COLTON

“GREAT GAME, FOWLS,” MY buddy Jason said, clapping me on the back of the shoulder on the way to his locker.

“Thanks, man, you too.” We’d just won our last game until after Thanksgiving, which was in just three days, and the reality of being away from my family was really sinking in as all of my teammates discussed their travel plans, most of them leaving tonight.

After reading Alex’s text last week, I’d really started to feel bad about the lie I told my parents. I couldn’t use school or ball as an excuse. At the time, it seemed the only way to get out of spending the holiday at the same table with Alex and Dean was to make other plans. As far as Mom and Dad knew, I was spending Thanksgiving with a girl I’d been dating named Madison at her parents’ house.

But there was no Madison, and I was really spending it home alone, which I was okay with, before that damn text. I knew Alex wouldn’t have messaged me if Mom wasn’t really having a hard time with this. She’d acted fine with it on the phone, but knowing that I was hurting her had me almost ready to hop on a plane. Almost.

You see, there was still the issue of Alex. It may have seemed petty, but I couldn’t go back and pretend that nothing had happened. That she hadn’t ripped my fucking heart out when she left my bed and went running back to his. I was in love with her to the point that it was making me crazy, and I didn’t know how to deal with it. So, I chose not to deal with it at all.

As I was shoving the last of my things into my duffle bag, my phone started to ring. When I saw the name that was lighting up the screen, my heart dropped to the floor.

Mr. Mack hadn’t called my phone since I was still living with my parents, and only ever to get in touch with Alex when we were out together. Something had to be wrong.

“Hello?”

“Long time no see, son.”

I cleared my throat. “Uh, yeah. How’s it going, Mr. Mack?”

“Not too great actually, but that’s nothing for you to be concerned with just yet.”

“Okay.” I laughed, nervously. “What can I do for you, sir?”

“You can stop making my baby cry, Colton, and get your stubborn ass on a plane in...uhhh, three hours.”

“Uh, I—” What the hell was he talking about?

“I know about you and Allie, Colton.”

“Shit.”

“Listen, I’m not calling to blame you for her broken heart. If you don’t love her...Well, then you don’t love her, but you will not treat Alexis or your mother this way, do you understand me?” Her broken heart?

“No, actually I—”

“A real man faces his problems head on, son. He doesn’t hide from them.”

“I’m not hiding.” I was absolutely hiding.

“Great! Well, since you’ve decided in the last five seconds to grow a pair, I’ll forward your itinerary to your email and see you at the airport at two a.m.”

“But—”

“What was that?” he asked, talking over me. “Did I hear, ‘See you at two, Mr. Mack’?”

“See you at two, Mr. Mack.”

He let out an exaggerated laugh. “Atta boy, Colt. We’re gonna make a man outta you yet. See you soon.”

What the hell had just happened? I didn’t understand half of what was just said, but apparently, I had a plane to catch.

I got to the baggage area a little after two, and sure enough, Alex’s dad was sitting on a bench, waiting to take me home. He’d never made me this nervous before. Something had changed between us. I guess a man finding out you’d had sex with his daughter shifted things.

Rubbing my sweaty palms against my shirt, I walked over to meet him.

“All set?” he asked, rising from his seat. It’d been just a few months since we’d last seen each other, but the change in him was noticeable. He’d aged. Maybe it was just the late hour, but he seemed stressed. He’d always struck me as a man without a care in the world.

“Yeah, I didn’t check any bags.”

“Great!” Mr. Mack offered me his hand, pulling me in for a hug when I reached back. “Welcome home, Colt.”

“Thanks, and, uh, thanks for the ticket too.” I had absolutely no clue why I’d just thanked him for a ticket I didn’t even want. Because as much as I looked forward to seeing my parents, I dreaded seeing Alex more. Way more. This was a disaster in the making.

When we pulled up to their house, I grabbed my bag and started in the direction of home.

