“Hey, man, I’m headed out,” I said as I thumped Frankie on the shoulder.
“It’s early, Jace, hang out for a while,” he said. It was poker night at our place, but I didn’t join the card game tonight. We usually have Saturday football games, so when we’re not traveling, we keep ourselves in check by meeting up for cards on Friday nights. I figured most college football players always had the usual temptations of women and partying, but it seemed that ever since our team started winning again, the invitations and pressure to be the life of the party got a little out of control. As co-captains, Frankie and I have tried to set a good example.
“Not tonight, Frankie. Pepper’s got her conference meet tomorrow morning. She’s going to bed early.” I’ve continued coming over, sleeping on an air mattress in her room. The fear that Wolfe would pull a crazy on her was still there, and even though I wanted it gone, I loved having an excuse to see her every night.
At that point, the rest of my teammates knew I stayed at purple house every night, and they thought we were together again, an assumption I was not going to correct. As I left, a few called out to tell her good luck.
She hadn’t pushed me away yet, even if she hadn’t pulled me in either. I was letting her see that I was the same Jace she’d been friends with forever, and that she could trust me like she used to. But I was also trying to show her that I was different too, that I wasn’t going to shut down on her and let her down. I was confiding in her about all the things I was feeling, the good and the bad. I could almost see the little wheels in her head turning. It’s like Buns said, the girl thought everything through. And I wanted her to, if that’s what it took, because I was counting on her to eventually conclude I was good for her. The more time I spent with her, the more I believed it myself.