Page 143 of Need You to Choose Me

The walk into the stadium and through the back halls is quiet. Belle knows exactly where to steer us like she’s done this a million times. Which she probably had. Will that be me? If I get this internship, I’ll definitely see behind-the-scenes stuff. Butif I get that on top of staying in this relationship, I’ll be as well versed as Belle.

Maybe.

I can hear the distant chatter and celebration as we round a corner that leads down a narrow hallway. “This is the back entrance to the locker room,” she explains. “The other side has a lot more people gathered. Some media waiting for post-game interviews, but mostly significant others, friends, and family.”

I nod as we stop by the doors and listen to a few guys howling like dogs from inside.

Belle rolls her eyes. “They’re obviously excited about the win. I’m pretty sure the idiot howling is Moskins.”

I let myself smile, but it feels forced. “I feel bad that I missed it.”

She squeezes my shoulder. “There will be other games. If they play the way they did tonight, there may even be a Stanley Cup.”

“That good?”

Her smile grows. “Oh yeah.”

I don’t know if that makes me feel better or worse because I didn’t get to witness it myself.

She lets go of me and gestures toward the door, pushing it open and guiding me in. “Their dicks should be put away by now,” she reassures me as we venture further into the room. There’s a lot of steam from the showers and random equipment and dirty uniforms scattered on the tile floors.

And, like she said, pretty much everybody is dressed. With the exception of Moskins, who’s shirtless as he towel dries his hair.

But I barely give him any attention when I see Alex sitting in the corner, fully clothed and staring at his phone. That is, until Belle and I walk in. As if he can sense me, he bolts to standing.

The same time I say, “I’m so sorry,” he says, “Are you okay?”

Belle had called her stepbrother when she came to pick me up. I told her not to tell him much because I didn’t want Alex to worry about me, but I can see that was a pointless venture.

“I’m all right,” I say, even though he’s checking me out from head to toe. Thankfully, the airbag didn’t go off. But the seatbelt definitely hurt when it locked up on me, so I’d be shocked if there wasn’t a mark tomorrow across my chest.

I don’t even realize Belle disappears until Alex pulls me over to the bench he was just sitting on and sits me down. “I tried calling you, texting you.”

Frowning, I lift my phone out of my back pocket with a long sigh. “I’m not quite sure what happened, but it broke.”

The screen is cracked, and it hasn’t turned on since Belle picked me up. The last message I saw was from my father. It’s like fate bitch slapping me in the face. As if getting rear-ended isn’t bad enough, let’s add my absent father’s texts to the mixture. The last one he sent was him asking why I was being “childish” and not answering his calls.

Yeah, he isn’t getting any callbacks after that.

Alex’s throat bobs as he puts his hand on my cheek and caresses my face. “I could have fuckinglostyou tonight.”

Hearing his voice crack breaks my heart.

“I’m okay,” I tell him, cupping my palm over his on my face. “It was a freak accident, and I’m so, so sorry that I missed the game. I wanted to be here, Alex. I really did.”

His eyes are glassy as he studies my face, leaning back on his bent knees. The breath he releases is long and heavy. When he’s quiet, it’s the first time I notice the rest of the room is too.

Everybody is gone.

When I look from the empty space behind us back to Alex’s expression, I can see something heavy in his gaze. “What is it?”

His Adam’s apple bobs again. “I could have lost you tonight,” he repeats. “And that fucking terrifies me, Olive. I’ve lost somany people in my life. My father. My…” I know he was going to say his mother, but he stops himself. “The thought of losing you too…”

I reach out. “I’m right here.”

“Everybody has left me.”

His faraway look makes me nervous, so I sink onto my knees in front of him and grab his face to force him to look at me.

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