Nineteen
Alice
“Did you know David was playing?” Madison hissed in her ear.
“No, I swear,” Alice replied. They’d just arrived at the gym and already there were troubles. “Jack said the game was among guys on the team, but I assumed he meant this year’s team.”
“Hey, babe.” Jack hugged her from behind, making Alice forget about the tension between her roommates. “You made it.”
She turned in his arms and fastened her hands behind his neck. “You know I’m a sucker for tall guys in basketball shorts.”
Jack put on a cute frown. “And by tall guys in basketball shorts, I hope you mean just this guy.”
“And who else?” Alice smiled and pulled his face down to kiss him. It still amazed her she could do it whenever she wanted.
“Dude.” Someone nudged Jack from behind. “You ready to go?”
Alice broke the kiss and briefly made eye contact with David Williams, who jogged backward calling, “Come on, Jack, we need to get started on some warm-up drills.”
It was a two-against-two match and it appeared Jack and David were on the same team. Matt Lucas and Blake Donovan were on the other. Both Matt and Blake were from the Boston area, so they’d stayed for the summer.
Jack turned toward the indoor basketball court, saying, “I’ll be right there.” Then he whispered apologetically to Alice, “Duty calls.”
“You didn’t tell me David would be here,” Alice whispered back.
Jack’s eyes widened. “Why? Is there still drama going on? I thought everything was good.” He stole another glance at his teammate. “Did he do something bad?”
Alice was about to answer “yes” automatically when she realized that this time, no, David had actually done nothing wrong for a change—unless going to the library had become a crime. “No, not really,” she reassured Jack. “But I need to update you on the latest crisis. Now, go bag the game.”
Jack stole a peck on her lips, saying, “A kiss for luck,” and then joined David.
Still high from the kiss, Alice backtracked to go sit with her friends on the gym floor at the margin of the court. But the moment her butt hit the PVC, she felt like she could cut the tension between her two other roommates with a knife. Madison was scowling at David—and at Haley, too, sometimes—and Haley seemed very busy looking everywhere but in David’s direction.
Alice sighed and decided to hit pause and ignore them. She was here to enjoy watching her boyfriend play, not to become an unwilling witness to a silent cat fight. She turned all her attention on him and the game.
Jack looked ridiculously gorgeous running and leaping around, his face set in a concentrated frown every time he tried to outsmart an opponent with his drills or when he prepared for a throw. Alice was grateful to whoever had decided to make basketballs so heavy. The weight had shaped every muscle in Jack’s arms, and whenever he wrapped those toned biceps around her… Get a grip, girl.
Mid-match, Alice realized she was still positively ogling Jack. Not that there was anything wrong with that, but… After ignoring her roommates for the whole game so far, she turned to check on them. A quick side-glance was enough to leave Alice horror-struck. Haley wore a rapt expression as she watched David run—pretty much the same one Alice must’ve sported a few seconds ago looking at Jack—and Madison had on an affronted pout as she stared daggers at Haley staring at David.
Alice returned her eyes to the match for a second, appraising the disruptive element. She imagined David Williams as an extraneous molecule ruining a perfect chemical reaction… because, no matter if she had eyes only for Jack, the senior Williams brother was really something to look at tonight—or every other night.
He was dressed in a matching dark blue tank top and shorts and his black hair—pulled back from his forehead by a thin white hairband—seemed so dark it appeared to have midnight-blue streaks in it, which only made his eyes pop more. Like all the other players, he was tall and fit, but David also had that bad-boy aura and lopsided grin that added a charm unique to him. Rugged. Handsome. Dangerous.
Alice watched as Jack threw the ball halfway across the court in a quick pass. David caught it firmly in his hands and crouched, only to then spring up in a jump, aiming for the basket without a moment’s hesitation—his feet an inch shy of the three-point line. The orange sphere flew over Matt’s head, who tried and failed to block it, and landed squarely in the center of the metal ring, almost without touching its borders. The only sign of its passage was a soft swish of the net.
Haley cheered and clapped her hands.
Madison scoffed, visibly annoyed.
“What?” Haley turned toward her, smiling. “We’re here to cheer Jack’s team, no?”
“Sure,” Madison snapped again. “Jack’s team.”
Alice stared up at the gym’s roof, wondering if there’d ever be harmony again among her friends. But the night’s tension only escalated when the match ended—three games to two for Jack and David—and the guys disappeared into the locker room to take a shower, leaving the girls alone with their unspoken beef.
Haley’s anger bubble popped first, and she turned toward Madison with thunder in her eyes. “Care to share why you’ve had the face of someone swallowing lemons all night?”
“Something soured my evening,” Madison said.
When Madison turned the bitch on, she could get nasty really fast.
“What’s your problem?” Haley asked.
“My problem is what’s happening between you and David.”
“Nothing is going on between us,” Haley said, her tone too angry not to be defensive.
Madison scoffed. “Yeah, keep lying… It’s what you do best.”
Haley jumped up from the floor. “Excuse me?”
