Page 51 of Sin Bins and Second Chances
Big girl.
Mediocre woman.
Fatty.
Ugly.
I copythe link from my chat with Alexa and paste it over to Delilah. Ugh, this sucks. My chest fills with dread. It can’t be like that. I need to get out of this house.
Me: I know not to believe everything I read, but I need out of this house and out of my head.
Alexa: Say less! Come up to the office and then we’ll all go out. A girls night, food and drinks. You can even crash on my couch if needed. I live down the road
Me: I don’t plan on drinking that much. I just need a distraction.
Alexa: Girls night it is. Come and meet us at the main office.
Me: Give me 30 minutes to change and another hour to get there.
Alexa: Perfect, we’ll have hopefully wrapped up stuff here by then.
I’m not goingto drink, it’ll only make me dwell on things. But going out with others for a distraction could be useful right now.
Chapter Twenty-Four
ETHAN
Idon’t have to look around to know we’re all dragging ourselves off the ice. The sting of the loss in every step as we move across the carpeted hall and into the locker room. The game should’ve been ours. We were a tangled mess, fight after fight. There were more punches thrown than pucks.
We couldn’t even finish strong. I zone out to the smell of sweat and disappointment. It’s quieter than ever and I don’t know if it’s the bruised pride, shattered egos, or utter defeat. The locker room is entirely too silent. The coach doesn’t even say aword. His eyes scan the room, meet everyone’s eyes, one by one.
I assume a pep talk or talking to will come. Maybe he’ll scream at us. Nothing, none of our coaches say a thing. They don’t need to at this point, the weight of his stare doing enough.
I strip out of my gear and shove everything into my bag. The entire team clearing out faster than normal, eager to escape and call it a night. Though, I suspect most of them will end up at the hotel bar until they close it out. Our flight tomorrow will be interesting if they all have as big of a hangover as I suspect they might end up with.
My mind replays the game on the ride to the hotel. Stuck in a loop of would’ve, could’ve, and should’ve. I’m about to enter the lobby when I catch Andrew standing at the entrance, staring at his phone. His gaze is off, intense.
His eyes met mine for a minute before walking up to coach. Something is off. I watch as the coach listens, his face unreadable. Then, he glances at me, nods once. Andrew walks over towards me.
“There’s been an accident.” His voice sounds strained.
My stomach drops. “What kind of accident?”
He hesitates for a second, like he’s trying to figure out if he can even say the words. “It’s Daisy. We have to go.”
I’m moving before the words fully register, following Andrew as he makes arrangements to get us a flight out tonight.
*****
The flight feltlike it took years, my thoughts racing with every passing moment. My leg feels like it’s going to shake right off my body with the way I can’t sit still. I just need to get to her.
By the time we land, I’m sure I look as disheveled as I feel. We barely grab our bags before Andrew’s dad is there to pick us up.
The hospital is eerily cold. As if my bones can feel it as soon as we walk through the automatic doors. The sterile smell, hushed voices, and low hum of machines making me irritated. I want to scream or break something—I can’t. I can’t do anything when I’m sofocused on finding out how she’s doing and terrified of what’s going on.
Beau explains in a lowered voice how the accident was caused by a drunk driver. It happened at an intersection and multiple vehicles were involved. My heart pounds in my chest.
“What about her mom?” I ask. Surely, she’s trying to catch a flight back here. I know she was supposed to stay in Ireland another week.
