Her words slam into me and my first instinct is to deny, but she doesn’t give me a chance.

Unfolding her arms, she opens the front door. “Goodbye, Tanner.”

I’m still wrapping my head around what the fuck just happened when I pull back onto the freeway. I call Sydney.

“Hey,” her bubbly voice answers. “How’d it go?”

“Great,” I say. “I mean, not great but it’s fine. Are you still at Valley?”

“Yeah, I am packing now, should be on the road in fifteen minutes or so. Back home for the summer.” Her voice sounds defeated as she says the last part.

“Good. Stay put. I’m coming to get you.”

“Uhh, what?”

“You’re coming with me to the lake this summer. I’ll explain everything when I get there.”

It takes very little convincing to get Sydney to agree, and as soon as she does and we pile her bags into the back of my car, I feel lighter than I have in months. In love with Sydney? I shake my head. I left that part out of the replay I gave Sydney. The important thing is, we broke up and that Amelia isn’t the right one for me.

Sydney thought we needed space to make Amelia happy and I think I need someone who can accept that I’m not going to pretend she isn’t important to me just because they’re insecure. Plus, the best way to get over a broken heart… or a wounded one, if I’m totally transparent, is to hang with Sydney.

Two years, Sydney has had my back. Through girlfriends, the loss of my grandpa, fights with teammates, bad grades—you name it, she’s always been there to support me. I’m not tossing her over for a girl. Another girl.

“This is going to be the best summer ever,” I tell her, glancing over as she pulls on a pair of sunglasses. “Four weeks with no cares in the world. And my sister is coming up for Fourth of July weekend with a couple of her friends. We do it up big every year. There’s nowhere better than the lake for the Fourth.”

“I can’t believe after all this time I still haven’t met her. Thank you for this. I’m sorry about Amelia, though.”

“It wasn’t meant to be.”

And honestly, I’m more excited about the next month knowing Sydney’s going to be there. My original plan was to spend all of June at the lake by myself. My family has a house there that largely goes unused. My parents bought the place a few years ago in anticipation of retirement, but neither of them have retired yet which means Tara and I are the ones who use it most.