Page 123 of The Wrong Game
“No,” I answered, shoving the ticket farther away as if to hammer it home.
“NO?!” Dad and Micah said in unison.
I shook my head, the word reverberating inside it. “What’s the point?” My heart cracked with that question, knowing I couldn’t just sweep in like Bradley Cooper, chase my Jennifer Lawrence and have faith in it all. “Two weeks ago, she told me she didn’t trust me. That didn’t change in the days we’ve been apart. So, if that’s missing, if she doesn’t trust me, what is there to build on? It’s all a game to her.”
Micah opened his mouth to speak, but Dad held up a hand, and he popped it closed again. I waited for him to speak, but he didn’t — not yet. He just let me process.
“She’s been hurt,” I said, voice cracking. “And I understand, because I have, too. Not in the same way, but we’ve all been through things.” I kicked the covers the rest of the way off from where I’d started untangling myself before. “The difference between us, though, is that she doesn’t have it in her to open up again. And she’s right,” I admitted. “I can’t make any promises. Love is fucking scary. One day, I could wake up and we could be miserable together. She could wake up to the same conclusion, too.”
At that, Dad laughed. “Well, yeah, that’s what love is all about. It’s fucking terrifying.”
I gaped at my father, who I was pretty sure hadn’t cursed in all the years I’d been alive.
“What?” He shrugged. “It’s a great word for emphasis, and that sentence needed it. Look, love is like… it’s like hanging off this cliff, right? This ledge. And the only thing preventing you from falling and painting the bottom of the canyon with your intestines is this other person holding your hand. And they can drop you,” he said, holding up his hand as if to demonstrate. “They always have that choice. But it’s youtrustingthem that they won’t. It’s them trusting the same in you. And maybe she doesn’t have all of that trust yet… but, she’s trying to. Her coming here was her way of saying that shewantsto trust you.”
“I disagree.” Micah leaned forward until he could meet my eyes. “All jokes aside, bro… I think her coming here, putting her pride aside like that?” He shook his head. “I think that was her way of saying shedoestrust you — but maybe she was just scared to admit that. I mean, it’s like Dad said, she’s willing to hang off that cliff if you are.” He screwed up his face then. “Or wait, would she be holding you? Or vice versa?”
Dad chuckled. “It’s a metaphor, son.”
“I know, but I don’t understand which is which and who — oh, forget it. You know what I mean.” He thumped me on the chest.
I stared at the ticket, now half-covered by the comforter as my heart started to tick up a notch.
“Everything that feels as amazing as love does?” Dad said, shaking his head. “It comes with risk, Zach. So yeah, if you’re not willing to take some risks, to hang off the ledge with that girl, then don’t go. But if you are, and if she is — which, judging by her being brave enough to come here and ask you to join her at the game, she is — then, who knows.” He clapped my shoulder and squeezed it hard. “Just might be something amazing, something worth fighting for. But you won’t know if you don’t trust it. You won’t know if you don’t try.”
“Jesus,” Micah said, shaking his head as he picked up the ticket. “Now evenIwant to chase after the girl.”
Dad and I both chuckled at that, and Mom wiped away a tear that had fallen down her cheek, her eyes soft and sweet as she looked at my dad first and then me. My heart squeezed at the sight of her crying.
“Mom?” I asked. “Are you okay?”
She nodded, wiping away more tears at my question. “I’m sorry. It’s just… she’s such an amazing woman, and you, my son, are the most incredible man. You deserve to be happy, and so does she.” She shrugged. “I want you to both find that happiness together. But, it’s not up to me. Or your dad, or your brother.”
She paused, taking a big breath as she stood straighter, her mascara stained on her cheeks now.
“The choice is yours,” she said, her eyes finding my dad again, although she spoke right to me. “Hold on, or let her fall.”
With that, Mom crossed the room and leaned over my father to kiss my forehead. She told Micah to go wash up for dinner, and he handed me the ticket before hopping out of the bed.
“Guess it’s your turn to be the crazy guy chasing the crazy girl,” he said.
Mom chuckled, and with my dad’s hand in hers, they left the room next.
Then, it was just me — me and the stupid ticket.
And a choice that I knew I’d already made.
Gemma
The stadium was packed.
It was our second-to-last home game before the regular season was over, and we were playing our biggest rivals — the Green Bay Packers. We’d beat them on their own turf earlier in the season — the same night I’d gone home with Andy thinking I was proving something to Zach.
It seemed a little ironic now, considering that we were playing the same team on the day I’d asked Zach to give me another chance.
But today was a bigger deal. If we beat them today, we were guaranteed a playoff spot.
I bounced in my seat waiting for kickoff, trying my best to keep warm. It was absolutely bone-achingly cold, with the promise of snow being just about all the sports newscasters could talk about. I was bundled in a jacket twice my size, gloves, a snow cap that covered my ears, and a face guard with the Bears logo on it. My feet were bundled up in two pairs of thick socks and my best boots, and I wore long Johns under my jeans.