AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“What about me?” Cam nudges her and winks. Here he goes with the winking shit again.
“Hey Cam.” Bliss rolls her eyes but doesn’t drop the smile.
Right on time, a waitress comes up with a tray full of shots, seems to be tequila from the salt and limes. Bliss scrunches up her face as the shots are given out.
“Babe, you don’t have to take it,” I tell her.
“I’ll take hers,” Angela purrs. “I can handle it.”
Ignoring her, I keep my eyes on Bliss, but she shakes her head. “It’s fine.” Either she didn’t hear Angela or she’s ignoring her like I am.
Bliss smiles and grabs my hand across the table, but I’m caught off guard when she licks the space between my thumb and index finger. Next she shakes the salt on my slick skin, with her eyes never leaving mine, she leans down and licks the salt off of me and tosses her shot back, slowly sucking on her lime after. I think my dick just twitched.
“Damn, I need a girlfriend,” JR mummers next to me.
“Hell yeah,” Ash and Cam say in unison.
I blink into focus, grab my shot, and toss it back. “Happy birthday man,” I tell Ash. “We have to go, see you at practice tomorrow.”
They laugh but I’m serious. Bliss still hasn’t looked away, and I can’t either. Damn, I’m so fucked.
“Cuba,” he says, and I spin toward him, ready for the ball to land in my hands the moment he launches it at me.
My feet are moving, but it feels like I’m floating, although I can hear my shoes pounding against the wood floor. I don’t see anything, I don’t hear anything, just tunnel vision to the hoop. The ball bounces from hand to hand as I close in on my mark. Then I feel it, the moment his body drops, now I hear his name called, and I’m skidding to a halt.
I turn toward the commotion, and then I see him. Jackson is on the ground, gasping for air.
The ball drops from my hand, rolling away as I run toward him.
“Jackson, stop playing, get up,” I tell him once I break through the crowd.
Priscilla glares up at me from where she is sitting on the ground next to him, hold his hand. “Cuba, call for fucking help, he can’t breathe,” she barks at me.
Any other time I would remind her of her place. Her and Jackson aren’t dating, they are fucking. But I let it go and look back to Jackson, who is gasping for breath, his tan skin is turning pale, and his eyes are bulging out.
Cursing under my breath, I scramble to get my phone out of my pocket, fumbling, trying to unlock it. I hit 911 with shaky fingers and put the phone to my ear. My eyes never leaving Jackson.
“911, what’s the address of the emergency?” A male voice comes through.
“Venice beach basketball courts,” I tell him, I don’t know the actual address to anywhere.
“What’s going on?”
I run my hand through my sweaty hair. “We were playing a pick-up game and he just collapsed, he can’t breathe. He’s pale,” I barely get out.
“Okay, sir. I need you to calm down,” he says in a soothing voice. How the hell am I supposed to calm down? Jackson is struggling to breathe. “Help is on the way,” he says. “Do you know how to give CPR in case he stops breathing?”
He’s so calm. I’m sure they have to be to do their job but it’s unnerving. “No.” I shake my head. I look down at Priscilla. “You know CPR?”
Her glossy brown eyes look up and she nods. “Yes.”
“There’s someone here who knows how.”
I can already hear the sirens in the distance and it puts me at ease a little. I hang up without saying thank you and drop to Jackson’s side.
“Hey man, they are on the way.” I try to sound calm, but I know I sound anything but.
He manages to nod through the gasps of air, a tear slips from his eye, and I know he’s scared, shit, of course he’s scared. Jackson is the carefree, live life by the moment kind of guy. Where I’m anti and only talk to people I know, he’s sociable. Everyone loves Jackson, he’s never in a bad mood. But seeing him like this, I can’t take it. I can’t protect him from what is happening, and it makes me angry. I want to shake him and tell him to knock this shit off, it’s not funny. No one is laughing though.
