“Good point,” I agreed, reaching my arms up over my head to stretch out my sore muscles. Angie always took forever to get ready.
Josh leaned down over me. “Are your muscles tight?” he murmured against my ear.
My body shivered at the feel of his breath on my skin. “More than you know,” I whispered. Running my hand up my chest, I cupped it over my shoulder and began to rub out the cramps.
“Mmmm,” he hummed his approval. “I like knowing you’re stiff because of me.” Running his finger over the shoulder that peeked out from under the cover, he continued to whisper in my ear. “How about I give you a massage when we get back tonight?”
I turned my face on the pillow so I was able to touch my lips to his. “That sounds perfect.”
“Well, let’s get you up and moving so we can get going,” he winked, standing up and holding his hand out to me.
Putting my hand in his, I allowed him to help me put a shirt over my head before grabbing my stuff to head to the shower. Josh smacked me on the butt as I walked past. Turning, I shot him a look. “If you want to touch that later, I suggest you keep your hands to yourself,” I smirked.
He put his hands up in surrender. “Okay, hands to myself,” he agreed, wrapping them around himself.
I shook my head on the way out the door at how ridiculous he was sometimes. Usually, I couldn’t do anything but laugh.
It didn’t take me long to get ready, yet there we were, an hour later, still at Josh’s apartment, waiting for Angie to finish getting ready. Caleb had been waiting with us for half an hour.
“Okay, I still don’t get what the hell takes her so long to get ready?” Josh whined at Caleb. “I’m fucking starving.”
Caleb’s eyes never left the TV. “Don’t be such a baby. I don’t understand why you’re so surprised, she does this every time,” Caleb reminded him.
Leaning over, I pressed a kiss on Josh’s cheek. “I’ll go see what’s taking her so long.”
As I stood up he grabbed my arm and pulled me back down for a kiss. “Thanks, Jersey, you take such good care of me, unlike some people,” he said, his gaze transferring to Caleb with a pout to his lips.
Caleb rolled his eyes and threw the remote at him. “Knock that shit off.”
Laughing, I walked down the hall toward Angie and Caleb’s bedroom. After knocking a few times, Angie called for me to come in.
“I’m almost ready,” she said, putting on her makeup.
I leaned back against the door. “No worries, just wanted to see if you needed anything.
“Let me guess, Josh is bitching again?” she laughed.
Laughing with her, I nodded. “Yep. He’s hungry, plus they’re starting to throw things at each other.”
“Crap. All right, all right, give me five minutes,” she said moving quicker than before.
We both knew exactly what happened when Caleb and Josh started throwing things at each other. If we didn’t get them out of the apartment soon, things would start to escalate and not much later they would be on the floor wrestling. Never out of anger, just boys being idiots. Then we’d have to wait for them to shower and change, making us even later than we already were.
“I think I can hold them off for five more minutes, but hurry up,” I told her, walking out of the bedroom and back down the hall to check on the boys.
Luckily, they were both still seated. “She says five minutes, so keep your pants on.”
“It better be five minutes, or I’m—” Josh started to say before I could reach him and silence him with my lips. The kiss quickly escalated and I opened my mouth, allowing him to slide his tongue over mine, and his taste to explode in my mouth. With Josh’s mouth on mine it was sometimes easy to forget everything around us, at least, it was until I heard a throat clearing behind me.
Pulling my lips from Josh’s, I turned around to see Caleb and Angie standing by the door waiting for us. Angie winked at me and mouthed, “Good job.” I nodded slightly and looked back at Josh, whose eyes showed the same desire I felt.
“Would you two like to go back to your room for a bit?” Caleb asked sarcastically.
That snapped Josh out of it. “Asshole,” he muttered, standing up.
I took a step in the direction of the door when Josh’s hand on my arm stopped me. He leaned down and kissed my cheek. “I know you were trying to distract me,” he whispered in my ear. My eyes moved to his, trying to give him my most innocent look, but it didn’t stop him. “It worked too. Just be ready, because when we get home I’m going to be doing all of the distracting.”
