ra'

h hands pressed to her chest as she spoke. "Those arms

lle. They all have strong a

st-match crowd spilling out of the stadium, bodies and noise pressi

what she was

st. He was fast and brutal and so completely in command of every inch of the rink that even I-who told him t

roup of fans in matching jerseys, "is that a man who

cil

had been wearing for the past seventy two hours since I told her

ointing in the opposite direct

iercing pain filling my ch

hrough the main corr

teammates, still in his post-m

uch that I thought it was ab

ill absolutely handsome, still standing

most certainly in

ders, took several deep

on me, moving from mild curiosity to recognition then to something pretty

name in the most f

om him, his teammates had gone

ted his head to his friend with a mockful

leanly, without preamble. "The BMW

from my hair, down to the outfit Lucille had forced on me that mornin

the clothes." He tilted his head. "What hap

of laughter that made me wish the

y palms clenched into fists

"She used to wear her hair in a bun every day. Every single day. I mean who would want to b

I could to prevent myself from breaking down in fro

l and I was proud of myself for that. "You

'mon. You gave it to me willingly." He shrugged. "Can't ex

dumpe

nued, like I hadn't

at him.

riend. She loved it, actually and I think it really suits her." He pau

nd started again.

st gentle entering his expression as he pouted his lips like he actu

went into deb

"You always did too much. Thought if you gave enough you'd be enough." He glanced down at my outfit one more time.

the sound bouncing off the corri

e me and I hadn't even noticed how close she'd gotten, how tightly h

ed her arm, pullin

a, le

ain pulling her firmly

on of mild, entertained interest, then back at me. Her chest was heaving and e

teps even and my face arranged into something that I hoped read as unbothered from any angle, and

he pavement

the ca

of it-every ounce of what I had quietly destroyed myself t

ty thousand dollars of debt wit

o bad I could feel tea

back to Tyler,

t, my way out o

when it hit me. There was no way to actually contac

me out of my thoughts, soft now

d, my voice shaky, just

ho

was already moving, already turning back toward

just go bac

is number online, or a

lo

nd took a d

said quietly. "Just-come back t

ur minutes. Lucille moved around the room in silence, which from her was an act of profound love. She d

bag out on

A folded piece of paper from the dentist reminding

ck and rectan

y eyes widening a

e, no designation. Just

for a moment. I tossed

hing around for the dentist card

here. That

entis

n out the d

d at the ceiling, then looked bac

ng as I typed the n

mes before he fi

ressed my free hand flat against my knee to stop it from bouncing. "We met two days ago in your office, and you

sentence. I just let it hang in the

the other end. I had mentally drafted and discarded several apology speeches for wastin

had a good idea what was coming afterwards. "This is the thi

ne wen

y phone in both shaking hands, starin