I know you’re a runner, Ali. But if you ever get tired and need to rest your legs, you can always run home to me.
He signed the letter with a small heart next to his name.
It felt like a frog was lodged in my throat.
Home.
I didn’t have one of those, and he knew it. What a fucking tease. It felt like he took my vulnerable confession and twisted it up to stab me with it.
I wanted to scream. I wanted to cry. I wanted to do anything other than feel this giant hole in my heart.
I knew I should’ve hated him, but I loved him too damn much.
“I’m not ready to go to bed,” I croaked, carefully folding the paper and sticking it into my pocket. Taking stock of my room, of my un-made bed, I shook my head. “I can’t sleep in here. I’ll just keep thinking about him.”
Desi pulled me into a side hug and rubbed my arm. “I get it. Come back to my room with me,” she said, steering me toward the door.
Except on the way to her room we passed the tattoo parlor, making me stumble to a stop.
Adrienne was already working on the ankle of another person—a college-aged girl with long dark hair, tanned skin, and a bright smile.
“Ahh, the twirl girls are back,” Adrienne said, giving us a little nod.
“Twirl girls?” her customer asked.
“Guys, this is Camila,” Adrienne said, introducing the girl in her chair. “She works in the dining hall. Camila, this is Ali and Desi, they’re figure skaters here on the ship.”
Camila’s eyes widened. “Figure skaters? Wait, did that one guy find his girl?”
All of us looked at her like she sprouted a new head.
“There was this guy.” She snapped her fingers, searching herbrain for a name. “J-something. He came to dinner by himself the first night and said he was coming to find this figure skater he’d been in love with for ages,” she gushed.
I frantically searched for my phone so I could find a picture of JP to confirm she was talking about him, but I must’ve left my phone in my room.
“So, did he find her? Did they work out?” Camila pushed.
The excitement on her face made my face crack with fresh tears. The way he told this girl he’d been in love with me, the way he held me, danced with me, and dropped so many fucking kisses on my forehead. It was all too much.Whydid he do all of that? What was the fucking point if he didn’t even want to try for a relationship?
Sensing the tension, Camila froze. “Oh no, what did I say?”
“He found her, alright,” Desi explained, pulling me into a hug and rubbing my back.
Camila’s eyes danced between the three of us, piecing things together. “I’m sorry.” She cringed. “He was, like,reallyhot.”
“I know,” I half-laughed, half-cried. “He really was.”
SECOND PERIOD
OCTOBER
17. JP – PROMISE ME
“You guys ready for this weekend? Season opener, baby!” Kappy called out while slinging his arms around both Colt and I as we walked out of practice.
“You know it,” Colt said with a cocky grin.
“So, will this be your last season, Captain?” Kappy asked.
