The guy had been a wreck when he left for college, and though he hadn’t talked about it, I knew that’d been because of her. From what I understood, he’d ended things with her. I hadn’t meant to, but I’d stumbled across one of his text messages before he left. He’d been wishing her well, ending things because he was going to college.
It should have ended sooner.
I assumed, since he had ended things, what had been going on had just been a temporary infatuation. Charlie was dealing with personal shit and needed a release.
I supposed she’d been good for at least that, and Charlie did seem happier now. Lighter. I picked up the spare ball the boys and I’d brought, spinning it around with my fingers. “She’s fine, I guess.” I shrugged. “She and Coach—”
“Wait. Coach?” Charlie raised a hand. “She and Coach are a thing?”
I frowned, confused. “What do you mean? They’re married.”
“Still?” He sat back, looking thoroughly thrown by the information. Shaken. He outlined his lips. “You mean to tell me they’re still together?”
“Yeah, why? Are they not supposed to be—”
“No.” He pulled a joint out of his pocket, lighting up in front of me, which was something he never did. I mean, I knew he smoked weed. I wasn’t a fucking idiot, but he tried not to do it around me. Something about wanting to be a good example or some shit. He blew smoke through his nostrils. “They’re not. She was supposed to leave him. She said she was.”
I watched him, red creeping up the side of his neck. He drew another hit, and with the tension, I wished I hadn’t said anything. I knocked his knees. “How about we do another game? We can do two on two. Have Thatch sit out or something.”
Thatcher never liked playing as much as us anyway.
In his own thoughts, Charlie had to come out of them just to look at me. But once he had, he wrestled my hair, grinning in the way he always did. He passed it off like what I said didn’t bother him, but that grin didn’t quite reach his eyes.
“No, y’all play,” he said, letting me go. He jutted his chin forward. “I’ll watch you guys.”
He leaned back with his blunt, and though I didn’t like that, I couldn’t tell him what to do. I tossed him the spare ball, then headed back out there with the boys. We played for a little bit before I noticed Charlie over there on his phone. He was just playing on it, his fingers scrolling, but then out of nowhere, he was standing.
I stopped bouncing the ball. “Charlie?”
He was putting his bomber jacket back on when I came over, something he’d taken off when we’d started playing. He popped his collar. “Hey, Robin. I’m gonna take off.”
My eye twitched. “Take off where?”
“Just to go visit some friends.” He put his blunt out under his sneaker, tapping my fist. “I’ll be back for dinner, though.”
My family tended to eat pretty late. I usually came home when Mom shot me a text, and since I hadn’t gotten that, I assumed food wasn’t ready.
I studied Charlie. “Charlie—”
“I’ll be right back. Gotta go.” He was rushed, an urgency in his voice I didn’t like. He started to walk away but I grabbed him.
I hugged him.
I didn’t know why. It was like I felt compelled, and the gesture definitely threw him off. He frowned before folding his big arms around me.
?
?Dinner,” I made him promise, pulling away, and he nodded. He wrestled my hair again like he liked to do, making me smile, and next thing I knew, he was disappearing into the park.
I lost him through the trees.
*
Wolf and I played hoops long after Thatcher and Wells left. They were tired, but I simply wanted to tire myself out. I had stress in my muscles I didn’t like, so I played hard. Wolf was with me. I could tell he was tired too, but he kept playing.
I was like my dad in that way. He tended to work out too when he had thoughts roaming his mind.
The hour got so late. So late in fact, Wolf and I both decided to call it. My mom definitely should have texted me for dinner by now but might have gotten word Charlie was back and wanted to do things big.