He told me he'd be here.He wouldn't say that if he knew this was coming.
Or would he?
It hasn't been that long. Sure, we have history, and we didn't meet a month ago as strangers. But Drew's young. Maybe he got swept up in theideaof us—of someone sticking by him while everything else shifted.
I couldn't even blame him. As much as he's shaken my world, he's also been the one steady pillar as I navigated this new path in life. I thought this all happened so fast because we were drawn to each other. Understood each other. Were meant to be.
But maybe I was wrong. Maybe that pull wasn't an anchor.
Maybe it was an anvil.
I try to decide where I stand as I throw open the front door, but I'm saved from making any decisions. Or just thrown into a new one.
"Ivy!" I yell as I race toward my aunt lying face down on the sidewalk. "Oh my God." I reach her after what feels like an eternity and brush her matted hair from her face. Her eyes are closed—unresponsive—and blood trickles by her temple. "Ivy," I say again—a whisper this time.
All the emotions from the last ten minutes mix with the ones surfacing now, and the floodgates open, tears blurring my vision and rushing from my eyes. I open my mouth to scream, but nothing comes out. Instead, I hear my own name ring out around me.
"Brooke!" my brother calls as he flies down the porch steps. He's followed by my mother, who screams at the sight in front of her house. "Amy, get out here!"
The two of them rush the two of us, and I'm stuck between running from all of this and freezing in place. When my sister-in-law emerges from the house with my dad behind her holding Selah, I finally backaway. Amy wobbles down the stairs as I hold on to my aunt's limp arm like if I don't let go, it won't be real.
None of it will be.
34
Drew
Striding into the locker room, I once again look at my phone sitting shattered in my hand. The spider-webbed screen taunts me as it has every other time before I shove it in my pocket.
I can't believe this is happening despite all the arguing with my dad and all the money I pay Jane to keep my personal business private. All of the changes I'm trying to make and somehowthisis still the story.
Waking up this morning to a text from my agent, my P.R. manager,andmy coach, all asking if there was something they should know, was like the fucking hat trick from hell. I'm not sure how the rumor started exactly—well, besides knowing my dad must be behind it—but it's out now, and I can't even imagine what the headlines are saying.
I haven't looked. In fact, after I left Brooke's last night, I turned my phone on airplane mode and spent the night listening to her playlist on repeat and wishing she didn't have dinner with her parents. I thought the last few games were bad—that maybe it was only up from here. But apparently, I was wrong because I passed out to that dream and woke up to a real-life nightmare.
I should have thought twice about smashing my phone to the floor first thing this morning after turning all of my messages back on. It's made getting a hold of Brooke difficult. I rode over to her place before the rink this morning, but she was already gone by the time I got there. My only hope now is that I can find her here before warm ups start.
I can't imagine what she's thinking. She finally lets me in—I tell her I'm not leaving—and now she hears that I have plans to do exactly that? I'm trying not to panic as much as I probably should—Brooke and I justget each other. She has to know that this wasn't me. That it isn't true. Or at least that's what I'm telling myself.
"Yo, you doin' alright, Cap?" Burns claps me on the back the second I get to my stall.
"Yeah, man," I say quickly, nerves still budding up my chest. "Hey, have you seen Brooke?"
"InstaBrooke?"
I pause, annoyed more than I should be by the random pet name. "Yeah, sure. Have you seen her?" I throw my backpack into my stall and continue walking through the locker room.
"Uh, no, not since the other day."
I stop outside the showers and exhale heavily, contemplating my next move. Brett steps up next to me before I can decide and places his hand on my shoulder. "What's wrong?"
I shake my head through a sigh. "Nothing, I just—I need to talk to her." Saying the words out loud tightens the knot in my stomach and increases the pulse in my head. My hand flies to my forehead in an attempt to rub out the tension as Brett bites at the inside of his cheek.
"Does this have anything to do with the rumors?" I peer over at him, dragging my palm to the back of my neck. The breath Brett blows through his lips fills the silence between us until he speaks again. "You, uh—there's no truth to that, is there?"
My body whips in his direction. "Fuck no," I say boldly. "That's all my dad. He just won't fucking quit."
He nods, bringing his eyes to his hands, then positions his body in front of mine. Ward walks past us, and I tip my chin up at him, but Brett doesn't move his gaze off of me. "Listen, Cap," he continues once Carter's gone. "For what it's worth… your old man probably just wants the best for you."
