Chapter 19
Trystan
O ne hour, thirteen minutes. Fourteen. The numbers on my phone screen blurred together as I checked it for the hundredth time. Jax's last text burned in my vision: 'Taking Kaia to hospital.' Four words, then nothing. No updates, no responses to my texts. Just the hollow echo of possibilities I couldn't let myself imagine. The only person I hadn't called was Camryn, and that was because if she dragged Kaia to the Cages and Kaia was hurt, I wasn't sure I'd be able to forgive her.
Cam knew I didn't want them at the Cages. Why would she put herself and her best friend in danger like that? Or did she do it to get my attention?
The hotel room's too-bright lights reflected off the floor-to-ceiling windows, turning them into mirrors that caught my restless pacing. My phone left sweaty fingerprints on the glass as I pressed Kaia's contact for what felt like the twentieth time. Outside, Chicago's skyline glittered like broken glass, indifferent to the chaos unfolding in this room thirty stories up.
Finally, the screen lit up with her face, and I blew out a heavy sigh of relief. She was okay.
"What the fuck, Kai?" My fingers tightened around the phone until my knuckles went white. "The Cages? Really?"
"I know it was stupid." Kaia's voice came out small, missing its usual spark.
My shoulders slumped forward as I released a heavy breath and I shook my head. I was just glad she was okay. "Are you okay?"
She nodded. "I'm fine. I have to stay off my ankle for a few days, but then I'll be back to normal."
"Why would you go to the Cages?" Her lips pressed into a thin line, and she said nothing. She didn't have to answer, though. I knew Cam had talked her into it because that wasn't a place Kaia would go on her own, but Cam would. "Cam, right?"
She tilted her head to the side. "This has nothing to do with her."
I rolled my eyes. "Oh no? So, it was your idea to go to the Cages?"
She matched my energy, and I fought the urge to laugh. "You know what? This is your fault."
My head pulled back, and my brows knitted together. "My fault?"
"Yep. Your fault. If you would just call Cam..."
"Kaia," I cut her off. "We agreed that it would be easier not to talk every day." That was a lie. We never agreed to that; I decided it was easier for me.
"Tryst, she's been sad." Kaia's eyes dropped. "Like really sad since you left, and I thought this would cheer her up."
My chest ached to hear that Cam was sad because of me. This was why I shouldn't have let anything happen between us.
I pressed my palm against the textured wallpaper, its ridged pattern grounding me like a lifeline. The wall's coolness seeped into my skin, a stark contrast to the suffocating heat of anxiety that had been building since Jax's first text. The distant hum of the hotel's AC unit filled the silence between her words as I waited to see if she answered my unasked question.
"I know, and I promise I will never do it again, but please don't be mad at us." Kaia's lower lip trembled, her eyes wide and pleading like when we were kids.
I wasn't mad at Kaia, but I was angry with Cam. I was furious that she was willing to put her friend and herself in danger because she was upset with me.
"How pissed is Jax?" I rubbed the tension from my neck, already knowing the answer.
"He won't talk to me." Kaia's voice dropped to barely above a whisper.
"He'll never admit it, but he was scared." The rumors of what happened to other girls at the Cages rang loud making my stomach clench. "He knows what happens to girls at those kinds of events."
"How long before he forgives me?"
I shrugged. "A day or two, probably." The door to my hotel room opened, and Jazz walked in. "Hey, Kai, I have to go, but I'll call tomorrow and check on you."
"Call Cam," she ordered.
"I'll think about it." I flashed her a smile and ended the call. I wasn't going to call Cam, not yet, anyway. I needed to talk to Jax.
"What's up?" I sighed, sinking into the black leather couch.
"Just wanted to check on you," Jazz said. "You seemed like something was wrong earlier."
"Everything is good." I plastered on the fake smile I'd perfected for interviews and meet-and-greets.
"And..." Jazz rocked back on his heels, eyebrows raised expectantly.
"I'm going to bed." I pushed off the couch, shoulders hunched against his questions. "I'll talk to you in the morning."
"Okay. In the morning." He raised his brows, and his face tightened like he meant business. I rolled my eyes but nodded just to get him out of the room.
I slid open my phone and clicked on Jax's contact once Jazz was gone.
"Hey." Jax's voice came through like gravel against glass.
I leaned back against the headboard, lips quirking. "Well, that answers my first question."
"Did you talk to Kaia?" he grunted.
"Yes," I answered. "She seems to be okay."
"Yeah, other than she fucked up her ankle."
"Don't be too hard on her, Jax." I frowned. "It was stupid, but thankfully, she texted you, and she is okay."
"Yeah." I'd never seen or heard Jax so scared before. This was a new emotion for him to worry about a girl he liked, and it would take him a few days to process his feelings.
"What about Cam? Was she okay?"
"Yeah, she was standing outside when I got there. She was worried but fine." Jax's voice softened slightly.
I paced to the window, pressing my forehead against the cool glass. "Did you take her home?"
"She left with Owen." Jax's words hit like a punch to the gut, and it was suddenly hard to form a coherent thought. "Have you called her?"
"Uh, no."
I sank onto the edge of the king-sized bed, the pristine white duvet crinkling under my weight. The room tilted and swayed, the abstract art on the walls bleeding into the cream-colored paint. From this angle, the city lights beyond the window seemed to pulse in time with my heartbeat, each flash a reminder of how far I was from home.
The wall around my heart that Cam had busted through knocking it down had just gone back up, and my instinct to protect myself and my heart was pounding in my head. "I think it's best if we move on with our lives."
"She..."
"Hey, bro." My thumb hovered over the end call button, already retreating. "I have to go. I'll try to call tomorrow."
I ended the call and clicked on Jazz's contact.
Trystan: I'm in.
I let the hurt swirling through me take over; the hurt that I avoided for years was because I always put up a wall until Cam. I needed to worry about myself and the band right now and let Cam move on with her life. If dating the influencer was what was best, then that's what I needed to do.