Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 91213 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91213 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
Damn it all to hell, I played it all wrong with her from the beginning. I should have been shoving this shit down her throat to show her that she could have so much better than an existence holed up behind thick walls.
“I’m taking the next flight back to Raleigh,” I say suddenly, and Max’s head whips to me.
“No fucking way,” he says hotly.
“Were you not just telling me I had to try?” I throw back at him as the plane taxis toward the terminal.
“Well, yeah…but not at the expense of a play-off game, Lucas. Jules said she’s fine and she’s getting out of the hospital tomorrow.”
“Yeah, but she’ll be there by herself tonight,” I say as I pull up Safari on my phone to search flights back to Raleigh.
“The baby is fine,” Max practically sputters, unwilling to believe I’m going to ditch my team and the play-offs.
“Yes, but Stephanie isn’t,” I say assuredly. I know this is the right thing to do. It’s what I fucking should have done two months ago when we started this journey together. I should have rubbed her face in my feelings so she’d get used to it. I should have never played it casual with her, because from day one, there was nothing casual about what we had with each other.
“Lucas,” Max says softly.
I look up from my phone and lock eyes with him. “Don’t try to talk me out of this.”
His lips curve upward and he inclines his head at me. “I was just going to say good luck and hurry back. The team needs you too.”
I smile at him. “I will. I just want to see her and make sure she’s okay, then I’ll hop on the next plane back. I won’t make tomorrow’s game but I’ll be back by game four.”
“You better run this by Coach, you know,” Max says.
“I will,” I say as I go back to browsing flights. “But nothing he says is going to change my mind.”
“You always were a hardheaded motherfucker,” Max mumbles, and I just grin because he is so right about that.
—
“What do you mean she’s not here?” I ask the woman sitting behind the information desk in the hospital lobby.
“She was never admitted, sir,” the woman tells me as she peers at her computer screen behind thick glasses. She has to be a hundred years old and I wonder if she’s reading it right. I have to restrain myself from leaping behind the desk so I can look at her screen. Finally, she looks up and she must see my worried expression, because she glances around the lobby before leaning toward me and whispering, “I’m not supposed to tell you this, but it looks like she checked out against medical advice.”
“What does that mean?” I whisper back to her as I lean over the desk.
“It means she was going to be admitted but she refused.”
God, that woman takes fucking independence to a dangerous level.
“Thank you,” I mutter to the woman, and bolt out the automatic sliding doors.
Stephanie’s apartment is a good twenty minutes from the hospital, and for the life of me, I can’t fathom why she’d go home by herself with a broken wrist and a concussion. It’s fucking insane.
I call Jules as I pull onto the Beltline and she answers right away. “Have you seen her yet?”
Max had called to tell her I was returning and to pump her for any other pertinent information.
“She never got admitted,” I tell her in frustration. “Checked herself out against medical advice.”
“Jeez, she’s a bonehead sometimes,” Jules mutters.
“Got that right,” I concur. “I’m headed to her place now. Just wanted to give you an update.”
Jules makes a sound of surprise that I’d be so considerate. She and I haven’t been on the best of terms since she laid into me last week.
“I really hope you work things out with Stephanie,” Jules says softly. “I think you both are good for each other, and Lucas…I really want you to be happy.”
Damn if I don’t feel a little mushy from those sincere words from a woman who happily would have castrated me last week. “Thanks, Jules. That means a lot.”
“Let’s double date once you get it all worked out, okay?” she teases.
I let myself have a moment to laugh. “Deal.”
I promise Jules I’ll call her later and let her know Stephanie is okay. I manage to find a parallel spot outside of Steph’s apartment building, saving me a good ten minutes not having to walk from the closest parking deck. The elevator seems to take forever, though, and I’m practically pushing out of the doors when they open on her floor.
Her apartment door comes into view and I have a moment of serious self-doubt. I’m dealing with a woman who has the power to break my heart, and she’s probably going to do it inadvertently by trying to push me away. I just have to man up and be a bigger bully than she can be to me, and I’ve got a few things going for me. First, she’s injured and concussed, so I figure I can probably talk circles around her. Not to mention, she’s in no shape to make me leave, so I’ll just manhandle her—gently of course—if she tries.