That was it. A single sentence that had rocked his world and muddled his brain. He’d been unable to speak. Or move. He’d just stared at her until she’d given him a smile and turned and walked away, her skirt swinging and ponytail bouncing.

Later that afternoon, he’d finished PE about the time she’d finished her cheerleader workout. As if pulled by gravity, they’d met by the waist-high chain-link fence that divided the field. He’d tried to act cool and was sure he’d failed. Still, he’d managed to ask her out for Saturday night.

“I’d like that,” she’d told him.

“Your parents going to approve?”

She’d cocked her head, as if considering her answer. “Probably not, but they won’t say I can’t date you. They’ll tell me to be careful.” She started to turn away, only to face him again. “You’re going to come to the door to pick me up, and then you’ll come inside and meet my dad.” The smile returned. “He sounds a lot meaner than he is. Just be respectful. Tell him you won’t drink or speed, and that you’ll have me back five minutes before my curfew.”

“That’s a lot of rules. I’m not a guy who plays by the rules.”

The smile had never wavered. “You’re not as tough as you think, Toby Newkirk. You pretend not to do what’s expected because you’re bad, but the truth is, you’re waiting to find someone who cares enough to make you do the right thing. That would be me.”

She’d walked away then, just like she had earlier that day. He’d shown up when she’d said he would, had suffered through a fifteen-minute interrogation from her father, and had brought her safely home ten minutes before curfew.

And that had been it. For the next year, he and Reggie had been a couple. Attraction had grown into genuine love and through most of his senior year, she’d been the one he turned to when things got so bad at home he had to worry about hiding the bruises.

It had all come to an end the week after their senior prom, he thought now, knowing time had blunted the pain of the last time they’d spoken, but not his regret for his part in it. He’d hurt her, and in her mind, he’d betrayed her. That it hadn’t been on purpose hadn’t mattered. Not to her. He supposed now it was just old news to her.