. Of course.” Cash shifts his weight from foot to foot.
“I’m just going to check on Gracie.” Summer kisses my cheek and slips inside before I can respond, disappearing up the steps.
Cash sets his empty bottle on the table with a soft clink. “That was big of you. Telling her to go. Even though it means missing your game.”
I study the label on my beer. “It’s the right thing to do.” I know it is, yet the thought of her missing the game, and me not being there to support her for her first big performance, makes a pit form in my stomach.
“If she goes where I think she’s going after this song releases, it’ll be hard, but you guys seem solid.” He tucks his hands into his pockets.
“We’re—” I cut off, unsure how to finish that thought.
Just until you leave.That’s what we said. What we agreed to.
But that was before I knew whatthisfelt like. Before she fit into my life so completely I can’t picture it without her. Before I fell in love with her—though, if I’m being honest with myself, that happened long before I was ready to admit it.
I thought I could keep it contained. I was better at that before her.
I don’t know how we make this work. I just knowI want to. Even if it means watching her go and hoping like hell she comes back.
“I won’t stand in her way.” That part hasn’t changed.
Cash nods slowly, gaze drifting toward the house. “When the song drops, her life is going to change overnight. Press, tours,label pressure. The validation that all those years struggling meant something.” He leans back on his heels. “It’s addictive. Makes everything else feel… small. And then one day, it wears off, and you’d give anything to have the small things again.”
