My mouth shut. I moved back into the wall.
He let out a ragged sound. “God. Just stay. I have a coach who’s pissed at me. Wait ten fucking minutes.” He didn’t wait for a reply, he swept into the locker room. As the door opened, I heard his coach yelling, “Are you ready—” The door closed and I was left alone in the hallway. The rest of the hallways were in the dark and there were only two lights on in the entrance, for both teams to enter their own locker rooms.
I sunk down to the floor and pulled out my phone. I needed Mason.
CHAPTER EIGHT
“Sam?”
The sound of his voice was enough. I felt myself calming down. “Hey.” Hearing loud music and an announcer on his end, I asked, “Where are you?”
“I’m at a restaurant with the team. They’re doing some grill thing. The guys flip food in the air and tap their cups. It’s not my thing, but Matt seems to live for it.”
I grinned. “How is your roommate?”
“Sam.” Suddenly all the background noises disappeared and I could hear his voice clearer. I also heard the concern in it. “What’s going on? You don’t call this early.”
“My dad is here.”
There was silence before he asked, “You don’t mean David?”
“No.”
“Where are you right now?”
Sudden cheering and clapping came from inside the locker room, followed by a thunderous sound. I said, “I’m in the hallway outside the locker room. Logan brought me in here. I was at the game when I saw him. Mason…” Gripping the phone tighter, my feet slid back and I pulled my knees tight to my chest, resting my forehead on them. “I didn’t even know. David knew, but didn’t tell me until today.”
“Is he there for a visit?”
“To stay.”
He sighed. “I’m sorry, Sam.”
“I’ll be fine.” As I said it, I knew it was true. I knew I was overreacting.
“No, I meant that I’m sorry I’m not there.”
“Oh.” Hearing the raw emotion in his voice from over the phone, a warm feeling flooded me. A little tingle started and it continued to spread. “Why does that make everything better?”
He laughed. “There’s nothing I can say over the phone that’ll help, but if I was there, I would just be with you. I know that helps me, when you’re standing next to me.”
“I don’t like this long-distance thing.” Pressing the phone even tighter to me, I wanted to reach through it. I wanted to feel his arms around me. Right now, the phone was my closest connection to him. “And you did help me.”
Another softer laugh. “It’s for a year, just one year, and then you’ll be here.”
“Yeah.”
There was another moment of silence before he asked, “Are you okay otherwise?”
No. “Yes.” Hearing the team cheering again, I knew they were coming outside, and I lifted my head. “I will be. I promise.”
“Okay. I can hear them in the background.”
“Yeah.” God, there was so much I wanted to say. The phone wasn’t enough. His presence would’ve been. He should’ve been there, right with me, alongside of me. He wasn’t, though. “I love you.”
“I love you back.” He seemed to hesitate, and then added, “Be strong, Sam.”
My breath caught in my throat.
He said, “You already are, but don’t be afraid of it. Be you, who you are on the inside. You won’t lose anything.” He paused again. “You won’t lose anyone.”
The door burst open and the first of the football players took off past me, shoving open the doors back for the field. As they went by, their sounds deafening, I said into the phone, “I will. I am. I love you.” I thought I heard him say the same and a second later the call was disconnected. Logan broke off from the line of players and stood next to me. I held my hand out, he caught it, and pulled me to my feet. His gaze fell to the phone still gripped in my hand. My knuckles were white around it.
He asked, “Mase?”
I nodded. The emotion was choking me, but it was the good kind of emotion. I wiped a tear away.
He threw an arm around my shoulder and turned for the door. “Come on. Stop being a sniveling, crying mess—” I elbowed him in the side and he chuckled, “—and come cheer me on. I’m awesome, Sam. Have you not gotten the memo recently? It’s supposed to go out every Friday morning with Twitter alerts. #Logansawesomenooneforgetit.” He flashed me a crooked grin. “I’m going to make shirts. Yours can say Kade Crew on the back of it. How about that? But no family discount. Sorry. I’m a cheap bastard.”