17. Hadley
Hadley
When I pull up in front of my parents’ house on Saturday, my sister is waiting outside for me. Not a good sign.
“They know,” she says when I step out of the car.
“What?” I ask.
“They. Know. And, before you even think it, I didn’t tell them.” She laughs, but it lacks humor. “I didn’t have to.”
“What does that even mean?” I ask.
Her mouth opens to speak, but before she can get a word out, my mom is out the door and down the steps. “Hadley Elizabeth, what were you thinking?”
I’m genuinely confused. “I don't know what we’re even talking about here.”
“Come inside. You’re making a scene,” my father says, looking out the door.
I glance around the empty street. “There’s literally no one out here,” I say, clearly still too tired after a late night out to figure out what’s happening right now.
“The neighbors,” he says, looking around again before stepping aside so we can all go inside.
“Okay,” I say once we are all inside. “What is going on? Where are Arthur and the girls?” We’d agreed to move dinner to Saturday this week since I’d be attending all the hockey games with Paige, and Game 4 is tomorrow night.
“I had them run to the store for cookies,” Mom says, wringing her hands in her apron.
“You’re stressing me out,” I say, looking from my mom’s panicked face to my dad’s disappointed one.
“Here,” Evy says, passing me a newspaper. An honest to goodness printed newspaper.
“No thanks,” I say. “I’m not in the mood to read the news.”
Evy points at the front page. “Just look, you goof.”
I glance down at the paper in my hands and gasp. There on the front page of the sports section is the picture of Bryce and me after the game last night. I’m looking at him like he hangs the moon, and he’s smiling like he just won the lottery despite his team losing… badly.
“Oh,” I say, plopping down onto the couch.
“Oh?” Mom asks. “Hadley, what’s going on? Who is this boy?”
Dad scoffs. “He’s Bryce Chambers, dear. You read the same article I did.”
Mom rolls her eyes. “I know who he is. I’m asking why our daughter is looking at him like… that.”
I look at the picture again. Anyone who looks at that photo can tell that I have feelings for him. I’m staring at him, a soft smile on my face and my hand on his chest. It’s clear, just by the photo, that we’re more than just friends. The headline doesn’t help, either.
Who is Bryce Chambers' Mystery Woman? runs across the bottom of the photo in bold letters.
Why didn’t I see this coming?
Oh yeah, I was caught up in the moment. That’s why. When I’m with him, it’s like the entire world disappears and it’s just us.
“Well, his name is Bryce Chambers. He plays hockey.” I hesitate. “And, he’s my boyfriend.”
Mom gasps. “Hadley! Your boyfriend? I didn’t even know you knew a hockey player.” Hurt colors her voice and makes my stomach burn with shame.
“It’s new,” I offer weakly.
Dad shakes his head. “Why didn’t you tell us?”
I… How do I tell my parents I was afraid of their judgment? That I was too scared to admit my feelings? “I don’t know,” I say, choosing the easy way out.
“You two aren’t exactly the most positive about sports stars,” Evy says, helping me out. “I’m not surprised she wanted to keep this to herself for a while.”
“What?” Mom asks. “We are very positive people, Evy.”
“Positive that these players have more money than sense,” Dad mutters under his breath.
“That,” Evy says. “That’s what I’m talking about.”
“Well, they’re always in the news for terrible things. Or, with a different woman on their arm every week.” Mom steps closer to Dad. “How do you know you’re not just some fling?” she asks me.
How do I know? He’s only in town a little while longer. Then he’s back to Colorado, where he lives. He has a whole life ahead of him. It’s been too easy to pretend ?that reality doesn’t exist.
“I guess I just have to trust him,” I say, remembering the promise I made to myself to stop sabotaging my happiness. Bryce doesn’t treat me like a fling. He treats me like I matter. Like I’m important to him.
“She met his sister,” Evy says. “I doubt he’d introduce a fling to his family.”
Mom gasps, tears filling her eyes. “You knew? You knew about this and didn’t tell us?”
Evy shrugs. “It wasn’t my story to tell,” she says.
I smile weakly at her and make a mental note to send her a gift card to stock her e-reader. Right now, I feel a little bad for Paige. There’s no one on her side when her parents back her into a corner. “Thank you,” I whisper. Evy’s small nod is the only indication that she even heard me.
Mom sits on the edge of her favorite chair. “I just don’t understand. I thought you’d bring home a politician or an academic. I never imagined you would date a professional athlete.”
“To be fair, when you think of DC you don’t generally think of sports,” I say, trying to ease some of the tension in the room.
Evy chuckles. “You could say that again.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you guys sooner.
Like I said, it’s new. Until Thursday night, we were just getting to know each other.