His breath on my neck sent a shiver through my body. He placed his hand on my back and guided me to the door. Shaking my head, I regained my composure and made my way out to Caleb’s car because it was his turn to be designated driver. The ride to the bar was quick and thankfully we didn’t hear that much about being late.
“Hey, you guys made it,” Nick yelled across the bar, drink in hand. Andrew was sitting next to him, laughing at his ridiculous behavior. Apparently, Nick hadn’t waited to start drinking and he already looked like he was a few rounds in.
“Happy Birthday, man. How much have you had to drink?” Josh laughed, walking up to give Nick a one-armed hug.
“A little,” Nick laughed. “Now you guys need to catch up.”
Caleb raised his hands in surrender. “Not me. I’m driving.” He reached out to shake Nick’s hand. “Happy Birthday.”
I wandered over to give Nick a kiss on the cheek. “Happy Birthday, honey. Did Morgan come with you?”
His head turned toward the dance floor. “Yeah, her and Emily are out there dancing somewhere.” I looked out and found them right in the middle. Big surprise. I moved to head in their direction when Nick stopped me. “I really, kinda like her, ya know?”
I giggled. “You might want to tell her that, but I’d wait until you’ve sobered up,” I winked. Turning, I saw Josh at the bar, ordering food. I pointed to the dance floor. “I’m going to go dance,” I called out over the music.
He nodded his head and mouthed, “Have fun.” I made my way over to the dance floor, where I was immediately wrapped in a hug. “Where have you been?” Morgan sang. Apparently, she started early with Nick.
“Not everyone was ready,” I told them.
“Ah, you let Angie get ready last,” Emily said knowingly.
“Yep.”
Morgan grabbed my hands. “Well, you’re here now,” she squealed, jumping up and down. Yeah, she’d had a lot to drink.
I spent the next hour or so on the dance floor with Emily and Morgan. Eventually, Angie joined us, but we started to get hot and thirsty, so we made our way back to the bar. I didn’t see the guys until I looked in the direction of the pool tables. They were all immersed in what appeared to be a very serious game of pool. Emily must have followed my line of sight because the next thing I knew she’d hopped up on the stool and started ordering shots. “Girls, the boys are playing pool, which means it’s time for us to drink.”
After a round of shots we switched to beer. Angie was trying to do her best imitation of Emily when Andrew asked her to marry him, which had the rest of us laughing hysterically.
“Yes, I will marry you, especially since you know how to beg on your knees,” Angie said in her best Emily voice.
“Bitch,” Emily laughed. “I would never say that.”
The minute I felt a set of hands on my shoulders I stopped laughing and moved my hand to cover the one on my shoulder. I froze the second I heard the voice of the person behind me.
“Well, well, well, what do we have here?” Ryan whispered in my ear.
Smelling the liquor on his breath, I tried to shrug his hands off of me. “What are you doing here?” I asked looking around to see where Josh was. He was going to flip out when he saw Ryan.
“Baby, what do you think I’m doing here? I’m here to spend time with my girl. You know you don’t want to be with an asshole who sleeps with any girl that breathes,” he said.
The asshole really didn’t get it. I smacked his hands off my shoulders. “Oh, and you keep it in your pants so well. When are you gonna get that I am not yours.”
Emily and Morgan sobered up very quickly, each getting up from their stools to stand next me. From the corner of my eye, I saw Angie move through the crowd toward the boys.
“Ryan, you’re a fucking asshole and you need to leave, now,” Morgan demanded.
“Why would I leave my girl all alone at a bar with you?” Ryan snarled. “God only knows who she’ll get mixed up with. I need to make her realize that we belong together, which means I need to protect her from you.”
Emily’s fist clenched at her side like she was getting ready to hit him. “Ryan, just because you have a dick doesn’t mean you need to be one. Now, I suggest you get out of here before Josh comes over and beats the ever-loving shit out of you.” She rubbed her thumb and forefinger across her chin. “On second thought, stay right there. I’d love to see him kick your ass,” she sneered.
Ryan put his arms around me and tried to kiss me on the cheek but I turned my face away and used my hands to try and get free of his hold. Thankfully, I saw Josh come up behind me.
