Page 94 of The Change Up
He turns and walks in the direction he came from as I fall in step beside him. Looking ahead, I see we are one of the last ones to get on the bus. Coach Weber stands outside the bus door, arms crossed, and a serious expression lines his face as he waits for us.
Hudson turns his head toward me, eyes me, before shaking his head. “She’s nothing more than someone to help release the stress of the game. She’s not the type you marry. Or how did it go?”
“How the fuck did you know I said that?” My pulse starts to rise as that feeling of dread courses through my veins. Bile starts to rise in my throat as I predict what he’s going to say.
“Chloe heard everything you said.”
“Fuck!” I roar, causing bystanders to look our way. Sheepishly I duck my head while my insides blaze alive. “She wasn’t supposed to hear that. I didn’t mean anything, I just wanted my dad to get off my back. He saw us together and…”
“And it doesn’t matter. What matters isthatgirl has given you a second chance. Shegaveyou her heart, and yourippedit apart before stomping on it. Not to mention sheran into her momtonight.”
My eyebrows hit my hairline as my eyes widened in shock. Of all the things he could’ve said, that was one thing I was not expecting. “What? Where is she?”
I take off at a faster pace, wanting to get on the bus and find my girl. “She took an Uber back to the hotel.”
“Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.” Walking past an angry coach, I climb the steps onto the bus. Everyone’s eyes are on me as soon as I set foot in the aisle.
They all know. They know the words I said, and they’re judging me for it. But what they don’t know is that I did it to protect Chloe. She was never supposed to hear me say those things.
Tonight when she asked me how things with my parents went, I would’ve told her the truth. I would have told her that he saw us and knew from the look in my eyes that there was something more going on between the two of us. For me to protect her, I had to lie and tell him that nothing was going on between us. I couldn’t risk him contacting her, and he would have found a way, he always finds a way. The words tasted like acid as they poured from my lips, and all I could think about was kissing her and telling her how much I love her. That she’s it for me.
Instead, she heard the horrible things. She heard me say words that sparked her biggest fear. Not to mention it was on the night when she needed me. Never in a million years would I have guessed that we would run into her mom. Not at a baseball diamond in South Carolina of all places.
Pulling out my phone as I take a seat, I thumb through my contacts until I find her name. Hitting the call button, I listen as the ringtone plays in my ear before the automated voice of her voicemail picks up. Hitting the end button, I call her again. Onlythis time, there isn’t a ringtone. It goes straight to voicemail. Running my hands through my still sweat-damp hair, I try again. And three more times for good measure.
After the fifth call, I open my messaging app and thumb out a message.
Me: Wildflower, call me. I can explain everything. I love you.
The bus barely comes to a stop before I’m flying out of my seat and jogging down the aisle. Coach Weber’s eyes find mine, and I can read everything he’s not saying. He’s telling me he’s disappointed in me, and I think that’s the worst thing he could ever say to me. I look up to the man, and his disappointment is soul-crushing.
Running into the lobby, I don’t waste time with the elevator. I march straight to the door under the ‘stairs’ sign. Taking the steps two at a time, I don’t stop until I’m reaching the fourth floor. Slightly out of breath, I burst through the door onto our floor. Even though I didn’t see her before the game, I know which room is hers thanks to Coach’s rule of alphabetical order.
Pounding on her door with my fist, I wait for her to open the door. “Chloe! Chloe, baby! Please open the door.” I pause the knocking and wait a few seconds.
With each second that ticks by, the overwhelming feeling to throw up gets stronger and stronger. Reaching up, I knock a few more times. “Please let me explain. Open the door.”
The elevator dings, and I turn my attention to the metal doors praying that my sweet, beautiful wildflower will step through the door and hear me out.
Only it’s not her who walks out. It’s Ty. He wasn’t on the bus which means he was the one to console my girlfriend. It’s evident how strong the bond between those two is.
He looks like he could punch his fist through my face as he storms down the hall, straight for me. Putting my hands up, I try to back him down. “She wasn’t supposed to hear it.”
I feel his arms push me backward, and my feet stumble underneath me. In the next second, Hudson is standing between us. I don’t even remember seeing him come up behind Ty. “Knock it off,” he says through gritted teeth.
“Where is she,” I ask, adjusting my stance until I’m standing upright.
“Gone.”
“Gone? What do you mean ‘gone?’”
“She called her dad and got a flight home,” Niko answers. I roar a frustrated groan as I tug my hands through my hair knocking my hat off in the process.
Hudson unlocks our door with the key card before he grabs me by the crook of my elbow and ushers us into our room. He shuts the door on everyone else and pushes me toward the bed.
“Sit down and start explaining. I’ve dealt with a lot of your bullshit through the years. I know you would never purposefully hurt her, but you did. Tell me what the fuck happened tonight.”
And for the next twenty minutes, the two of us recap what the hell happened after the game. I share the details of my conversation with my dad while he tries to give me some insight into the encounter with Chloe’s mom. He wasn’t close enough to get every detail, but he saw enough from where he and Niko were standing.
