Page 220 of Call the Shots
CHAPTER 81
JUNE
SUPPOSED TO BE BETWEEN US
If King neededa break from my parents’ campaign schedule or if the two of us just wanted to skip out on obligations for the day, I used to tell our friends that King had to leave for his ‘mom’s appointments.’ It became our code. Our secret.
That code was supposed to be used between us—not for King to disappear.
I didn’t stop calling his phone, like he’d pick up on the eighteenth attempt because—whoops!—it was on silent. The only thing I wanted to hear was that he was okay. We drove to his mom’s house, where I knew he’d be, but my heart lurched when I saw his mom’s driveway.
His truck was nowhere to be seen.
“He’s not here,” I whispered, stunned.
Bear glanced down. “He was bleeding pretty bad, would he come home?”
Rain pattered on the windshield while my mind whirled. My best friend was injured. That was the big priority. But he had to stay on his best behavior with the football program because of his tumultuous past, nobody could find out about this. I couldn’t get him in trouble, and I had no idea where he was. Panic swelled inside of me.
“Okay—okay.” I nodded, fighting to remain calm. “Drive me home?—”
“What, why?”
“I’m driving to every hospital until I figure out where he is.” Nausea hit me. We were in Houston, one of the biggest medical communities in the world, but I ignored that. I’d find him. I had to.
“I’m not letting you do this alone?—”
“Bear, I don’t know where he is?—”
He pulled me into a hug, resting his chin on my head while I tried not to fall apart. “I’ll drive you, okay? We’ll find him. I promise, we’ll find him.”
I called so many hospitals,searching for King. Rain beat down from overhead, pouring on the car, making it hard to see in the darkness. I trudged on into every waiting room, soaked to the bone, desperate to find him. The rain didn’t let up until around two in the morning and no one had seen him.
King didn’t want me to break our code, but the indecision plagued me.
If anything happened to him…
I finally relented and called King’s mom, begging to know if he’d come home. “Just peeked in his room,” she yawned. “I don’t know how Jasmine’s sleeping with him snoring like that.”
“Oh,” I choked out, shaking.
“Why? Did something happen?”
“No—no,” I repeated until I could say it properly. “No, of course not.”
King was okay. My best friend was okay, he was fine, he wasalive.At our dorm, I couldn’t sleep. I wrapped my arms aroundmyself, hunched over on the couch. I was too wired from the fight. I couldn’t stop seeing King stumbling, blood streaming from the cut.
“Hey,” Bear whispered, sinking into the place next to me.
I couldn’t keep the tears in. They streamed down my face and my body wracked with sobs while Bear gently drew me to him. I couldn’t do anything but cry while Bear pulled me closer.
“I’m sorry,” I blubbered. “I thought he was going to die?—”
“No, I’m sorry, baby.” Bear stretched out on the couch until I was lying on his chest and he was rubbing my back, holding me tight. “I’m sorry.”
When I got the call from Adam and Ryan demanding to know what happened at the party, I broke down and told them everything. They assured me they were en route to pick King up. The address for the hospital came through and I shot up from the couch, ready to leave.
Bear jingled his keys. “Let’s go.”
