Adam
“What’s wrong, Prez?” Bear chides, giving me a cocky grin as he dribbles the basketball. “Tired already?”
I’m bent over, hands on my knees, preparing to guard him again while sweat is pouring off my forehead and dripping from my hair down to the cement.
“Not too tired to block this next shot.”
Bear grins even wider, and then he’s dribbling the ball back and forth, between his legs, around his back before he breaks away and drives toward the basket.
I stay on him the entire time, and when he goes up for the shot — a little jumper not too far from the hoop — I jump with all my might and sling my hand up into the air to block it.
Except I don’t.
And when the ball swishes in the net, Bear hoots and hollers in a victory loop as I stand there staring at the hoop with my hands hanging on my hips.
“Tough luck, kid,” Bear says, ruffling my hair as he passes me.
I shove him off with a laugh. “You have to admit, for someone who’s never played on a team, I didn’t do too bad keeping up.”
“You did alright,” Bear concedes. He jogs to the side of the court, grabbing a water out of the small cooler we brought with us and tossing one to me, too. “Your shooting isn’t half bad. It’s your ball handling and defense skills that need work.”
“Probably too late for me to go pro,” I tease, uncapping the water and taking a healthy swig.
We’re not even out of February yet and Florida is fucking hot again. With only a few whispy clouds in the sky, the sun has been beating down on us for the last hour while we played. I already know I’ll have a gnarly tan line where my basketball shorts hide my hips down to my knees.
And the sock tan. Oof.
Still, with it only being in the low eighties, it’s one of those days you can’t help but take advantage of. Sooner than we think, it’ll be hot enough to fry an egg on this court, and the last thing we’ll want to do is be outside for more than thirty minutes unless it’s at the pool or the beach.
Bear plops down at the edge of the court, balancing his elbows on his knees as he looks around at the other students playing at various hoops. Water in hand, I lower down next to him, taking another swig.
“I feel like I can tell which ones are freshmen just by looking at them,” Bear says, nodding toward one of the smaller groups of guys playing.
“How so?”
“They still have hope in their eyes.”
I chuckle, setting my water aside and leaning back on my palms. “Hard to believe this is our last semester, isn’t it?”
“Impossible.”
“I still remember my orientation.” I chuckle. “My aunt was so worried about me staying on campus for the weekend. She was worried I’d party too much.”
“At least you had someone who gave a shit. My mom was so blazed out of her mind, I don’t even think she realized I was gone until my sophomore year.”
I frown. “How’s that going, her being back in Pitt?”
He shrugs. “Honestly, I haven’t thought much about it since I came back from break.
She was good when I was there, and she and my little brother moved into a little apartment.
I think if there was anything wrong, he’d let me know.
Besides,” he adds, taking a drink of water.
“I’ve had other things occupying my mind. ”
“Job hunting?”
He laughs at that. “I wish it was something that simple.”
I nod. “Ah. Must be a girl, then. I was wondering if you were working off some pent-up aggression on me out there.”
Bear doesn’t say anything, just takes another drink of water.
“You going to tell me who she is?”
“No.”
“Okay,” I laugh. “Want to talk about why she’s driving you mad, then?”
He sighs, shaking his head. “It’s my own damn fault I’m in the situation I’m in. I was too stupid to realize how I felt about her until it was too late.”
“Hmm,” I muse. “I’m very familiar with that predicament.”
Bear tries to smirk, but it falls short. “Did you ever think it would be best to give up?” he asks, looking at me. “Did you ever think to leave Cassie alone, to let her be with Grayson and just trust that you weren’t the one for her?”
I inhale a long breath. “There were times I wondered, times I thought maybe I was causing her more pain than anything else. And sometimes, that was true.” I pause.
“But there was always this… attraction between us. Not just physical, but magnetic, chemical, all-encompassing. I knew when she was in the same room before I even saw her. And whether I was with someone else or she was, it didn’t matter. If she was there, my eyes were on her.”
“Creep.”
“Tell me about it.”
Bear smiles, his eyes drifting across the court again. “I think she’s happy with this guy she’s dating now, but I can’t fight the feeling that he’s wrong for her. I just feel like… like he’s going to hurt her.” He swallows. “And she’s been through a whole lifetime of hurt already.”
