Page 115 of After the Snap

“Those idiots were ready to pick sides because they care about all three of you. Your dad is pissed and still sent me out here because he knew you shouldn’t be alone. Jubal was hurt, and he still stood beside you until your dad asked him to leave.”

I squeeze her hand, trying to make room for that beside all the guilt I’ve been carrying tonight.

“And none of that has anything to do with this.” She taps the folded score sheet resting beside me. “Nobody in that house was waiting to find out whether you passed before they decided how they felt about you.”

My eyes fill again, but this time I let them. I’ve spent so long believing I needed to figure my life out before I could feel like myself again that I don’t know what to do with being wanted while I’m still this lost. Dad didn’t need me to come home with a medical school acceptance before he was proud of me. Jubal has never needed me to become anything before he wanted me beside him.

“Because sometimes I think you forget people can just love Calliope Quinn.”

“When the hell did you get so wise?”

“It’s a temporary condition. I expect it to clear up by morning.”

I laugh even though I’m still crying and let my head fall onto her shoulder. Olivia immediately rests hers against mine, and I finally stop fighting so hard to be okay.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Jubal

I’m halfway through taping my left wrist when Archer drops onto the bench across from me and says, “So, are we supposed to be pretending we don’t know?”

I keep my attention on the tape, pulling it snug before wrapping it around again. He’s been watching me since I walked into the locker room, which means whatever question has been eating at him finally won.

“Depends on what you think you know.”

“Oh, fuck,” Easton says from two lockers down. “Here we go.”

Archer ignores him. “You and Callie.”

My fingers stop with the tape stretched between them. There isn’t any reason to lie after yesterday. Everyone was in the kitchen when Coach saw Calliope and me together. Even if they hadn’t heard every word that followed, they heard enough to know why I left before dessert.

“I’m trying to figure out how you’ve been dating for months without any of us knowing.”

Whit looks over from the next row of lockers. “You had all night to come up with a question, and that’s what you went with?”

Archer turns toward him. “I’d like to see you do better.”

“I wouldn’t ask because it’s none of my business,” Sullivan responds, reaching into his locker as if he wasn’t waiting for the answer right along with Archer.

“You’re all doing a hell of a job demonstrating that.”

Easton laughs as he leans back against his locker. “Don’t lump me in with these assholes. I already knew.”

“You suspected.”

Across the aisle, Tuck makes a sound that has me looking over at him. He’s bent over one of his cleats, apparently fascinated by the laces, but I’ve known him too long to miss the smile he’s trying to hide.

“You weren’t exactly subtle, Duvall. King and I caught you dancing with her in the locker room. We knew.”

For half a second, I’m back there with Calliope tucked against me and that smile on her face after I’d spent too damn long trying to get it there. The locker room had been empty when I pulled her against me. At least, I’d thought it was.

“How much did you see?”

Easton’s grin gets wider. “Enough to know the lunch thing wasn’t about making sure Callie didn’t starve.”

I shake my head as I reach for my shirt. My ribs pull when I lift my right arm, a familiar bite that eases when I lower my elbow again, but I barely register it before Tuck catches my eye across the aisle. He knew. Maybe not everything, but enough that he could’ve cornered me months ago and demanded an explanation. Tuck and I go back far enough that he would’ve been one of the few people who could have gotten away with trying. Instead, he’d seen me with Calliope, put enough pieces together to know there was something between us, and waited until I was ready to give him the rest.

“Hold on.” Archer looks between the three of us. “You two caught them together months ago and didn’t tell anyone?”