Page 14 of All This Time

Patting his shoulder, I say, “I’m sorry. I’ll make it up to you while I’m here, all right? Maybe with some babysitting…”

“So you can teach her more about strippers?” He shakes his head. “Nah, I think I’m good.”

My eyes dart over to Laney—my partner for the next three weeks apparently—who’s standing across the room, laughing at something Dilynne says while Joanne watches Ellis spin in circles.

As if she can sense my staring, Laney looks up and our eyes lock.

Only for a second—but it lands like a punch. And then she looks away, her expression tightening like I’m a bad taste in her mouth.

This woman’s irritation toward me hasn’t diminished at all in the nearly three years since we’ve seen each other. The handful of times I came home since the night everything fell apart were Laney-free. She was always conveniently unavailable, busy or out of town. And while I have a pretty good idea as to why she might wish I would fall off the face of the planet, part of me wonders if there’s anything I can do to make things right.

Because being near her again has my body reacting to her as if I’m seventeen all over again.

I miss the way things used to be between us—the way I felt like I could tell her anything and she wouldn’t judge me, the way Ididtell her things that no one else knew.

I miss our fucking friendship.

I miss the way she used to smile when she saw me instead of these icy glares that she’s downright perfected.

I miss the girl that became the one person I could trust above all others, even more than her own brother and my best fucking friends.

I miss the girl that I grew to want, but knew I could never have.

Chapter 4

Laney

Age Fifteen

Spaghetti and Ice With Friends

“Come on, Bobcats!” I shout, cupping my gloved hands around my mouth, trying to shield the part of my face still exposed to the elements. Even my warmest jacket and beanie aren’t doing much tonight.

Winter has descended upon Blossom Peak a little earlier than usual, which means everyone gathered at the high school tonight to cheer on the varsity football team is freezing their asses off, myself included.

I watch the field, trying to keep my eyes locked on my brother, who plays tight end. But my eyes keep drifting to the boy in the wide receiver position, even though I knowthey shouldn’t.

It’s getting harder and harder to conceal my crush on Fletcher Adams, but I’m still trying everything in my power to keep it to myself—and Dilynne, of course.

The ball is snapped, and Fletcher makes a run for the end zone. As he turns, the football spirals through the air before landing perfectly in his outstretched arms. Fletcher turns to find a defenseman lunging for him, but he blasts to the right to dodge him before gliding across the goal line for a touchdown.

“Yes,” I scream, along with the rest of the home-team crowd.

Dilynne laughs next to me, bumping my shoulder. “Your boy is on fire tonight!”

I roll my eyes at her but don’t say anything.

“If the boys keep playing like this, they’re going to the playoffs,” my father says from beside me, pulling me into his side and rubbing my arm through my jacket. My mother claps wildly beside him in celebration.

The Blossom Peak High School football team hasn’t had many shots at the state championship. When you have a small population, it’s hard to build a solid program from year-to-year. But the new coach has rebuilt the program and created a team that has been smashing the competition all season long.

I guess that’s what can happen when the coach is a former NFL star himself.

Our team punts the ball with only a few minutes left on the clock, and even though Castle High School tries their best, they aren’t able to put more points on the board, sealing the win for Blossom Peak.

After the teams shake hands, people start trickling onto the field, and my parents and I join the crowd to congratulate my brother and his friends.

My father finds Dilynne’s brother, Henley, first and claps a hand on his shoulder. “Great game, son.”