“You want to protect her.”
He nods.
“Well, I’ll tell you what I learned the hard way — you can’t. She’s going to make some choices, some mistakes, that will drive you insane to watch. But she has to have the space to make her own decisions, and you have to decide if you want to be there at the end of whatever path she chooses.”
“What if she chooses him?”
“Then you’re her friend.”
“And if I can’t be her friend?”
“Then you should walk away from her now.”
He lets out a long, slow breath. “I don’t like either of those options.”
“So, fight for her.”
“It’s not that easy.”
“It is. Trust me, it really is. You can make every excuse in the book for why you shouldn’t go after her, why you should let her be. But if she’s this ingrained in your thoughts?” I shrug. “You’ll never be able to sleep again until you know you gave your all fighting for her.”
“I think it has to be smoother than that.”
“Oh, I didn’t say you don’t have to play a few games,” I add with a smirk. “If she’s with this guy now, let her be with him. Chances are it’s something she needs. But… be there for her, too. And if you haven’t told her how you feel yet…” I shrug. “Might be time.”
“Ugh.”
I smile.
“I take it from the way you asked if I was worried about job hunting first that you are?”
“Nice subject change,” I tease, but then I sigh, reaching for my water again. “It’s just weird. I knew this day would come, but it always seemed so far off. And now that it’s here…”
“You don’t feel ready.”
“I feel ready for work. But I don’t feel ready to leave Cassie and be in a long-distance relationship after all it took for us to finally be happy together.”
Bear frowns, confused.
“I’m thinking of applying to be a Field Executive for Alpha Sig.”
“Whoa,” Bear says, and then he gives me a genuine smile. “Man, you’d be great at that.”
“That’s what Cassie said, too, but she doesn’t realize that if I get the job, I’ll be sent to whatever university they choose. And out of all the med schools she’s applying to, the closest I’d be to her in the most ideal situation would be two-hundred-and-thirty-five miles.”
Bear whistles.
“Yeah,” I say, grabbing my t-shirt and mopping up the sweat on the back of my neck with it. I let it hang over my shoulders when I’m done. “It just feels stupid, to make a career decision that will take me away from her like that.”
“Hey, listen to me. You and Cassie have been through a lot of shit — much, much worse than this. So what, if you get sent to a university in another state while she’s in med school?
She’ll be in med school, man.” Bear looks at me with wide eyes and arched brows.
“Do you know how busy she’s going to be? ”
I sigh.
“She’s not going to have time to do much else than study, especially once she gets to clinicals.
” Bear shrugs, then. “If anything, this is the perfect timing for you to do this job. You know as well as I do that most Field Executives only hold the position for a few years before they move on. So, go for it. You and Cassie can both focus on yourselves while still being together. And hey, it’ll make it that much more exciting when you get to see her. ”
I chew my cheek on a nod. “You do have a point.”
“Just apply,” he says, clapping me on my shoulder. “And if you get in, then you talk with Cassie and you make a decision together.” He shakes his head as he stands and offers his hand down to me. “Why do you always make things more complicated than they need to be?”
“Oh, and I’m alone in that?” I ask as he helps me stand.
He narrows his eyes. “Shut up.”
I laugh just as he passes me the ball, catching it at my stomach with an oomf.
“Let’s go. First to twenty-one,” Bear calls, and then he’s jogging back to the hoop.
***
Later that night, Cassie is giggling while we watch her favorite show between study sessions.
She’s leaning against the wall with neon-colored cards scattered all over my bed, three different textbooks open, and her hair tied up in a messy bun while I sit against the headboard with my laptop on my thighs.
As I watch her, my stomach twists in warning, heart already aching at the thought of not being this close to her — close enough to walk down the street to her house, close enough to have her in my room every night, close enough to hold her, to touch her, to kiss her, to be there on the bad days and make sure she’s celebrating all the great ones, too.
“You okay, babe?” she asks when she catches me staring at her.
“I love you, Cassie McBee.”
She smiles, leaning over the pile of study papers long enough to press a kiss on my lips. “Love you more, Adam Brooks.”
Then she’s laughing again, and I’m staring at the completed Field Executive application on my laptop, mouse hovering over the send button.