Page 26 of Without Bound
I swallow, trying to find the right words to say. I don’t want to lead her on, but I don’t want to hurt her by turning her down. I lick my lips, giving myself a moment longer before deciding it’s best if I just tell her the truth.
“You know, I–” my words are stolen from me when my phone rings. “Sorry,” I tell her and pull it from my back pocket.
The caller id lights up with the name of my team captain, and I decide to ignore it, figuring he’s either narcing on someone or just wanting to bother me about practices. I send the call to voicemail and stick it back in my pocket. I don’t even get one word out when it rings again.
I sigh and pull my phone out again and see his name once more. I furrow my brow, worried that this could be more than just an annoyance.
“I’m sorry. This is one of my players. He doesn’t call late like this, so I better see if he’s okay. Excuse me,” I tell Gabby.
“Of course. No problem.” She waves me off with a smile, and I find a corner of the bar that seems to be the quietest spot.
I swipe at the screen and bring the phone to my ear. “Someone better fucking be on fire for you to be calling me while I’m on adate.”
“Coach. I’m sorry, but this is an emergency,” he spits out, the loud sounds of music and too many drunk college kids blasting in the background. “It’s Anais.”
My spine stiffens and I square up my shoulders. “What about Anais?”
“She’s here. At a party. And she’s really drunk. I’ve warned off the guys, but she’s another story. She, uh, she went upstairs with some guy but her friend followed after them.”
My teeth grind and rage builds in my gut. “Where are you?” I growl.
“Greenbriar and Main. You can’t miss it,” he tells me.
“I’m on my way. You tell any player you see that they have ten minutes to get their asses out of there, or anyone I find is getting benched for the first game.”
“Yes sir,” he replies.
“Except you. You stay,” I add then hang up the phone.
I walk over to where Gabby still stands and decide to fudge the truth a little on why I have to leave.
“Is everything all right?” she asks when I step up next to her.
I shake my head. “No. That was my captain. I guess there’s a problem with another player and I need to go take care of it. I’m sorry, Gabby. I really hate to do this to you.”
Her smile shakes and she blinks, forcing her eyes not to show how disappointed they are. “Oh. That’s too bad, but I understand. Are you going to be okay to drive?”
I think back to the number of drinks I’ve had and realize I’m only halfway through my second beer of the night. I’ve been taking it slow knowing that I was going to be driving Gabby home later.
“Yeah. Are you going to be okay getting home? I can call you after I handle things and come back for you if–”
“No no. Don’t be silly. Felice will take me home. I don’t think her date is going so well.” She nudges her chin to where her friend stands, and I see her with a bored look on her face and a closed off stance, completely ignoring her date.
“I’ll call you tomorrow. Maybe we can grab a coffeesometime.”
The disappointment she was trying to keep at bay no longer stays hidden. “Sure. Sounds good.”
I lean in and give her a small kiss on the cheek. “‘Night, Gabby.”
“G’night, Bishop.” Her usually perky voice is solemn and quiet.
I turn and push my way through the crowd, stomping outside and to my truck, where I crank the engine with force and irritation.
I white knuckle the steering wheel all the way to the house party. I’m irritated at her carelessness of getting drunk at a party where college boys lose their ability to choose between right and wrong. It gives me flashbacks to the horror that Vaughan went through and that causes me to drive even faster.
My tires screech to a halt in front of a house where kids are spilling out, and I jump out, slamming my door and stalking up the walkway. Kids dive out of my way, clearing a path for the raging bull headed in their direction.
The door is already partially open, so I throw it the rest of the way and it slams against the wall.
