Page 20 of Rock On

“So, what? You think I got into an accident on purpose? Why the hell would I do something like that?”

“I don’t know. You tell me.”

“There’s nothing to tell.”

“You haven’t been the same since Carter died. We all took it hard, but you seem to be struggling more than the rest of us. I don’t know what to think. Especially since you only went to the one group therapy session, even though the rest of us continued with it for a few months.”

Christ.

The last thing I needed tonight was a fucking lecture.

I hadn’t gone to any other therapy sessions because I hadn’t felt like it would do anything. What was the point of talking about Carter ad nauseum? He’d killed himself and left us trying to find a way to fill that void, both personally and professionally. No amount of therapy was going to make that better.

Of course, it might have worked better if I’d actually given it a chance.

Not that I’d admit that to Z.

“Therapy isn’t for me,” I said finally.

“Maybe it should be.”

“Did you come here to bust my balls?”

“I came to make sure you were okay, fuck-face. Busting your balls is just a bonus.”

I rolled my eyes. “Whatever, man.”

“The rest of the guys were here earlier, but we were drawing too much attention, so everyone else split. I’ve been updating them. Not to mention, Sasha and Dorian and Casey. That video and the accident are all over the news, so we’re going to have to make a statement.”

“Fuck.”

There was movement in the doorway and a soft knock.

A familiar face peeked in. “Hey, there. Can I come in?”

“Hey, Wynter.” My ex-sister-in-law was a nurse and I thought I’d briefly seen her in the E.R. before I passed out. “Come on in.”

“I just wanted to check on you.” She came to the bed and leaned over to give me a gentle hug.

“Thank you. I appreciate it.” I nodded. Just because her sister and I were divorced didn’t mean I had to be a jerk to Wynter. She’d always been sweet, and I’d thought of her as my sister too. One of many things I’d lost when Harley left me.

“Hey, Z.” She hugged Z next and they exchanged a few pleasantries. It was on the tip of my tongue to ask her if Harley knew about the accident, but that was probably stupid. If it was on the news, Harley knew.

“You were very lucky,” Wynter said, trying to be stern, although the smile playing on her lips made it difficult to take her admonishment seriously.

“I already got the lecture from Z,” I told her. “But it wasn’t my fault.”

“The video is everywhere and even though you didn’t cause the accident, you could have been very badly hurt at the speed you were going. Once that yellow car hit you, there was nowhere for you to go. If you’d been driving slower, you might have been able to navigate around it.”

“I’m a safe driver,” I protested. “I couldn’t know that semi was going to spin out.”

“The footage is terrifying, Tommy.”

“Let me see if I can find it,” Z said, doing something on his phone.

I had a feeling this was going to make me look bad, but I hadn’t been trying to hurt myself or anyone else.

Had I?

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