Chapter 30
Lacey
“ S low down, will you? I almost body-slammed that girl,” Sierra complains as I forge ahead, dragging her through the crowd on our way toward the school gym.
“You were the one who convinced me to come, remember?” I point out, stopping for a bit to try and see above the crowd. The place is packed. It’ll be a miracle if we manage to find seats.
“Yeah, but I didn’t think we’d be running the whole time. How much cardio do you think I have?”
“We need to hurry if I want to talk to him before the game,” I argue.
Sierra huffs and puffs. “Fine, but if I’m all sweaty and gross during your happy reunion, it’s on you.”
I let out a sigh, my line of vision obstructed by the six-foot-something stranger in front of me, and I lean to the side to get an idea of how long it should take us to get inside. I can see the entrance of the school stadium over the sea of heads, but the group in front of us is walking super slow, and my intrusive thoughts are begging me to scream “Move” at the top of my lungs.
We’re not going to make it in time.
I can forget about the fairy-tale scene I dreamed up on my way here. Fat chance I’ll be able to get TJ alone until after the game.
“Excuse me. We’re in a hurry,” I tell the people in front of us before slipping between them to carve a path toward the door.
“Lacey?” a familiar voice calls behind me just as I begin to taste victory. I spin to see Finn, Chance, and Bethany eyeing me, all holding snacks and drinks from the concession stands.
“I thought you weren’t coming?” Finn asks.
“I know. I didn’t think I was until a half hour ago,” I explain.
“The girls were bummed about it. They’re going to be thrilled you’re here,” Finn says.
“And I’ll take all the allies I can get. I cannot be the only girl present who doesn’t know shit about basketball,” Bethany chimes.
I laugh and give her a quick hug.
“Hi, I’m Beth. I don’t think we’ve met,” Bethany says to my sister.
Sierra gives her a smile. “Sierra, Lacey’s sister.”
I exhale a sharp breath, craning my neck to see above the crowd as I shift my weight from one leg to the other.
“Is this your first time coming to a game?” Beth asks.
Sierra answers, but I don’t pay attention to a word coming out of her mouth.
Great, now they’re making small talk.
We don’t have time for this.
I grab Sierra’s forearm. “Hate to interrupt, but we’ve got to get going.”
“Will you relax? You’re giving me anxiety,” Sierra scolds me. “Don’t mind her. She’s hoping to talk to TJ before the game, and it’s making her all neurotic.”
A big smile spreads across Chance’s face as soon as Sierra says TJ’s name.
“Really? And what could you possibly have to tell him?” Chance teases.
My cheeks turn scarlet. “Oh, shut up. Do you know how I can get into the players’ locker room?”
“Sorry to burst your bubble, but that’s a no-go. All doors are locked. Game starts in five minutes,” Chance says.
Goddamn it.
“Why don’t you guys just come with us to find the girls? You can talk to him after,” Finn suggests.
Disappointment must be written all over my face because Chance puts a hand on my shoulder to cheer me up. “Don’t worry, I’m pretty sure he’ll still be out-of-his-fucking-mind in love with you after the game.”
Somehow, his words make me feel better.
Because it means I don’t have to worry about him not saying it back.
I love him.
He loves me.
It’s just a shame the whole goddamn world knew about it before we did.
“I’m so glad you changed your mind,” Dia says for possibly the twentieth time since we joined her and Aveena in the stands. “I’m sorry, I know I’m a broken record, but it’s just so romantic. You showing up to get your man back.”
I laugh. “Except I actually haven’t gotten him back yet.”
“Yes, but you will. We all know it,” Aveena states.
“You don’t know that. He could’ve changed his mind,” I counter.
This whole “everybody knows you’re mad about each other” thing is really getting my hopes up. I don’t want to be disappointed if, for some reason, TJ shuts me down.
“Right. And when do you think he would’ve changed his mind, exactly? Before or after he delivered you that ridiculously romantic letter along with Dad’s mug?” Sierra mocks me.
