I didn’t even have a chance to check on Ryan before my world turned to darkness.
CHAPTER2
SUTTON
The bounceof my knee wouldn’t stop. As soon as I became aware of it, I attempted to control the movement, but it was pointless. It started right back up. Fear wrapped around me, refusing to let go. Only seventeen hours ago, I’d been chilling with my brother, appreciating the distraction of hanging out with him.
One minute we’d been kicking back, watching my nephews shoot hoops. The next I almost dropped my phone when I listened to Nate on the other end.
Somehow I’d managed to give enough information to my brother, who’d chartered me a flight to LAX to get me there in time for a flight out to Brisbane.
“Would you like another drink before we land, sir?”
The voice cut through my bouncing leg and the thought of Jayden unconscious in a hospital bed. I shook my head and offered a tight smile, not having the energy to speak. There was always the possibility that my voice could crack.
The woman smiled kindly and moved on to the next person. Taking a moment to calm myself, I peered out the window. In the distance I saw an endless ocean, the horizon kissing the sky in a bright hue of blue.
There were no clouds to distract me, no land that I could see, just the never-ending sea, tips of white waves only just becoming visible. The lack of distraction meant that Jayden was on my mind, and all that had happened played on a loop.
I shouldn't have been surprised when Nate told me that Jayden had traveled with him and Ryan to Australia. That didn’t stop the twist in my gut when I’d found out either. And this, all this, Jayden being in Queensland, him being in a car crash, was all because I’d pushed him away and couldn’t be honest with him.
If I hadn’t cut him from my life, no way would he have come to Australia without me, and likely that wouldn’t have been until next year.
I slammed my eyes closed, finding no comfort in the vast ocean. The only thing that would ease my terror was knowing Jayden was okay and seeing his dark oak-colored eyes for myself.
Nate had updated me by the time I’d traveled to LA hours earlier. Ryan had a broken wrist and was sporting a new cast, and beyond that was unscathed.
Jayden not so much.
He’d been struggling to stay awake. I reminded myself that he was alert and responsive, for the most part, even as my brain still clung to the thought of him being unconscious. It wasn’t true. Thank Christ. Somehow, the only broken bone was a finger in his left hand, which wasn’t his dominant one. He had lacerations on his face and apparently a significant cut with multiple stitches spanning from his temple to his cheek.
It was him struggling to stay awake and his brain being knocked around that had held me frozen before I’d boarded my flight to Brisbane. With the flight being so long, I hoped I’d be able to contact his parents with good news when I saw him with my own eyes. They’d been my first call when I’d been able to get my brain functioning.
His mom had cried, his dad taking over the call, and I’d promised them I’d do everything I could to bring their son home. Safe and well.
With Mary, Jayden’s mom, wheelchair-bound and not always in the best of health, I hadn’t even hesitated to take on the responsibility to fly out. Not that they asked—my brother had been driving me to the airport when I’d called them.
But still, Jayden was my best friend, whether he still believed it or not. And there was no way he wasn’t going to be okay.
The man would be playing at my side next season. He wasn’t breaking free from me that easily.
It took another hour and forty-five minutes to finally land, pass passport control, and head toward the arrivals gate. I knew someone would be meeting me, Nate had promised as much, and as I finally pulled out my phone to power up, a string of text notifications pinged.
Amber, Nate’s sister, would be picking me up.
I exited through the automatic doors, searching for Amber. I’d seen plenty of photographs of her over the past few years.
“Sutton.” The sound of my name snapped my attention in the direction of a young woman. Relief settled into me that she was already here.
I greeted her, surprise slamming into me when she wrapped her arms tightly around my waist, giving me a squeeze. Even though she was tiny compared to my towering height, her head reaching no higher than my pecs, the woman knew how to hug.
Emotion clogged my throat, her greeting touching, and then I froze. “Fuck, Jayden—” I couldn’t finish that sentence, too terrified to voice my fears.
“Shit, no, he’s fine. Well,” Amber winced, “he’s still struggling a bit to stay awake for long periods but is already doing so much better.”
I gasped for breath, adrenalin zipping through me so quickly, I went momentarily light-headed.
“Come on, let’s get you to the hospital. I’m under strict instructions to get you straight there.” Amber took hold of my hand like we were old friends and led me to her parked SUV.