“Colton,” Mr. Mack, whisper-shouted, waving me back. “They don’t know you’re here. You’ll crash on our couch since it’s so late and we’ll surprise everyone in the morning.” He nodded, all too pleased with himself, while I was on the verge of a full-blown panic attack.

“Nah,” I said, shaking my head. “I’m just gonna go—”

His hand hooked around my shoulders as he guided me to the back door. “Sleep on our couch?” he urged.

“Sleep on your couch,” I agreed, laughing to myself.

Mr. Mack grabbed a pillow and blanket from the hall closet, setting them on the coffee table before heading off to bed. I’d slept in this house almost as many times as my own growing up, and I’d never taken the couch. This was weird.

As if he could read my thoughts, Mr. Mack called back over his shoulder on the way to his room, “Alex’s room is always an option...But something tells me you’re safer out here.”

Mr. Mack had jokes.

“What the hell is he doing here?” Alexis was fuming.

“Surprise!” her dad chimed.

She snorted. “Surprises are supposed to be good, Dad,” Alex hissed.

“You’ve been upset for weeks that he was missing Thanksgiving. I thought bringing Colton here would make you happy.”

Alex sighed. “Him at his house...that would make me happy. Him...here, in this house? Not so much.” Ouch.

“Relax, Allie. He’s only here because we didn’t get back ’til nearly three. As soon as he wakes up, I’ll give him the boot.”

“Perfect. I’ll be in my room ’til then. Come get me when he’s gone.”

It took every ounce of restraint I possessed not to lift my head and have a look at her when I heard her footfalls on the stairs behind me. I was supposed to be avoiding her, and at the first sound of her voice, I was fighting the urge to chase after her. I guess old habits are hard to break. It felt like I’d been chasing Alex my entire life.

“You heard the boss, Colt. Get up. Let’s go make your mom’s day,” Mr. Mack announced as soon as her door slammed shut. That man never missed a beat.

“Mind if I use the bathroom first?” I sat up on the couch, rolling the stiffness from my neck.

His lips curled into a slow smile. “You sure you ready to take that on, son?”

“Guess we’ll see.”

“Good luck, Colt.”

On the way up to Alex’s room, I made a brief stop at the hall table to retrieve the pin. Without warning, I picked the lock, swinging her door open.

“Is he gone...” She trailed off when she spun around to find me standing just inside her room. “What do you want, Colton?” Her face was red and splotchy, wet with tears. Allie’s tears were my kryptonite.

“I’m not sure,” I answered, my heart racing as I shut the door before stepping further into her room.

“You should go,” she whispered, wiping at her cheeks.

“We need to talk.”

Her hand lifted to her chest. “It’s been three months,” she choked out. “Three months, Colton. And now you want to talk?”

“Yeah,” I rasped, taking another step toward her. “Yeah, Al, I wanna talk.” My chest was tight, my heart racing. All I could see was my beautiful, broken girl, and all I wanted was a chance to fix us.

“Talk,” she said, her jaw ticking, her arms crossed defensively on her chest.

“I miss you.” A million other words needed saying, but those felt most important. Because suddenly all of the other shit felt trivial.

She nodded, touching her fingers to her trembling lips. “Me too.”

“I need you, Al,” I choked out, emotion thick in my throat. “I need you in my life.”

“I can’t.” Her head shook rapidly. “It hurts too much, Colt.”

Closing the last few steps between us, I tucked my finger beneath her chin, bringing her eyes to mine. “Not like this. It never hurt like this.”

Her tiny frame began to shake with sobs as she fell into my chest, fisting her hands into the front of my shirt. Wrapping my arms around her brought an inexplicable peace. We had a lot of shit to work out. But this girl was my life, and this felt like the first step to getting it back.

“Shhh,” I whispered, burying my face in her hair and inhaling the scent of her flowery shampoo. “We can fix this, babe.”

“H-h-how?” she sniveled.

“I don’t know,” I answered honestly. “But this feels like a good place to start.”