Fuck.
The pain in my thigh is really dampening the mood.
Jay:Like a 7.Maybe 8.Can’t straighten my leg.
Jay:I wouldn’t text you if it wasn’t serious.
Another pause.Longer this time.I'm two seconds from calling her to beg when she sends through another message.
Ally:Ice it.Then Elevate.I’ll send you some stretches to try.
Jay:Already tried.Nothing’s working.I wouldn't text you if it wasn't serious.
Even as I send the text, I know she's thinking it's a lie.Obviously I would text her.Hell, I've thought about it so many times after my sessions with her, but I wanted to respect her and her decision to hate me, even if I believe it's a complete waste of our time.
Ally:Fine.Meet me at the rink in 10 minutes.
Jay:Ah, I wish I could.Unfortunately, I can’t make it to my kitchen let alone the rink.Can you come here?
The three dots stop.Start.Stop again.
Ally:To your apartment?
Ally:At 11pm?
Ally:You realize how that sounds, right?
I almost laugh, but the cramp chooses that moment to seize again and I bite back a curse.
Jay:I know how it sounds.I also know we have Rome U tomorrow and if I can’t play because I was too stubborn to ask for help, Coach McKibbon will actually kill me.
Jay:Please, Hart.I’m not fucking around.I’ll do whatever you ask.Even if it’s never talking to you again.I just really need your help.
Another long pause.I can picture her pacing, weighing whether this is genuine or just another one of my games.
Finally:
Ally:Send me your address.
Ally:And this better not be a booty call, Cross.I’ll know the second I walk in and make sure you can’t play for Rome U.
Jay:Scout’s honor.
Ally:I doubt you were ever a scout.
Jay:Come over and I'll prove you wrong.
I send her my address and drop the phone on my chest, exhaling hard.She’s coming.She actually cares enough to come.
Now I just have to survive the next twenty minutes without my leg falling off.
The knock on my door comes exactly twenty-three minutes later.
Through some miracle, and a lot of heavy breathing, I’ve managed to pull myself to the couch and prop my leg up on the coffee table with a pillow that’s doing absolutely nothing.Honestly, for all that effort, I feel like I was better off on the wooden floor.
“It’s unlocked,” I call out, because standing up to answer the door like a gentleman still feels impossible.
When my apartment door swings open and Ally Hart walks in, I gulp.
