“But,” he continued. “I have to agree with you that something doesn’t add up here.”

“Right?” I leaned forward as if my father and I were cracking open the case together. “I mean, I think I could admit it if I’d judged his character wrong, if I’d misread the signs and just let some asshole jock take advantage of me.”

Dad arched a brow that made me flush and look away, choosing not to elaborate on that.

“But I know him. I know him maybe better than any of his teammates. And I just… I can’t believe that suddenly, out of nowhere, he decided he wanted to be with Maliyah again. I mean, Dad… he was crying when he broke up with me.”

“Guys cry, too, you know,” he said with a smirk.

“Yes, but… it takes a lot,” I pointed out. “No?”

Dad nodded. “Yes, usually. But maybe he was just crying because he knew he was hurting you. He could very well want to end the relationship, but not want to bring you pain in the process.”

I frowned, deflating as I realized that was a possibility. “I guess I hadn’t thought of that.”

Dad patted my hand. “I know this is hard, little mouse. Believe it or not, I dated a few girls pretty seriously before I found your mom. I know what it’s like to have a heart broken.”

I folded in on myself, my heart squeezing painfully tight in my chest as if cued.

“But if Bonnie Raitt taught me anything, it’s that you can’t make someone love you if they don’t.”

“Wait,” I said. “That’s an Adele song.”

“She covered it.”

“Bonnie Raitt did?”

Dad blinked. “I’m going to choose to ignore the fact that my daughter doesn’t know who Bonnie Raitt is and get back to the matter at hand, which is this,” he said, leaning in closer. His blue eyes flashed with warmth, a sympathetic smile on the lips that mine were mirrored after. “At this point, it doesn’t matter what you think you know about what might be going on behind the scenes for this boy. All you have to go off is what actually happened, what he told you, and what you do know for certain.” He paused. “He looked you right in the eyes and told you it’s over.”

My bottom lip trembled, and Dad squeezed my hand.

“At some point, you have to accept that and move forward. I’m not saying you need to sprint, or that it’s not going to hurt every step of the way. But that’s what life is, sometimes. It’s just getting up, getting dressed, and putting one foot in front of the other until one day… the pain fades. And you know what else?”

“What?” I whispered.

“Life has a funny way of surprising us and bringing us something even better down the line.”