We said goodbye and I hung up. Opening my message history with Hailee, I started typing.
* * *
Me: We need to talk.
Hailee
I stared at Cameron’s message, the permanent knot in my stomach tightening.
He wanted to talk.
My mind automatically assumed he wanted to talk about us... and I hated it.
I hated that I was that girl now, insecure and uncertain of her relationship, of her man. But last night, after the gnawing worry, followed by frustration and then a deep sense of disappointment, I’d fallen to sleep clutching my tear-stained pillow.
The vibration of my cell jerked me from my reverie.
* * *
Cameron: Hailee, please.
* * *
Hailee: Okay.
* * *
Cameron: I have practice straight after classes but after? At the apartment?
* * *
Hailee: I’ll be there.
* * *
Pocketing my phone, I made my way toward the Art and Architecture building for my morning classes. I didn’t know how things had gotten to this point, but I didn’t know how to fix them either.
“Hailee,” Devyn waved as she approached me. “I’m glad I caught up to you.”
I frowned.
“Dominic said Cameron missed practice. Something about an emergency at home? I hope everything’s okay?”
Devyn was a sweetheart. She was Dominic’s twin sister and the two of them were best friends. So much so, they shared an apartment off-campus. She also happened to be a huge football fan, so Cameron and I hung out with them a lot during the season.
“It’s Xander, he’s going through some stuff.”
“That must be rough, the age gap.” She hooked her arm through mine as we headed into the building. “Cameron is a good brother.”
“He is.” I really didn’t want to talk about this.
“You know, I heard my brother and a couple of the guys talking... Crap, this is going to sound so wrong...”
“Just spit it out, Dev,” I said, smothering my irritation.
“They’re worried.” She gave me a sympathetic smile. “He never hangs out with them anymore; he’s distracted at practice... they’re saying his heart’s not in it anymore. There’s even talk of Coach giving the second string more time on the field.”
Her words reverberated through me, but Devyn wasn’t done. “Has he said anything to you? Doesn’t he want to play any—”