I scoff. “Okay, I hear you. I’m just saying, people change their minds sometimes. It happens.”
“Yeah, but not TJ. And not about you,” Dia protests.
I’m about to declare defeat and tell them to stop berating me when the arena lights dim and then begin to flicker, informing us that the game is starting.
The crowd goes wild at the same time the music in the arena gets louder, energizing every basketball fan present, and the team runs out onto the court to a chorus of cheers and chants.
They begin to introduce the players one by one, and we make sure to express our support—and by that, I mean we make sure to severely strain our vocal cords—when Theo, Xavier, and TJ are mentioned.
Chance, Finn, Bethany, Aveena, Dia, and I are so loud when our friends’ names get called that the guys notice us right away.
We’re seated in the student area, so close to the action that I’m convinced they can make out our faces from where they are, an assumption that’s proven true when TJ’s eyes lock on to mine.
Holy shit.
He saw me. His eyebrows shoot up, surprise etched across his beautiful face.
What do I do?
For all he knows, I’m just here because the girls dragged me against my will. He has no idea I came to put the past behind us.
So, I do the only thing I can think of.
I give him a timid smile and a wave.
Shocked is the only way to describe the look on his face at my friendly gesture.
Then he smiles back.
His focus is ripped off me when they finish introducing the players and the national anthem begins to play.
Our interaction might’ve been incredibly brief, but it doesn’t get past the girls. Dia, Sierra, and Aveena all glance in my direction, making eyes and funny faces at me—Sierra even makes smooching sounds to tease me, but I’m too busy trying to calm my racing heart to give her a reaction.
We’re not out of the woods just yet.
But we’re a hell of a lot closer to our happy ending than we were yesterday.
TJ
My mom always used to say that if the thing you were doing was meant for you, it wouldn’t feel like work.
It didn’t make sense to me until the day I stepped foot onto the basketball court.
And that’s not to say that playing to go pro is a piece of cake. I’ve had my bad days and just as many struggles as the next guy, but when it comes down to it?
Time slips away when I’m out there with my team.
Whenever I play a game, my mind travels to a world in which nothing else matters. Then, the next thing I know, the gym clock’s going off, and we’re all going home.
It’s the way it’s always been.
Until now.
This game has been, by far, the longest fucking game of my entire life.
And it’s all because of her.
Because she smiled at me.
Oh, and she waved—let’s not forget the wave.
Fuck, I’m so pathetic.
What did that smile mean? I’ve asked myself that question for the past two hours.
It fucked with my head all first half. Knowing she was there, watching me play for the first time. I played like shit, missed easy shots, and Coach didn’t hesitate to rip me a new one over it during halftime.
Thankfully, I managed to get my shit together for the second half. I passed the ball to Theo, and he scored the winning shot. Still, she was never far from my mind.
It’s the way she looked at me. She didn’t seem mad. Or like she hated me. There was no disappointment in her eyes. No resentment.
I’m not going to lie. I was hoping dropping off that fixed mug and letter at her house would earn me some points, but I wasn’t cocky enough to think it would get me my girl back.
God, is that why she’s here?
To forgive me?
My heart’s been pounding in my chest like a fucking drum since the game ended an hour ago. What if I’ve got it all wrong?
What if her waving and smiling was just her way of being friendly? What if she was just telling me that even though we didn’t work out, there’s no bad blood?
I took my sweet time showering, scared half to death that she wouldn’t be there when I stepped out of the locker room, but I can’t very well stay here forever. Plus, I’m starving because I was too nervous to eat after I left that package on Lacey’s porch.
I check my phone as I’m walking out of the locker room with my gym bag dangling down my shoulder.
I have two texts from Chance.
Chance
Hello??? What’s taking so fucking long?
Chance
I promise you that shower wank isn’t nearly as good as what’s waiting for you out here.