I was trying to decide if I wanted to take a chance.
” I rub my sweaty hands on my jeans. Why do I feel like I’m a teenager again, trying to defend my choice to try out for cheerleading instead of debate club?
“It says in the paper he plays in Denver,” Dad says. “How’s that going to work?”
“We haven’t gotten that far,” I admit. Though I suppose that is something we are going to have to discuss at some point.
Mom lets out a shaky breath. “You’re not seriously thinking of moving?” she asks. “You barely even know him.”
“I’ve known him for a few weeks now. We talk every day, and we’ve been taking our time getting to know each other. I’m not planning to move. At least not anytime soon.”
Dad looks away, his jaw flexing and relaxing.
“You care for him?” Mom asks.
I swallow the lump in my throat. “I do.”
“And you think he cares for you?” Dad asks, his voice tight.
“I do. He makes me feel like I’m the only one in the room.
Like I’m the most interesting person he’s ever met.
He’s kind, funny, protective without being overbearing.
.. He makes me feel seen,” I admit softly.
“Like who I am is enough for him. I think…” My voice breaks, so I clear my throat and try again. “I think I’m falling in love with him.”
Mom’s face softens, and her hands relax on her lap. “Hadley, we love you. We want you to be happy. We just don’t want someone hurting you,” she finishes quietly.
Dad looks at me, then; his gaze penetrating, as if he can see through my skull into my brain and determine what I’m thinking. It’s unnerving. “When do we get to meet him?” he asks finally.
My sister claps her hands. “See, I told you it would be fine.”
I look over at Mom who’s still dabbing tears from the corners of her eyes. It might not be fine yet, but I think it will be.
“I’m not sure,” I say. “His schedule is crazy right now with the tournament.”
Dad nods. “But he’s making time for you?”
I nod. “He is.”
Mom stands and moves to sit beside me on the couch. “Imagine my shock when I picked up your father’s paper this morning and saw my daughter smiling from the front page.” She pats my hand. “I’m sorry you felt like you couldn’t tell us about him.”
“It’s not that I couldn’t. I just wasn’t ready,” I say.
She glances at my sister, clearly thinking I was ready to tell her.
“It was too new. I wasn’t sure he was even worth mentioning.” I glance back down at the paper.
There’s no hiding anymore.
Not from my family. Not from the public.
And definitely not from myself.
By the time I pull into the parking lot of my apartment complex, I’m completely exhausted.
I park the car and drop my head on the steering wheel.
A hot shower, a cup of tea, and my softest pajamas are calling my name.
I’m unlocking my front door when my phone rings.
I get inside, close and lock the door, and dig my phone out of my purse.
Just in time to see I missed a call from Bryce.
Shower and tea first, I decide.
Thirty minutes later, I’m wrapped in a blanket on the couch, sipping chamomile tea, and finally ready to call Bryce back.
I pull up his name in my contacts and hit call.
“Hey, there you are,” he says, his voice warm and soothing in a way the tea isn’t.
“Hey,” I say. “Sorry, I needed a shower.”
Bryce chuckles. “No worries. How was dinner with your family?”
I sigh deeply. “It started off with a bang,” I say before recounting the encounter.
“I’m sorry that happened,” Bryce says. “Are you okay?”
I pause, something in his tone catching my attention. It sounds like he’s asking about more than dinner. More than the confrontation. Like he’s making sure I’m okay with things going public.
“Yeah, I am.” He makes a small sound on the other end of the line that sounds an awful lot like relief. “Though, my parents are insisting they meet you. Soon.”
He laughs. “I wouldn’t expect anything else. Obviously you care about them, and they care about you.”
He’s right. They do care. I haven’t always felt like I measured up quite like Evy. She always did the ‘right’ thing. Never rocked the boat. Married the investment banker.
Though to be fair, she and Arthur are a perfect match and love each other deeply.
“They’re kind of a lot. They aren’t sports people, so they don’t really understand your world.” I don’t either, but I’m learning.
“You met my sister and brother-in-law…” he says. “They can’t be worse than that.”
“Your family is great,” I say, remembering how warm Lacey was when I met her. “My family is more… reserved.”
Bryce’s voice is softer when he responds. “Hadley, it’s going to be okay. I care about you. They care about you. We already have something in common.”
“Oh,” I breathe out.
“Besides,” he says, back to his usual joking self. “I’m sure I can turn your family into hockey fans before long.”
And just like that, some of the tension I’d been carrying since arriving at my parents' house loosens. I don’t know how Bryce seems to always know what I need.
It’s wonderful.
And also a little terrifying.
Because no matter how complicated this is becoming…
Bryce still feels like an easy choice.