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Fornicating. I rolled my eyes and smiled. God, it felt good to talk to her.
"It's a long story, one that's done better face-to-face as well."
"Understood. But are you?" she pushed.
"Not fornicating, but we did mess around a time or two. It was the first time since Easter, but nothing since then."
"Holy shit! That long! Why?"
Heat bloomed under my cheeks. "I’ll fill you in once we see each other. Wait—how did you know about the training camps I was doing?"
"I've been following your achievements, dumbass."
My heart swelled. "On TV?"
I knew the big meets were televised and an internet search was just a few clicks away, but camp wouldn't come up unless the coaches were conducting interviews and mentioned one of us.
She stayed silent and then it hit me.
"Xavier," I said quietly.
"Aid. Please don't hang up or be mad at me, I just wanted to know how you were doing!" she shouted in one long breath.
"I'm not. I'm…just surprised."
"Let me put it this way—he hates me, and he'll never forgive me for what I did, but that doesn't stop me from asking how you are. A little nagging goes a long way." Avery was persistent, that's for sure.
I couldn't even begin to imagine what transpired between her and my brother, but I hope whatever it was, it was something that could be mended. Our families would forever be bound together by business. They had no choice but to be a part of each other's lives, whether they were amicable or not.
"I'm so proud of you, girl. You're really doing this," she said, her voice sounding heartfelt and genuine. I wished she was in front of me so I could hug her until she yelled at me to let go. "You know what? I'll just drive up and hang out for like a week or whatever. It's still summer and school doesn't start for a couple more weeks, and I don't have anything to do anyway. I'll go to practices with you, hang around, maybe trip Reagan and drop some Visine into her water, go shopping in between."
I laughed, my shoulders bouncing. "My practices are really long, Ave. I have extra ones added in, and I'm still doing therapy for my Achilles. I'd love for you to come, but I'll feel bad because you'll have nothing to do. If you don't mind being bored out of your mind, I'm game."
"Then it's settled!" she announced. A huge smile spread across my face and excitement fluttered in my stomach. I couldn’t wait to see my best friend. "Wait. What is it you wanted to talk to me about?" she asked.
I glanced at the clock. I needed to get a move on or Kova was going to blow a gasket. "Listen, Ave, it's really good to hear your voice. I've missed it, but I have to go. I'll call you tonight and tell you. What I need to tell you, it's going to take time."
She was quiet for a moment, then her tone turned serious. "Are you okay?"
"No, I'm not," I admitted, my voice low.
"What's wrong? What happened?"
"I just… I went to the doctor recently for some checkups and discovered that I'm sick." I paused and exhaled a deep breath. "I'm really sick, Ave."
Tears filled my eyes. I didn't want to cry, especially while I was at practice, but Avery was the first person I was going to talk to about it outside of my family, and it was hitting me much harder than I thought.
"Sick with what, bestie?"
Bestie.
A tear slipped from the corner of my eye, the words lodged in my throat. I covered my mouth to hold back my silent cry.
"Aid?"
I drew in a lungful of air and let it out. "Yeah, I'm here."
"Sick with what?"
