Chapter Twenty

DREW

“Drew!” My name being shouted from Rae’s room has my eyes firing open and me springing out of bed. I immediately fly down the stairs heading for her room. I can hear her groaning as I get closer to her door.

But then a sound stops me.

A guttural scream comes from her room. I immediately push open the door and find her thrashing on her bed.

“Rae! Raelyn!” I raise my voice as I run over to the side of the bed. “Rae, sweetheart, wake up for me.” I kneel beside her, and her eyes fly open.

They meet mine, and she lets out another scream as she tries to scramble from the bed. She tosses herself off the mattress and crawls as fast as she can toward the corner of the room, where she wraps her arms around her knees as she brings them up to her chest.

My eyes widen in fear over what has her completely freaked out. I slowly walk toward her, but I keep my distance.

“Rae, sweetheart, whatever happened, it was a dream. I’m right here. I can help,” I offer softly. Her body is vibrating, and she is clearly shaken from whatever the nightmare was.

“It was you.” Her words barely come out. Her eyes won’t meet mine anymore. She stares down at the floor as she starts to rock.

“What was me? Rae, talk to me. It was a dream. I promise you, nothing was real.”

She shakes her head. Muttering things, but I can’t understand them. I pull out my phone and text the one person that I think may be able to help.

Me:

Hey. I need you. Rae is having a hard time. I can explain when you get here. But she had a nightmare and shut down.

Nix:

On my way.

About thirty minutes later, Phoenix walks in and sees me sitting on my living room couch.

“What happened?” Her voice is laced with concern, and she looks like she just rolled out of bed. And she probably did. It’s three in the fucking morning.

I shake my head. “I heard her screaming my name, so I ran down to her room. When I got to the door, she let out this horrid scream, so I burst into the room, and she was thrashing in her bed. It was some kind of nightmare, and I tried to wake her from it. But… when I did…” I pause for a moment.

Remembering how she looked at me. It killed me that she looked at me like I hurt her. “She lost it when she saw me.”

Phoenix nods and hums. “Back there?” She points to where the rooms are.

I give her a slight nod. “Yeah. First door on the left.”

I watch Phoenix disappear down the hall, and I sit there replaying the scene over and over in my head. My entire body tenses as I think about the fear in her eyes. She couldn’t get away from me fast enough.

And that killed me. Shit.

I walk into the kitchen and open the refrigerator, pulling out a beer. Popping off the top, I take a long swig, letting the bitter cold taste slide down my throat. Placing the bottle on the counter, I pull out my phone and text the guys.

I’m not sure if any of them are up, but I’ll at least let them know what’s going on.

Me:

Hey, some shit went down with Rae. She had a nightmare and freaked out when I woke her up from it. Phoenix is here now, to try and calm her down.

Doc:

On my way.

Kayce:

Shit. Is she okay?

Me:

I don’t know. She looked fucking terrified.

Cameron:

Could be seeking some attention. Let her just sleep it off.

Kayce:

Cam, you’re a fucking asshole. She had a nightmare.

Cameron:

She’s just trying to make you feel sorry for her, and it’s working. You guys are idiots.

Me:

Enough, Cam.

Cameron:

Whatever, man. I’m going back to sleep. We have practice tomorrow. Unless the house is burning down, don’t bother me.

I place my phone down on the counter and shake my head. Cameron and his issue with Raelyn are starting to get under my skin. There’s no reason for it. She’s an innocent girl who was put in a shitty situation. I’m not doing anything different than I would for anyone else.

I’d never do this to someone he was trying to help.

And maybe that’s the difference between him and me. He wouldn’t help someone else. He wouldn’t put himself out for someone who needed help. He is focused on his career, himself. Which is fine, he’s allowed to do that, but it’s starting to put a rift between us. And that’s not a good thing.

About twenty minutes later, Tristan, Kayce, and Asher roll in. Phoenix is still with Raelyn, I’m sure helping her through whatever she saw in her dream.

“Dude. What happened?” Kayce frowns as he walks into the kitchen and takes a seat on the stool at the island.

I shake my head, not even knowing how to respond. “I… she screamed. She yelled my name, and I ran down there. She saw me and got scared.” I rub my chest at the thought of her face again.

Tristan purses his lips, stepping over to the fridge and grabbing two bottles of water. He says nothing as he walks past the three of us and heads back in the direction of the bedroom.

I open my mouth to stop him, but Asher holds up his hand to keep me from saying anything. Once Tristan leaves, Asher turns toward us.

“He has some weird connection to her. I’ve noticed how she relaxes with him around. I have a feeling it has to do with the night he rescued her from the bar. So let him see if he can help calm her in his Tristan ways.”

“Yeah, I’ve seen that too,” I admit as I take another pull from my beer.

A few minutes later, Phoenix comes into the kitchen, and she lets out a long breath. She frowns as she looks at me, as if debating what to say.

“What did you get out of her?” I cock my head to the side.