Madison got up, too, and Alice had no choice but to imitate them. She placed herself squarely in the middle to keep her best friends from clawing each other’s eyes out.
“I saw you at the library the other day,” Madison spat. “You were with him, don’t deny it. And when I asked you about it you lied.”
Haley’s mouth fell open, a furious blush spreading on her face, but instead of backing off, she narrowed her eyes and hissed, “If you already knew, why ask?”
Madison crossed her arms over her chest. “I wanted to see if you’d lie about it.” She stared Haley down. “You did.”
“Girls.” Alice tried to inject herself into the conversation. “Why don’t we all try to calm down?”
“You tell her,” Haley said, pointing at Madison. “She’s the one looking down on everyone else from her high tower.”
“At least I’m not being shady.”
“Neither am I!”
“So does Scott know you hang out with his brother?”
“It’s none of your business.” Haley glowered at Madison one last time. “I’m out of here,” she said to Alice. “I’m sorry, we’ll hang next time.”
Without another word, Haley stormed out of the gym.
Alice waited for her to be gone before she scowled at Madison. “You really had to do that, didn’t you?”
“Why are you glaring at me?”
“Because, Madison, Haley is your friend. Haley. You should always be on her side. Even if she was having a full-blown affair with David, you should still be on her side.”
“But—”
“No buts. Haley hasn’t judged you once, no matter what you did.” Alice paused to let her point get home. When Madison’s face shifted from haughty to embarrassed, she continued. “I know you’re holding her to higher standards because of Scott, but you can’t act out this way. It’s not fair.”
Madison looked close to tears. “Yeah, you’re right. None of this is fair. I’m out of here too. See you at home.”
In a few quick steps, Madison left the gym, slamming the heavy metal door behind her. Alice sighed and pulled her hair up into a ponytail. She was wrapping the hairband when J
ack took advantage of her exposed neck and pressed his lips to the sensitive skin just under her ear, saying, “Hey, where did everybody go?”
Alice turned around; the boys were all showered and ready to go. “The girls left. They had stuff to do at home.” She tried to ignore the disappointment on David’s face at seeing Haley gone.
Jack arched his brows questioningly, and Alice made a face that said: Don’t ask.
“Oh, okay.”
“Can I still hang with the boys?” Alice smiled.
It was Matt who replied, sporting a wide grin. “You’re basically one of us.”
Jack wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “Well, let’s go. I’m starving.” Whispering in her ear, he added, “No more drama for tonight. Deal?”
“Deal.”
They all walked out of the gym, and Alice was positively ashamed to be relieved that her friends—and their toxic vibes—had left so that she could enjoy a drama-free dinner with her boyfriend.
Haley
“Haley, wait,” came Madison’s voice from behind her.
Instead of slowing down, Haley picked up her pace—Yeah, petty as hell. But Madison had rubbed her the wrong way tonight. She wasn’t sure why she’d lied—omitted—to her roommates about being friends with David. But Madison’s judging reaction had let her know she couldn’t confide in them anymore, or at least not in Madison.
“Haley,” Madison called again. “You can’t avoid me; we live in the same house.”
“Fine!” Haley stopped and spun around. “What do you want?”
Madison caught up with her. “To apologize.”
Haley was thrown off by the unexpected declaration but still wasn’t ready to give in and just forgive Madison for being the biggest bitch. “I’m listening.”
“I’m sorry for going nuclear bitch on you, but why didn’t you tell us about him?”
“Are you here to apologize, or to ask more stupid questions?”
“Both. I’m sorry I turned all high-and-mighty on you, but I’m not sorry for calling you out on the lie.”
Haley tapped her foot on the curb. “Given your wonderful reaction, can you really blame me for not telling you?”
“Is that the only reason you didn’t say anything?”
“I know David is still a sore point for you.” Madison kept looking at her, unconvinced. So Haley continued, “And I don’t need anyone’s judgment for being his friend.”
“His friend?” Madison asked. “Haley, you’re in denial.”
“Denial? How dare you—”
“I saw you together, okay?” Madison shouted, interrupting her.
“So? We were building a model. I help him out with coding sometimes. Big deal. It’s not like we were making out or banging each other on the table.”
“No, it was so much worse.”
“How could it be worse?”
“Because it isn’t a sexual thing, Haley, you like him. The fact that he’s mystery-kiss-masked guy, that you met him first, changed the way you see him.”
“Madison, David and I are only friends. I’m with Scott.”
“So why are you doing this to him?”
“And since when have you become the Scott police?”
Madison’s cheeks flared red.
“That’s what I thought,” Haley said ruthlessly. “Guess what? My life, my boyfriend, my choices. Keep your nose out of it.”
Pain flared behind Madison’s eyes. “Fine. It’s just hard to watch you throw away the perfect guy for his douche bag of a brother. When it all comes crashing down on you, don’t come crying to me.”
Madison pushed past her and kept walking toward their house.
“I won’t!” Haley yelled after her.
