“Yeah, I’ll have to deal with that somehow.” I gripped the back of my neck as my phone went off. “Oh, I gotta get that. My girlfriend has a big interview today!”
Ivy: I arrived. I am ready. I am sweating.
Callum: You can do this. You are a badass.
Ivy: What if I fuck up?
Callum: Then we try another team!
Ivy: How are you feeling? How’s the ankle?
Callum: Don’t deflect. You practiced your talking points, and Allpress would be a fool not to have you.
Ivy: Well, of course you’d say that.
Callum: Ivy Lee Emerson. I know your flaws and your strengths and your best and worst memories. I know all of you, and any team would be lucky to have you. Not enough. Send me a selfie.
Ivy: *Eyeroll*
I grinned. She took a picture of herself eyerolling. It was the least attractive pose possible, but I snorted.
Callum: Even with your face like that, you’re a ten out of ten.
Ivy: Okay, he’s here. Wish me luck!
Callum: Good luck, baby. Let’s move to Chicago together.
“Mommmm.”I groaned as she helped me stand. “Stop it!”
“Stand up. Be a grown man. Jesus, child.” She flicked my forearm. “They need to move you to the wheelchair to leave.”
I’d never been shot, but my ankle felt like it. It pounded, and my head spun from the pain. “Carry me?”
“Ha. No.” She laughed and guided me to the chair. “Look, I got you a balloon. Your sisters and I all split it.”
“Incredible. I end my college career, and you all dish out three dollars for anI’m Sorry!Balloon.”
“But it has glitter!”
“Why are you so weird right now?” I held onto the balloon with one hand, my phone in the other. It was earlier than I thought. Ivy still hadn’t checked in from the interview, and I was using every modicum of strength to not call or text her. Her and Allpress could’ve hit it off and gotten coffee. Or she could be giving him a tour of the stadium and catching up with Henry. There were a million possibilities, but I hated her not being here.
I wasn’t being a prick. I just missed my girl. She made every scenario better, and I craved her hands on me. But I wouldn’t do anything to upset her. Not after scaring both of us for twenty-four hours, where my act of heroism had the opposite effect.
My mom joked with the nurses as she pushed me out of the room. “Your coach will come to the football house tomorrow to talk to you. Doesn’t want you trying to leave the place yet.”
“Ugh, the house.” A small part of me held out hope Ivy would appear at the last second to offer her apartment. It was nice, smelled great, and she was there. The guys would help out with whatever I needed, but going up three flights of stairs would wind me.
“Dean said they’d clear out one of the front rooms that you could stay in for a few weeks.” My mom patted my head. “You’ll be fine.”
Sleeping in the entry room? Fuck. That would be annoying as hell. Okay, yeah, I mean, it’d be an adjustment for everyone, but it’d be better than stairs.They are trying to be kind.
Don’t be ungrateful.
Go with the flow.
Be sad later.
“Okay, that’s nice of them.” I swallowed down the self-pity. Maybe I wasn’t handling this injury as well as I imagined. Dark thoughts were trying to intrude., like what if the guys treated me differently? What if Ivy never wanted to visit? What if she found me annoying now that I needed help? What if I missed football and regretted everything? “You dropping me off there?”
