Page 3 of Quarterback Sneak

My heart clenches, and I refuse to cry. I told myself I wasn’t going to be one of those crying freshmen. I nod. “Thanks for everything, Mom.” I mean those words with every part of my being.

“Oh, of course, Sweetheart.” She grabs both of my arms. “Don’t forget that you are strong, my Evie. You can do anything you set your heart to. You’ve got this.”

I swallow hard as I hug her. “I’m going to miss you, Mom.”

Her hands tighten on my back. “Oh, Baby. I know. I’m going to miss you too.”

We hug for an extra moment, and I try not to let my emotions take over. I step back and keep my gaze on her as she wipes her eyes. “Are you going to be okay?”

She waves off my concern. “Oh, you know me. I always land on my feet.” She gives me a brave smile, and my heart aches. We’ve had a tough go of it over the last few years, but we’vealways had each other. Now, we won’t have that. Before emotion threatens to consume me, I force a smile.

“You’re my hero, Mom.”

She smiles through her tears. “And you’re mine. Now, don’t forget to call me once in a while.”

“I won’t.”

“I love you, Evie.”

I swallow. “I love you too, Mom.” She gets in the truck and closes the door. She starts it up, and I wince at the harsh sound of it. The window’s already down, so we can still talk to each other. “Be safe driving back...to Uncle Mick’s.” I catch myself before I say the wordhomebecause there is no more home. There’s just Uncle Mick’s now; our home is now about two thousand miles away. I know; I looked it up.

Her smile falters for just a moment before she turns it up. “I will.”

“Let me know when you get back to Uncle Mick’s,” I add, still not sure if this truck is going to make it.

Her eyebrows raise. “Who’s the parent here?”

I smile and shake my head. “Bye, Mom.”

“Bye, Sweetie.”

She waves one last time as she pulls away. I wave back and watch her drive away. Only when her truck is out of sight do I turn back to my dorm. The dorm looms in front of me, reminding me that this is my new life now, whether I’m ready for it or not. “All right, Florida Maritime University, let’s do this.”

Chapter 2

Evie

When I finally make it to my room, after avoiding the obstacle course in the hallway, I stare at my bed for just a moment before I get to work. I’ve just finished with the last of my unpacking when my roommate returns from wherever it was she disappeared to. “It looks much better in here.”

I look around the room, feeling much better about it than I did when I first started. “Yeah.”

“You don’t waste any time, do you?” she asks, plopping down on her bed. She must notice my blank look. “Mr. Hottie that was in here earlier?”

“Oh, I just ran into him on the way in here.”

“Suuure.”

Her knowing smile makes me frown. “No, I literally ran into him on the way with my box. He was just being nice.”

“Uh huh.” She doesn’t sound too convinced, but it’s not my job to convince her. She’ll move on from it soon enough. I literally don’t even know the guy’s name.

I finish making my bed and step back to admire my handiwork. Just seeing my bedding on the bed makes it feel more like I belong. I snag my wallet and phone. Sam doesn’t look up from her phone when she asks, “Where are you going?”

I grab my packet I picked up when I registered. “I’m going to walk the campus and figure out where everything is at.”

Her eyes leave her phone at that and meet mine. “Why?”

I shrug. “I just want to know where everything is, so I know where to go my first day of classes.” I don’t wait to see her response; it doesn’t matter. This is what I’m doing. I don’t knowwhere anything is, and I’m not going to get lost on my first day and end up missing my classes. “See you later.” I head out into the hallway and let the door close behind me, but it doesn’t close all the way because my roommate grabs it. I look at her in question.