Chapter 38 Maverick
maverick
The common room isn’t as busy as it usually is this time of day. I make my way through the room, stopping just behind William’s chair when I catch Rosie rolling her eyes.
“Of course, you don’t understand. You’re an old man.”
“Ay, ease up on my guy here, Rosie.” I smile at the older woman, patting William's shoulder.
“What are you doing here?” she asks, looking startled to see me.
“It’s Friday,” I say, looking down at my watch, feeling confused. “I’m always here at this time on Friday.”
The wrinkles on her forehead deepen as she looks around.
“You feeling alright, Rosie?” I ask, stepping up beside her.
She blinks once and then smiles up at me. “I took too many naps over the last few days, and now I can’t keep my days straight.” She laughs, reaching for the walker beside her.
I grab it, placing a hand on her back, helping her stand from the chair. “Is this yours?”
She covers her mouth with one hand, flicking the other one at me while she lets out a cough.
“Sorry about that.” She wipes her eyes with the little purple handkerchief in her hand.
“I’m getting over a nasty little cold and still not feeling my strongest.” She grips the handles with both hands.
“Now I’m stuck with this stupid thing,” she grumbles, and I’m pretty sure if she had the strength to kick the walker across the room she would have.
“This?!” I gesture to her. “Nah, Rosie. This is cool.”
She rolls her eyes at me and I know I’ve got her.
“Everyone here is absolutely jealous of this ride.”
“You’re a fool, kid.”
I wink at her, and she can’t help but smile as she pats me on the chest once, and then pushes herself out of the room.
The chair she was sitting in is still warm when I sit down across from William who’s also looking a little different today.
“How was your week, Willie?” I swipe a deck of cards off the coffee table between us and begin shuffling.
“Uneventful.”
He’s not sad about it, but something about being busy the last few days and not getting to visit at my normal times, plagues me with guilt.
“You wanna play a game?” he asks, pointing at the cards in my hands.
I look down at my lap and then back to him, finally realizing what’s off.
“Where’s your book?”
He opens his mouth, his eyebrows furrowing slightly. “I lost my glasses,” he grumbles, patting his leg.
“There on your head, silly.”
He shakes his head, closing his eyes. “No. No. Those are my regular glasses. I lost my reading glasses.”
“Maybe if you put your regular glasses on, you’d be able to find your reading ones.”
He laughs. “Maybe. So, you want to play some poker or what?”
I flush the cards in my hand, watching William who won’t look at me now. I wonder if he’s embarrassed to admit he lost them. I lean forward, about to get up and move to the playing table, when I spot the spine of his book tucked between him and the armchair.
I drop the deck on the table and stand. “You know, I’ve been thinking about how that story you’ve been reading was going to end.” I nod my head toward his seat, and he shifts like he’s just now remembered it was there. “I could read it to you and we could find out together.”
He pulls the book out, holding it in his hands, and then looks up at me. “I thought you said you didn’t read?”
“Yeah.” I pocket my hands, and shrug my shoulders. “What I meant was, I only read with my friends.”
His lip trembles as he fights the curve of his smile. I nod toward the door, help him up, and take him outside to a bench with the view of the hills.
One hour and two wrong murder accusations later, Monica finds William and me outside.
“I should probably be concerned with how warm it is for this time of year, but I’ll take it.” She squints against the sunlight as she approaches us with a paper in her hand.
“How’s it going, Monica?”
“Pretty good, thanks for asking.” She smiles while handing me the paper she was carrying.
I take it, scanning over the document and all her signatures. Twenty out of twenty hours is circled with a check mark at the bottom.
“Congrats, kid,” William says from beside me.
“William, do you want me to help you back inside?” Monica asks him.
“Oh, we’re not done with our book yet.” I drop the document and hold up the paperback we're reading.
She nods with another smile. “Sounds good. I’ll see you boys inside when you're done.”
I wait until she starts heading back inside before picking up the book again. “Alright. Where were we?”
“Your hours are up, kid.”
“Awe, come on now, Willie. You can’t get rid of me that easily.”
This time when his lips tremble, it’s not because he’s fighting the smile.
I run my finger along the off white page of the small book, looking for the last sentence I read. “Hey, I’ve got another away game tonight, but I’ll be back on Sunday. You still up for that steak?”
“Yeah, kid.” His voice trembles. “I am.”
“Hey, buddy.”
“Sassafras.” I pull my wallet out of my hockey bag, stepping up to the counter. “Can I just get a small black coffee?”