“Get your motherfucking hands off of her, now,” Josh snapped from behind us.
I couldn’t move or I’d be face to face with Ryan, and that was the last thing I wanted. He’d probably try and kiss me.
One of Ryan’s hands let go as he turned toward Josh, his lips curled in a snarl. “Why would I take my hands off of her? She wants to be with me,” he taunted.
With Ryan distracted I was able to turn in my seat and face Josh who was flanked by Caleb, Andrew, and Nick. “I said. Get. Your. Hands. Off. Her,” Josh fumed, enunciating each word.
Ryan finally let go and took a step toward Josh. He held his hand out to me. “Come on, baby, let’s get out of here,” he said turning to look at me.
I hopped off the stool and took a few steps forward. “Ryan, you’re drunk and you need to leave. I’m with Josh and there is nothing you can say or do to change that.” When he reached out to grab my hand I pulled it closer to my body, disgusted. “You need to leave,” I repeated, clearly and to the point, so he knew I was serious.
I started to move toward Josh’s arms when Ryan grabbed my hand and stopped me. “You’ll always be mine, even your dad knows it, so get over here,” he yelled yanking me backward so hard that I fell.
I never got a chance to brace for the fall and my arm slammed into the floor of the bar. Instantly, I felt pain radiate from my shoulder down the side of my arm. I’d never felt pain like it, and not even the alcohol in my system could provide any relief. My heart raced. Pain like that was never good.
It was always very, very bad.
My fists had already been clenched at my sides, itching to hit the bastard. The minute I saw that asshole pull her backward, I swung. When his face snapped sideways, I reached forward to grab his shirt and shoved him to the ground, jumping on top of him as my fists slammed into his face, again, and again. Even blinded by rage, I could tell Ryan was trying to fight back unsuccessfully, but it wasn’t until I felt my arms being pulled back and held that I finally came to. Wanting to hit Ryan some more, I twisted my arms to get free.
“Lauren’s hurt,” Caleb yelled at me. Immediately I stopped fighting and my gaze snapped in her direction. She was on the floor surrounded by the girls, holding her right arm protectively to her side. Shit, her pitching arm.
“Let me go,” I snapped.
Andrew and Nick were holding my arms and they waited for Caleb to tell them it was okay before actually letting me go. The minute their grip loosened I was on my feet, heading towards Lauren. As I got closer, I saw the tears running down her face. Making my way to her side, I wrapped my arm around her waist.
“Jersey, what’s wrong?” I asked in a panic.
“Something’s wrong with my shoulder,” she cried.
“It’s going to be okay,” Morgan said, lightly stroking Lauren’s hair. “Come on, let’s get you up.”
“I’ve got her,” I said to Morgan.
Putting my other arm beneath her legs, I lifted her up against my chest. I made sure to put her left side against me so I didn’t cause her anymore pain. “I’ve got you. Let’s go get this checked out.”
She buried her head on my shoulder, crying harder. “How am I going to play this week?” she mumbled into my shirt.
I kissed the top of her head. “Don’t worry about that right now, let’s see what the doctor says,” I tried to reassure her. I’d been hurt before on the field and knew how scary it could be for an athlete.
Turning to Caleb, I saw that he already had his keys in hand and was heading toward the door. I gazed back at the rest of the group. “Are you guys coming with us?”
Everyone nodded, making their way to the door behind us. When we reached the car, Caleb opened the door and I lowered Lauren in, quickly moving around to the other side and climbing in to sit with her. Trying not to hurt her, I waited until she got into a comfortable position, before I put my arm around her. She continued to cry as we made our way to the hospital.
Angie had gotten in the car after talking to Emily. I figured the rest of them were following behind. “We’ll be there soon and Morgan’s calling your mom and having her meet us there,” Angie told Lauren.
Once we got to the ER, I helped her out of the car and through the doors. This time she was walking, but still leaning against me. We signed her in and sat down to wait. The pain in my own hand, which had been dulled by the adrenaline, was starting to make itself known, but I didn’t take time to focus on that. Lauren was hurt, and that was all that mattered. After about two hours, they called us back and the nurse took all of her vitals, telling us the doctor would be in soon.
