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Tank and I head out, bypassing the merchandise store to pick up Sophie, who floods us with questions about the interview.
The boys wanted to head out to a club tonight, so we drive straight past Micky’s. Tank pulls up at the club a few minutes later and takes Sophie by the hand, leading her inside. I hang out front for a moment, pulling my phone out to let Dani know how it went, when I see a missed call from Mia from earlier this afternoon and a few missed calls from Mom a bit later on. She probably wanted to congratulate me.
I give Dani a call, giving her a quick rundown of the interview and promising to give her all the lengthy, boring details in the morning over breakfast. She wishes me a good night and I end the call, wishing I could be with her. But it’s important to be here with the boys.
Pressing a few buttons on the screen, I pull up Mia’s number and hit call. The phone rings out, and I leave her a message telling her to call me back when she can and remind her that she’s a brat. Next up, I dial Mom.
She answers almost immediately, which isn’t surprising because she hates making people wait. “Hello,” she says, her voice hardly recognizable.
“Mom, hey. Sorry, I missed your calls. I was busy on the ice getting my team to Chicago,” I tell her, the pride swelling through my chest.
“Oh, honey,” she whimpers with a cry, and I realize this isn’t a cry of happiness. It’s sorrowful and heartbreaking. She lets out a heavy sob that has me wondering what the fuck is going on.
“Mom?” I question, my brows furrowed as concern grips me, refusing to let go. “What’s wrong? What happened?”
“Baby, I’m so sorry,” she sobs, barely getting the words out. “I don’t know how to tell you this. It’s Mia.”
My concern quickly morphs into terror over what could have the strongest woman I know turning into a sobbing mess. “What is it, Mom?” I rush out as my stomach sinks with unease. “What’s wrong with Mia? What happened?”
“There was an accident,” she cries as she struggles to breathe, completely distraught. “She’s gone, Miller. My baby is gone.”
I don’t hear what she says next as I fall to my knees in the middle of the walkway, my heart sinking deeper than my despair. How could she be gone? My baby sister? Little Mia.
Dead.
Chapter 23
Danielle
I’m startled awake by a loud ringing that has me nearly falling out of bed. Groaning, I roll over and reach for Miller, but when I realize he isn’t home yet, I sit up a little to see the alarm clock on his bedside table.
Crap. It’s two in the morning.
Where the hell is he?
As the ringing continues, I reach for my phone to silence it, but when I see Tank’s name flashing on the caller ID, an odd feeling settles in my stomach. Hitting accept on his call, I bring the phone up to my ear. “Hello?” I croak through my sleepy haze.
“Babe, hey. It’s Tank,” he shouts over the sound of what must be a bar or club.
“Uh, yeah,” I hesitate. “What’s up?”
“I’m sorry to ask, but do you mind coming out to get your boy? I just found him at a bar and he doesn’t look good.”
“What?” I ask sitting up in bed. “What do you mean you found him?”
“He bailed early on. I figured he went home to you, but apparently, he wanted to drink alone in a bar.”
“Oh, umm . . . okay,” I say, a little confused as to why Miller would bail on his team, especially tonight. I mean, he’s supposed to be celebrating. “Where is he? I’ll come now,” I say, throwing the blankets off while I run around the room to find a pair of jeans and a shirt.
Tank gives me the details of where to find them as I rush down the stairs and grab the keys to Miller’s SUV.
“Hey,” he says, pulling my attention back to the conversation. “Could you hurry? He looks off in the distance like there’s something on his mind. Something bad. I’ve never seen him like this.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m not sure,” he says. “Just . . . get here.”
I rush out the door, throwing myself up into his SUV and kicking the engine over. Hitting the gas, I speed off down the road, following the directions Tank gave me. Twenty minutes later, I pull up to an old, worn-down bar, far away from the college population. A place where you would only go to be alone.
I hop out of the truck and make my way to the door, swinging it open to find Sophie and Tank sitting at a table just inside the door. Sophie jumps up immediately and makes her way to me, pulling me in for a tight hug. “Hey,” she says. “Thanks for coming.”
