“No. Let me mortgage something.” She looks at her deeds, most of which have already been mortgaged.
“Nothing that you have left will be enough to pay the rent and keep going. Face it. You’re done.”
“No,” she whines.
“Stell, you’re not always gonna win, babe—especially if you’re up against me,” I say in a mock condescending voice.
“Jax,” she grumbles.
I hold my hand closer to her, palm facing up. “Hand it over. Every last dollar.”
“No,” she says quickly.
She reaches for her meager pile of money, but I snatch it up before she can grab it.
“You lose. Sorry.” I snicker.
“Give it back!” She giggles.
“Sorry, Stell. You know I love ya, but I can’t let you cheat. Not happening.”
She lunges across the board, trying to grab the pile of colorful paper money from my hand, and I fall back onto the rug. She hops on top of me and straddles my waist between her knees. She holds my wrists down with her hands, her face a breath away from my own.
I stop struggling, letting the paper money fall from my hand. I could easily push her off of me, but I’m momentarily startled. Her closeness is putting me on edge. It feels wrong.
Her chest is heaving, her lips slightly parted, as she hovers above me. I swallow, preparing myself to ask her to get off of me. But before I do…she kisses me. I’m frozen as her lips move against mine. After several heartbeats, I twist my wrists, so I’m holding on to hers, and I gently push her away from me.
I sit up and scoot out from under her until we are no longer touching. “Stella,” I say calmly.
“Jax, just listen. I want you,” she blurts out.
Whoa. Where is this coming from?
She continues, “I want you so much. I’ve wanted you from the moment I met you. You’re already one of my best friends. You’re definitely the friend I spend the most time with. We get along so great. We have the same interests. We’d be so good together. Don’t you think? I’m so attracted to you just as you are to me—”
I cut in, halting Stella’s drunken rambling, “Stella, stop.”
Her eyes widen.
“You are amazing, Stell. Truly. Any guy would be so lucky to have you, but I don’t see us that way. I’m sorry if you feel I’ve led you on in any way. I hope I didn’t. I certainly didn’t mean to. I’m in love with Lily. That’s not going to change anytime soon. It’s not going to change ever.”
“But you broke up with her. I don’t understand.” She looks so confused.
“I know, and maybe I didn’t do a great job of explaining it all to you, but our breakup isn’t permanent. I will be with Lily again. I’m just trying to focus on school right now, and I’m letting her do the same. But that doesn’t mean I want to date someone else. I’m sorry.”
Tears flow down Stella’s face. “I’m so stupid,” she chokes out before dropping her face to her hands while sobbing.
“No, you are not,” I say adamantly. “Come here.”
I pull Stella to my side, and we scoot back until we are leaning against the couch.
“You’re my best friend here, too, Stell. I love spending time with you. You are right. We do have a lot in common. I can understand why you thought we could be more.”
I think for a moment as Stella’s sniffles permeate the space.
“I guess if things were different, then we might be a good pair. I’ve just never really thought about it. I’ve never thought about us that way.”
“Really? Not at all?” she questions, her voice rising an octave.
“No.” I shake my head. “I’m sorry.”
“God, you must really love her,” she says more to herself in quiet exasperation.
“I do, Stell. She’s always going to be the one for me.”
She groans, “Oh my God, I’m so embarrassed!”
“Don’t be. It’s fine,” I offer.
“Promise me that things won’t be weird between us now.”
“They won’t. I promise.”
“I don’t know why I kissed you. Let’s blame it on the wine. It won’t happen again.”
“It’s fine, Stell. Don’t worry about it.”
“Friends?” she asks sheepishly.
“Of course,” I answer. “Friends.”
The rest of my junior year flies by in a blur of repetition full of workouts, classes, and studying. I passed all of my classes with As, and I only have one more year—correction, one more season of football left.
Today is the last day of spring training. Tomorrow, I get to go home and see Lily. Excitement doesn’t begin to describe what