“Whatever she saw, which she wouldn’t go into detail about, you and Cam were in it. So when you went into the room, she thought she was still dreaming. But whatever happened in the dream, it wasn’t good. She won’t tell me, though. And I’m not pushing her.”

“No, don’t,” I agree. “What do I do? I mean, I don’t want her scared of me.”

Phoenix nods, weighing her words. “Yeah. I think you just need to give her some space. I think she may be slightly embarrassed by her reaction to you, and add in whatever she was dreaming about… well, she’s feeling a lot right now.

Though, oddly enough, she seems comfortable around Tristan. ” She furrows her brows.

“Yeah, we can only assume it’s from when he rescued her from the bar. Because that grumpy fucker never makes anyone comfortable.” Kayce grins.

“How was she around you?” Asher asks Phoenix.

“She almost looked relieved to see me.”

Asher lets out a hum. “You going to the practice stadium tomorrow?”

Phoenix nods and scrunches her face, trying to figure out where Asher is going with this. As am I. “Yeah, I am. I have some things I need to handle in the morning. Plus, I wanted to watch the practice.” She shrugs.

“You should come pick her up and bring her with you. Get her out of that room and her mind off whatever has upset her,” I offer.

“Took the words right out of my mouth.” Asher smiles. “She would benefit from that. I would take her, but I have a few errands to run tomorrow.”

“And obviously she doesn’t want to be anywhere near me right now,” I sigh.

“Drew, don’t take it personally. She is dealing with so much right now.” Phoenix rubs a hand up and down my arm. “She will get there. But she needs to talk to someone. See if she can work through this mess. You know that helped me after all we went through back in the day.”

“She’s got a point. Maybe we need to look for a head doc for her.” Kayce shrugs.

“A therapist ,” Asher corrects, raising a brow at him. “They have actual job titles.”

“It’s three in the morning. My brain doesn’t care about job titles. It’s sleepy. Words are hard.” Kayce snorts.

Ignoring Kayce, I say, “I’ll call around and find her one.”

“Actually, I know a woman who can help,” Asher offers up. “She actually just moved to the valley. She’s setting up her practice. I know her from college.”

“Okay. Then let’s get her in there. The sooner we do, the sooner we can help her through this better than we have been. Because it seems like every time we take a couple of steps forward, it’s ten steps back. And this is definitely a fuck load of steps back.”

Everyone nods in agreement as I rub the back of my neck. The stress of all this is starting to get to me. Maybe Cameron has a point. Maybe this is going to mess with my game.

No , I decide. It’s not going to . Because when I step out onto that field, my mind is clear as fucking day. It’s the only time it is. I have complete and utter focus. It’s me and that strike zone.

“I’m going to go take a room downstairs. Wake me when it’s time for practice.” Kayce stands from the stool he was sitting on, stretching his arms.

“You have an alarm on your phone, dick.” I point to the phone in his hand.

“Yeah, but just in case I sleep through it. I’m tired. Didn’t you hear me say that a few minutes ago? Me sleepy.” Kayce walks over to Phoenix and gives her a kiss on the cheek, then turns and heads toward the downstairs bedrooms.

“I’ll take the room next to hers,” Asher offers. “This way I’m close, too. Though I’m sure Tristan isn’t going to leave her side tonight.” He gives Phoenix a hug and heads back toward the bedrooms.

“I should go, too. Raven has been on a ‘get up early and not let mom sleep in’ kick. It’s super fun. I totally recommend all the kids.” Her tone is sarcastic as she rolls her eyes.

“Well, thank you for rushing out here.”

She comes up and hugs me. Our relationship is super strong after all we’ve been through together. I know she will always be there for me, and I will always be there for her.

“You know you can always call on me. Forever here for you, Drew.” She smiles at me.

“I’ll swing by in the morning and come get her.

” Phoenix grabs her keys from the counter and looks back at me one more time with a small smile.

She knows how hard it is that I feel like I can’t help Raelyn. I feel powerless.

Soon, I’m standing in my kitchen alone. I run a hand down my face. I’m exhausted, and yet my mind is running a marathon.

I need to call John to see if he has gotten anywhere with her case. I need to call a therapist for her, get her to see if opening up will help her remember things. And I need her to not be fucking scared shitless of me.

Like I said, I have a fuck ton to do.

I throw my beer bottle in the trash and head for my room. Part of me wants to walk over to hers to see if she is okay with Tristan. But I know she is, and I know that if she sees me, it may set her off again. I don’t want that for her.

So instead, I trudge up the stairs to my room. Keeping my door open at the bottom of the stairs so I can hear anything if something happens. When I get to my bed, I throw myself onto it with a huff.

I try to steady my breathing as I close my eyes. But all I can see when I close them is the terrified look on her face. I flip myself around on my back and stare up at the ceiling.

Thank God tomorrow is only a practice. I mean, Coach will still have my ass if I’m shitty, but at least it’s not a game.

I watch my ceiling fan spin above me. Unless this is going to hypnotize me to sleep, I resign myself to the fact that I will not be getting any rest tonight.

I let out a sigh.

Tomorrow will be a long fucking day.