Chapter 42

chapter forty-two

Gavin

The hit was dirty, I won't argue with that. Had I been paying better attention, though? It could've absolutely been avoided. I was distracted.

My mind was all over the place. Thinking about what Levi said about Quinn checking on me, telling me it's Pepsi.

That was our thing.

It was her way of telling me that she'd thought about it like I told her and the answer was Pepsi.

Me.

I was her Pepsi, her choice.

I knew she was watching the game and I needed her to know that I was okay. That the ambulance and back board is only a precaution. The training staff in the ambulance with me won't let me use their phones. They just keep shushing me and telling me to rest.

My mom and dad were at the game and I know they'll meet me at the hospital so I'll use their phones. Eventually.

"Are you feeling alright?" The EMT says as he looks at me. "You look a little pale."

"I just feel a little?—"

Nausea rolls through me as the room begins to spin, and I vomit all over the gurney and ambulance. My vision goes in and out as they push a needle into my arm, and the next thing I know, I wake up in a hospital bed.

It's dark as I look around the room and find my dad with his neck in an ungodly position in a recliner.

What time is it?

"Dad," I croak, my throat so dry it's hard to get a single word out. He doesn't hear me, but like a twin sense miracle, Levi struts in at that exact time.

"Bro, you okay?"

All I can manage to say is, "Water."

He nods, walking out of the room, returning with a pink pitcher and a foam cup.

"Here," he says and hands me a cup.

I drink it, and the coldness burns my throat as it goes down. "What happened?"

"You have a concussion. They are keeping you tonight for observation."

"Fuck," I groan. "Where's mom?"

"She went to the vending machines to get a snack."

My mind is fuzzy but I remember I haven't talked to Quinn.

"Give me your phone so I can call Quinn."

He looks over at the clock on the wall and then back to me, "You sure? It's 1:00 AM?"

"Give me the damn phone."

I click her contact and she answers almost immediately, "Levi, how is he?"

"It's me," I say, the sound of her voice instantly soothing to hear. It's almost like all is right in my world.

"Gavin?" She questions. "Oh my god, are you okay?"

Still hoarse, I respond. "I'm good. Nasty concussion but I'm good."

"Where are you?" She asks.

"Hospital," I say. "They are making me stay for observation."

She is quiet on the line so she's probably trying to keep from waking Ava up, "That scared me to death and all the guys on TV could talk about was whether or not you'd miss the next game."

I smirk, "That's their job."

I can picture her rolling those beautiful eyes. "Well, it's dumb."

"I'll be alright," I assure her. "Don't be mad at the announcers."

"I'm not," she snaps. "I'm mad at myself."

"It's alright, I shouldn't have freaked out on you. You told me you weren't ready for a relationship, I shouldn't have been surprised that you needed time."

"Well," she sighs. "I've made mistakes. A lot of them when it comes to Grayson."

I want to talk to her, more than ever, but it needs to be face to face. "Don't. We can talk about this when I get back. I'm okay, I'm gonna be okay."

She is silent on the other line, and it makes my heart break a little to know I'm hurting her but I need to physically see those words coming out of her mouth. I want to know it's safe to trust her with my heart.

"Okay, Phoenix." She whispers. "When you get back."

She hasn't called me that in a while, and it makes me smile.

We hang up the phone and I watch as Levi raises his brow, "You good?"

"Yeah," I sigh. "Thanks."

Dad moves around in the recliner and finally notices I'm awake. "How do you feel?"

"I'm good."

"Good," he sighs with relief. "You looked like a zombie out there."

His words sting a little, knowing that he can't just comfort me without criticizing the way I play football.

"Who was on the phone?" He asks.

"Quinn," I say. "From the cruise."

"Yeah, I've read about that drama online. You shouldn't betray your teammate for some girl you've known for five seconds."

I bite my tongue. It's obvious dad knows nothing about any of the things Grayson has done. He'd be pissed if he knew that he drugged Levi, but that would require having to tell him that Levi was partying. I won't rat on my brother, but to my surprise Levi speaks up.

"Collins is a disease, dad. Gavin isn't betraying him."

Dad raises his brow, "So he's being his best bud? By dating his ex?"

I try and defend myself but dad doesn't want to hear it. "You have so much talent, Gavin, but it's like you don't even care. You could go on to play pro-ball but you're too busy frolicking around with anything that has blonde hair and a pussy."

Mom walks in right as dad makes that comment and her eyes are glued to him, "What the hell are you bitchin' at him for?"

"Nothing," he growls. "It's not like he'll listen to me, anyway."

I know I should just let it go, but I'm sick of just letting it go.

"Fuck you, dad. You think you know what's best for everyone. You don't know anything about me. You didn't even know or care that I existed until Levi couldn't play football anymore."

Mom's eyes go wide and I wait for her to intervene. She doesn't.

"Yeah, you don't have anything to say to that do you? Do you know anything about me besides my stats? Do you know my favorite color? My favorite things to do? My favorite movie?"

He sits there and doesn't say a word. So I just go ahead and twist the knife, "It's green. It's The Sandlot. I like animals. I like to cook. I like to do things other than football. I'm sorry that is so awful. I'm sorry it's not what you want from me, but until you can tell me some things about myself, I don't think I'm gonna listen to you when you tell me what's best for me."

His mouth drops along with the imaginary microphone in my hand.

Fuck this.