Page 40 of Falling With a Spin

“Yeah, that works for me. Let me walk you out.” His hand brushes mine when he reaches for the door, and I swear I see a small smile on his face.

Chapter 16

Emma

It’s been a few days since I’ve seen Hunter. We have been texting a little each day, rambling on about the strangest things, or getting to know each other. I’ve learned that he has two older brothers, Alec and Riley. Alec is a Lawyer, just like his Mom, and Riley is a doctor, just like their Dad. He also has a younger sister, Aubrey, who dances. When he told me this, my heart skipped a beat.

The ringing of my phone from our kitchen counter causes me to jump and drop the glass I was currently washing into the sink.

“Shit.” I turn and grab the cloth towel from the oven and dry my hands before seeing who it is. Caleb's contact photo of us from when we were at Disneyland before the first year started flashes across the screen. I accept the call. Avoiding him is impossible, and it’s been well over two weeks.

“Hey Caleb, how have you been?” I pace around the kitchen, trying to keep busy so the anxiety that's currently building doesn’t take over.

“Hmm, I don’t know. I would be a thousand times better if my supposedly best friend would answer my phone calls and text messages from the last few weeks.” The hurt in his voice floods me with guilt, and I gnaw on my lower lip, not sure how to respond. “Along with finding out from my teammates that you and Chad broke up.” The hurt is gone, and now he’s just angry.

“Oh,” is all I can manage to say.

“Yup, he told the guys that something happened at the party. He didn’t go into detail about it, but when he tried approaching you a few weeks later, you freaked out on him. Kept saying you were talking nonsense, and when he tried to calm you down, a guy punched him in the face.”

Calm me down? What the fuck. I clutch my phone in disbelief

He continues talking, and anger starts to boil inside of me, “He told us that he broke up with you because he couldn’t continue to be with someone who wouldn’t trust him or give him time and space like he asked.”

There’s silence on the other side of the phone, and I take a deep breath so I wouldn’t snap my phone in half. “Are you going to tell me what happened?” His voice is firm, and it breaks the hold I had on my anger.

“It seems like you have an accurate picture of what happened.”

Broke up with me because of how I’ve been acting? What a fucking asshole. I’m shocked even though I shouldn’t be.

“Emma, what the fuck happened at the party? That's what I want to know.” Anger rises in his voice. “Did he cheat on you? Did he hurt you? Please just tell me what happened so I can help you.” He pleads.

I’m so close to telling him, but that little voice comes into my head. If I do, then he will forever hate Chad, which is fair, but it will ruin the dynamic of the team. With games starting soon, I can’t do that.

“Emma? Hello?” I didn’t realize I was still quiet.

“Hey, yeah, I'm still here. It’s a really long story, Caleb, one that I'm trying my hardest to forget. I want to tell you, but I don’t want to ruin the dynamic of the team.”

“You're my best friend. I could give two shits about the team if the person I care about the most was hurt by one of them.” His voice cracks, and I wish I could be strong enough to tell him, but I’m not.

“He didn’t cheat on me,” that would have been better than what he actually did, “but I don’t want to talk about it, Caleb. It happened, and it’s something I want to leave in the past.” I finish, hoping he leaves it at that.

“No, we aren’t going to let this be swept underneath the rug.” I can hear the frustration and anger building the longer this conversation continues.

At this rate, we’ll be arguing all night.

“Caleb, I’m not telling you shit about what happened that night,” frustration continues to grow inside me. “He’s an asshole. I’ll be okay, but I’m not going to talk about this, and you are going to respect that.” Tears fill my eyes as images of that night play through my mind.

“You’re fucking crazy if you think I will let this go!” He yells through the phone.

“Caleb, for the love of god, you are not my father. You’re my best friend, and you know I can handle my shit, so just drop it!” I was trying to avoid this whole conversation, and that's why I hadn’t told him yet.

I look up to see Taylor standing at the doorway with sadness in her eyes. She knows that I should tell him, but I want him to make it through the season first.

“I'm done with this conversation. Chad hurt me that night, and we broke up. End of story.” I hang up before he can get another word in, taking a deep breath to calm myself and wiping the tears away with the back of my hand.

I rest my head in my hands and close my eyes, letting the tears fall. I feel the left side of the couch dip and a hand rubbing my back.

“What do you need from me right now?” She whispers.

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