Page 106 of Friend Zoned

“Ain’t that the girl who’s dating that basketball coach?” someone asks. So dazed from the impact, it takes me a few seconds to get my wits back. I see a few stars in front of me. I manage to sit up and look into Camille’s face. She’s standing over me with her arms crossed and a smug look on her face.

“Are you okay, girl?” Mika asks. She offers me a hand, but I shake my head at her and manage to stand up on my own. I’m wobbly, and my left wrist is on fire, but unfortunately for Camille, I’m right-handed.

I walk around Mika and grab Camille by her collar with my left hand, too pumped from adrenaline to feel the pain. Once I have her, I punch her right in the face and blood gushes out of her nose. I punch her again, sure that I’ve broken it. While she holds her bloody nose, Mika stands between us and pushes me away.

“Stop,” she says. “Enough. Camille, what the hell is your problem?”

Camille doesn’t answer, but she lets out a groan. She tries to go around Mika to get to me, but Mika puts a hand on her chest and pushes her away.

“Come on,” I tell her. My left wrist starts to throb, but I’m too far gone to give it much though. Blood runs down my nose, and I wipe it with the back of my hand. Another patron runs to us and pulls me away from the confrontation. She puts a towel to my face and wipes the blood.

“I called the police,” someone yells.

“You broke my nose, you bitch,” Camille says.

“You’re lucky that’s all I did.” Right as the words leave my mouth, Camille manages to sidestep Mika and come toward me. She slips on blood and falls to her knees right in front of me. She punches my thigh, but the punch doesn’t have much impact. I grab her by her hair with my good hand and pull has hard as I can. She screams like a wounded animal.

“Get off me!” She tries to go for my leg again, but I yank harder and twist. She pulls her hand back, and I finally let her go. She falls to the floor like a ragdoll.

“Did you hear me? I called the police,” someone yells again.

“Why did you call the police?” I recognize Mika’s voice. “This is the girlfriend of the Mischiefs’ coach. And Camille, don’t start shit if you can’t fight.”

“Is anyone going to help me?” Camille huffs, and someone throws a towel at her, but when she tries to leave, Mika blocks her. The next hour is a blur. The police arrive, and Mika shows them her video surveillance, proving that Camille hit me first and tried to attack me a second time. She starts to cry the instant the officer pulls out his handcuffs, but that doesn’t stop him from handcuffing her and taking her away.

My mom holds my wrist and starts to cuss in the middle of the emergency room.

“Why are you alone when you have that big bodyguard?” she asks, giving me the side eye. “But you beat her good, right? I didn’t raise a wimp.”

“Yeah, I did, but Walker had an emergency. His baby was hospitalized.”

“Does Aiden know?”

“No. He has enough going on. I’ll tell him tomorrow when I get to Denver.”

She tsks me, clearly disapproving of my decision. “Oh, he’s going to be mad if you do that. Tell him. He’ll make them pay,” she whispers. “He loves you.” She brushes my hair off my forehead. “And Jeannie, he’s a public man, and you’re public now too. You have to be careful where you go, okay?” I open my mouth to argue with her, but she holds up a hand. “Things are different now. That’s why he gave you that big bodyguard. If he had an emergency, you shouldn’t have been out on your own.”

Chapter 57

Aiden

“Their defense is strong, but they have some weaknesses,” I say to my three assistant coaches. I pause the game in front of me and gesture to their point guard, but my phone vibrates in my pocket. It’s a double vibration, signaling a text message. Then it vibrates and rings at the same time. I get dozens of texts, emails, and phone calls every hour. Most of those things can wait until I’m out of a meeting, and the majority of those can be delegated to my assistant, but not this time. This is Jeannie’s special ring.

She has my entire schedule, so she knows I’m in a meeting right now. She complained about it just last night and said she’s counting the days until I’m home for good for a few months. She made a face when I told her I had a meeting with the coaches right before practice, and that I’ll be spending the rest of the day watching old games and writing plays. She would not be calling me right now just to say hello. My stomach drops, and a sense of dread takes over my entire being. I excuse myself and leave the room.

“Hey, baby,” I say once I have privacy. “Just had to hear my voice, huh? Only a few more hours until you’re here.” More like thirty, but I’m already counting.

“It’s Myra.” Wherever she is, is loud. Her voice doesn’t have the usual lightness. She sounds strained.

“What happened?” I decide to get right to the point. “Where’s Jeannie? Put her on the phone.”

“She’s okay, but—”

“But what?” I interrupt before she can finish.

“There was an incident. She got into a fight.”

I picture a million different ways I’m going to torture Quintin Gardner until I finally put him out of his misery and end his pathetic life.

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