“Yeah, things are fine. Great, actually.” I cleared my throat, glanced at the dimmed screen, and back to Josie. “I need you to promise to keep this between us for now, please.”
Josie didn’t even hesitate for a second to put her pinky out. “Pinky promise.” I latched mine through hers and shifted closer until our sides were pressed together.
“So I-I met someone,” I whispered. Josie’s eyes went comically wide but, she didn’t gasp or make any noise to draw attention to us. “Her name is Emmie, and she’s amazing, Jo. She’s beyond gorgeous, sarcastic as hell, funny, doesn’t take any shit.”
The words spewed from my lips without pause. Emmie’s face flashed through my mind as I continued. “She’s a figure skater, like anincrediblefigure skater, who is so far out of my league, it’s insane.”
“Maty.” Josie’s voice was hushed, but I heard the underlying adoration. “You sound like you like her a lot.”
I gave a small nod, the corner of my lips pulling into a soft smile. “I do, I really do. I’ve…” I met her eyes. “I’ve never felt this way about anyone.”
It took her a moment to respond. “I feel like there’s abutcoming.”
“She’s my coach’s daughter,” I murmured.
“Oh.”
“Yeah,” I sighed.
“Is that against rules or anything?” Jo asked.
“Emmie was worried there was, but there isn’t. She said she was going to tell her dad soon but…” I trailed off.
“You’re afraid he’ll be angry and won’t approve, and then Emmie will leave.” Josie said the words for me. I hadn’t said them out loud yet. I didn't want to give the small fear inside of me any attention before I needed to.
“I am.”
“Are she and her father close?”
“There’s been tension between them for a few years, but I think he’s been trying to be closer the last month.” I heard a little bit of what Emmie’s coach said a week ago at the rink about her dad. Plus, I saw the way Emmie’s shoulders tightened whenever his name came up.
Josie let out a hum, staying quiet beside me as the two of us watched the others in the room. I chugged the rest of the apple juice before Josie spoke again.
“The question you need to ask yourself is—if he doesn’t approve, is that going to stop you from being with her?”
The answer came without a second thought. “No.” Even if it pissed Coach off to no end, I would still be with his daughter.
“If this Emmie is as special as you say she is, then she’s worth fighting for. If her father gets mad, then he gets mad. He can’t control her or you.” Josie squeezed my arm, drawing my gaze to her.
“It’s okay to go after what you want, Mateo. You can’t please everyone. Trust me, I’ve been there.”
“I don’t want her to have to pick between us,” I whispered.
“The Boone men—always so selfless.” Josie shook her head. “You can’t make that decision for her, Maty. You need to let her decide if that’s a possibility or not. I can guarantee youwilllose her if you do that. Wyatt almost lost me because he tried to do whathethought was best for me.”
Her words churned in my head. She was right, of course. It was pointless for me to worry about any of that right now. I’m getting ahead of myself, we haven’t even said we were boyfriend and girlfriend yet. It would be stupid to stress when we weren’t official.
“It’s cute how concerned you are. Haven’t seen you this way about a girl before,” Josie mused.
“Never thought you’d see the day, huh?”
“Oh, I knew it would come eventually. Like I told you years ago, I knew you’d be a great boyfriend.”
“You’d know if you would have chosen me over my brother,” I joked.
“The timing wasn’t right. Plus, then you wouldn’t have found Emmie,” she pointed out.
I was quiet for a moment before I spoke again. “She’s going to be at the game tomorrow. Her seat is next to everyone's. Would you… Would you keep her company for me?” I asked.
