Broken Beautiful Hearts(103)
“You don’t know how much you mean to me, Peyton. I swear—”
“If you’re going tonight, I do.” I turn away and walk straight to Grace’s car without looking back. On the other side of my tears, the cars tilt and blur.
Grace is sitting on the trunk of her car and she hops off when she sees me. She gives me a huge hug. “What happened?”
“He didn’t pick me.”
CHAPTER 40
Broken and Battered
NOW THAT OWEN is gone and I’m with Grace, I burst into full-blown tears. She keeps asking me to tell her exactly what happened, but I can’t stop crying long enough to get out more than a few words.
The Twins are at football practice and Hawk is consulting with a client in Nashville, so we go back to my uncle’s house.
Once we’re in my room, I finally calm down enough to talk to her.
Grace hands me the box of tissues on the desk.
“Thanks for coming over. You’re a really good friend.”
Grace shrugs a little. “I know. But it’s easy to be a good friend when you only have one.”
I switch from ugly crying to ugly nose blowing, until I use up all the tissues. “I’m not your only friend.”
“Christian and Cameron don’t count. Guys and girls can’t be friends, remember?”
I force a tiny smile, and it makes my face hurt.
“Want to tell me what happened?” she asks.
“Owen is meeting Reed tonight. I told him what underground fights are like, but he wouldn’t listen. I literally begged him not to go.”
“What did he say?”
“That he couldn’t let Reed get away with hurting me. I told Owen that if he actually cared about me, he wouldn’t go. But nothing I said made a difference.” I’m not giving her the whole story.
“I know how he feels. Both times I’ve seen Reed, I wanted to punch him in the face. It’s hard to know that someone hurt my friend, and Owen thinks of you as a lot more than that.”
As much as I don’t want to betray Owen, I have to tell someone about his heart and the real risk he’s taking. Because I have no clue what to do next.
“Owen shared something with me in confidence, and normally I would never repeat it. But if he’s planning to meet Reed tonight, that changes everything. If I tell you, it will stay between us right?”
“Of course. I swear.”
I take a deep breath. “Owen has a heart condition.”
“Like high blood pressure?”
“No. It’s a genetic defect called Brugada syndrome. The type Owen has is super rare. It affects his heartbeat.” My voice cracks. “His heart could just stop beating.”
Grace gasps. “How do they restart it? CPR? Or does someone have to jab him in the chest with a giant needle full of adrenaline, like in the movies?”
A tear runs down my cheek.
“Those aren’t options for Owen. The only way to restart his heart is with a defibrillator. And there’s no guarantee it will work. But if his heart does stop, unless he’s near a hospital or somebody just happens to have a defibrillator in the trunk of their car, he’ll die.” The last word catches in my throat.
“I had no idea. He’s such an amazing athlete. Are people with heart defects supposed to compete in MMA?”
“Owen shouldn’t be involved in any contact sports, but he doesn’t care. He’s convinced that he’s going to die, so it doesn’t matter. It’s like he’s given up.” I wipe my face and blow my nose. My phone rings. “I don’t want to talk to him.”
Grace checks the number. “It’s not Owen. It’s Tess.”
“That’s Reed trying to be stealth.” I can’t believe he’s calling me after everything he did.
I take my phone from Grace. “Stop calling me, stop texting me, and leave me the hell alone,” I say before he has a chance to get a word in.
Someone sniffles on the other end of the line. “Peyton? It’s Tess.” Her voice sounds so small and far away.
“Tess? Is that you? Are you okay?”
She chokes back a sob. “No.”
“Where are you?”
“At a motel.” She takes a shaky breath. “I know you were telling the truth about Reed.”
“You do? Did he admit it?”
“He didn’t have to.” She coughs, half crying.
“Where are you? I’ll come pick you up.”
“We’re staying at the Howard Johnson in Bay Creek. Is that too far?”
I check the GPS on my phone. “Bay Creek is about twenty minutes from here.”
“I don’t want you to come here, in case he comes back. There’s a Circle K up the street. Want to pick me up there?” she asks.
“Wherever you want.”
“Okay, I’ll meet you there.”
I slip on Dad’s jacket. “I’m leaving in a minute.”
Tess is quiet for a moment. “I should’ve believed you. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay.”
She hangs up, and I stare at the phone, stunned.
“What happened?” Grace asks.
“I don’t know. Tess asked if I could come pick her up. She knows I was telling the truth about Reed. Maybe she caught him using. I don’t think he’d admit it.”