What does that mean? I’m about to text back and ask him when I turn the corner and spot my friends waiting by the designated area for family and friends.
The first person I see is Lacey’s friend Dia. She and Finn are congratulating Xavier, who scored most of the game’s shots, as always. His girlfriend, Aveena, has her arm looped with his. Then I see Chance, Bethany, and Theo talking by the water fountain.
No sign of Lacey.
My heart sinks like a rock.
“Are you a basketball hoop? Because I’m trying to shoot my shot with you.”
I stop dead, her voice leaving me breathless. I spin so fast I get a little light-headed. I blink at her for a few seconds, as though I’m not entirely sure if she’s real and not a mirage.
She lets out a nervous chuckle when she takes a look at my face. “You caught me. I totally just looked up pickup lines to tell a basketball player .”
I’m stunned, just staring at her in disbelief.
My silence seems to worry her because she clears her throat. “Wow, that was super cheesy, I’m sorry. It sounded a lot funnier in my head.”
Just fucking speak, TJ.
She swallows hard. “I… You’re probably wondering what I’m doing here. I didn’t mean to intrude, but the guys said it was okay if I tagged along to see you after the game, and I… I just wanted to talk to you about your letter.”
She’s so pretty. Jesus. She’s wearing that sundress I love. The one I nearly tore to pieces that time we hooked up in the tool shed.
“Look, I know things have been messy lately, but I’ve been thinking, maybe that’s just life. Maybe being messy isn’t a big deal as long as we’re willing to clean up the mess together, you know? And yeah, it won’t be easy, but I don’t mind working on this because I think we’re worth it. And a little mess never hurt anyone. Well, technically, I have no idea if that’s true; for all I know, messes do hurt people, but you get what I’m saying. I want to make this work, TJ. I want your mess to be my mess and for our messes to combine and then?—”
“Lacey?” I breathe out.
“Yeah?”
My grin deepens. “You’re rambling.”
“I know, I’m sorry, it’s just?—”
“I love you,” I cut her off.
That ends her rambling in no time.
“I… I love you, too,” she chokes out.
“Good. Then it’s settled.”
My next move is a no-brainer. I don’t give her a chance to overthink this, wrapping my arm around her waist and pulling her close. Her entire body unwinds from the moment I seal her lips with mine, claiming her mouth for the first time in what feels like an eternity.
It takes her a few seconds to respond to my kiss, but as soon as she’s regained control of her body, she opens her mouth, allowing my tongue to find hers.
Our friends start cheering in the back, but we’re too wrapped up in the moment to acknowledge them. Lacey grips the fabric of my jacket into her fist, anchoring me into place as I pull her in even closer and kiss her until my lungs are begging for oxygen.
We only stop when it becomes clear we’re headed for suffocation, but we don’t separate right away, staring at each other like we’re the only two people here.
“What is?” she whispers once she’s caught her breath.
I run my thumb across her cheek. “What is what?”
She chuckles. “You said it’s settled. Before you kissed me. What’s settled?”
“That you’re my girlfriend. And I’m your boyfriend. Although, you should know there will be no backsies this time. Once you say yes, your fine ass isn’t walking out of my life ever again.”
Her smile feels like home.
What I wouldn’t fucking do for that smile.
“So, what do you say, rich girl? You okay with that?” I ask.
She pauses, pretending like she needs time to think it through. Then she marks the beginning of a very messy, but beautiful story with one sentence.
“I’m okay with that.”
Lacey
If you were to ask me what a perfect morning looks like to me, I’d talk about this moment.
Right now.
It has all the elements to make waking up at the crack of dawn to go serve coffee at minimum wage a slightly less shitty experience.
With sunrays filtering through my curtains, birds singing outside my window, my boyfriend lying in my bed with his arm wrapped around me, what else could a girl ask for?
Nothing.
This is perfection right here.
