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CHAPTERSIXTEEN
KYLER
My heart wasin my throat and my stomach was in knots as I walked toward the bleachers with Ian’s family. Ever since he’d sent me that text before his warmups, I’d been worried sick about him, and I was scared to death that one of Max’s friends who didn’t play football would be here just waiting for me.
Bile started churning in my stomach with every step we took, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to hold it in for long.
“Izzie, can you do me a favor and come to the bathroom with me?” I asked quietly.
She gave me a quizzical look, but nodded before turning back to the rest of the group. “Text and let us know where you’re sitting?”
“I will,” Hillary promised. “Everything okay?”
I nodded. “I just get nervous in big crowds, and it helps to have someone I know with me.”
It wasn’t a complete lie. It just wasn’t the real reason I needed an escort.
“Okay,” she said with a smile. “I get that. I’m the same way. We’ll see you in a few.”
As the nausea got stronger, I started making a beeline toward the bathroom, praying that Izzie was behind me, because I didn’t have time to wait for her. When we got there, I rushed into a stall, not even bothering to lock the door behind me before giving up my offering to the porcelain goddess. I started shaking violently, my breathing coming in short gasps, and I couldn’t make myself get up off the floor, even after there was nothing left to throw up.
Why couldn’t Ian be here with me, damn it? Why did he have to be in that stupid locker room right now? He always knew how to calm me down.
“Ky?” came my best friend’s voice. “Oh, my God, Ky. What happened? What’s wrong?”
Wait. How was Melissa here?
Well, it didn’t really matter. I wasn’t looking a gift horse in the mouth. Because if my boyfriend couldn’t be here, at least my best friend was.
Melissa knelt down next to me and held out a bottle of water. I turned to look at her, wondering how she knew I was here, and grateful that someone was here who understood my panic attacks and could help me through this.
“Can you take some sips of this water, sweetie?” she asked, unscrewing the lid from the bottle and holding it out again.
With a shaking hand, I took the bottle from her and raised it to my lips, taking a few slow sips.
“How…how did you know I was in here?” I asked in a small voice.
“Eric and I were walking in at the same time you were, and I saw you running in here like your ass was on fire,” she chuckled weakly. “I could tell something was wrong, so I followed. Eric wasn’t happy, but he can kiss my ass. My bestie is more important.”
“They…they got to Ian,” I sniffled. “Right after we dropped him off here. He texted me, freaking out and wanting to make sure I was okay. And I…what if they hurt him, Liss? He wouldn’t tell me what happened. I don’t know anything.”
“You’d know if he was hurt, Ky. This is a school event. Coach Jefferson is responsible for the players, so he’d have to notify Ian’s family if anything happened. I’m sure he’s fine. You know them. They’re just trying to scare him. Like they’ve been doing all semester.”
I nodded as my heart rate started to slow to normal. She was right. There was adult supervision here.
“Okay, I hate to interrupt, but who exactly is fucking with my brother? Because I havenoproblem kicking some jock ass while I’m here,” Izzie practically growled.
Crap. I’d actually forgotten she was here.
“No, you can’t,” I said quickly as I stood up on shaky legs.
“The hell I can’t!” she exclaimed. “That’s my fucking brother, and if someone’s messing with him, I’ll mess right back.”
“It’s not that simple, uh…” Melissa trailed off.
“Izzie, this is my best friend, Melissa,” I introduced them. “Liss, this is Ian’s older sister, Isabelle.”
“Hi,” they both said at the exact same time.
