68. Tyrell
TYRELL
I can’t believe it. The second I spotted Dani behind the bar, I thought I was hallucinating. She’s a piece of my past that I never thought I’d encounter again.
When my family left Colorado Springs for Dallas, I planned on never going back.
And I haven’t.
There’s no way I want to set foot in that place again.
But I never expected a piece of it to show up in Nolan.
My heart started hurting the second I recognized her, but then before I could stop myself, I stood and wandered over to the bar.
It might hurt to look, but there’s also a sense of nostalgia that I can’t resist.
Dani Hill.
Damn.
Images from our days in high school flooded me, her smile and laughter filling my mind before I was taken out by thoughts of Atlas .
It nearly made me stumble. Nearly made me turn the hell back around, but my body had other ideas.
So I walked my ass to that bar, and I caught her attention.
And the second she figured out it was me, her face lit with that smile Atlas fell for the first time he met her.
Yeah, I walked through their entire romance.
Those two were made for each other, and my best friend was gone—hook, line, and sinker.
I helped arrange their first date, loaned him my car whenever he wanted to take her out. He even told me he was gonna marry her one day.
And then he died.
My throat swells as she says my name and lets out a delighted laugh.
“Tyrell Jackson? No way!” She rushes down the bar, slapping her hands on the wood. “What are you doing here?”
“What are you doing here?” I point at her.
She tips her head back, laughing some more. “I just moved here in January. New year, fresh start. You know how it is.”
I nod, drinking her in. She’s still pretty. It’s a fucking crime that Atlas isn’t here to enjoy it.
“So…” I lean against the bar, watching her carefully. “You doing okay?”
Her eyes crease at the corners as she shrugs, putting on a brave smile. “How about you?”
“Yeah.” I nod, then lick my bottom lip and swallow. “Nolan’s good. ’Bout to finish my senior year.”
“Congratulations.” Her voice is soft, her gaze dropping to the counter .
I nod, wondering if I should have kept in touch. But she wasn’t my girlfriend. And all the shit surrounding Atlas’s death? It was too much. I just had to get out of there.
“You ever gone back?” she murmurs.
I shake my head. “My family’s in Texas now, so…”
“Okay.” She nods, dipping her chin. “Yeah, I stayed for a while, but you know, he was just everywhere. It didn’t matter how much time passed… I couldn’t dodge the memories.” Her eyes glass, and when she glances up at me, I can feel my heart breaking all over again.
I miss my friend.
I miss him so fucking much.
Sucking in a breath, she’s obviously trying to steel herself as she crosses her arms. “It’s been…”
“Two years, three months, and ten days,” I finish for her, that night burned into my brain for all eternity.
I can still hear her screams as she held Atlas in her arms and begged him to wake up.
His eyes were blank, his face practically gray, and I will never get over that harrowing moment.
She gives me a sad smile and nods. “It’s been really hard to move on, you know?”
“Yeah,” I croak. “I get it.”
“But I have to learn to live without him.” She shrugs. “I’m hoping a change of scenery will help.”
“It will,” I assure her. “I wouldn’t have survived if I hadn’t had this place. I would have… drowned in Colorado Springs. He would have haunted me around every corner. Being up here has helped me… move on.”
Her brown eyes shoot to mine. “Yet you still know exactly how long it’s been since that night. ”
My forehead crinkles, and I’ve got no reply to that. I’ll never forget. I can never forget.
“Hey, Dani! We’ve got people waiting,” a tall guy down the other end of the bar calls. “Can I get a hand down here?”
“Sure thing.” She holds up her finger. “One second.” Her smile is warm as she looks back up at me. “It’s nice to see you again, Ty.”
“Yeah, you, too, Dani.”
My throat is swelling again, and I can’t explain it.
Part of me wants to ask her if she’d like to catch up for coffee sometime, but I don’t know if I can.
Will we just sit there reliving the past? Wallowing in each other’s pain?
It’s taken a lot of work for me to get over losing the guy who was closer than a brother. We grew up together. Best friends since before we could walk.
Losing him gutted me.
And I’ve managed to keep him out of my life in Nolan. When Atlas first died, my teammates knew, but over time, they’ve quickly worked out that he’s not a topic we talk about.
I somehow made it through the end of my sophomore year, and then I helped my family move to Texas.
We spent the summer in Dallas, and for a second there, I wasn’t sure I’d make it back to Nolan.
But then Wily invited me to move into Football Frat, and my parents convinced me it was the right thing to do.
It was.
I came back here, and I let Atlas go.
But now I’m staring down at one of the closest connections I had to him .
She owned my boy’s heart.
And I don’t know if I’m strong enough to let her back into my life.
But I also don’t know if I’m strong enough to ignore the fact that she’s now living in Nolan.
Especially when Dani calls him in tears one night, asking for his help. There's no way Tyrell can turn his back on her, even when he's wrestling with buried grief and the fact that he's starting to catch feelings for his best friend's girl…
THE PERFECT PLAY is releasing December 9th.