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“Yeah. Hux, especially.” His gaze slid towards his boyfriend, who was growling (quite sexily, I could admit) into the microphone.
Elbowing him in the side, I grinned at him. “You’re not at all biased, are you?”
“Who, me? Nope.”
My phone beeped, derailing me from my reply. I glanced down at the screen to see Noah’s name, and the message preview had me thumbing open my phone so fast I almost dropped it in my haste.
Noah:
Ander’s injured. Not badly, so don’t worry, but I thought I’d give you a heads-up
“I’ve got to make a call,” I told Cole, quickly climbing to my feet and heading out into the corridor, hitting the Call button next to Noah’s name.
As soon as the call connected, I began speaking. “What happened?”
“It was a bad tackle. Is that what it’s called?” Someone else muttered something to him, and then he came back on the line. “Yeah. Ash says it was a tackle. He went down hard, and they took him off on a stretcher. I went and asked for you because I knew you’d be worried. It’s a minor ankle sprain, and he needs to keep it iced and elevated, and he needs to use a compression thing and take ibuprofen as often as he’s allowed. He’ll be fine in a few days, but…”
“He’s being dramatic?” I guessed, smiling despite my worry. “Acting like he’s about to have his foot amputated?”
“Pretty much,” Noah confirmed with a huffed laugh. “I also heard something about missing his moment of glory.”
“Oh, Ander.” My voice was far too soft and affectionate. But it was okay because it was Noah on the other end of the phone, and he knew all about my feelings for my best friend. “I’m on my way.”
“Are you sure? I didn’t want to interrupt you if you were doing something important, but I thought you should at least know.”
“No, it’s okay. He’d be there for me if I was the one injured, and I want to be there for him. I’ll be there as quick as I can.”
“Okay. See you in a bit.”
When I ended the call, I headed back into the room and over to Cole. “Do you think the band will take a break anytime soon?”
He shrugged. “Dunno, why?”
“Um. I need to leave. Something’s come up. Something important.”
Although Cole and I weren’t all that close—he’d grown up locally while I’d grown up in Bournemouth, and we’d only really seen each other a maximum of a few times a year until I’d come to LSU—he was well aware of Ander’s best friend status, and he immediately made the connection. He rolled his eyes. “Let me guess. Is the ‘something important’ Ander?”
“Yes, it is.” I couldn’t hide the defensiveness in my tone. “He’s been injured, and I want to make sure he’s okay.”
Cole sighed. “Of course you do. Okay, go. I’ll make your excuses with Curtis. But listen, Elliot.” He gripped my arm. “Don’t fuck him around. He doesn’t deserve to be your second best.”
“I know, and it’s not like that. Curtis is…he’s a great guy.” I smiled, watching him through the windows, head bent over his drum kit. “But Ander’s my best friend.”
“Just don’t lead him on.”
“I won’t.” Backing away towards the exit, I lifted my hand. “See you later.”
As I left, I sent Curtis a text apologising for leaving without saying goodbye and promised that I’d do my very best to make it up to him. Guilt sat heavy in my stomach, but I knew that if I didn’t leave, I’d be worrying about Ander the whole time, and that wasn’t fair to Curtis either.
I groaned. Why did this all have to be so difficult?
12
“Does it still hurt?” Elliot’s clear blue eyes were full of concern as he finished carefully moving my compression bandage into place.
Lying back on my bed with my back propped against the wall, I started to shake my head but then stopped. If I couldn’t be honest with my best friend, who could I be honest with?
A strand of his hair fell into his eye, and before I knew it, my hand was rising, my fingers smoothing it back behind his ear. Wow. His hair was so fucking soft.
