I didn’t really care about the game. I mean, I did. Because it was Noah, and I’d always care about Noah and the things he did because hewasmy friend. He was the popular guy who saved me a seat on my first day of high school and promised to never throw the ball to me in Phys Ed because I was terrified of it. All of the Londons helped me through high school, freshman year in particular—the year I didn’t have Sully. But Noah and I were in the same grade, and he made sure I never felt like the new girl, not in classes or hallways or anywhere.
So yeah, I cared about Noah’s games. I would watch them sometimes, on lonely afternoons in my old apartment. Certain games, anyway. The ones where I thought I might catch a glimpse of someone in the stands.
But right now, I only really cared about Sully watching those games. Because I knew they were important to him.
“I thought you said you usually watched the game at a bar with the guys?” I asked.
Sully stilled with the remote midair, pointed at the TV. “I do.”
“Are Theo and Cooper there now?”
He nodded, looking at me like he didn’t know where I was going with this, which made me laugh.
“Well, do you want to go join them?”
His brows drew together. “Doyouwant to go join them?”
Was sitting in a presumably crowded bar with presumably rowdy football fans the way I would have picked to spend my Sunday? No, not exactly. But a bit of normalcy felt nice. Even if it wasn’t my normalcy.
Sully had disrupted his entire life and broken all his routines to stay with me at Maple Street. And it was probably time he started taking some of it back. But I wanted him to know that didn’t mean he had to leave me. I could come with.
“Yes,” I said. “I do.”
“You do?” His disbelief was apparent. But when I continued to give him an assured look, he gave in. “Okay, I’ll let them know to save us a seat.”
“Great,” I said, faking enthusiasm. Sully gave me a side-eye like he knew what I was doing, but he didn’t say anything. “Are you going to bring your underwear to the bar, or are we going to come back for it later?”
He laughed. A genuine Sully laugh.
My pulse tripped over itself.
“We’ll come back for it, El,” he said and then led me back toward his front door, where we slipped on our shoes. “We can always come back.”
And as I walked through the streets of Minneapolis, joining all the women with their yoga mats and couples coming home from the farmer’s market, I realized there was definitely some truth to that.
We can always come back.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
sully
“ELEANOR, THEY’RE TRYING TO get that ball shaped likeHey Arnold’s head past that line on the field,” I whispered, and she shot me an exasperated look, the corner of her mouth twitching.
“Are you forgetting how many football games I’ve been to with you over the years?” she asked.
She should know by now that the answer to that question was always going to be no. I didn’t forget. I didn’t forget anything when it came to her.
“Areyouforgetting how you’d play games on your phone the entire time?” I lifted a brow, and a breathy laugh left her lips, delighting me. “When’s the last time you watched a game? Or any sporting event, for that matter.”
She shrugged. Glanced away. Her eyes wandered around the North Star, flicking over the seemingly infinite number of mounted TVs and the signature remodeled warehouse vibe of many Minneapolis bars and breweries. This one had exposed brick and exposed beams that made it feel warmer than some, though.
“Last fall sometime.”
“Sometime?”
“When Noah plays at home, I watch.”
“In Boston?”
