Ben grins at me
and eases the gym bag off my shoulder
then drops it with a grunt

“What do you have in here? Another gymnast?”

“Nah. I think she moved out.”

Ben rolls his eyes and laughs
he holds out his hand
instead of just taking mine
in a millisecond
a hundred thoughts go whipping through my head
but the one that gets snagged
is the one that thinks Ben might just be

a gift

so I take his hand and he squeezes

while I try to ignore the glare from my coach as we
walk past his office