“Are you on your way to the arena? Noah just left.”
“That’s right.” I point a finger at her. “You’re heading out with Chloe this afternoon. How hard will it be for you to not play kissy face for a full twenty-four hours?”
“Probably just as hard as it will be for you,” she throws back at me.
Chloe had to practically shove me out of her apartment this morning. After finally telling her last night that everything I was feeling for her was real, it felt like not even planet Earth could separate us.
We got maybe two hours of sleep before her alarm went off this morning.
When she told me she was going home to have dinner with her parents and that I wouldn’t see her until tomorrow, something in my chest almost resisted the idea.
Part of me wanted to skip class, volunteering, and practice just to stay by her side, just to make sure she was okay.
And even if she wasn’t, I wanted to be there anyway to remind her that she’s better than that interview.
Better than one missed opportunity. Better than anything that ever tried to make her doubt herself.
“Have you talked to her?” I hesitate, not wanting to share anything Chloe wasn’t ready to share yet, but when Savannah’s eyes narrow and her fists clench on top of the counter, I know she told her.
“Not in depth. She said she didn’t get the job, and I said, ‘Whose ass do I need to Tonya Harding?’”
I grin. Not because I think she’s joking, but because I’m grateful to her.
I’ve always liked Savannah. When others said she had a bad attitude, it only fueled me to want to get to know her more.
Partly because I know firsthand that people don’t spend enough time getting to know someone before they label them, and partly because even if her attitude did suck, I kind of like that.
Lucky for everyone, she just so happened to be exactly what my best friend needed, so I’ve always been grateful for her.
But I have a new found respect for her for being what Chloe deserves.
“Well, I don’t know about a baton,” I say, picking up the drink, “but I probably have a crowbar or something if you need.”
“Don’t tease a girl.”
I laugh around the lid of my coffee, nod a quick goodbye, and turn to leave.
When I reach the front, I pull the door open and almost run into the one person I hate more than the person who denied Chloe her internship.
“Nathan.” I dip my chin in greeting but don’t wait for a response.
Unfortunately, the coldness in my voice wasn’t enough to deter the prick. “Hey. How’s Chloe doing?”
It’s not the mention of her name, but rather the level of concern in his voice that makes me stop and face him.
“I heard she didn’t get the TA position.”
“Your concern for her is heartwarming.” I turn around, not bothering to ask how he found out about it, only because I know he wants me to. I’ve been getting baited by people my entire life; I can tell when someone is trying to make me pop off from a mile away.
“If you really cared about her like she so naively thinks you do, you would save her from it happening to her again, and end things with her.”
Cast. Hooked. Caught. His words stop me dead in my tracks.
“You know she didn’t get that position because she’s dating you,” he says to my back. “And she’s not going to get the next position because of her association with you, or the one after that.”
All the blood in my body runs cold.
“You think a professor of the number one university in the state is going to want to work with someone who’s dating the guy that’s had to meet with the dean not once, but twice, for fighting? Get real, Hall.”
My molars grind together, but it’s not because of what he’s saying, but rather because I don’t need to confirm any of it to know that it’s true.
When this relationship was fake, I worried about what people would say about her.
I worried they’d question her judgement, or worse, judge her for giving me a chance.
Somewhere along the way, I stopped caring about the noise, because Chloe never listened when they said those things about me.
She never let it touch her. But I was an idiot for thinking anything about me wouldn’t affect her.
Because this isn’t just talk or a stupid label. This is her life.
“That girl could have everything she wants,” he continues. “And she did have it all when she was with me.”
“She was never with you,” I grit out, finally turning around. “You were selfish. And too fucking stupid to claim her, and now that she’s with me, you’re realizing you let the best girl go and it fucking kills you.”
“Maybe.” His shoulder lifts, carelessly. “But ask yourself this; are you going to be selfish enough to stay with her and continue to ruin her life? And more importantly, do you really think she’s going to want to stay with you when she finds out.”
His thin lips form a straight line, and he keeps his hands in his pockets when he shrugs. He doesn’t wait for a response before heading into the coffee shop, leaving me on the sidewalk that I wish would open up and swallow me whole.
The idea of her with Nathan makes me sick. Fuck, the idea of her with anyone else makes me want to die.
I might hate the guy, but he was right about one thing. Chloe does deserve everything. She deserves the world and more.
That familiar feeling that I wasn’t aware I was carrying anymore begins to snake its way through me, and I know at this very moment, I have never and will never take a harder hit than this one.