I try to reach for my phone, which is going off on my nightstand, but TJ doesn’t budge, still holding me tightly against him. I struggle to free myself from his embrace, and I can tell from the small smile forming at the corners of his mouth that he’s enjoying it.
I can’t contain my laughter. “Babe, I need to turn off the alarm. Let go!”
“If I let go, you’re going to get up and start getting ready, so that’s a no from me.”
“I’ll stay and cuddle for an extra five minutes before I start getting ready, how’s that?”
He cracks one eye open, that gorgeous smile still dancing on his lips as he considers his options. “Ten. And we shower together.”
“Ten minutes, and we shower together, but we only shower because I can’t be late to work again,” I counter.
He pouts. “Not even a quickie?”
He has no idea how much I’d like that, but our morning showers have made me late to work twice since we officially got back together, and I’m not trying to get fired. I need this job, as tedious as it might be.
“I really can’t, but I get off work at five. Then we don’t have to be at Theo’s party until eight thirty. We’ll have time then.”
TJ groans, releasing me as he rolls onto his back. “Can’t. I promised the guys I’d hang out with them until the party. They’ve got a bunch of stupid shit planned for Theo’s birthday.”
I grab my phone off the nightstand and silence the blaring alarm before it drives us bonkers. “Then you can do all sorts of nasty things to me after the party.”
His smile grows. “I’ll hold you to that. Now, get back here and give me those cuddles.”
I check the time on my phone. All that arguing has cost us three minutes of cuddling time.
“I—”
I’m interrupted by yet another alarm, but this one is different, damn near deafening.
The fire alarm.
What the…
“Shit,” TJ mumbles under his breath.
We lock eyes, sharing the exact same train of thought, and both say, “ Kids ,” in unison. I barely have time to climb out of bed before TJ’s leaping to his feet and running out the door. Good thing he was wearing sweatpants. He usually sleeps naked.
“What the hell is going on?” I hear him ask right as I’m turning the corner and following him into the kitchen.
The room is choked with thick smoke when I come in, and I whisk my head back to find my brother standing on top of a chair, waving a rag next to the fire alarm, while Kelsea and Sierra are arguing by the stove and a pan containing a burnt-to-the-crisp sandwich—which I think was meant to be a grilled cheese.
And this , ladies and gentlemen, is why we can’t leave these kids alone for a damn minute.
“I’m sorry, we didn’t mean to! We were just so hungry, and then we got distracted,” Sierra blurts out as soon as she sees us.
Remember when I said this had all the elements of a perfect morning?
I take it back.
I can’t stop myself from smiling, finding a bit of humor in this total shitshow. “It’s fine, we’ll take care of it.”
TJ goes straight to Oli and asks for the rag before taking his place on top of the chair and instructing him to open the window and air out the kitchen. TJ gets the fire alarm to stop drilling into our ears in no time, and I make a beeline for the girls, asking them to step aside so I can get rid of the culinary casualty that was once a sandwich.
“Crisis averted,” I say as I’m taking the pan to the trash to get rid of the evidence. “Let’s try this again, shall we?”
“We’re so sorry. Please let us keep having sleepovers,” Sierra begs.
Like we could keep these girls away from each other if we wanted to.
“It’s okay, but next time you get hungry, could you try not starting a fire? Ask us and we’ll do the cooking,” I tease.
Oli scoffs. “Please, you two are way too busy doing the nasty all the time. The bathroom’s closest to my room. Just so you know, that shower isn’t soundproof.”
My jaw nearly crashes to the ground.
Kill. Me. Now.
All I want to do when he tells me that is dig a hole, crawl inside it, and die. As for TJ, he doesn’t even flinch, cool as a cucumber.
TJ scoffs. “Well, looks like we’re getting you some noise-canceling headphones for Christmas.”
I can’t even look at my brother as I say, “I’m so sorry, Oli.”
Oli smiles and pats me on the shoulder. “It’s fine. I’m happy for you, sis. But I’m going to need those headphones sooner than later. Either that or wait until we leave for school to bump uglies.”
