Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 66518 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 333(@200wpm)___ 266(@250wpm)___ 222(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66518 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 333(@200wpm)___ 266(@250wpm)___ 222(@300wpm)
Maybe if I hadn’t been scared, spiraling, in pain, and heavily drugged, what happened next could have been avoided. Instead, I was an absolute mess when Hal called.
As soon as I saw his name on the screen, I started crying. I didn’t want him to see that, so I turned off my camera before answering the video call.
“Hey, sweetie,” he said. “How was your rugby match?”
Instead of answering his question, I blurted, “We need to talk.”
“Sure. What do you want to talk about?”
“I don’t think you should come here next week. In fact, I think we should take a break. Not forever but maybe, like, six months. Or four. Something like that.”
“Why?”
“You have other things you need to focus on right now. Not me. You need to think about your career. You’ve been working so hard. You deserve to have your dreams come through. I mean, true.” Fuck, the stronger dose of whatever was in that IV bag was starting to hit. I could feel the fog closing in.
He asked, “Did you and the team go out and celebrate after the game? You sound like you’re drunk.”
“I’m not drunk, and I want to make sure you understand that I’m not breaking up with you. We’re just gonna take a break for six months, but hopefully less. Please don’t forget about me during that time. Unless you want to. I don’t want you to, though. You’re so great, and I love you so much, Hal. You’re way out of my league. Like, way, way out. Fuck, do you realize how amazing you are?”
“Ryder—”
“Don’t call me for six months, okay? I don’t want to have to lie to you and tell you everything’s fine. Please take really good care of yourself, and kick ass at the fashion show, and say yes when they offer you a super amazing job. I need to go now. I love you.”
I was vaguely aware of my phone clattering to the floor, right before I passed out.
14
Hal
After Ryder ended the call, I stared at the phone in my hand for a long moment. Then I tried calling him back, but it went to voicemail.
I went upstairs and knocked on Vee’s bedroom door. When he yelled for me to come in, I stepped inside and said, “You still have the number for some of Ryder’s teammates, right? I have Tank’s, but he’s out of the country.”
“I do. Why, what’s up?”
“Ryder and I just had the weirdest conversation. He said he wants us to take a break for the next six months, but he also told me he loved me, twice. He sounded like he was drunk, or very stoned. If he went out partying with the team after their match, I want to make sure someone’s looking out for him.”
Vee had been sitting back with his feet on his desk, painting his fingernails black. He sat up and said, “That’s weird. He always struck me as the most responsible one of the group.”
He gingerly picked up his phone, trying not to smudge his wet polish. It took all of a minute for him to message one of the rugby guys and get the whole story. I read the messages over his shoulder and murmured, “Oh, no. I need to pack a bag and get to Texas.”
“You’re going today?”
“Yeah, as long as I can find a last-minute flight.”
Vee asked, “Are you planning to fly back tomorrow?”
“No. I’ll stay as long as Ryder needs me.”
“But the fashion show is Monday. You can’t miss that.”
“Right now, Ryder is my top priority.”
“And are you two finally going to have the talk?”
“What talk is that, exactly?”
Vee shot me an exasperated look. “You know. The one where you finally tell him you’re madly in love with him, and you two figure out how you can be together.”
“I was planning to have that conversation with him when I visited next week. But I’m not sure this will be the right time, since he’s drugged up and in the hospital.”
“Do it anyway, Hal. Then do it again when he’s not hopped up on painkillers, and again if he still doesn’t get the message. He needs to know how you feel about him.”
“Why now?”
“He probably suggested a break because he thinks it’s too much to ask you for help,” Vee said. “But if he knows you love him and you’re in it for the long haul, that might change everything.”
“Oh man, I bet you’re right. The doctor must have told him it would be six months until he’s fully recovered, and he doesn’t want to be a burden.”
“Exactly. On top of that, he’s probably worried about derailing your career. We all know you’ve been working like a man possessed for the last two years to finish your degree and land a killer job, and that your big break’s probably going to happen as a result of that fashion show.”