“Yeah. Rudy, especially. They had a special bond. I thought he’d hate me after Jack died, but he didn’t. He checked in on me, brought me food, and sent me funny videos. I pushed him away the most because I thought I’d just remind him of what he lost. But he kept coming back, even while he was hurting. He pushed his pain aside to help me, regardless of if I let him. He stood by me and held me up at Jack’s funeral when my own family couldn’t even look at me.”
“Rudy sounds pretty great, too.”
“I just wish Jack was out there on the ice with me, with the team. When I think about the season starting, how he won’t be there… It’s wrong.”
Erin’s hand brushes mine, but she doesn’t speak right away. There’s sadness in her eyes with the way she’s processing my words.
“It’s okay to miss him,” she says in a gentle tone. “You don’t have to be okay all the time, Chase.”
“Some days the reminders of him being gone hit me harder than most, and all I want to do is become besties with a bartender and drink until I forget.”
Erin’s palm presses into my heart.
I cover her hand with mine.
“He’s with you Eighty-Seven,” she whispers. “In here. Always. Thank you for sharing him with me. If you want to talk about him, I’ll be here if you need me.”
The sincerity in her words cracks me wide open, and I pull her into me without a single thought, burying my face into her neck.
“Thisis what I need from you now. Is that okay?”
“Yes.”
We sink into the sofa, her body molding against mine. I could stay like this forever.
When the oven timer beeps, she tries to pull away, but I hold her tighter in my arms and shake my head. “Let it burn.”
“Absolutely not, you monster,” she says, horrified and pushes up from me.
A few minutes later, she’s back in front of me.
“Make a wish,” she whispers.
I look at the twenty-five candles that flicker in front of her face that give her an angel-like glow. There’s only one thing I want, so I tell her.
“I want to kiss you. I want to lean in and find out what your lips taste like, but the truth is, I know you’re not ready for that yet. I know you’re not ready for me or the potential of there being anus. And that’s okay, because I know one day soon, you’re gonna let me love you. You’remine,Erin Callahan. My wish is you, and I have every intention of making it come true.”
“Wait, tell me again?”Bella asks for the fifth time.
I close my eyes and groan dramatically as I walk down the street with a coffee in my hand and the phone pressed to my ear.
“If you didn’t understand the first five times, I’m not sure you’re gonna get it the sixth,” I say, turning a corner.
“Humor me,” she says with her mouth full of what I’m assuming is a granola bar.
“He said he wanted to kiss me but knows I’m not ready for that yet and that one day soon I’m gonna let him love me.”
Bella squeals. “That is sooooo romantic.”
“What’s romantic?” Brodie asks from the background. I pinch the bridge of my nose. I do not need his best friend to hear this conversation.
“Chase wants to love my sister,” Bella says.
Brodie chuckles. “Hey, Little Silver.”
I let out a sigh. “Hi, Brodie.”
“What’s this I hear about Chase wanting to love you?” he teases, and Bella giggles. “Do we need to have the birds and the bees talk?”
