Page 71 of For the Boys
Brent smiled at her. “It’s good to see yours.”
“I’m not the one who got their bell rung tonight.”
“Yeah, not exactly how I planned my night going,” he told her, shifting a bit to make himself more comfortable. Hospital beds were notoriously disagreeable, and he was stuck overnight for observation. “I wish you had been there, but I’m also glad you weren’t. I heard you don’t handle people getting injured well.”
“Those bitches,” Berkley whispered. “Okay, in my defense, my brother rarely gets hurt. I was always the one breaking something or getting scraped up when we were kids. Classic middle-child syndrome and all that.”
Brent laughed, picturing Nate, his family’s own middle child, as a kid. To be fair, two boys so close in age were bound to get in trouble, but Nate really was far more mischievous than Brent had ever been, especially after Mackenzie came along.
“My brother is the same way, so I understand,” Brent told her.
“How bad is the cut on your jaw?” she asked.
Brent ran his finger along the bandage covering said cut. “Six stitches, according to the nurses. I haven’t seen it yet.”
“Well, your chin is going to be a lovely shade of purple by tomorrow, I’m sure,” she said. “And hey, the Warriors still won!”
One goal was all it took to name a winner, a goal courtesy of Parker of all people.
“That we did.” Brent sighed. “Too bad I’m going to be off until after the new year.”
“Aww, poor baby,” Berkley said, fakely pouting into the screen. Brent scowled at her, and she laughed. “I wish I was there. We could curl up and watch movies while you convalesce.”
“That sounds wonderful,” Brent said, wincing and closing his eyes against a surge of pain across the top of his skull.
“This screen time probably isn’t good for your injured brain. I’ll let you go.”
Brent sighed. To be honest, his eyes were on fire, and he wanted nothing more than to take a nap.
“Yeah, I’m going to try to sleep some before the next nurse comes in to torture me,” he said. “But it was good seeing your face. I can’t wait for you to come back so I can see it in person.”
Berkley dipped her head away from the camera, and Brent was sure she was hiding a blush.
“Good night, Brent,” she said, lifting her head to look him in the eye.
“Good night, Berk.”
They hung up, and Brent stared up at the ceiling, his phone cradled to his chest.
Due to his concussion, he would be going on the injured list for the foreseeable future. He wouldn’t be allowed to play in a game again until the team doctor cleared him. That meant he suddenly had some free time, and he knew just what he wanted to do with it.
He was going to surprise Berkley in Traverse City.
Chapter Fourteen
Berkley
As was tradition in their family, Jess, Berkley, and their mom spent the better part of New Year’s Eve looking through old pictures that stayed boxed up in the attic for the other 364 days of the year. Their mom shed a few tears over how quickly they had all grown up, and Jess made fun of the terrible haircuts their parents had given Berkley and Logan before she was born.
The fun ended when Jess decided she absolutely had to start getting ready for the party she was attending tonight with her high school friends, but not before a long lecture from their mom on being smart and calling her or Dad if she needed a ride. Berkley had to get ready for going out with her own friends anyway, so they parted ways.
At around ten that night, Berkley was standing in front of her mirror, putting her earrings on when her phone pinged with a message, alerting her that her high school best friend, Grace Bowers, was waiting in the driveway. Berkley went downstairs, waved bye to her parents, and rushed out to Grace’s waiting car, hopping quickly into the passenger seat.
“Hey, girl,” Berkley said as she buckled herself in. “You look great!” Grace was wearing a long-sleeved emerald-colored bodycon dress. Her shoulder-length hair was straight, bangs braided and pinned behind her ear.
“You look fantastic too,” she replied, eyeing Berkley’s red dress and gold heels. “Lee is going to regret cheating on you when he sees you in that.”
Berkley slapped her on the arm. “Shut up, that was forever ago. Why would you even bring that up?”
