Page 83 of Cheap Shot

Why couldn’t this be easier? If all that mattered was how we felt, then I wouldn’t have had to waste a single thought debating. But life wasn’t that simple.

A knock sounded on my door, and I slid off my bed. It was probably Sadie or Krystal just in time to listen to my mental breakdown.

I swung open the door and froze as my breath left my body.

Chapter 28

Reid

This had easily been the longest week of my life. Sleeping on the floor of Benjamin’s single room wasn’t exactly the most pleasant experience, especially since the monster woke up at dawn each morning for a run and didn’t even bother attempting to be quiet. He tried to get me to join him the first two days but had since given up.

And that wasn’t even the worst part.

I went through the motions without really thinking or seeing or feeling. I went to class when I was supposed to, took notes that didn’t make sense later, then went to practice or training. We had two games since the disastrous night, and I couldn’t even remember the highlights.

I felt like a zombie leaving my last lecture for the day. I just wanted to climb into my bed and ignore the world for a while. I crossed the central quad and headed toward the dorms.

I was miserable, and the idea of continuing like this until the season was over was enough to make me want to quit and leave this all behind. Nothing seemed worth it anymore. How could this be better than being with Haley? Sure, it would be stressful and there would have to be a lot of compromising and communication so neither of us built up resentment toward the other, but I would much rather have that kind of burden than walking through life like nothing mattered.

There was no way this was the right choice if it felt so wrong.

I hadn’t seen or spoken to Haley, and Ethan avoided the subject of his sister around me, but from the bits and pieces I’d overheard from the guys, I knew she wasn’t doing much better than me. She hadn’t left our room, not even to go to classes.

Granted, she was also recovering from the assault, and I knew that was more of the reason she was hunkering down than nursing a broken heart.

Still, knowing she wasn’t happy either weighed me down. I didn’t take any joy in knowing she was suffering like me. I wanted to fix things. I wanted to find a way for both of us to be happy, preferably together.

We hadn’t even given us a chance. We gave up the second things got a little bit difficult. One word from my coaches, and I was ready to walk away. Things between me and Ethan were as tense as ever, but we could work through things. He wanted Haley to be happy too. That was all that mattered in the end, and I knew in my heart that I could be the one to put her smile back in place.

I was done. I couldn’t go another day like this. My phone was in my hands, calling Haley before I could talk myself out of it. It rang and rang before going to her voicemail. She didn’t ignore my call, so at least that was something.

If the guys were right, she was probably still in my room, so I picked up my pace, feeling something other than dread for the first time in days.

As soon as the building came into view, I jogged up to the entrance and took the stairs two at a time to my floor. Our door was locked, so I knocked before using my key to let myself in. I held my breath as I pushed it open fully, ready to see Haley.

It was empty.

I checked our small bathroom, but she wasn’t in there either. A quick glance around revealed nothing. No sign of her. None of her clothing or books or her backpack. She wasn’t staying here. At least not anymore.

I ran my hand through my hair. Where was she?

Would she go back to her room? I hadn’t heard anything from the officers about Jay getting arrested, but maybe she or Ethan had. I didn’t like the idea of her being alone if he was still out there.

Ethan would have told me. Or he would have told Benjamin who would have then told me.

No. Something was wrong.

She wasn’t here, and she wasn’t answering her phone. I could be jumping to conclusions, but my gut was screaming that I needed to find her and confirm for myself that she was safe.

I dumped my backpack on the ground next to my bed and turned to head back downstairs. If she wasn’t here, she was probably in her dorm or with her friends. As long as she wasn’t alone …

I called Ethan as I jogged down the stairs to the back entrance that was closest to her dorm.

“Hey, man.” I was so surprised he actually answered and hadn’t cursed at me that I missed a step and stumbled down to the floor, barely catching myself on the railing so I didn’t hit face first. “Have you seen Haley?” I rushed out the words while pushing the door open and stepping into the courtyard between our buildings.

“Yeah, I walked her to her dorm a few hours ago.”

That should have been a relief, but I only felt sick.