ENEMIES(39)

“Fuck.”

“They were worried about swelling on my brain, so they put me in a medically induced coma. I just got pulled out of it a few days ago, and since then, I haven’t been handling anything the best way.”

I should’ve called by now.

I should’ve called him the instant I heard.

“I’m so sorry, Jared. I’m so sorry.”

“Yeah, well.” His own voice broke. “Do you not want me, Dusty?”

I sat still, holding that phone so tight, and making sure I heard him right. Logically, I knew there were ways to think about this situation with us, but I wasn’t thinking logically. I was thinking with all emotion, and that question pierced straight through my chest, finding my heart. Bullseye. Without missing a beat, I said the words that had haunted me about Jared since I woke up from the coma, “Do you want me?”

“Yes! I mean, shit. You’re my only family. You’re my sister.”

This day. Right here. Right now. I would be better. I would no longer be an okay person, or a good person. I would be a fucking great person, and I’d have to google how to do that because I knew it’d be a lot of work.

I breathed into the phone, “Yes. Yes. I thought Apollo’s parents would be the best for you. They have a stable house. They have jobs.” I didn’t. “You don’t have to leave school. You could finish the year out there—”

“I don’t give a shit about any of that. I want you. You’re my family. The only person on this Earth I have left who cares about me.”

I was nodding, and crying, not knowing how I was going to do any of this. “Okay. Yeah. Okay. Um,” I stood. I couldn’t figure out how to be this new person sitting down. That made no sense. “Okay. Just, okay.”

“You have any idea what you’re going to do?” I could hear a bell sound where he was. Lockers opening, shutting. Conversations. Laughter. Shouts. A ‘what’s up, man?’ Followed by a ‘pound my fist, dude.’ He’d left his class early to call me.

“Not a goddamn clue.” My head still felt woozy. “I think the concussion is affecting me.”

“Coach says to take that stuff seriously. You shouldn’t even be on your phone right now.”

“Yeah. Well. I’m glad I am. I’m glad I had it, or I would’ve missed your call.”

I heard his laugh, and everything righted for a split second. I could do this. I could keep going. Right? I was asking myself. Right? I just answered myself. I was feeling inspired.

“Okay. Well. You let me know.”

I was nodding and smiling to myself and beaming like a fool. “I will. Right. Have a good rest of the day.”

“Er. Okay. Bye.”

“Bye!” I was waving, to the microwave. “Lov—”

That word stuck in my throat. I hated that it was there, but it was. Jared hung up.

I stood there.

I didn’t move.

I almost felt the microwave was going to start heckling me, and then I heard from behind me, “You did not just do what I heard you just do?”

Stone was there. Stone was furious. Stone was probably back to being my enemy after this.

I gave him a weak smile. “I blame my concussion.”

He growled, fixing me with a heated glare. “You are so fucking stupid.”

Yep. I so knew that. But on the flipside, I was now a single mother-figure. So, yay that?





Chapter Nineteen





Well. The joke was on me.

Apollo’s mom called me thirty minutes later. I was just leaving the stadium with Stone beside me. Seeing Georgia’s name on the screen, I glanced at Stone before answering. “Georgia. Hi.”

She started right in. “I am so sorry. Apollo called me and told me what Jared said to you. Now, you have to understand that I am in no way trying to get between a stepbrother and sister. You both lost your parents, and if I thought there was even a small inkling that Jared meant what he said, I wouldn’t even be making this call. But having said all of that, Apollo told me last night that Jared has an alert set so any stories about Stone Reeves go right to his phone. He got the alert that Page Nine sent out a day ago, and he recognized you. Jared has…” She hesitated. “Jared’s been a bit difficult the last couple days, with reason. We get it. We can’t imagine his pain, but he was talking to Apollo last night and said that he wants to ‘hook up’ with his sister and score free Kings tickets.”

She paused, her voice cracking.

“I am so sorry that he actually called, and I am so sorry that he even did this because you lost your father, too, and my heart is just breaking for both of you.” Her voice grew hoarse.

I had stopped. We were right in front of the exit doors of the stadium.

Stone was watching me, moving in closer with his eyebrows raised. He was dressed in jeans with a Kings blazer on, and a Kings ballcap pulled low. His head inclined toward me and his mouth was flat, so I knew he could hear Georgia.

“He’s such an avid fan of Stone Reeves. I think it stemmed because of his family’s connection to yours, and it only got worse the last six months, and now with losing your parents and seeing that you’re actually down there and with him, well, I’m just so sorry about this all.”