“Maybe we can pick this up again…tomorrow?” I ask.

“Baby, you can count on it,” he says.

“Don’t call me baby,” I smirk, and he kisses me one last time, hard, whispering “Baby,” against my lips with his perfect, self-righteous, I-own-you smile.

When he leaves, I pull my clothes on and flip through channels on the TV. Rowe comes in soon after, and we spend the rest of the night watching bad music videos on MTV and not saying a word. That’s probably for the best, because she looks sad. And all I feel is happy. I wouldn’t be a very good friend if I had to speak tonight.

Happy. Happy. Happy.

Chapter 14

Ty

Her call comes when I least expect it—on my way to the gym, to run Cass through her workouts. It’s a special day. I lined up a visit with the McConnell women’s coach—nothing formal, just a quick meet-and-greet. I still feel like Cass is on the fence about trying out, so I thought this might be just the nudge she needs.

Of course, now my focus is shot to shit.

The last time Kelly called, I sent her a text a few hours later. I didn’t hear back from her again…until now. My phone is vibrating in my hand, and I’m tempted to pretend I don’t feel it—to tuck it back in my pocket until I can lock it away in the gym—and continue to put off whatever is waiting on the other line. But I’m also desperate to know.

So I answer.

“Hey,” I say. We’ve been playing phone tag for weeks; formalities seem forced at this point.

“Hey,” she says back. She sounds tired, and not at all like the person she was pretending to be when she left me those messages.

“Hey,” I say again, finding a shaded area a few yards away from the gym entrance, away from the busy path of students. That old, familiar smile falling into place.

“You said that already,” she laughs. It comes out soft, her voice a little raspy, almost like she’s fighting a cold.

“I know. It’s just weird…talking to you,” I admit. My heart feels heavy. This is why I never called before. I knew it would make me feel bad, would make me…miss her.

“I know whatcha mean,” she says back, so much about the way she speaks is familiar. I miss her. I really fucking miss her.

“How’s Jackson?” I ask, hoping her son is okay, hoping that’s not her big secret. I breathe in relief when she giggles lightly at my question.

“He’s so good,” she says, her pride shining through. I always knew she would be a good mother. She’s made for this.

“Good. I…I can’t wait to meet him,” I say, trying to find a way to broach the topic about Thanksgiving—me visiting, and why she wants me to visit.

“Me, too,” she says, the sudden distance in her voice spurring me to react.

“What’s going on, Kel?” I finally ask, unprepared for the tears that I hear my question trigger. She’s hundreds of miles away and crying, and I can’t help. It hurts that I can’t. She’s trying to muffle the sound, to hold it in. But she just can’t. “Oh, Kel bear…what’s wrong?”

Kelly was my whole entire heart for so long—it’s almost like muscle memory. The need to care for her when she’s hurting—I don’t think that will ever go away.

“It’s Jared,” she says, and I feel my muscles flex, ready to go to war over whatever she says next. “Ty, he used to—”

“Did that son of a bitch hurt you, Kel?” my other hand fisted at my mouth, my teeth biting my knuckles, trying to keep my temper in check.

“No, no…nothing like that. I promise, Ty,” she says.

“Then what is it?” I ask, still suspicious, my mind traveling a million miles per second to all of the worst possibilities—each one ending with my fist in Jared’s face.

“I think he might be using again,” she says, and everything about this conversation takes a U-turn. Using? What the fuck?

“What do you mean?” I ask. I don’t know Jared well. Kelly met him in college. I wasn’t around to get to know him. And maybe that makes it unfair for me to judge him quickly. But I have a feeling my hunch—the one that Jared is an asshole—is about to be confirmed.

“He’s been clean for a long time, since way before I met him. He did drugs when he was in high school. But lately…I don’t know. He seems weird. He doesn’t come home on time, by…like…hours. And there are so many things that seem…I don’t know. Not right? Weird phone calls, strange amounts of money missing from our checking account from cash withdrawals…” she sounds frantic, and I can hear Jackson starting to cry in the background.