The push to get to my side is a bitch, getting to my hands and knees even more so.
Quiet.
It takes almost all the energy I have left just to get back on my haunches and look up rather than lay in the dirt next to Ashton and pass the fuck out.
But Emmett.
My head spins as I search for him, the light seemingly brighter than normal, my vision blurring the lines between track and not.
Fuck, there’s blood in my eye.
I use the end of my shirt to wipe it away and when I let the material fall away, it’s covered in red.
“Fuck.”
Looking around, I stiffen when I finally orient myself enough to find Emmett still standing next to the bike with his covered fist balled in front of his mouth.
The helmet is gone and there’s lines tracking through the dirt coating his face.
“Bubbles,” I mutter and groan through the sharp pain in my ribs when I stand up. It makes my head throb and the world tilt.
Quiet.
I force a breath that’s just short of deep when my ribs protest the action and wrap an arm around them. Each step is like a knife between them, separating muscle from bone, leaving just enough pain filled space between to fill withhim.
“Bubs,” I croak out as I get closer.
He’s not looking at me, but instead at the approach of my feet. With each inch that I gain, each breath closer, feels like a mile wedging between us.
His shoulders are shaking.
Those tracks down his face like a crater digging deep in my chest.
“I’m sorry,” I rasp to the top of his blond head. “I’m sorry you saw that.”
He sniffs and whispers, “You shouldn’t hurt people that don’t deserve it.”
“Hedid.” I dip so I can see his eyes, so that he can see the sincerity in mine. “He fucked around and found out, Em. That’s all.”
“You pushed him first. I saw it.”
There’s a wobble to his lip behind that fist of his and my chest aches for a whole different reason.
“I did,” I agree and nod. “But he ran his mouth first.”
“What n-n-now?”
“I called Hatley. He’s gonna come check him out.”
Shining honey eyes find mine and I have to swallow back the lump that lodges in my throat. “What about you?”
My stomach twists and I hold my middle tighter, though a small smile plays at my lips.
“Work.”
Chapter 35
Emmett
