Page 16 of Seven is Swell

“You’re coming home next weekend, right? If you aren’t, we’re heading there. You promised once a month and I’m sick of waiting.”

“Oh yeah, I could probably do that.”

“Feel free to bring all your people with you.”

“I'll see what I can do. Talk to you later, Dad.”

“Bye, Delaney.”

I put my phone in my pocket and shake off the conversation with Ash. Then I fill in Jackson and August. “My mom embarrassed Ash’s dad in front of the whole pride, which I think is hilarious. They took him in for questioning and are going to look into allthe other claims, Ash is the acting pride male for now. He’s also angry with me for getting my parents involved.”

“That’s dumb,” August says.

“I agree,” I say as I start heading toward the football stadium. “But he's allowed to feel how he wants to feel. He'll get over it. In the meantime, I have to go give my brother a message, because apparently his phone is broken.”

I link hands with my mates as we head over there, swinging our hands back and forth and not letting Ash’s negativity bother me. It makes me sad because I was hoping we’d be past having a rocky relationship, because all I really want is just to get along. Now I’m wondering if that will ever happen.

I open the doors to the stadium closest to Adler’s office, hoping he’s around somewhere. I’m only ten steps in when somebody comes hurling into me and knocking me over. My back hits the floor kind of hard and I hiss in a breath, wondering what it is about the man on top of me that incites such violence. “Seriously Spencer,” I grit out, “the near miss of the football wasn’t enough? You needed to make it a little more hands on?”

“Oh my gods, I am so sorry. I completely tripped at the absolute wrong moment. Are you okay?”

Jackson shoves him off of me and pulls me up, inspecting my head tenderly. “No, she’s not okay, you idiot. You just rolled her over and smacked her head against the tile floor. Why would you think she’s okay?”

“It was an accident, Jackson,” I remind him.

“I don’t care. Asswipe needs to watch where he’s going.”

“Let me get you some ice. Please?” Spencer looks worried.

“Weren’t you heading somewhere? You were in an awfully big hurry.” August starts to massage my head gently around the injury, easing me somewhat through the dull throb.

Spencer waves me off. “It can wait. Please let me help?”

“No, get out of here. We’ve got it,” August snaps as he picks me up. He doesn’t care if it’s my head that’s injured not my legs, I've learned not to fight him on things like this. If he wants to carry me around like a dainty princess, I’m all for it.

I hear uneven phantom footsteps the entire way back down to Adler’s office. When I peek over August’s shoulder, it's to see a worried-looking Spencer. He’s biting his nails and flicking his eyes up to me every two seconds, dancing on his toes in an awkward strain as he walks, but clearly scared to get too close.

“What did you do to her?” Adler asks as August pushes his way in after a precursory knock.

“I’m so sorry, coach, it was an accident.” Spencer pushes in as well, inserting himself. “You know how I get when I’m focused, and I was running because I had this appointment, and I just didn’t see her, I swear. I ran right into her, and I think she hit her head pretty hard. I’m going to go get her some ice.” He drops his bag and rushes out, not letting anybody give him the option to do otherwise.

I pat August’s chest to tell him to put me down. “I’m fine,” I reassure my brother as I drop into one of his guest chairs. “It was an accident. Head’s a little sore, but that’s about it.”

“Okay, good. What’s up? I’m assuming you didn’t walk all the way down here just to test out how comfortable my chairs are?”

Spencer comes back in with a big bag of ice, and I realize he’s limping a bit as he does. “Hey, are you okay?”

He waves me off. “Fine, fine. Let’s get this on you.”

I don’t miss the wince when he shifts his weight again, and now I'm thinking again of the awkward way he was moving on the way down here. “Were you hurt too? Out of the two of us, there’s way more riding on your ability to function normally. I’m not the one that has to be on that field, getting rushed and crushed by a bunch of gigantic people. Sit,” I order, standing and forcing him down into my spot.

Now Adler’s interested because he is an assistant coach here after all. Spencer's one of his guys and if he’s hurt, then it’s not a good thing.

But Spencer is trying to play hero. “I’m fine. I just twisted my ankle a little as I fell, that’s all.”

I scoot down and lift up his jeans a little, and I can tell immediately that it’s swollen. “Spencer, this doesn’t look good.”

Keeping his eyes trained on the ceiling, he looks like he’s fighting tears. “I’ll be fine. I have to be.”

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