“Coach knows about the drugs?”
Cole would kill me for revealing this, but Haruto was a good friend, and he was proving it. “And the drinking. He’s helped Cole before.”
Silence met me on the other line.
“Fuck.”
“Yeah.”
Haruto took a deep breath. “And Eva?”
“I haven’t seen her yet. She won’t let me.”
Haruto snorted. “She’ll forgive you.”
“Maybe. But forgive me or not, I want to help.”
I gave him the list of shit I thought she might need, wincing a little at how high-handed it was, but Eva deserved so much better than what we’d given her.
I had to make one last call.
Alek picked up the phone. “You missed practice today,” he said instantly.
“I’m—”
“With Eva,” he interrupted. “The team let me know. How is she?”
I gave him the same update I’d given everyone else.
“I don’t know when I’m going to be back,” I said.
Alek didn’t answer.
My heart squeezed in my chest. We’d fucked up so badly, all three of us, with her, with each other. And I didn’t know how to fix it.
“Take care of her,” he said gruffly and then hung up.
When I returned to the waiting room, I brought her father a coffee. He looked up at me with surprise. “She’s stubborn,” he said softly. “You can wait as long as you want, but she won’t see you.”
“I know,” I said, sinking into the chair across from him. “She doesn’t have to.”
Conrad frowned, like he’d expected me to argue or beg.
“I don’t need her to see me,” I continued, the truth of it surprising me. “I just need her to be okay.”
I'd already forgiven her for the lies, for quitting, for every secret she’d kept because she didn’t trust that I’d help her. She’d been right.
Maybe forgiving her made me weak. Maybe I was setting myself up for the worst mistake of my life. I just—I was done being angry. Anger was easy. I wanted her more than I wanted to be right. I wanted to be with her, even if she never wanted me back.
For the first time since I’d arrived, my chest loosened. Eva didn’t owe me a second chance. She didn’t owe me anything.
I still wanted to give her everything.
Whether she wanted to see me or not, whether she ever spoke to me again, I was going to make sure she got it.
Cedric
*missed call from Cedric*
