MAEVE
Athroat clears behind me as I’m setting up cones before Monday morning’s captain practice. I stand up slowly, not sure what I want more.
For it to be him, or it not to be him.
I turn and let out a deep breath. “What are you doing here?” I don’t let any emotion seep into my voice.
Wes shifts his weight awkwardly back and forth between his feet. He’s wearing a black hoodie with his letterman jacket over it, and a pair of light gray joggers. There are dark circles underneath his blue eyes, and I hate how attractive he still is despite them.
“I’m having trouble figuring out howyou’rethe one who’s mad atme,” he finally responds.
“Oh, really?” I retort. “Let’s start with the girl you were kissing on Friday night.”
“We were broken up.”
“If you believed that you wouldn’t be here, Wes,” I reply sharply. “You made some assumptions, gave me no chance to explain, and then—”
“I made someassumptions? They sent me a fucking photo of you kissing another guy! What otherassumptionis there to make, Maeve?”
“I know it looked bad. I admitted it looked bad. That’s no excuse for why you shouldn’t have at least listened to me. My word should have meant more to you.”
“So you’re admitting it happened and you’re mad I didn’t let you stick around so you could give me the play-by-play?”
“God, you’re infuriating!” I shout. “And I’m so sick of you acting like you’re the only one taking any risks. You only moved here a few years ago! I’ve lived in Glenmont myentirelife. Not only that, this is my family we’re talking about! Do you have any idea how Liam would feel if he found out about us? That—”
“If you were so worried about people finding out about us and ruining your perfect reputation, then maybe you shouldn’t have shown up at Josh’s Friday night!” Wes yells back. “I had to spend the rest of the night listening to people gossip about you. I almost punched my own fucking teammate because he made a comment about how’d he like to—”
“I hope you let him know you already beat him to it,” I snap.
Wes looks stricken. “No—Maeve, I would never—”
“Awful lot of rumors about your sex life for that to be true,” I retort.
Anger returns to Wes’s face again. “You don’t believe me?”
“Well, you promised you didn’t want to touch another girl, and that obviously changed, so…”
“I was fucking hurt, Maeve!”
“Oh, if you were hurt… well, that’s okay then,” I reply sarcastically.
“I didn’t handle it well, okay? I know that.”
“You didn’t handle it well? Is that what your mom did?”
Wes’s face darkens. “Don’t you dare bring my parents into this, Maeve.”
“Seems relevant to me. They’re why you’re acting like this, right?”
“No, I’m pretty sure Matt Crawford having his tongue down your throat would bother me even if I was from a perfect family like yours.”
“My family isn’t perfect, and you know that. But you’re responsible for your own actions, and I thought you were better than cheating on me right in front of me.”
“We were broken up!” Wes shouts.
“Then why are you here?” I yell back. “What are you doing here, Wes?”
The anger recedes, replaced with vulnerability. “I don’t know.”