Hazed (Palm South University)

“Creep.”

“Tell me about it.”

Bear smiles, his eyes drifting across the court again. “I think she’s happy with this guy she’s dating now, but I can’t fight the feeling that he’s wrong for her. I just feel like… like he’s going to hurt her.” He swallows. “And she’s been through a whole lifetime of hurt already.”

“You want to protect her.”

He nods.

“Well, I’ll tell you what I learned the hard way — you can’t. She’s going to make some choices, some mistakes, that will drive you insane to watch. But she has to have the space to make her own decisions, and you have to decide if you want to be there at the end of whatever path she chooses.”

“What if she chooses him?”

“Then you’re her friend.”

“And if I can’t be her friend?”

“Then you should walk away from her now.”

He lets out a long, slow breath. “I don’t like either of those options.”

“So, fight for her.”

“It’s not that easy.”

“It is. Trust me, it really is. You can make every excuse in the book for why you shouldn’t go after her, why you should let her be. But if she’s this ingrained in your thoughts?” I shrug. “You’ll never be able to sleep again until you know you gave your all fighting for her.”

“I think it has to be smoother than that.”

“Oh, I didn’t say you don’t have to play a few games,” I add with a smirk. “If she’s with this guy now, let her be with him. Chances are it’s something she needs. But… be there for her, too. And if you haven’t told her how you feel yet…” I shrug. “Might be time.”

“Ugh.”

I smile.

“I take it from the way you asked if I was worried about job hunting first that you are?”

“Nice subject change,” I tease, but then I sigh, reaching for my water again. “It’s just weird. I knew this day would come, but it always seemed so far off. And now that it’s here…”

“You don’t feel ready.”

“I feel ready for work. But I don’t feel ready to leave Cassie and be in a long-distance relationship after all it took for us to finally be happy together.”

Bear frowns, confused.

“I’m thinking of applying to be a Field Executive for Alpha Sig.”

“Whoa,” Bear says, and then he gives me a genuine smile. “Man, you’d be great at that.”

“That’s what Cassie said, too, but she doesn’t realize that if I get the job, I’ll be sent to whatever university they choose. And out of all the med schools she’s applying to, the closest I’d be to her in the most ideal situation would be two-hundred-and-thirty-five miles.”

Bear whistles.

“Yeah,” I say, grabbing my t-shirt and mopping up the sweat on the back of my neck with it. I let it hang over my shoulders when I’m done. “It just feels stupid, to make a career decision that will take me away from her like that.”

“Hey, listen to me. You and Cassie have been through a lot of shit — much, much worse than this. So what, if you get sent to a university in another state while she’s in med school? She’ll be in med school, man.” Bear looks at me with wide eyes and arched brows. “Do you know how busy she’s going to be?”

I sigh.

“She’s not going to have time to do much else than study, especially once she gets to clinicals.” Bear shrugs, then. “If anything, this is the perfect timing for you to do this job. You know as well as I do that most Field Executives only hold the position for a few years before they move on. So, go for it. You and Cassie can both focus on yourselves while still being together. And hey, it’ll make it that much more exciting when you get to see her.”

I chew my cheek on a nod. “You do have a point.”

“Just apply,” he says, clapping me on my shoulder. “And if you get in, then you talk with Cassie and you make a decision together.” He shakes his head as he stands and offers his hand down to me. “Why do you always make things more complicated than they need to be?”

“Oh, and I’m alone in that?” I ask as he helps me stand.

He narrows his eyes. “Shut up.”

I laugh just as he passes me the ball, catching it at my stomach with an oomf.

“Let’s go. First to twenty-one,” Bear calls, and then he’s jogging back to the hoop.

Later that night, Cassie is giggling while we watch her favorite show between study sessions. She’s leaning against the wall with neon-colored cards scattered all over my bed, three different textbooks open, and her hair tied up in a messy bun while I sit against the headboard with my laptop on my thighs.

As I watch her, my stomach twists in warning, heart already aching at the thought of not being this close to her — close enough to walk down the street to her house, close enough to have her in my room every night, close enough to hold her, to touch her, to kiss her, to be there on the bad days and make sure she’s celebrating all the great ones, too.