Page 105 of My Best Bet

Her face crumpled as a scream-cry tore from her throat. Andy instantly crowded over her.

My whole body shook.No, no, no.This couldn’t be real. This wasn’t… This wasn’t real, was it?

My eyes snapped to Kappy, who was pulling on the back of his neck, a grim expression on his face.

“Dude, it’ll be okay,” he tried.

In a flash, I hurled the phone against the wall. As hard as I could.

My stomach rolled and I ran to the trash can and emptied my body, ignoring the guys yelling at me about the phone.Her knee. Oh my God.

“She’ll… She’ll be alright,” Kappy tried.

Would she even be able to walk again? That looked bad. It looked gruesome. Her cry.Fuck all of this.

“You sure?” My stomach heaved again.

His face faltered. He couldn’t lie for shit.

I shook my head. “Tell me, Kappy. What are they saying?”

“She’ll be alright. Eventually. I think… from the reports, she broke her knee cap… in multiple… pieces.”

“Pieces….” I repeated, holding my spinning head.

“She’ll be out for the season. She’ll miss the Olympics. It’s…” he trailed off.

“What?” I demanded. “Tell me.” I needed to hear all of it. I needed to know.

“It looks like a career-ending injury. I don’t know if anyone’s come back from that.”

My hands tightened on the trash can and I hung my head. She wanted itso badly. She wasso close.

It didn’t feel right that I was here getting my shot when hers just ended.

Shaking my head, I stalked to my hockey bag and tore it apart, searching for my phone and wallet. I needed to get to her. To hell with all of this. I just wanted to be with her.

“Colt, you can’t leave,” Kappy was saying. “This is all you’ve worked for. The two of you aren't even together right now.”

“Don’t.” I warned him with a hard glare. None of that mattered now. She needed me.

“You can’t even get to her right now. They rushed her into emergency surgery.”

Fuck.

I tried to call her on my phone, but it went straight to voicemail.

My body shook with panic. I needed to go. I needed to get to her.

“You can’t go,” Kappy repeated.

“I need to.”

He blocked my path to the door. “She’s across the fucking country. By the time you get a flight, you’ll miss this shot. You might not get another opportunity. Especially if you leave. You’ll get blackballed from the league, Colt.”

“Don’t care.” I tried to push past him.

“Think about this logically. You leave now to be with her and then you’ll both be unemployed? Think of your future. Not just hers, yours, together. You need to do this for the two of you. You need to make this team, Colt,” he whispered tersely.

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