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When Gabriel reenters the kitchen, it’s with Mila. Bella and I both step down from our stools and greet her with a hug.
"Hey, Alba. How are you feeling this morning?"
"I feel okay. But these two are being worry warts. So, I’m glad you could stop by on your way to work. Maybe once they see I’m fine, they will stop hovering and Gabriel might let me do things for myself."
"It’s nice having someone to worry about you. It just means they care," Mila states somberly. God, why did I have to open my big mouth? Mila is a single mother. Ava’s father passed away before she was born. Bella has told me on several occasions Mila doesn’t date and she knows she gets lonely. And here I am complaining about the people who love me showing too much attention. I swallow pass the knot in my throat, "Mila, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be complaining. I know how lucky I am."
She waves her hand at me, "I’m the one who’s sorry. I had no right to overstep."
"You didn’t overstep. You spoke the truth. I should not speak as though I’m ungrateful." After giving Mila a hug, I lead her into the living room where she proceeds to check my vitals and then she moves on to the staples on my head.
"All your vitals are normal, and your head is already starting to heal nicely. How’s your wrist feeling?"
"It was a little achy this morning. I took some pain releiver and it helped."
"Have you made a follow up with your OB yet?" Mila asks as she begins packing her blood pressure cuff back into her bag.
"Yep. I have an appointment with her tomorrow."
Mila slings her bag over her shoulder and I walk her to the front door.
"Thanks for stopping by. We really appreciate it."
"No problem, Alba. I was happy to. And anytime you two need anything you can call me, day or night." She says looking to both me and Gabriel.
"I need to be going too, I’ll walk out with you," Bella announces.
"Call me later, okay?" then turns towards Gabriel, "Thanks for breakfast big guy." He gives them both a chin lift as they walk out the door.
An hour after my sister and Mila left, Gabriel informed me that he needed to go to the clubhouse and take care of a few things. When I asked who was babysitting today, he gave me the best surprise.
Now here I am standing on my front porch shifting from foot to foot as I see a familiar truck making its way down our gravel driveway. Before the truck is even in park, I’m down the steps and throwing myself into Sam’s arms. I’ve missed my friend so much. It’s been months since I’ve seen him.
"Hey, little momma," he beams scooping me up in his arms.
"Why didn’t you tell me you were coming," I scold once he releases his hold.
"I wanted to surprise you."
"Well, I’m definitely surprised. Come on, let’s go inside," I urge grabbing his hand and tugging him along behind me. Walking back up the steps to the front porch we pass Gabriel. He leans in giving me a kiss and then he and Sam exchange the usual guy acknowledgment of chin lifts before Gabriel heads in the direction of his truck.
Walking inside, I shut and lock the door before setting the alarm. Something Gabriel insists I do even when one of the guys is here with me. But now that I’m thinking about it, I’m wondering what sort of conversation Gabriel and Sam must have had yesterday. I’m shocked he has allowed Sam to be alone here with me. That he trusts Sam to watch over me without one of the guys. Knowing Gabriel, he probably threatened Sam.
No matter what was said, all that matters is he trusts Sam enough to let him be here alone with me. Plus, one look at my friend and you can clearly see he would have no problem protecting me. He may not be as big as Gabriel, but then again none of the other guys are.
We sit together in the living room and talk about trivial things. I notice that every time I bring up school and ask about his classes, he diverts my questions. Even when I ask about Leah, his answer to everything is ’fine’. Sitting up straighter on the sofa, I narrow my eyes at Sam.
"Alright, what’s going on? Why do I get the feeling you’re keeping something from me?"
Hanging his head and pinching the bridge of his nose, Sam lays it on me.
"I dropped out of school."
I look at him with a stunned expression, "What? Why? When did this happen, and why have you not told me before now?"
"After I quit the team, my father refused to pay my tuition, so I had no choice. All this happened after Christmas. I didn’t tell you because you have enough shit on your plate to worry about. I know you already blame yourself for me quitting the team. You didn’t need that kind of stress, Alba." Seeing the tears well up in my eyes, Sam shakes his head at me.
"Hell no, Alba, no tears. Absolutely none of that shit that went down was your fault. So don’t go getting upset, you hear me?"
