Page 34 of Ruin The Friendship
“She won’t. And if she does, prove her wrong.” Calvin rubs my shoulder. “For now, do your pre-game ritual. Call her. She’ll ground you. Then, get your head on straight, ‘cause we’ve got a game to play.”
“Right.” I stand up straighter, pushing my hair out of my eyes. “You’re right.”
“There’s my captain,” Calvin says with a shit-eating grin. “I’ll see you in the locker room.”
Once alone, I take a deep breath, pulling my phone out and calling Lydia.
On almost the last ring, she answers, her voice full of sleep. “Hello?”
Some of the tension instantly leaves my body at the sound of her voice.
“Hey Lydi-bug, what’s up?”
She groans loudly. “Tired.”
“I bet. Your body is working overtime lately.”
“Yeah,” she mumbles.
“How’s your wrist? Did you go to the doctor today?”
Lydia’s always off on Mondays, so I assume maybe she’d go in today.
“Yeah. They want me to keep the brace for another week, but he’s not worried about it. Enough about me. You’re in Boston, right? Ready for the game?”
My shoulders slump, and relief washes through me. Her wrist is okay. She’s okay.
“Ready as ever,” I respond. “Boston is always a fun team to play against. They play hard, but we can play harder.”
“You’ve got this. Hey, what are you doing on Sunday?” Lydia asks unexpectedly.
“Umm, not sure. Probably practice since there isn’t a game.”
“Ugh, my parents are coming to town. My mom called me last week. Apparently, they’re going to Spain for a month and decided to grace me with their presence for lunch. I’ll probably tell them about the baby, but I might need backup.”
Lydia’s parents can be hard to deal with on a good day,so I’m sure it will be interesting when she tells them she’s pregnant. Honestly, I have no idea how they might react.
“I’m there,” I reply without hesitation.
“Ugh, thank you. I owe you.”
“No, you don’t.”
“Yes, I do. You do more for me than you know,” she says, her voice growing softer at the end.
“I feel the same about you, so we’re even.” I need her to understand that simply by existing, she changes me daily. “Hey, I gotta go, but I’ll text you after, okay?”
“No problem. I’ll be watching!” I can hear the smile in her voice.
She’s always been my biggest supporter besides my parents. It’s rare that I even hear from my siblings with encouragement or excitement about my career, but I can’t blame them. They have busy lives of their own, with kids.
“Talk later.” I end the call the same way I always do, without an official goodbye.
A renewed sense of energy takes over my body. I can make this work with Lydia. I know I can. Things are already so easy between us. Taking that next step is only natural.
I just have to figure out how to get us there, and the rest will fall into place.
15
