Page 78 of Crash
Booked you in for Saturday. Check your email for the details.
I knew she was no fuss about stuff, but she’d gotten onto that quick. It seemed like a no-brainer really. They knew I was keen to get back to training, and I’d complained until I was blue in the face about being stuck in Melbourne…but that was before Violet.
There was no two ways about it. I was contractually obligated to get my ass back into the cage. I had to go back when I was told.
Thinking about Vee and how far she’d come over the past couple of months, my heart swelled. Could she deal with this? Fuck, could I? I didn’t know.
Glancing at the message once more, I sighed heavily, rubbing my eyes. How the hell was I going to tell her I was leaving in four days?
“What’s up your ass?” Cole asked, smacking his shoulder against my good one.
“Watch your mouth,” I snapped.
“See,” he said to Ryan. “Told you somethin’ was ticklin’ his balls.”
Thirty
Violet
Work was kicking my ass today.
Ash was still eyeballs deep in his bathroom renovation—I could hear the banging and drilling coming from the apartment—and Ren had been over at Beat for ages now, looking after the place for her dad until they could find someone more permanent. That left a lot of work for me, but Ikindaliked it. It kept my mind off things that I would usually sit and stew over to the point of obsessive. Lots of work was a good thing for an over thinker like me.
There was a knock at the door, and glancing at the clock on the computer, I found it was past two in the afternoon. I’d totally missed lunch. Looking up as the office door opened, I smiled when I saw it was Lincoln.
“Hey,” he said, coming in and closing the door behind him.
“Hey.” I watched his progress with narrowed eyes. I heard the uncertainty in his voice and knew something was coming—something I knew I didn’t want to hear.
“I had an appointment at the hospital this morning,” he said, pulling up a chair beside me.
Oh, shit he was sitting down. People only sat down like that when they had something bad to tell you. I knew what he was going to say without him even opening his mouth.
“Are you okay?” I asked, turning to face him. Of course he was okay, he was about to leave me behind.
“Everything is looking normal.” He glanced at my hands, which were tightly curled in my lap.
“Oh.”
“I have contracts Vee,” he said. “If they ask, I have to go.”
“I know.” Boy, did I ever.
“Coach wants me back ASAP.”
He’d called Coach Miller before me. I wasn’t sure how I was meant to feel about that, but it stung.
“When do you have to go?” I asked, dreading the answer.
“Josie booked me a flight for Saturday.”
Saturday?It was only a couple of days away, and I regretted not talking to him about this sooner. I’d come a long way since we’d started thisthing, whatever it was, but Sydney? The thought of getting on a plane had me breaking out in a cold sweat.
“I know we haven’t talked about this,” Lincoln began.
“If you want to… I mean…”
“Vee,” he murmured, covering my hands with his. “I don’t want to end this.”
