Page 67 of Light It Up Red
“I’m fine. I’ll be back on the ice in no time.”
“You won’t be on the ice until you get clearance from the team doc,” he huffs out. “If your ass isn’t in a bed, I expect it to be warming the bench during practice tomorrow.” Coach cuts the call without giving me a chance to respond.
Fuck me. Practice is the last thing I want to be thinking about right now.
I scroll through the rest of my notifications. I have three missed calls from my mom, and several more messages. I feel like shit for leaving my parents back at the hospital. I told them to come here but they chose to stay at the hotel instead.
I click on my mother’s name and type out a reply.
Me:
I’m home. In bed. I’m good. Sorry, Mom. I’ll call you tomorrow.
Mom:
Is Liliana with you?
Me:
No, she’s staying at a rental house with her family.
Mom:
I’m sorry, Travis. I’m coming around with food.
Me:
I’m going to bed, Mom. I’ll call you tomorrow.
Mom:
Okay.
I don’t for one second believe she’s taking no for an answer, though. She’ll head over now that she knows I’m home. I don’t want to be an asshole, but I’m fucking exhausted and not in the mood to deal with people.
Unless that person is Lili. I’d gladly fucking deal with her if only she’d let me.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
The commotion coming from downstairs has me actually leaving the bedroom I’ve been holed up in for the past two days. I asked my dad to take me home, and he said he would… after he works out a few things here. What business he could possibly have in Vancouver, I have no idea. But I’m smart enough not to ask him questions. It’s not like he’d tell me anyway. He’s always vague about what he actually does, and now that he’s the Don, well, he’s even more tight-lipped than before.
I stop in my tracks when I find all of my uncles, along with my cousins Dante and Orlando, positioned around the living room.
“What are you all doing here?” I ask my uncles before pointing to my cousins. “And shouldn’t you two be in school?”
Dante shrugs. “He should be. I don’t need to be there. It’s not like those teachers can actually teach me anything I don’t already know,” he says with an arrogant smirk on his face. The kid is a genius. There’s no denying that, but sometimes I think his ego needs to be knocked down a peg or two.
“Where’s Josie?” I ask. He’s never too far from his girlfriend, who’s also my newly adopted sister.
Dante sends my father a look that tells me he’s none too happy to be without her. “At home.”
“You mean you left her? In New York? All by herself? Shit, Dante, didn’t she tell you about the two guys currently vying for her attention at school?” I raise a hand to my chest with feigned concern.
Dante scoffs. “As if anyone would dare to even try to talk to her.”
I shake my head as a smirk curls my lips. “Sisters gossip about boys, you know. She tells me things she’d never tell you.” It’s a lie. I’m totally trying to get under his skin, and judging by the scowl on his face, it’s working.
Dante storms out of the living room while tapping on his phone. I watch him go before turning my focus on Orlando.
