“Sorry, you’re right. Wrong time.”
“You think?” He wanted to reach across their wireless connection and strangle Bobby. “Look, can you not be an ass for a little while and do me a favor? Call Emily Ryan and tell her what’s going on with XYZ. The coordinators need to know.”
“So much for not focusing on Unbound.”
Trey grunted. “I’m thinking about them right now, not us.”
“Okay, okay. I’ll call her. You need anything, man?”
“No, I’m fine. I just . . . I need to be here for Dominic right now, okay?”
“I get it. Call if you need us.”
“I will, thanks.”
“Hey, Coop?”
“Yeah?”
“Sorry I’ve been such an asshole to you recently.”
Trey could have been knocked over with a feather in that moment. “Thanks, Bobby. I’ll keep you posted.”
He returned to his seat next to Dominic and was met with a questioning gaze. “I might have stolen Bobby’s car last night,” Trey said.
“You didn’t ask him?”
“No, all I could think about was getting to you. But he’s cool with it. He knows how much I need to be here with you. He even apologized for being a dick about us.”
Dominic rested his head on Trey’s shoulder. “Once I got here and the accident sank in, you were the only person I could think to call.”
“I’m glad you did.”
“Me too.”
Benji’s and Joshua’s parents arrived around the same time, and both sets smothered Benji with love. Joshua had sailed through surgery, none of his internal organs had been damaged by the shrapnel, and he’d get a regular room once he was out of recovery. Great news for that group.
Trey didn’t know what he’d do if Lincoln didn’t make it. It would destroy Dominic. Even if they got good news, Trey hated the idea of leaving Dominic’s side for a moment, much less to spend three days in New York City, taking XYZ’s place in the competition. It wouldn’t feel right.
At the end of the day, when the chips were down, Dominic came first. And if that meant not going to Unbound and pissing off his bandmates, so be it. Fading Daze would survive.
No one could say the same about Lincoln.
TWENTY-TWO
Dom always knewhe’d been blessed with the absolute best parents on the planet, but they proved themselves beyond all things that awful Wednesday morning spent wondering if his best friend was going to live or die. His dad had a friend who lived locally and volunteered her guest room, couch, and bathroom to everyone who needed a break from the hospital.
Tyson’s cousin Bree whisked him home at quarter after nine, and he left reluctantly after receiving promises of updates on Lincoln the minute they knew more.
Around ten o’clock, when they knew that Lincoln was out of surgery and in recovery—and yeah, maybe Dom had sobbed all over Trey from the good news—Dom allowed Trey and his dad to wrangle him over to the Sumpter house for a shower, a meal, and a nap—in that order. He slept for a while with Trey plastered against his back, a comfortable warmth that had kept Dom grounded since he strode into the emergency room.
He woke to the pleasant sensation of Trey’s fingers tickling across his abdomen—something sure to get his engine revving under any other circumstances. Mostly it reminded him that Trey was there, and that all of Dom’s friends were alive.He wiggled back against Trey, and the arm across his waist tightened.
“How are you doing?” Trey whispered.
“Not sure. Relieved, but I don’t think the night’s really sunk in yet.”
“You’re probably still in shock.”
