Jane
The next few days passed in a blur of drills, lectures, and avoidance.
Austin didn’t bring up the chaos with Lucas the other day, and I didn’t either. We nodded at each other during practice, passed the puck in drills, muttered the occasional “nice pass” or “good shot.” Nothing more. Nothing less. Like nothing had happened. Like I hadn’t spilled pieces of myself out onto that beach and left them there for him to examine. I was fine with that. Or at least, I told myself I was. Distance was good. Safe.
So when he texted me Need a study spot. Coffee shop near campus, 4?, I stared at the screen for a solid minute before answering.
Sure.
I didn’t even ask why not his house. Maybe he was tired of Lisa’s hovering. Maybe he just wanted a change of scenery. Maybe he wanted to avoid the aw
