Chapter 3

“Yes! Keegan didn’t tell you? I shared the news while he was at my house with Cyman Sunday.

Daggers. One. Then two. She just kept throwing verbal daggers. Not meaning to hit me, but she struck me with every single one. I turned quickly to Keegan. I knew my eyes showed my pain and I couldn’t hide it from him or Casey.

“Let me explain…” he started.

“You knew this all week and didn’t tell me? I’ve been confiding in you about how hurt I was to not get an invite this year and the whole time you knew my teammate got invited? Why wouldn’t you tell me Kee,” I asked, feeling tears start to burn their way down my face.

I stood up, hugged and congratulated Harper and excused myself. I needed a moment to myself. A moment to think, a moment to try to understand why Keegan would hide this from me. I walked briskly to the rocky shore. Those large rocks would give me a serene hiding place. The sand was cool on my feet.

I felt Keegan right behind me, but I didn’t want to speak with him.

“Go away Kee. I can’t deal with you right now,” I said, shoving him backwards.

“Brees, don’t do that. Don’t push me away. Let me tell you why I didn’t tell you,” Keegan said.

“Why would you hurt me like this? You knew I wanted that spot and you could have saved me this embarrassment,” I said, walking away from him.

“I knew you would resent her if you found out, Brees. I know Casey has had a hard time letting her in and this news just seemed like something I could let the summer wash away,” he said, following behind me.

He reached out and brushed his hand down the side of my arm.

“Babe, please know that I didn’t try to hurt you. I thought I was protecting you. I really did. I love you baby, and I never want to see you hurting or sad,” he said, grabbing my waist.

I let myself melt into his grasp. Why am I being so overly sensitive about everything? His blue eyes looked at me with such desperation that I couldn’t help but swoon. He grabbed the back of my neck, firmly yet gently. His kissed me by my hairline and hugged me tightly.

“Kee, I know you don’t want to hurt me, but you can’t keep things from me. You have to trust me to be able to handle difficult situations. This isn’t Harper’s fault. I’m truly excited for her. It’s just embarrassing when I’m caught off guard. Especially when you could have prevented that moment from occurring. I’m your girlfriend, not your child. You don’t need to shield me from everything. I love you and I want us to be honest with one another. So in the spirit of honesty, I have to tell you that it hurt my heart so badly when you suggested I could go to a different college. I truly felt like you don’t want me at LSU with you,” I said, still leaning into his warmth.

He laced his fingers into the back of my hairline and leaned down close to my face.

“Brees, please hear me when I say it would rock my entire world to spend three of my college years with you. But being a realist I have to see what could go wrong. My parents showed me that last year. I love having you near me all of the time and I’m going to miss you like crazy this fall. But babe if LSU isn’t your school that doesn’t mean we won’t be together. It just means that we will work hard to love one another from a distance. Does that make sense?!” he asked.

I nodded, but still had such a sick feeling about this topic.

“Can I kiss you now?” he asked with a slight grin.

I smiled as he pulled me closer. His lips met mine and he pulled me in. Massaging my back with one hand and gripping the nape of my neck with the other. Our kisses were always so passionate. We still hadn’t shown our love for one another in a physical way. I mean we did other things but just not IT! As we pulled apart from our kiss, he planted small kisses on my chin, cheek and forehead.

“Let’s go back to the fire, so we can clean up soon and head home. I have an online team meeting with LSU pretty early,” he said.

I agreed and we headed back. I could hear Baylen saying something to us as we got closer.

“Boooo. I don’t want to see you two making out,” he said, making a face that showed his disdain.

Keegan laughed and put him in an arm bar. Baylen tapped out after a few seconds.

“Sorry about that, Bay. It happens though when a boy likes a girl,” Keegan teased.

“Yeah, but not when the girl is my little sis,” Baylen said, throwing a balled up napkin in Keegan’s direction.

The boys finished putting out the fire and we headed back to the car. It was about 6:00 pm, so we should get home at a decent time that won’t make mom flip out.

I laid on Keegan’s shoulder the whole ride home and he rubbed the inside of my thigh. I was happy we reconciled. I truly didn’t want to fight and he was adamant that he wanted me to be at LSU with him. So I believed him and left it alone.

I truly cannot wait to go to school with Keegan and possibly move deeper into our relationship. Keegan Patts absolutely still has my heart.