Under the Same Stars(79)

Katie hearted the screenshot, and then so did Meredith. They weren’t remotely in the same place, but I pictured them sitting together at a coffee shop. I wondered if Meredith knew Katie had dispatched Marco to chaperone my dates.

She couldn’t have, right?

Too hungry to wait until we got home, Connor parked and we ate our food in the car. “I’m not convinced it’s the right call,” Connor said through a mouthful of fries. “Katie should know.”

“Well, I trust Austin,” I replied. “He said if his gut tells him to change his mind, he’ll follow it. I think it’s valid for him to keep it close to the vest for a bit.” I glanced at Connor and laughed. There was a smear of Polynesian sauce above his upper lip. “Hold on, you’ve got…” I reached over to wipe away the red sauce.

Connor stared at me as I licked its sweetness off my fingertip. “Mads…”

I snorted. “What?”

An odd expression crossed his face, but a blink later, he was laughing with me. “Maybe honey mustard is more my color?”

It wasn’t until he dropped me home that I realized that might’ve been a perfect moment for our first kiss.

It also didn’t strike me until I sent him a good-night text later that neither of us had lingered after our hug goodbye. “See ya!” we’d said simultaneously, so in sync.

When is the romance coming? I wondered.





Twenty-Three


My high school teammates thought it was weird at first when the Princetonians started regularly attending our home games. “Wait, how do you know them?” my co-captain asked the first time Zach, Simon, and Timothy Hobson-Kirby IV claimed front-row seats in the stands, but by their third appearance, she was inquiring if Simon was single.

“As far as I know…” I said, so happy they’d come to see me play. “Have you read This Side of Paradise?”

She looked at me blankly.

“By F. Scott Fitzgerald?” I tried. Little did they know, Marco and his friends had turned me into a reader. “Based on his days at Princeton?”

“Oh, no,” she said. “We read The Great Gatsby in English lit, though.” She wrinkled her nose. “Not my favorite.”

I smiled. “Then trust me when I say Simon’s not your type.”

We always caught up after my games ended. I heard about their classes, eating club antics, and how the food was getting better.

I even sometimes found myself hopeful about spotting Marco in the crowd. Then I remembered that I did not want to see him, especially after those awkward few moments at Winberie’s. I’d never responded to his text about Connor and me getting together. I’m really, really happy for you.

Thanks, I’d thought about writing. Would you like our date night calendar?

But I worried a text wouldn’t convey my deadpan well enough. (Plus, it would’ve been super immature.)

I never asked about him, and the Princetonians somehow knew not to tell…until, one day, they did. “We thought you’d want to know that Marco and Shelly broke up,” Zach said tentatively.

My body reacted like a roller coaster, stomach dropping before rising back up and twisting in a corkscrew motion. “Oh?” I managed to say. “How come?”

They all spoke at once; all I could decipher was that Marco had ended things.

“Well, hopefully being dumped doesn’t affect Shelly’s game too much,” I said. Princeton wasn’t having a stellar season so far.

“It shouldn’t,” Simon said. “I suspect she knew that Marco was never hers to lose.”

I felt the blood in my veins thicken. “What?”

But Simon didn’t repeat himself; Zach’s phone had pinged. “Ride’s here,” he announced, gesturing to the parking lot. “Misha’s driving a blue Kia Soul…”

I walked them to their Uber, where we said goodbye. Then I booked it over to the Defender, feeling electricity pulsing in my fingers. Just breathe, just relax, I told myself. It’ll be okay.

Marco and Shelly were over.

“Hey,” Natalie answered. I’d called her as soon as I’d parked in my driveway. “How’d your game go?”

“We lost four-two, but it was a fun game.” I rubbed my forehead. “Do you want to hang out later? Nana brought my bridesmaid dress back the other day…”

“Sure!” Natalie said. “Will I miss dinner if I leave now?”

I laughed. My friend loved Da’s cooking.

Tonight was chicken piccata over an arugula salad, and we mostly talked about the current drama on Natalie’s hockey team.

We sequestered ourselves in my room after loading the dishwasher. “What’s Connor up to tonight?” Natalie asked as I shuffled through hangers in my closet. I’d hung the bridesmaid dress in the back since it wouldn’t be called to duty for a few more months.

“SAT tutoring,” I said. Connor had a great GPA, but he was about to take the test for the third time. I am far from dumb, he liked to say, but man, can that exam humble a person…

“Gotcha,” Natalie said. “Things are still going well between you two?”

“Yeah.” I nodded. “Of course. We’re best friends.”

She nodded back. “I know, and that’s what I love about you guys.” She raised an eyebrow. “Have you kissed yet?”