Chapter 37
brOOKE
My inner self was cheering that I’d put so much effort into getting some of my athletic endurance back. I swam laps regularly and had a routine of lifting weights.
Karma was sweet.
I could hear Nic’s raucous cheers from the sidelines. “Go, Brooke! Get ‘em, Cade!”
Cade and I were in perfect sync as we played, his feet quickly eating up the familiar sand terrain to make the first bump to me, followed by my perfect set, and his leaping spike over the net.
Bump, set, spike—we repeated the motions over and over until we were up 10-1 and the rain began to fall in earnest.
“Good game.” Cade extended his hand under the net, and Zach came to shake it, but Jace turned away, mumbled under his breath, and walked off in a huff.
Damn, that victory had felt good.
Screw that guy.
As I reentered the cabin, Cade came up behind me, wrapping his arms around me in a bear hug.
“Good game, Captain,” he said in my ear.
My stomach flipped. We still need to talk, I reminded myself.
Cade grabbed us both bottles of water from the kitchen, and we heard the first rumble of thunder. He met my gaze.
“What do you think? Time to show off our Pictionary skills next?” he asked.
“Let’s do it.”
We wandered down to the basement and found the large post-it note with the Pictionary sign-up sheet.
I added mine and Cade’s names to the list as a team.
There was a rowdy table of beer pong in progress in one corner of the basement, and I was relieved to see that Pictionary was set up on the complete opposite end.
The game began, and my heart continued to swell as we took our turns. We were so perfectly coordinated, and could read each other perfectly. We made a great team. Our impending talk was still niggling at the back of my mind, but I tried my best to stay present in the moment.
The storm was raging fully now, but we were insulated in the cabin’s basement. Still, I jumped a few times from a particularly loud clap of thunder, and Cade gently set a hand on my waist or my shoulder to settle me. As always, his touch and his presence were a soothing balm for my frazzled nerves.
After the third round of Pictionary, Cade’s phone rang. He pulled it from his pocket.
“I’ve gotta take this,” he said, squeezing my hand quickly and walking away.
“Adler—” I heard him say into the phone.
He came back a few minutes later, his body radiating with a different kind of energy. He pulled me away from the crowd and into a quiet area of the basement.
“I’m on call,” he explained, gesturing to the phone still in his hand.
“There’s a missing kid, out in River Bend.
There was a car accident. A woman—a mom—her car slid in the rain and collided with a truck.
She got knocked unconscious by the air bag.
When she came to, she couldn’t find her four-year-old.
He might’ve climbed out of the car. They think he could be in the park.
” I pictured Ivy, and my heart gripped in fear.
“They need me on it,” he explained. “I have to run home, get my gear and Echo.”
“You’re—leaving?” I asked, hating how uncertain my voice sounded. “I mean of course, you need to go.” Don’t be selfish, Brooke, I chastised internally.
His lips brushed my forehead. “You and me—we’re not done. I’ll be back.”
He paused, reading my reaction, and then his lips met mine, just a soft brush.
Zing, that electricity coursed through my veins.
The roughness of his short beard scratched my cheek in a new and not-unpleasant way. My heart gave a few extra beats in response.
“You’ll wait for me?” he asked, vulnerability suddenly showing in his expression.
“Promise,” I told him softly. “No more running.”
Since his calls didn’t have a specific timeline, he told me he’d call me when he finished, even if it was late. I’d wait out the storm here at the cabin until it was safe enough to drive.
We had a plan, but I still hated to see him go.
My heart thumped as he walked away—partly in pride for this man and his important job. Partly in pain at seeing him walk away from me again.
“Hey, Brooke!” Jace yelled from the beer pong table. “Get over here!”
I rolled my eyes in his direction.
“I’m good.”
“I need a rematch,” he challenged. “That was luck out on the volleyball court. I bet you can’t beat me twice.” Zach lurked at his side, clearly relishing the challenge as well.
The rational part of my brain said I didn’t need to rise to this asshole’s challenge. But the revenge-seeking former tomboy buried deep inside me still wanted to wipe the floor with this Neanderthal.
Bryan and Nic came up beside me as I stepped up to respond.
“Need a team?” Bryan asked, seeing the glint of competitiveness in my stare.
I nodded to him and Nic. Jace had treated Bryan like crap too, always calling him “nerd” and “loser nobody.” More than once he’d implied that the “loser nobody” comment was a dig at Bryan’s mom’s abandonment.
Bryan and I could both use an opportunity for a comeback. I had no idea if he would be coordinated or proficient at beer pong, but we’d give it our best shot.
It turned out Bryan was a beer pong pro.
Bryan easily sank his first ball, causing Jace to drink.
I’d always found the game kind of unsanitary and disgusting, but I was in this thing now, and my competitive side wouldn’t let me back down.
I missed my shot, and it was Jace’s team’s turn.
Jace scored, and Bryan, ever the gentleman, downed the first cup.
Zach scored as well, so I picked up a cup and downed it.
The play continued back and forth, and I felt like I was hitting my stride and finally sinking a few shots. I really didn’t want to let Bryan down.
As I stepped up to the table on my next turn, though, I felt a strange lightness in my head.
The ball slipped from my fingers, and I bent down to pick it up.
When I righted myself, I had to grip the table.
The room spun, little spots coloring my vision.
My legs turned to jelly, and I felt myself losing my balance. The basement seemed darker . . .
I heard a harsh thunk in my skull, felt a sharp pain in my arm, and then everything turned black.