“Better idea, wait until we leave for college,” Sierra chimes.
TJ makes a face at her suggestion. “So, Oli, what color do you want those headphones?”
Oli laughs, obviously convinced that TJ’s kidding, but the next thing he knows, TJ’s going back into our room to grab his phone.
“By the way, we’re happy for you, too,” Sierra says when I get another pan out of the cupboard to cook them breakfast.
“Just imagine, if these two get married, we’ll become family,” Kelsea squeals.
Sierra’s face lights up. “Oh my God, that’s right. Then we’ll all be related in this marriage.”
Oli crinkles his nose in disgust. “Yeah, okay, this is starting to sound a little too much like incest.”
“No incest talk over breakfast, thank you,” I cut in.
“Good news, man. I found headphones that’ll let you sleep through a hurricane,” TJ tells Oli.
How we just went from talking about us getting married, to incest, to buying my brother headphones in a matter of seconds? I’ll never understand.
I laugh. “Is this what our lives are going to be like now? Pure chaos?”
TJ flashes a heart-stopping smile before coming up behind me and knotting his arms around my waist. “Damn right. Better get used to it, rich girl.”
And for the first time since he started calling me that, rich girl is an accurate nickname.
I am rich.
Just not in the way most people expect.
We all know an annoying couple that can’t seem to say goodbye.
That couple spends forever hugging and kissing by the door, acting like this is the last time they’re ever going to see each other, even though they’re only going to be apart for a few hours.
I used to hate that couple.
Until I started dating the one guy who makes me want to linger at the door.
TJ and I have been kissing and hugging on my porch for over ten minutes. In our defense, we’ve barely had a second to ourselves since we finished eating breakfast.
We did the dishes, had a family-friendly shower—I wasn’t trying to traumatize my brother any more than I already have—and the next thing we knew, Mrs. Harrison was showing up to watch my siblings. I have to leave for work soon.
TJ also has to go meet the guys at Theo’s place, but we can’t seem to part ways.
I peck my boyfriend’s lips. “Okay, now I really have to go, or I’m going to be late.”
TJ doesn’t release me right away, pulling me closer and pressing a kiss on my forehead. “Fine, gomake that bread. I’ll see you at Theo’s party.”
I still can’t believe Ashley, Theo’s girlfriend—they made it official a few days ago—rented out a nightclub for Theo’s birthday. Perks of being a world-famous pop star, I guess.
Aside from our friend group, only guys from the basketball team and their girlfriends are invited.
What’s even crazier is that Ashley won’t be able to get back in town until much later tonight due to her hectic schedule. Her flight’s expected to land at around eleven, which means she’ll be showing up at around midnight and only attending a small portion of the party she’s paying for.
Aveena said it was just like Ashley to go all out for the people she loves. Rumor has it Theo fought her over it, saying he didn’t need a fancy party, but she was like a dog with a bone.
I’m already jogging down the porch stairs when TJ says, “I love you.”
I cast a glance in his direction over my shoulder. “I love you, too.”
I thought I was happy the first time I got with TJ. But this? Knowing there are no more secrets to tear us apart? It makes the experience ten times more beautiful. This feels like a permanent love. So strong and pure nothing could destroy it.
I drop into the driver’s seat of my car and quickly back out of my driveway. By some miracle, I get to work two whole minutes before the start of my shift.
I’m rushing toward the café when my phone pings with a text. At first, I assume it’s my boss texting to ask me where I am, but the unknown number on my screen suggests otherwise.
Unknown Number
I haven’t forgotten, little girl.
Weird.
Must be a wrong number.
I type a reply as I walk.
Lacey
I think you have the wrong person.
With that, I put my phone on silent and shove it into my back pocket. It’s no big deal. Just a wrong number.
So then…
Why do I have this nagging feeling brewing in the pit of my stomach?