Chapter 33

chapter thirty-three

Gavin

After driving fifteen minutes, and a million questions from Quinn about where I'm taking her, we pull into the parking lot of a tiny diner on the outskirts of town. Quinn's face glows under the giant neon road sign.

"What is this place?" she asks, squinting her eyes up at the sign with some of the bulbs burned out.

"It's the best. Come on."

She opens her door and follows me inside, a giant smile takes over her face when she notices the servers are on roller skates. We slide into a small booth in the corner, and when the server comes over, Quinn is still taking everything in.

"Hey Gavin. Haven't seen you in a few weeks. How is football?"

My usual server, Bridget, grins at me. She's probably in her late fifties and has the curliest hair I've ever seen. "Football is football. This is Quinn."

She smiles, and grabs Quinn's hand. "Lord honey, you've got your hands full with this one. What do you kids want to drink?"

"You have Coke products?" Quinn asks.

"No ma'am. This is a high class establishment. We have the finest. Pepsi. Mountain Dew. You know? All the southern staples."

Quinn's face lights up as she looks at me. "I'll have Pepsi."

"What about you, hotshot?" Bridget asks, tapping her pen on the notepad.

It's still midseason, so Pepsi is out of the question. "I'll take some water."

Bridget stalks away, and Quinn leans across the table eagerly. "You know the waitstaff? How often do you come here?"

"Ah, I came a lot over the summer. Most of the college kids don't know about it so it's just far enough off campus where I don't have to deal with anyone."

"Bridget is nice," She states.

"Yeah," I nod. "She takes care of her grandson full time. Her daughter made some mistakes and ended up in jail."

"That's awful," Quinn whispers, right as Bridget comes back with our drinks.

"You know what you want or you need a minute."

I look down at Quinn's unopened menu, "Yeah, just a few."

"Okay, I'll be back."

Quinn opens her menu, and then looks up at me. "What's good?"

I smirk, "All of it."

"All of the portions are massive."

I imagine myself feeding her the waffles she's looking at, "Wanna split something?"

"Sure," she chirps, closing the menu without another thought. "You pick. I'll eat anything."

When Bridget comes back, I order my usual, and watch as Quinn's face lights up. "I love that you have a usual."

I smirk, "I'm a creature of habit."

She takes a sip of her drink, "I love how weird you are."

"Weird, huh?"

She leans across the table and I meet her halfway. Her soft lips graze mine. "It's a good kind of weird."

Her voice is so soft and almost sleepy sounding that it's soothing. She is just soothing to me. I guess that's why I like talking to her so much. It's why I'd rather call her than text. It's why when I'm not stuck at football, I want to be with her.

The sound of my phone buzzing against the sugar canister draws both of our attention and when I see Remi's name flood the screen, I know instantly something is wrong. Otherwise, he wouldn't be calling me at 1am.

"Hello?" I answer, and it's instant that Remi's voice comes through.

"Gavin. Where are you?"

I can sense the urgency in his voice, so I start to freak out. "I'm at a diner across town. What's wrong?"

"It's Levi."

Those two words make my heart sink into the pit of my stomach. My mind reels. Is it his heart? Is he drunk? Did he wreck his car?

"What happened, Remi?"

"He said his chest hurt, and then he just passed out. I called an ambulance, they just left with him."

I feel my heart race, and I look at Quinn. Who is hanging on my words.

What happened?

She mouths, and I tell Remi I'm on my way. "It's Levi. They called an ambulance."

She jumps up, nearly sprinting to the cash register to pay our bill. We haven't even gotten our food, but she doesn't seem to mind. She just takes control.

"Thanks Bridget, we will keep you updated." I hear her say from the door as she pushes me out, then demands, "Give me your keys."

I can't even think straight as I hand them over, "Why? I can drive, it's fine."

She grabs them from my hand, "You aren't driving. You are panicking. Let's make it to Levi in one piece, okay?"

I feel like my heart might stop beating as I sit in the passenger seat, feeling all those same feelings I felt junior year flood my mind.

Quinn drives my truck with ease, and has one hand planted on my shoulder rubbing soft circles over and over. It's comforting, just like her voice.

"We're almost there," She reassures me, whipping the truck into the parking lot across from the Emergency Room.

We get out and rush in to the waiting room to find Ava and Remi pacing the floor, but they allow me to go back since I'm family.

I walk into the corridor of rooms when I hear Levi… laughing ? Ripping back the curtain, I see Levi with his hand wrapped around the back of Allie's thigh, slurring something about her ass.

"Levi? What the fuck?" I growl, and Allie looks at me with apologetic eyes.

"Heyyyy bro. Thanks for coming. Gangs all here."

The doctor walks in and immediately finds Alabama. "Mrs. Richardson, your husband is okay. The alcohol messed with his heart rhythm a bit causing him to pass out. It seems to be back in the correct rhythm now but we're gonna keep him overnight to be sure. With his history you can't be too safe."

My mouth drops and I wait for the doctor to walk away before I freak out. "You guys are married?"

Allie shakes her head and that's when Levi smiles, "Nope, Allie is my emergency contact."

I tilt my brows together, "But why is he calling her Mrs. Richardson?"

Levi waves me off, "That's cause before I left the hospital after my surgery I changed my emergency contact. It's my spouse, Alabama Richardson."

"Does mom know about that?" I ask, knowing damn well she doesn't.

"No, dummy," he slurs. "She is in Seattle with dad so it worked out not worrying them over nothing."

Allie slaps Levi's hand off her ass, "You worried everyone, Levi."

"It's okay, baby. I told you I'm good."

I leave those two to argue, and step outside to update everyone. The relief that floods Remi's face lets me know that he was freaking out, but it's what he says next that changes everything.

He pulls me off to the side, and I watch as Ava and Quinn talk quietly in the corner. "Gavin, I don't know for sure, but I overheard one of the guys saying that they heard Collins talking about drugging him."

"What the fuck did you just say?"

I feel the blood in my veins begin to boil.

"I don't know for sure, it's just a rumor, but one of the guys said that Collins was going to fuck with Levi tonight."

I clench my fists at my sides, and nearly growl at him. "Take Quinn and Ava home. I'll be back."

I get my keys from Quinn, and kiss her cheek. Her hazel eyes sparkling at me with tears in them.

"This is my fault. He saw me in your jersey. I knew he'd do something stupid."

"No." I quip. "It's not your fault. He can fuck with me but he can't fuck with him. That's where I draw the line."