I laughed because Jason was so right about that. Then, I nearly doubled over at the searing pain through my torso. “Man, and to think you’ve never met the guy. Yeah, he’d have stormed in here ready to kick some serious ass if he hadn’t found out pretty much right away.”
“Cam talks about your parents a lot,” Jason informed me. That wasn’t surprising, since they were the closest thing he’d ever had to decent parents. It surprised me that he turned out as well as he did, given the shitty hand he’d been dealt as a kid. Still, it warmed my heart to know Cam talked about my family to the guy he was in love with. “I think that helped last night, too, because I was able to tell them who I was to Cam and that way I wasn’t just some asshole calling in the middle of the night with bad news.”
I knew my parents had been here, but they were nowhere to be found. That was odd, because I’d have figured there was nothing that’d keep my mom from hovering over me until she was satisfied that I’d be okay. “Where are they now?”
“Eric took them back to your place to get a shower and some breakfast,” Jason told me. Man, I owed Eric big time. First, he literally saved my life and then he got my parents out of the hospital before they could drive everyone insane. I chuckled as much as my battered body would allow as I wondered if he was currently sitting on the couch regretting his decision. “He said they can sleep up in Cam’s room while they’re here. If the doctors hadn’t told your mom you’ll probably be getting discharged later today, I don’t know that she would have left.”
“Probably not.” I loved Mom, but she was more protective of me than the rest of her kids. I was the baby of the family, their ”oops” child, and she hadn’t quite learned to let go of me once I reached adulthood.
“Don’t worry, they’ll probably be back within the hour,” Jason said, laughing when I groaned. Between the physical pain and the thought of a panicked mother when she got back up here, I suddenly wanted something much stronger than coffee. Like, maybe a bottle of scotch.
“Is Eric coming with them?” I wanted a few minutes alone with him to thank him for everything. It was completely inadequate but it’d have to do for now. I also worried about how he was doing in the aftermath of last night.
“Yeah, he’ll be here.” Jason looked uncomfortable, as if there was something else on his mind. Something he wanted to say, but wasn’t sure he should.
“Whatever it is, just spit it out.” I was never one for dancing around uncomfortable conversations, and I sure as hell wasn’t in the mood to start now.
“Is something going on between the two of you?” he asked after a long silence. “I mean, it’s totally cool if it is, but you have to know he’s not someone who’s good at fooling around. He might say he is, but he’s not.”
That was reassuring, not that it mattered. Eric and I had spent a bit of time together in the week since he’d been home, but never anything more than two guys hanging out. And even that was limited because he was trying to relax after a horrendous season for the Seattle Storm, and I was trying to stay focused in hopes of helping the Mavericks get to the World Series.
Which hadn’t happened.
Because of me.
Fuck, as if I needed anything else trampling through my head, now I was back to thinking about that fucking game. Fucking Mark Butler. Jason was right about one thing. Mark was a cocky sonuvabitch who wanted to be the hero of the game. And I stopped him and screwed our team in the process.
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Two reasons,” Jason stated, sitting a bit straighter in his seat. “First, Eric freaked the hell out last night, and I don’t think it was just because of what he interrupted. He was seriously worried about you. Second, a text message came in for you this morning.”
He tossed me my phone and then picked it up when I couldn’t hold and unlock it one handed. I read the message from Bryce three times and it still didn’t make sense. It said he was in town and wanted to get together today. I wondered why he hadn’t told me he was coming back to Wisconsin. I tried to figure out how to blow him off because there was no way I wanted him to see me this way.
“I could give you the same speech about that one,” Jason said as he nodded toward my phone. “But for some reason, I don’t think I need to worry as much about him.”
“Jason, you can think I’m some sort of manwhore if it’ll make you feel better, but I haven’t done anything with either of them.” I clenched my jaw and took a few breaths to try and calm down. “Bryce and I have seen each other exactly once, the night you and Cam made up. Since then, we’ve been talking but there’s nothing going on there. And Eric, well he’s my roommate. I can’t exactly ignore him.”
“As long as you remember that both of those guys are like brothers to me. You hurt either of them and the payback will be swift and unpleasant.” I’d be pissed if I hadn’t given him the same warning, almost verbatim, when he and Cam started fooling around.
“Got it. Now, if you’re done would you please go and see when they’ll let me eat something?” I didn’t give two shits if I sounded whiny. If I didn’t get something in my stomach soon, the petulance would turn to anger and then no one would want to deal with me.
Jason laughed as he hoisted himself out of the chair which was too small for his large frame. “Yeah, I’ll see if I can scrounge up something. I think the doctors just wanted to make sure you weren’t going to puke when the water hit your stomach.”
“Thank you.” I was grateful to see him leave, not only because I was ravenous, but also because I just wanted to be alone.
Just a few minutes without anyone asking what hurt, how I felt, if they could do anything for me, and on and on.
4
Bryce
When I tookthe job with Pot of Gold, I thought it would be a great way to actually do something good in my life. I’d been jaded by my time in the Army, and I think that’s why I was so hell-bent on making a difference.
I’d seen horrible acts fueled by hate and bigotry, but knew my CO wouldn’t believe me if I confessed my assumptions to him. So, I kept my mouth shut and my inaction led to the death of one of my best friends. That was something I’d live with until the day I died, but it also led me to vow to help keep someone else from being too much of a coward to say anything.
I sure as hell hadn’t counted on sitting down with my morning coffee to analyze every line of the proposed budget, trying to figure out where we could cut dollars in order to save the entire Milwaukee location from closing down. If something didn’t change, I doubted we’d be able to keep the doors open for another year, and that wasn’t an option in my mind. That’s why I hadn’t given it a second thought when the founder asked me if I’d be willing to pack up and temporarily move to Wisconsin.
It seemed as if everything was finally beginning to look up for me. When I was in Milwaukee a few weeks ago, I’d met Drew, one of my friend Jason’s teammates, who also happened to be the long-time best friend of Jason’s boyfriend, Cam.
