Page 70 of Blitz

“Mason isn’t putting you at risk,” he tells me. “What is she doing? Loving you too much?”

“She drinks.”

“So?”

“No, I don’t mean she goes out once in a while. She’s gone out twice in three weeks and got blackout drunk, and we were together that third weekend, so I can only guess what she would have done if we didn’t have plans.” Thwack. Thwack thwack. “And I can’t be around someone like that. I can’t live my life with someone who—”

“Someone who indulges in something that is perfectly legal,” he reminds me.

“She’s not twenty-one yet.”

“She will be soon enough.”

“In May.”

“So what’s four months? Is that going to magically change the way you think about it?”

“No. I don’t expect her to abstain altogether. That’s not what I’m saying.” I sigh and wipe my face again. “The blackout drunk is what worries me. How much of this is because she wants to, and how much is because she can’t control herself? Or how much is she trying to run away from problems? I want to be an addiction counselor, and I can’t even talk to my own girlfriend about this shit.”

“Twice in three weeks is cause for concern,” he admits. “Maybe she’s not doing it on purpose, maybe she doesn’t know her own tolerance levels, but yeah—maybe you have a reason to be concerned. But fucking talk to her about it.”

“Yeah. You’re right.”

Barrett laughs. “Of course I’m right.”

The bus pulls into the parking lot shortly after two. I stuff my hands into my coat pockets and wait. And wait. And wait.

Mason is one of the last people off the bus. She bounds over to me and slings her arms around my middle.

“King!”

“Hey, Princess.” I kiss her cheek. “Did you have a good drive?”

She frowns. “Would have been better if you were with us. Melissa slept the whole time, and Fred was doing homework. It felt like it lasted forever.”

I force a laugh. “I’ve had bus rides like that.” It’s part and parcel of being a student athlete: they can’t all be home games, sometimes we have to travel. “Ready to go?”

She nods, biting her lip. “Are you okay? You seem off.”

“I’m fine,” I lie, because I’m not ready to confront the truth. “I thought maybe we could go for a walk through town today.”

“Oh, do you have errands to run?”

“No. I just want to spend time with you.” I reach for her duffel bag and sling it over my shoulder. “If you want to go home and take a nap, I’m cool with that, too. I thought maybe some time together awake and vertical might help.”

She smirks. “You don’t want to get horizontal?”

“I mean, yeah, but if we’re spending the next month abstaining, that’s probably not a good idea.”

“So we are? We’re not...?”

I cup her cheek. “I’m following your lead here, Princess. You said you’re freaking out. I’m trying to give you what you need. If sex is confusing you, we don’t need to do it for a while. You should be comfortable. I never want to pressure you into doing something you don’t want to do.”

She chews her lip. Gently, I tug it from between her teeth.

“What did I say? Only I get to bite this.”

She flushes. “King...”