Pressing my lips together, I breathed heavily through my nose. The Eagles were more than one man. Rationally I knew that. It didn’t stop the reality of the team’s dynamics going wonky from one player being off their game.
“I don’t think I can watch any more.”
Concern had me whipping around back in the direction of Lottie. “Does your head hurt so much?” I stepped back to her side, examining her face closely.
“The only thing that’s painful is this game.”
In any other circumstance, I’d likely laugh my ass off at her quick answer, but not this time. I pursed my lips together. “Maybe just turn it off.”
She stared at me then, her eyes wide, full of reproach. “I can’t do that to Pearce.”
This time I snorted, despite the fresh blow of shame for me suggesting she should turn off the game. “I know.” I slipped into the chair beside her, feeling anything but the adult.
“It will take a miracle for them to pull this back. There’s less than four minutes on the clock and eighteen points between them.” She sighed. “But we should still watch. Even though we’re not there, we can support Pearce.”
Jesus. I was being schooled by a ten-year-old. Clearing my throat, I bobbed my head. “You’re right. We’re there in spirit, right?” My smile was tight, but I focused on the screen.
Between now and when I saw Pearce again, I needed to get over myself and make sure my focus was on him and how he was coping with the result. I just wasn’t sure how to stop the dread in my gut from gnawing away at me.
Just as the buzzer went, the game officially won by the Jetts, the doctor returned, X-rays in her hand. “Good news,” she said.
I took the phone off Lottie and closed down the app. “Yeah?”
“Sure is.” She held up the X-ray against the light box attached to the wall. “A nice clean break here, so no surgery. Just six weeks in a cast and you should fix right up.”
Relief released some of the tension weighing me down. “That’s great news.”
The doctor smiled kindly at Lottie. “How about we get you set up for a cast, then you can get out of here?”
Lottie smiled for the first time since hurting herself. “Okay.”
As we set about getting Lottie in a cast, I held on to my cell, checking it every thirty seconds, hoping like hell at any second now, I’d receive word from Pearce.
CHAPTER18
PEARCE
The game was a shit show.I was off my game from the moment my Nikes hit the court and didn’t see the smiling faces of Eddie and Lottie. Worry had churned my gut, making it hard to concentrate, but basketball was my job, and I’d been determined to give it my all.
We all missed the mark a hundred and ten percent. Add in Cassius taking a hard foul in the first five minutes and Ollie fumbling the ball, something he never did, it wasn’t a surprise it was a clusterfuck.
I glanced at Ollie as he stood in front of the sports news crew and I winced, feeling sorry for the guy. I was so fucking relieved I wasn’t the captain. With a nod at a couple of the guys, we headed silently to the locker room. Misery was thick in the air. It clung to us as we waited for Coach to enter and give us a reaming I knew we all deserved.
Cassius threw his Nikes on the floor, punctuating it with a loud “Fuck.”
A few grunts of agreement joined in, and I sighed, rubbing a hand over my face.
“I don’t give a shit if we’ve got an early start for our flight tomorrow,” Joel grumbled, taking a seat on the stool beside me. “I’m getting wasted tonight.”
“Fucking A,” Cassius responded.
“You in?”
It took me a beat for me to realize Joel spoke to me. Before I could respond with my excuse, which combined with a legit pang in my chest wondering what had happened with Eddie, Coach stepped into the room. All thoughts of checking my phone and making some calls fled.
Coach Jenkins appeared eerily calm, his face a mask of not quite indifference, but it seemed carefully neutral. And fuck if that didn’t get a fresh knot forming in my gut.
Standing in silence, Coach peered around the room. I did the same, noting that Ollie had joined us. He looked hollowed out. Drained.
