Page 40 of Might as Well

When her cries subside, she leans back to look at me and pat my body down as if trying to feel for more injuries. “You’re okay?” she asks anyway.

“I’m okay.”

Her hand moves and I grab it before she can pinch my side. “I’m here, Violet. No need to pinch me.”

“What happened? Is everyone else okay?”

“Let’s talk tomorrow; I’m beat.”

She nods, but doesn’t move to release me.

“I need you to let me go,” I whisper, causing Violet to shake her head.

“I can’t.”

I kiss her softly and then reach up to remove her hold, which she easily allows. After shedding my shirt and pants, she scoots over so I can crawl in next to her. Violet throws an arm over me and presses her face to my chest as we lie on our sides.

“What happened to your wrist?”

“Fell,” she mumbles.

I kiss the top of her head. “Get some rest.”

Violet quickly falls asleep and I soon follow.

The next day, she’s awfully quiet. Even when my mom asks about the accident, Violet almost seems in another world. A few of the guys were injured like me. The driver unfortunately passed away; he had some sort of medical incident that led to us crashing. The league is giving the entire team a few days to recover, which means hell later because they’re rescheduling our games to make up.

Mom and I are about to head to my house for a bit and to replace my phone.

“Can I talk to you a second before you leave?” Violet asks as my mom walks outside to my car.

“Yeah. You okay?” I ask, running my hand up and down her arm.

Her eyes well with tears. “I…I don’t think I can do this,” she whispers as she motions between us. My hand stops, frozen in place at her words. “I’m utterly relieved you are okay, but?—”

“No,” I interrupt with more bite in my tone than I intended. Her eyes widen in surprise. “You don’t get to walk away from us just because you’re scared, Violet. I understand why you want to do that, but no. Abso-fucking-lutely not. I don’t want my mom to wait too long, so I’m gonna run my errands. I fully expect you to be at my house for dinner. We can talk more then. And babe? If you don’t show up, I’ll come over here and get you. Okay?”

She nods. “Okay, Zane,” she whispers.

Cupping her cheek, a small amount of relief flows through me when she leans into my hand. “We’ll talk,” I promise. I’ll hear what she has to say, but my mind won’t change. Violet leans in, lifting onto her toes, and kisses me softly.

“Don’t make your mom wait in the cold.”

“Six o’clock,” I tell her.

Once she nods again, I walk away and join my mom in the car.

“Everything okay?” she asks me. “Will it help if I stay with her?”

I shake my head. “Let’s give her some space.” Though, I doubt she should have it. “She’s scared. She basically lost her parents and then her grandma. She thinks she’s losing her brother because he’s enlisting in the military, and then she got scared when she heard about the accident. She’s more traumatized by it than I am, but she’ll be okay.” I’ll make sure of it.

Mom and I take care of my errands, which includes replacing my phone. I spend most of the day relaxing. It’s been a wild few days.

“Did you meet her brother?” I ask, hoping he wasn’t a dick to my mom if she did.

Mom shakes her head. “He wasn’t there at all and Violet didn’t mention him.” Mom pauses, opens her mouth, and then closes it again.

“What is it?” I ask.

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