Play Dirty (Make the Play #4) Page 17

  When Mom draws back, her eyes are shining. Clearly not wanting to fluster me, she wipes them swiftly and then goes to hug Talia. I’m actually surprised she didn’t go to her first with how close the two of them have gotten.

  Chris and Emmy come bounding up, and my stomach knots involuntarily.

  “Hey, man,” Chris greets me.

  “Hey,” I respond.

  “Can we believe it? We’re done with high school!” Emmy bursts out.

  I chuckle. “I can believe I did, but you’re another story.”

  Emmy feigns offense. “Shut up.”

  To my surprise, Chris laughs along with me. “Seriously. Emmy as an adult. That’s a scary thought.”

  “What’s a scary thought?” Cal saunters up, Taylor by his side.

  “Emmy as an adult,” Chris answers, and Emmy playfully punches him in the shoulder.

  “Oh, Emmy will never be an adult. She’ll always be my younger sister.” He musses her hair and she frowns, pulling away from him. Then Cal’s gaze lifts to mine. “Hey, man. Congratulations.”

  “He’s congratulating you on having an awesome new brother,” Chris interjects.

  Cal shakes his head. “No, actually for that I need to offer my condolences.”

  I smile, marveling at how weird this entire conversation is. Talia sidles up next to me also wearing an awed expression. Out of the corner of my eye, I spot Ashley and Hayes heading in our direction. I grab Talia’s hand and thread my fingers through it.

  “Emmy!” Ashley squeals when she reaches us.

  “Ash!” Emmy hugs her friend back.

  “Now that we’ve established what their names are…” Cal jokes, and we all chuckle.

  “I hear you’re coming to join us, Josh,” Chris says, once again choosing to use my name instead of the insulting nicknames he used to hurl at me. Perhaps he meant it when he called a truce.

  “Yep. I’ll be playing ball with you next year.” Talia leans into me, and I feel a sharp pang. She’s not coming to college with me. She’s staying here and going to junior college while she tries to figure out what she wants to do with her life. It will be tough to be without her, but I know we’ll make things work. We love each other enough to put in the effort. Besides, Emmy and Chris, and Cal and Taylor have, so why can’t we?

  “Just don’t suck, okay?” Cal says, but the smile he wears tells me he’s joking.

  “All he has to do is play like he did this year, and we’ll be good,” Chris says.

  I nod. “Thanks, man. That means a lot.”

  Talia’s eyes widen as she takes in the scene. Not that I blame her. The entire thing seems a little surreal.

  “What means a lot?” Nolan joins us, sliding in beside me. By his expression, it’s obvious that he’s surprised by my present company. Not that I blame him. I’ve avoided most of these people for years. But lately everything seems to be shifting, changing gradually like the seasons. It hasn’t happened overnight, but the more Talia has gotten me to open to her, the more I’ve been able to let others in. I’ve become more understanding and forgiving. And no one is more shocked about that than I am.

  “Nothin’,” I say, because even though Talia’s softening me, I don’t want to come across as a total wuss. Touching Nolan’s shoulder, I add, “Nolan’s joining us too.” We’d planned on attending the same college since we were kids, and I’m glad that we were able to make it work.

  “Yeah. Dream team, baby,” Nolan croons, and we all laugh.

  “What about you, Hayes?” I ask, noticing how quiet he’s being. Usually, Hayes is the one yapping away. “You playing ball after this?”

  “Probably, but I’m staying here and attending junior college. I want to be around to help my mom out with my grandpa.” He glances at Ashley. “Besides, my girl will be here getting’ her beauty school on, so I gotta support her.”

  My stomach churns thinking of him going to school with Talia, but then I realize how silly I’m being. She doesn’t want him anymore. She wants me, so I have nothing to worry about.

  “You’re staying here, Ash?” Talia speaks up, surprising me.

  Ashley nods.

  “Me too. I’m going the junior college route, I think. I’m still not really sure what I want to do.” She scrunches up her nose as if she’s embarrassed.

  “You have time to figure it out,” Ashley says. “And I can help you.” With her hip she bumps Emmy in the side. “These two are going away. Following their boyfriends.” She indicates Emmy and Taylor. Although, even if she hadn’t said anything I would’ve assumed that they were both leaving. I know Emmy. I’m sure she’s been dying to be near Chris again. And I’m assuming Taylor doesn’t want to stay here in Prairie Creek living with her aunt and uncle, playing babysitter to her own kid. That entire situation is bizarre to me. I mean, I think it’s cool what she did, but I can’t imagine how weird it must be for her. “So maybe you and I could hang sometime.”

  “I’d like that,” Talia says genuinely.

  “Me too.” Ashley smiles.

  My heart soars as I take in the exchange. This entire day has been surreal. The only thing that would make it better is if Talia was joining me at college. But I know that’s a possibility. She just has to get through two years of junior college and then she can transfer. Either way, I’ll wait for her.

  She’s the girl of my dreams. The girl I love.

  And the girl I know I will love forever.

  THE END

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  Author’s note about the series…and an explanation about the ending

  Dear Reader,

  Thank you for reading the MAKE THE PLAY series. I hope you enjoyed your time in Prairie Creek as much as I enjoyed mine. I wanted to explain why I decided to end the series where I did as opposed to giving you a glimpse, say 5 or 10 years in the future. In the past I’ve gotten some “hate mail” when I’ve chosen to end my books this way, so I figured I should be proactive this time. There were a couple of reasons I chose to end the series at Josh and Talia’s graduation, leaving their future open-ended.

  The first reason is that I write about teenagers. All four of the couples in the MAKE THE PLAY series are in high school when they meet. In real life, the chances of these four couples all staying together into adulthood is unlikely. They all have dreams and futures waiting for them and most likely they’d end up taking different paths at some point. However, I know this is fiction, and as a reader you want an HEA for these characters. That’s why this wasn’t my only reason.

  The second, and more practical reason I chose to end it here is because I plan to revisit Prairie Creek in the near future. I have an idea for a couple of “second chance” romances involving some of these characters. The main story that has been speaking to me for awhile is Cal and Taylor’s. In order to do this, though, I can’t give you a final ending for all these characters right now. If, for some reason, I don’t end up running with these stories, I will write full epilogues for each of these characters and make them available either in my newsletter, fan club or a boxed set. However, I really do think I will one day write about these characters again.

  So I hope you can understand and appreciate my decision.

  As always, I have a lot of people to thank. They are listed below.

  Matt at the Cover Lure for my amazing covers!

  Lisa Richardson for being the best, most patient and understanding editor. I’m sorry that I made things so difficult this time around.

  Cameo Renae and Cambria Hebert for keeping me sane.

  Megan Squires for beta reading for me.

  My fan club for always supporting me.

  And for God who sustains me always. Everything I do is for you.

  Amber<
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  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Amber Garza is the author of the bestselling Playing for Keeps Series, as well as many other bestselling young adult romance novels including Tripping Me Up and The Summer We Fell. She also has several new adult and adult romance novels including Break Free, Star Struck and Head Above Water. She has had a passion for the written word since she was a child making books out of notebook paper and staples. Her hobbies include reading and singing. Coffee and wine are her drinks of choice (not necessarily in that order). She writes while blaring music, and talks about her characters like they’re real people. She currently lives in California with her amazing husband, and two hilarious children who provide her with enough material to keep her writing for years.