Page 13 of Game Plan

“At least we tried. It must count for something, no?”

“Yeah, well, it was a disaster.”

We remained silent for a long time.

“If I had played for Crestwood U, do you think we would have made it in the long run, you and I?” He sounded so deflated, and I hated how I couldn’t reassure him.

“The truth? I don’t know. We had a great time together. Maybe it’s true everything good must come to an end at some point.”

“Mel…”

I sat on the edge of the mattress, and my shoulders sagged forward as the next words left my mouth. “Jay, I’m trying to find some sort of explanation so the reality of our situation hurts a bit less.”

“I know.” A long pause. “Will you…huh…will you go back to him?” I could hear the pain in his voice, the fear, the defeat. “If you see him, will you rekindle what you guys had if he wants to?”

I took a big inhale. “No. Mason and I, we were friends. Past tense. It’s over. I have no desire to rekindle anything. We’re not the same people we used to be. It’s better if we stay apart.”

“Did he…did he contact you? Have you seen him? Knowing Pierce, I’m sure he’s a celebrity all over Crestwood by now.”

“Huh, he came to Lola’s the other night. We spoke for a total of two minutes and only because one of his teammates was being a perv and Mase jumped in to shut him up. I didn’t ask him to get involved, though. Anyway, I haven’t seen him since, and I have no reason to seek him out.”

“O-okay. It makes me feel better.” His tone told a different story.

“I told you Mason isn’t the bad guy you’ve always portrayed him to be. He has always cared for me and always put me first. But we’re old news.”

“Mel, he’s a man whore. No matter what he made you believe, the guy hasn’t changed. Guys like him use their pseudo-celebrity status to get into girls’ pants.”

I said nothing for a beat because I didn’t want to argue with Jayden—not on a night I felt vulnerable and needed to hear his voice so badly—even though he was wrong about Mason. I swallowed. “Good thing our relationship isn’t about him…or wasn’t about him…”

“I was thinking… Do you think we called it quits too soon? That we should have tried a bit longer? Do you think we made a huge mistake?”

“Jay… We can’t even find time to talk most of the time. We have no idea when we’ll see each other again since you don’t plan to go back home on Thanksgiving or during the winter break, and I wanna be there with my family if I can make it work. Don’t you think it’s better to set each other free if we can’t commit to an us?”

“Maybe…”

“We can still be friends.”

“Nah. It would be too hard to have you without having you. I don’t wanna be your friend, Mel, I wanna be your person.”

I remained silent. His words reminded me of those Mason had spoken to me a long time ago.

He cleared his throat. “Goodbye, then. I think it’s better if we cut all communication.”

“That’s it?”

“What else do you want from me? What else do you want me to say?”

“Huh…I’m not sure…”

“It’s better if we don’t talk again for a while. Until the wound heals.”

“But I was supposed to go see your gig in Indianapolis next month.”

“I don’t think you should come…”

“Jay… I promised Jeremy I would be there to cheer you guys on. Cassidy and Donovan agreed to tag along. We were planning a two-day road trip out of it. I don’t have a meet that weekend, and my boss promised to give me time off. I was really looking forward to it.”

“I’ll talk to your cousin. Don’t worry. I’ll tell him I’m the one who asked you not to show up, okay? I’m sorry, baby…huh, Mel… It’s already hard enough. If I see you, I won’t be able to stay away...”