Page 96 of Ruled Out

“Has she got some kind of vendetta against you or Mia?” Zach asks.

“Not that I was aware of, but like I said, she’s the only one who knows.”

Swinging my bag over my shoulder, I wave my phone at the guys. “I need to call Mia. See you on the team bus.”

A tattooed hand comes to my forearm as I make to leave the locker room, and I turn to see a serious look on Zach’s face.

“Does this compromise your position with the team?”

I shrug and bite the inside of my cheek. “I did what you’d advised. Played hard and made myself un-benchable. Burrows is close to Jenkins, and, yeah, he’s gonna be pissed at me for rocking the boat.” I turn to look at him, the past few weeks with Mia flashing through my mind. “But at this point, there’s nothing I wouldn’t risk to be with her. I walked away once, and it was the biggest mistake of my life. There never has—and never will be—anything more important in my life than Mia Jenkins.”

I’m already scrolling for her contact when I step into the empty hallway.

Hitting dial, I bring the phone to my ear and lean against the wall, keeping a check around me for eavesdroppers.

Mia picks up on the first ring, her voice rushed and panicked. “Jessie, are you okay? I saw the fight, the way Coulson brought you down. I always thought he had your back in Dallas.”

“I’m okay, Sweetheart. It was a few stitches and bad bruising; I got away without breaking anything.”

“Oh, thank fuck.” She breaks off and goes silent. When she speaks again, her voice is way more measured than I ever expected it to be. “Dad knows. He texted me, saying he knew, but wasn’t ready to talk about it.”

“Fuck, this isn’t how it was supposed to be, Mia. I’m so sorry.”

“I know.” Her voice shakes, and I can tell she’s trying to hold back the tears.

I switch the call to video mode. If I can’t hold her, the least I can do is let her look in my eyes when I promise it’s all going to be okay.

She isn’t wearing any makeup, and her hair is unwashed and thrown on top of her head when she comes into view.

She’s never looked more beautiful.

“Jessie, your face.” She reaches toward the camera. “Coulson did this because of us, didn’t he?”

I nod. She has no idea what happened between him and me when her dad kicked me off the team, but it’s too much of a coincidence. “Yeah. That’s how I know about your dad finding out. Coulson told me right before my ass hit the ice.”

“Asshole,” she bites out, looking off to the side.

“I’m gonna make this right with your dad, I promise.”

She winces and looks down at the ground. When she looks back up, her eyes are red and glassy, and I want to reach inside the phone and pull her to me. This is exactly the way I didn’t want things to play out with Graham. This is worst-case scenario number one.

“Fuck!” I shout to no one in particular, my frustration and anger getting the better of me. “Why is it that no matter how hard I try to keep you safe, my life always finds a way to hurt you?”

She shakes her head and spins around to take a seat on a couch, and it’s then I notice that she isn’t in her dorm. “This isn’t your fault, Jessie. I shouldn’t have trusted Tara.”

“Where are you?” I ask, my blood beginning to boil at the fact that she can’t even be in her own dorm.

“Kate and Jensen’s. When I got Dad’s text, it was halfway through the game, and I panicked. Only people I could think to text were the girls. Tara was out, so I packed an overnight bag, and Kate came straight over to grab me.” She brings a palm up to cover her face. “I can’t go back there.”

“And neither can I because I can’t be held responsible for what I might say to her,” I hear a voice say, belonging to Kate.

If there’s one person I’d want with Mia right now, it’s definitely Kate Jones.

“I’m gonna make this right with your dad,” I repeat and bring the phone closer to me. “I’m gonna go see him before I leave Dallas, and then I’ll charter my own fucking flight so I can get back to you ASAP. Then I’m bringing you back to mine, and you won’t leave my arms. I promise it’s gonna be all right, Mia.”

Just as Mia opens her mouth to reply, a throat clears from down the hallway, and I look up to see Graham’s ominous figure at the end, his arms crossed over his black suit jacket.

“I gotta go,” I tell Mia.