No future.
What the hell was I going to do now?
The sun spilled over us, the chilly wind clipped through, nipping at my face.
“Gracie, I’m really worried about you. Please, talk to me.”
He reached out for my hand, but I pulled away and took a step backward.
“There’s nothing to talk about.”
“I don’t think that’s an accurate statement,” Preach countered. “How about we get a coffee and—”
“I don’t want a fucking coffee!” I shouted, surprised by how forceful it came out.
Preach flinched.
“Look, I want to be alone right now. I need to be by myself. I’m sorry you ever got dragged into any of this mess.”
Without another word, I turned and left the boy that I thought I was falling in love with, standing outside the clinic, alone.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Preach
“Am I going to have to worry about you dropping the baton, Preach?” Oliver rammed into me, tackling me around the waist.
“What?”
“Dude. I’ve been talking to you for two minutes!” Oliver said. “And you haven’t stopped staring at Grace.”
Grace stood across the field, near the finish area of the open 100-meter dash. The race had just finished, and she was hanging around the girls, congratulating them. She couldn’t run the event since she couldn’t get down in the starting blocks because of her hand, but she was right there, cheering the girls on.
She’d showed up.
I wasn’t necessarily surprised, but I was impressed. It took a lot of guts to be here after everything that had happened.
Even after the devastating news that she couldn’t go into the Air Force.
Even though she couldn’t do something she’d planned her whole life to do.
Here she was, supporting her teammates.
It was basically the exact opposite of how I’d handled the news that my hockey career was over.
She was a rock for her teammates even in her pain.
The girl was unstoppable. I’d never met anyone stronger. That only made my guilt that much more vivid.
After she ran away from me yesterday, I’d taken a step back. Tried to evaluate things from a different lens. She’d forgiven me for the accident. We’d been happy. Then things blew up and she pushed me away. No, not pushed me away, she’d cut me off. She obviously didn’t want to fight for us, so why should I?
Oliver shifted his weight. “Did she really get kicked out of the Air Force because of her hand?”
“Bad news spreads quickly, huh?”
“So it’s true?”
My shoulders slumped. “I wouldn’t phrase it as kicked out, but yeah, declared medically ineligible.”