“But this is your car,” Cassie repeated.
“I’ll pick it up later.”
I leaped on her words as if they were a throw to home plate. “You have to come get it. Tonight. I don’t care how late.”
She looked at me, and I could see the understanding in her face. I wanted her with me tonight. I might be hopped up on painkillers by the time she arrived, but I wanted her there.
“Please,” I begged.
She smiled. “Of course. I’ll get there as soon as I can. But you need to go now. Coach is running out of interesting bullshit.”
I snorted. “He ran out of that years ago.”
“But the press doesn’t know that.” Then she gave Cassie a thumbs-up and shut the car door. A moment later, we were pulling away from the hospital. That was good, I thought, as I eased back in the seat. Except that it hurt even more to leave Gia behind.
We made it to my apartment building without incident. And sure enough, there were reporters there, too, though Rob and Jake were keeping them back, probably regaling them with baseball bullshit. Every player had a store of great plays or glorious screw-ups that entertained the fans. We talked endlessly about them when we wanted to kill time with the press. But as I pulled up, Rob waved the reporters back and Jake helped me get out. Their eyes were filled with worry as they teased me loud enough for the press to hear.
“Did you get a boo-boo? Did a pretty nurse kiss it all better?”
“That’s your move, Jake,” I grumbled as I grabbed my crutches. Then I gestured to my cousin Ellie, who had somehow stepped out of the shadows to hover nearby. She understood better than most how fragile Cassie could be. “Could you go with her while she parks the car and make sure she’s okay?”
Ellie nodded and quickly slid into the passenger seat. A moment later, the car pulled away from the curb, and the guys were waving goodbye to the press as we went inside. I waited until we were in the elevator to give them the news.
“No pennant for me, but maybe the World Series. If I do everything I’m supposed to—”
“You always do,” snorted Jake.
“Yeah, you’re boring like that,” Rob continued.
“Or just old,” Jake continued.
I was four years older than Rob, but I swear, I felt every minute like it was a month. How could I be this crippled at twenty-seven?
“No problem,” Rob added. “I’m sure Gia will help you convalesce in style.”
My head jerked up. No one knew about my relationship with Gia. Not even us, really, given that we couldn’t decide if we were together or not. The guys absolutely could not know—
“Look at his face,” Jake hooted.
“He thinks we’re all clueless,” Rob laughed. “We’ve known since before the All-Star Game. That’s when it started…right?”
“Fishing?” I asked with a glare.
He shrugged.
“That’s his day in the pool,” Jake responded. “I think it was more like the Thursday after the All-Star Game. You know, when she went all goo-goo eyed during batting practice.”
“Grow up,” I growled as the elevator doors opened.
“Never!” they both answered at once.
Then we were at my apartment door. Rob’s fiancée Heidi opened it—apparently, building security let her in—and she’d gotten everything set up in my bedroom—ice packs, water for taking pills, and a pyramid-shaped pillow to keep my knee elevated and bent at the right angle for optimal healing. She offered to make some food, but I waved her away. I just wanted to be alone. With Gia.
But I wasn’t about to get my wish yet. Ellie and Cassie came upstairs, and I studied my sister’s face to see if she was okay. Had seeing Sophia upset her? Of course, it had. But how much? And how much of her distress right now was because she was worried about me?
All of those damn fears scrambled around my brain. But at least they were crowding out the my-career-is-over chant ringing through my head. Well, some of the time.
Eventually, they all said good-bye. Cassie and Ellie went last, since Ellie was going to drop my sister off on campus. I kissed them both and was incredibly grateful when Ellie whispered into my ear.
