I looked back at her feeling exasperated. “That is not true. She is a married woman. She is married to my best friend. She is one of my best friends. I’m sorry you and I didn’t work out… but also, fuck you for calling her a hoe.”
She looked at me like I slapped her. “I dumped you because I never fully had you, Griff.”
I felt my shoulders deflate at that.
She just snorted and looked me up and down like I was pathetic before turning away.
I felt a hand on my shoulder and I jerked away, then felt bad when I realized it was only Savannah looking at me with worried eyes.
I shook my head out and led her back to our spot on the top of the couch so we could people-watch some more.
She leaned closer to me and gave me a sympathetic look. “So… What was that all about?”
I blew out a sigh and tried to change the subject. “I miss being a kid. Everything was so easy,” I lamented.
“True… But that’s with perspective. Everything felt so important back then too,” she pointed out. “I mean, I kinda laugh now when I think about how I used to hate seeing you guys leave in the truck at night. Now when you guys drive away, it’s for much longer than just a good night’s sleep. I missthat.”
“Yeah, well… I miss when a good night’s sleep could happen without sleepy tea, a weighted blanket, and a white noise machine,” I grumbled.
“A white noise machine?” She arched an eyebrow at me skeptically.
“My wall-neighbor, Ackley.” I pointed him out on the dance floor where he was grinding with a freshman girl. “He brings a different girl home every other night. You might hear it tonight– just a fair warning.”
“Yikes. Okay…” She looked down at her red solo cup. “I miss when my beverage of choice was a 7-11 slushie… and blowing off steam was sitting on the sidewalk curb and slurping away,” she laughed.
I clinked my drink to hers and said, “Cheers to that.”
“Your turn.” She nudgedme.
I sighed and rubbed my forehead. “I miss when scoring was for pure enjoyment, not to keep a scholarship.”
She smiled sadly at me. “Life is hard now, eh?”
“Life is very hard. Nick makes it seem easy.”
“He does, doesn’t he?” her lips curved up thinking of him. “Things get to him too though. He just doesn’t show it.”
30. Sav
The next morning, Griff and I walked through the sleepy campus together to the student union to buy hot chocolates.
“Gah, I’m getting so sick of the cold. I can’t wait for summer,” I shivered.
He gave a deep laugh in response and blew on his drink.
“I can wait. I’m not sure what I’ll do this summer.”
“What do you mean?” I looked up at his tall frame. I hope he didn’t think just because I moved in with Nick that he couldn’t still live in Detroit and train with him through the summer.
His large shoulders shrugged. “My dad called the other day. Wanted me to come back to Canada. I think I’ll take some classes as an excuse to stay here.”
“Whatever happened with your dad?” I asked him. He used to ignore his phone calls through high school whenever we were with him.
He blew out a sigh and squinted against the bright day. The sun was bouncing off the sun practically blinding us.
“I sometimes wonder about that myself. I’m not sure some people deserve a redemption arc though, ya know? He was a nasty drunk. Pretty sure that’s why my mom dipped, but I was only a kid, so how could I know for sure, ya know?”
I touched his jacket sleeve and paused. “I’m sorry, Griff.”
