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Page 81 of Call the Shots (For The Arena #1)

JUNE

SUPPOSED TO BE BETWEEN US

If King needed a break from my parents’ campaign schedule or if the two of us just wanted to skip out on obligations for the day, I used to tell our friends that King had to leave for his ‘mom’s appointments.’ It became our code. Our secret.

That code was supposed to be used between us—not for King to disappear.

I didn’t stop calling his phone, like he’d pick up on the eighteenth attempt because— whoops! —it was on silent. The only thing I wanted to hear was that he was okay. We drove to his mom’s house, where I knew he’d be, but my heart lurched when I saw his mom’s driveway.

His truck was nowhere to be seen.

“He’s not here,” I whispered, stunned.

Bear glanced down. “He was bleeding pretty bad, would he come home?”

Rain pattered on the windshield while my mind whirled.

My best friend was injured. That was the big priority.

But he had to stay on his best behavior with the football program because of his tumultuous past, nobody could find out about this.

I couldn’t get him in trouble, and I had no idea where he was. Panic swelled inside of me.

“Okay—okay.” I nodded, fighting to remain calm. “Drive me home?—”

“What, why?”

“I’m driving to every hospital until I figure out where he is.” Nausea hit me. We were in Houston, one of the biggest medical communities in the world, but I ignored that. I’d find him. I had to.

“I’m not letting you do this alone?—”

“Bear, I don’t know where he is?—”

He pulled me into a hug, resting his chin on my head while I tried not to fall apart. “I’ll drive you, okay? We’ll find him. I promise, we’ll find him.”

I called so many hospitals, searching for King. Rain beat down from overhead, pouring on the car, making it hard to see in the darkness. I trudged on into every waiting room, soaked to the bone, desperate to find him. The rain didn’t let up until around two in the morning and no one had seen him.

King didn’t want me to break our code, but the indecision plagued me.

If anything happened to him…

I finally relented and called King’s mom, begging to know if he’d come home. “Just peeked in his room,” she yawned. “I don’t know how Jasmine’s sleeping with him snoring like that.”

“Oh,” I choked out, shaking.

“Why? Did something happen?”

“No—no,” I repeated until I could say it properly. “No, of course not.”

King was okay. My best friend was okay, he was fine, he was alive. At our dorm, I couldn’t sleep. I wrapped my arms around myself, hunched over on the couch. I was too wired from the fight. I couldn’t stop seeing King stumbling, blood streaming from the cut.

“Hey,” Bear whispered, sinking into the place next to me.

I couldn’t keep the tears in. They streamed down my face and my body wracked with sobs while Bear gently drew me to him. I couldn’t do anything but cry while Bear pulled me closer.

“I’m sorry,” I blubbered. “I thought he was going to die?—”

“No, I’m sorry, baby.” Bear stretched out on the couch until I was lying on his chest and he was rubbing my back, holding me tight. “I’m sorry.”

When I got the call from Adam and Ryan demanding to know what happened at the party, I broke down and told them everything. They assured me they were en route to pick King up. The address for the hospital came through and I shot up from the couch, ready to leave.

Bear jingled his keys. “Let’s go.”

I was worn down. Exhausted. Only running on the fumes of adrenaline. The hospital was busy in the morning, and I hurried down the hallway, only breathing right when I saw King in the hospital bed. The stitches looked horrible, but I threw my arms around him, so grateful to see him.

“Hey, Junie,” he whispered.

Bear stayed in the hallway while I talked quietly with King. The nurses redid his stitches, and I held his hand during it. He didn’t need it, but I couldn’t let him go. I rambled about Willow and the places I wanted us to go on double dates, brushing away tears.

“Bear drove me all over Houston,” I whispered. “He helped me look for you, stayed up all night. And—I think I’m really in love with him.”

“He told me you two were dating.”

“King, I told you that at lunch together.”

He paused. “No.”

“Uh-huh.” My laugh was blubbering and embarrassing. Sniffling, I hugged him. “Don’t ever do that to me again. If you leave, you’re supposed to tell me where you’re going.”

Voices in the hallway stopped our conversation. Ryan and Adam took Jasmine to grab breakfast and King’s mom headed to the pharmacy to pick up everything King needed.

What was going on?

“I’ll be right back,” I whispered and closed the door behind me.

Bear was standing close to the door, in obvious opposition to Fridge and Montoya. Montoya was doing everything he could to avoid looking me in the eye.

“I came to check in on King, Montoya wanted to come along,” Fridge said, his voice firm.

“You really think that’s a good idea right now?” Bear snapped. “Bringing Montoya?”

Honestly, King and I talked about the party and King had no idea who Montoya was. He didn’t consider Montoya part of the equation. If anything, King was angry at himself for not telling Willow about his past. To him, Elijah and Montoya weren’t part of what happened.

New footsteps approached, Denali and Elijah coming down the hallway, Elijah with a bouquet of flowers in hand.

“Is this a fucking joke?” Bear demanded.

Elijah glanced into the window of King’s room. “Are those stitches…from the party?”

“What else would they be from?” Bear stalked to Elijah, jabbing a finger to his chest. “I want you gone. If you come back to the hospital, I’ll put you in one of these rooms myself.”

King’s little sister approached, flanked by Ryan and Adam. She was too little and stared up at the standoff with wide eyes. There was way too much going on and Jasmine already had to see her brother hurt, she didn’t need to see this.

“I need you guys to leave,” I said quietly, reaching for Jasmine’s hand. “It’s been a long twelve hours, I don’t want to do this right now, I know King doesn’t.”

We’d have a real conversation later, but I wanted to make sure King was okay. That was it. Everything else was background noise.

Bear gazed down at me while the rest of the Gladiators left. “Do…do you want me to wait in the car?”

“No, Bear, you weren’t included in that.”

His face cleared. “Oh.”

Gently, I picked up Jasmine and hugged her tight. With a nod to the door, I motioned for Bear to follow me into King’s room.

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