Lauren had been allowed to have two people come back with her and since Morgan had volunteered to wait for Lauren’s mom to get there and explain what happened, Angie had come with us.
Angie was rubbing circles on Lauren’s calf, trying to comfort her, but the tears were steadily running down her face. “It’s going to be okay, Lauren.”
Sitting in the chair next to her bed, holding her hand, I stood up to whisper in her ear. “I’m so sorry I didn’t stop him sooner.”
She shook her head. “It’s not your fault. He should have never had his hands on me in the first place.”
I reached my hand up to wipe the tears from her face. “I’ll take—” I started to say, but the nurse walked back in with the doctor.
“Hello, Lauren, my name’s Dr. Barrington,” he said with a comforting smile. “Can you tell me what happened?”
Lauren explained the story to the doctor, leaving out my involvement in the fight after Ryan had pulled her to the ground. He nodded in understanding. “Okay, let’s have a look at this arm.”
Angie and I moved to one side of the room, to give the doctor space to work. He used his fingers to put pressure on her shoulder, and she winced every time he pushed down. He had her do a few more range of motion type tests and the pain in her face increased with each movement.
“Well, I think you may have a rotator cuff injury, but I’m going to have Marie take you for an x-ray and MRI,” Dr. Barrington told Lauren.
The nurse came back in with a wheelchair. I must have been so focused on Lauren and the fact that she was in pain, that I’d missed her leave. She helped Lauren off of the bed and into the chair. Walking over, I bent down and kissed her on the head. “We’ll be here when you get back, Jersey.”
She nodded, a look of absolute resignation on her face as they wheeled her out. Angie turned to me. “How bad would a torn rotator cuff be for her?”
My eyes still hadn’t left the door. “Depends, but it could be really bad. It will probably end her season,” I said sadly.
Even though I wanted to focus my rage on Ryan, my overriding concern was for Lauren. I hoped it wasn’t a torn rotator cuff because for a pitcher that could be career ending, dep
ending on the severity of the injury. Angie and I sat in the chairs in the room to wait. About an hour later, Lauren’s mom got there. They allowed her back she since was family. I stood up when she came in the room and introduced myself.
“Hi, Ms. Pierce, I’m Josh Walker,” I said, holding my hand out to her.
“Josh, I’ve heard a lot about you. Please call me Melissa. I just wish we were meeting under different circumstances,” she replied, returning my handshake.
“Me too.”
Ms. Pierce turned and greeted Angie. I guessed they’d met before. Not long after her mother showed up, Lauren was wheeled back into the room. Ms. Pierce immediately walked up to wrap her daughter in a hug. “Oh, Lauren, honey, you okay?” she asked.
“Mom,” Lauren started to cry again. “They think it’s torn.”
“What’s torn?” She pulled back looking confused.
Unable to answer through her tears, I answered for her. “They think her rotator cuff might be torn.”
Ms. Pierce held tight to Lauren in an attempt to comfort her, rocking her back and forth. “Let’s wait and see what they have to say before we stress over it.”
By the time the doctor came in with the results of her tests, Lauren had stopped crying and was sitting silently, staring at her hand in mine.
“Hello again,” the doctor said, turning to Ms. Pierce in confusion. “And you are?”
“Oh, sorry. I’m Melissa Pierce, Lauren’s mother,” she said, reaching her hand out.
“Ms. Pierce, it’s my pleasure. Lauren, we have the results of your tests.” He walked over to the light board on the wall to put up Lauren’s scans. “Your rotator cuff does have an acute tear. While the fall triggered it, there was degenerative wear of the tendon, probably from pitching, that made it easier to tear.” He turned the light board off and picked up her chart. “I’m sure your orthopedic doctor will want to schedule you for surgery as soon as possible. Looking at the tear, I believe they’ll be able to fix it with an arthroscopic surgery, but again your orthopedic doctor will be able to give you more information. I’m going to have Marie fit you with a sling to keep your arm stable, which will reduce pain and swelling.”
Redemption (Forgiven Series) Page 21
