Page 179 of Puck Prince

“God, yes please.”

As much as I feel sick, as much as I want to close my eyes and never open them again, I know I need to be strong. For the little person inside of me, I need to be strong. And honestly? I owe it to myself too.

So I take a spoon and dig into the carton in front of me.

“We don’t need penises or bowls,” Kennedy says with a full mouth. “We eat straight from the carton and do whatever we want. All the men except the Duke can just fuck off.”

“The duke?”

Kennedy just smiles, turning on the TV.Bridgertonpops up on the screen. “Yes, Callie. The Duke.”

With that, we eat two quarts of ice cream while swooning over fictional characters.

My heart still throbs in my chest and nothing is solved. But right now, there’s nothing else I can do.

52

OWEN

“The new PT blows,” Dax groans, all the while walking like he got beat up for his lunch money.

“He’s not the new PT.” I practically hurl two fifty-pound dumbbells to the floor of the training room.

“Yeah, Callie will be back.” Heath looks hopefully to me. “She will be back, right?”

Since the accident, she hasn’t been at work. As nice as it is not to run into her, I also feel like shit about it. The whole point of our fake relationship was to keep Summer out of the camera lens and keep Callie’s job running smoothly. Clearly, that’s going great.

“Yes, she’ll be back.” I grab my towel and wipe my face off.

I’m very much not in the mood to be around any of them. I’m not in the mood to be around anyone.

Heath lets out a sigh of relief. “Good, ‘cuz that new guy is basically just using KT tape as waxing strips. My legs look like I got in a fight with a lawn mower.”

“Might as well grab your lady razor and finish the job,” Miles jabs.

“Venus razors make your skin soft, so fuck you. I haven’t had a razor burn on my neck in months!”

All the guys laugh, but I’m done. I grab my bag. “I’m heading out.”

“Aren’t you getting a beer with us?” Dax asks. “It’s Friday.”

“Not today.”

They start to argue, but Lance waves everyone back. “Let him go.”

I feel bad dipping, but the only thing worse than seeing Callie around the arena is not seeing her.

I drive home, my mind going to the same dark place it goes every time I’m alone. The conversation at the hospital has been on repeat in my brain non-stop. It’s like a bruise I can’t help but press on.

Was I too harsh?

Did I make a mistake?

Then I remind myself that Callie could have died.

Anything I do to make sure that never happens is the right choice.

As soon as I get home, I drop my stuff by the door and head to the fridge. The tray of bottle caps at the bottom of my Plinko bottle opener is overflowing. When I pop this cap, it falls straight to the floor.

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