Twenty
Haley
The fight with Madison nagged Haley’s conscience for the rest of the week. So much so that she almost didn’t go to the library on Saturday. But the atmosphere inside the house was positively poisonous, and she needed to study, and the library really did help her be more productive.
You could go to a different library, a voice echoed inside her head. Well, I don’t want to. And I’m not going to let Madison dictate my life.
David was already at their table when she arrived.
“Bad mood?” he asked after taking one good look at her.
“Please don’t ask.” Needing a distraction, she said, “Do you have any vicious models for me to crack today?”
David dipped his head in a mock bow. “I hear you, vicious model on its way.”
After pulling up the file, he offered his laptop to her. Haley sat next to him and happily forgot about Madison’s accusations for the rest of the day.
***
As usual, it took an attendant to kick them out for Haley and David to leave the library. They were outside saying goodbye when an insistent vibration in her backpack distracted Haley. She rummaged blindly for her phone until her hand clasped around the slim rectangle. Haley stared at the caller ID on the screen: Mom. Weird, they just had their weekly chat last night and her mom never called on a weekend unless something was wrong.
“Mom,” she said. “What’s going on?”
“It’s your father,” her mother said, a tremor in her voice.
“Dad? What about Dad?”
“Oh, Haley, he’s had a heart attack.”
The ground disappeared from beneath Haley’s feet. She felt like she was about to faint. “When? How? Is he okay?”
Please let him be okay, please let him be okay.
“He’s in surgery right now… Before… we were outside taking care of the garden and I don’t know what happened… he just collapsed.”
“But what are the doctors saying?”
“The surgeon is optimistic, but they won’t tell me anything for sure until he’s out of the OR.”
Haley made a split-second decision. “I’m coming home.”
“Yeah, I figured you’d want to. We’re at Mercy Hospital.”
“I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“How are you getting here?”
“I’ll catch a flight or the bus, I don’t know.”
“Please be safe. I have to call Uncle Tim now.”
“I will, Mom, bye.” Haley pressed End and immediately googled flights. There were none going out of Boston Logan to Buffalo after five in the evening. “Damn,” she cursed. The bus took forever. “I need a car.”
She was about to call Madison, when David said, “I’ll drive you.”
Haley had forgotten he was standing right next to her. “You have a car?”
“Yeah.”
“Would you really drive me home?”
“Not would, am.”
“But Buffalo is a seven-hour drive.”
David checked his watch. “If we leave now, we can be there by midnight.”
Haley swallowed. “Thank you.”
David gave a curt nod. “Do you need to go home to get something?”
“No, I just want to leave.”
“Let’s go, then.”
***
David’s car was a midnight-blue pickup. He drove it in silence, following the navigator’s instructions on his phone without trying to make small talk. Haley was glad. She wasn’t in the mood to talk. She wasn’t in the mood to do anything. All she wanted was to get home as fast as possible and be with her family, and David seemed to understand that.
They only stopped once to fill the tank and go to the restroom. David ate a cold sandwich while he drove, but Haley’s stomach was too cramped up with worry. David didn’t insist on her eating, and once again, Haley was grateful that he let her be. No awkward, “I’m sorry.” No stupid, “How are you feeling?” questions. And no “You should try to eat something,” crap. David drove her in silence, the hard resolution of getting her to Buffalo as soon as possible etched on his rugged features.
Haley’s mom called again halfway through the trip with th
e good news that her dad was out of surgery. The doctors had said everything had gone well, and that now they only needed to wait for her father to wake up. The biggest lump eased in Haley’s throat; her dad was going to be okay. She would get there in time. She would see him again.
After the call, Haley’s phone died, making her curse under her breath. She’d spent too much time on Google, learning everything she could about heart attacks, recovery, and prevention, consuming all the battery. She hadn’t thought to buy a charger at the gas station, and she certainly didn’t want to stop again now.
“What happened?” David asked, probably worried the call had been bad news.
“My phone died,” she said.
“I don’t have a charger, but mine still has half the battery if you want to call Scott,” David offered.
And, once again, Haley appreciated how much effort it must’ve taken him to say that.
“You don’t need it for directions?”
“It says to go straight for the next two hundred miles. I can manage.” David freed the phone from its case on the air vent and handed it to her.
“Thanks.” Haley dialed Scott’s number and waited on the line. It rang, and rang, and rang… “He’s not picking up.”
“Probably because it’s my number. Try a text.”
“No, it can wait until tomorrow.” The truth was Haley feared Scott would go into full panic mode and ask her all the questions she didn’t want to answer right now. “Mind if I give your number to my mom, in case she needs to get a hold of me?”
David shook his head and didn’t add anything else for the rest of the trip.
At exactly ten minutes past midnight, he pulled over near the main entrance of Mercy Hospital.
“Go,” he said. “I’ll find a parking spot.”
Haley didn’t need to be told twice; her hand was already on the car door handle. She thanked David again and rushed out of the car and inside the towering building. Her mom had texted her the floor and room they were keeping her dad in, so Haley headed straight for the elevator. She had to meander through a few halls and pass many doors before she spotted her mom standing in the threshold of a room.