“Our sport sucks sometimes,” Tate mutters.
"And how come no one has come out?" Harlow adds as she drops into the rocking chair next to the one I'm occupying. "Like come on, that many dudes in one sport and only one is gay? My ass."
Grady gets up and walks over to the grill as Conner shrugs, as it’s his captain, Abbott Barlowe who is the out player. “Yeah. I’m sure there are others. Abbott says that there’s a shit ton of homophobia on the Riptide’s social media and he doesn’t blame other players for keeping quiet.”
“Why should they have to put their sex life on display?” Grady mutters. He looks at Theo. “Want a beer?”
“Theo isn’t drinking tonight,” Harlow interrupts and her brother rolls his eyes but doesn’t object. He looks better than he did at the hospital. He seems to have showered and is in fresh clothes.
“Hey! Can you spare some extra barbecue for a weary traveler?”
We all turn to the voice coming from the same side of the house where I just came from. Crew is standing there with an overnight bag on his shoulder and a smile on his face. Everyone yells out greetings, but they’re overpowered by Liv’s shriek as she steps onto the porch and sees him. She blows right by me, across the porch, and launches herself off the first step and right at him. Crew drops his bag and manages to catch her in a bear hug.
He holds her tight, feet dangling, and whispers something in her ear. “Of course it’s okay. I’m so happy you’re here. I love you.”
“Love you too, Olivia,” Crew tells her. “That’s why I couldn’t stay away any longer.”
I feel… disappointment. My eyes move to the side of the house, but no one else emerges. Nash didn’t come with his brother. It makes sense. I mean, we’re not actually dating. We aren’t really married, in the emotional sense. We’re not really anything and this show of support and love from Crew really drives that home. Thank God they aren’t identical twins or this would sting a hell of a lot more.
I force myself to smile at the show of affection because Liv deserves it. She’s my best friend, not just my cousin, and I’m happy she found such a solid guy. Crew glances at me, then his hazel eyes dart around the porch. “Nash isn’t here?”
I shake my head. “No, of course not.”
“Well…” Crew looks at me again, his brow wrinkled with concern. “He’s not in L.A. either.”
“Are you sure?” I say because it makes no sense that he wouldn’t be.
Crew nods. “Yeah.”
We both pull out our phones. Nash finally responded to my last message.
Tenley: Callie is doing great after surgery. Won’t have biopsy results for at least a week though.
Nash's response? A thumbs up. That's it.
I stand up. “Well, maybe he bored himself into a coma.”
There are a few snickers from my male cousins. The females all look at me with confusion because just last night I admitted I had feelings for him. But it’s beginning to look like that was a giant mistake.
Chapter 24
Nash
I hate hospitals, I think as I breathe in the sharp chemical air around me. I’m pacing because I refuse to lie on the hospital bed. Gabby is sitting on a plastic chair in the corner of my room. It’s not technically a room, but a small pre-surgical cubicle with a curtain for a door. I’m in one of those hospital gowns with the gaping back, which annoys the hell out of me and also stresses me out because Gabby is right there.
I’m careful not to flash her as I move. She is on her phone, likely typing an update to Coach and the team doc. The meeting with Dr. Marchand went great. He’s calm and not overly concerned. He said if he was a betting man he’d lay odds on the fact that this thing was a Schwannoma, which is a benign tumor that grows on nerves. The placement of mine is “incredibly rare” Dr. Marchand said, which is why he’s pushing through an immediate biopsy. Which is also why I’m in a butt-less dress at the moment.
“You seem nervous.”
I shake my head and scratch the back of my neck. “But I’m not nervous. I’m annoyed and frustrated.”
“It will be quick and relatively painless,” she says about the procedure I’m waiting for.
I nod. “But he hasn’t said that I can keep playing right away.”
"He hasn't said you can't, though." It turns out Gabby is a bit of an optimist. This whole trip, which has been twelve hours so far, she's countered all my grumpy comments with positive ones. It's annoying, and it's also making me miss Tenley more. She would do this, not because she's overly positive but because she loves to push my buttons. God, I miss that. I wonder for the hundredth time if I should have told her about this.
The curtain is suddenly pulled back and I spin, forgetting for a second that turning that way puts Gabby behind me and gives her a full view of my ass. My hands quickly grope behind me and grab at the fabric, holding it together. But when I glance over my shoulder she’s smirking, which means she got an eyeful. The nurse is smiling politely.
