Page 71 of Make Your Shot
“Whoa, are you okay?” the man asks, reaching for the two of us. “Shit, you’re bleeding.” He shakes his head, raking his hand through his hair. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t see that the light was red.”
I wave my hand at him dismissively, barely able to register a single word that he’s saying. My head throbs in protest and the dizziness is consuming me. Abandoning my car, I turn to walk over to the side of the road, but my legs refuse to cooperate. Traffic is stopped and other people are getting out of their cars just as emergency services begin to surround the area.
A paramedic walks up to the two of us. I lower Tellato the ground and collapse onto my hands and knees. My head hurts and I feel sick as the darkness floods the corners of my vision. “Please, get her off the road,” I say to the paramedic. I lift my head to look at her. She’s crouched down in front of Tella.
Tella looks at me, eyes filled with fear. I can feel myself about to pass out again. “It’s okay, babe,” I tell her, rolling onto my side just as the darkness pulls me back under.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
CALEB
“Hey Coach,” I call out to Coach Landry as I step into the hall on my way to the rink. The rest of the guys are already on the ice, which is where I’m supposed to be. Except here I am, about to drop a goddamn bomb on him.
I originally planned on approaching him after practice, but as soon as I saw him, I panicked.
“What’s up?” he asks, not taking his eyes off his tablet as he falls into step with me. “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, yeah,” I say, pausing to chew on the inside of my cheek as I nod. “I-uh-I wanted to talk to you about Mia.”
Coach’s footsteps slow as he turns his head to look at me, arching a brow. “Okay...”
I mull over the words in my head, unsure of the proper way to get them out. I should have rehearsed or had some kind of a script to follow because now I’m just floundering.
The last thing I need to do is say something out of line or even just the wrong thing.
“I’m not sure how to say this and I know it’s probably something that would really be frowned upon.”
“Caleb,” he says, his voice stern as we both stop by the boards. “Spit it out.”
“Mia has really been helping me with Tella and just to work through some of my own shit.” I pause and blow out a breath. “I would like your permission to date your daughter.”
He stares at me, his face giving nothing away. The sounds of the guys on the ice fills the air, but I can’t hear any of it, not with the way Coach Landry is looking at me right now.
“You are interested in dating my daughter?”
“Well, yes,” I say in a rush, half stumbling over the words.
“And if I say no,” he starts, raising an eyebrow. “Would that stop you from pursuing her?”
I chew on the inside of my cheek, shifting my weight on my skates. “If I say yes, I will be lying.”
He clicks his tongue, shaking his head. “Make good choices, Ford. You have my permission because she is an adult who is free to live her life how she chooses. However, if you hurt her or this turns into some kind of scandal, I will not hesitate to have you traded at the first opportunity.”
“Yes, sir,” I say, nodding my head as my heart accelerates inside my chest. “I understand.”
He lifts his phone, his eyes diverting away from meas he glances at the screen. His face contorts, eyebrows tugging together. “I need to take this.”
He doesn’t give me the chance to respond as he immediately answers. When I turn around and open the door to the rink, I hear him say, “Hello?” After a pause, “Yes, this is her father.”
Just as my foot touches the ice, he calls out.
“Caleb, stop.” His voice is demanding. “We need to get to the hospital.”
I spin on my heel, my stomach tumbling to the floor. “What?”
“Mia and Tella,” he whispers and his throat bobs on a hard swallow. “They were in a car accident.”
The glass doors barely slide open before I stride through them, entering the waiting room with panic rolling through my body. I straighten my spine, every vertebrae stacking over top of the other as my eyes scan the room. There’s a handful of other patients and family members sitting, but my vision refuses to focus. They’re all blurry, all insignificant.
