Page 39 of Saving the Halfback

Beth laughed. “Okay, I need your number. Give me your phone.” I slid my phone across the table, and she added her information.

When I pulled it back, I stared at the contact. “One,” I whispered to myself.

“One what?” Lachlan asked. He looked at my contact list, and I felt somewhat embarrassed until he spoke. “What the hell, why aren’t I there?” He held out his hand, and I placed my phone in it. He thumbed through and added himself, then he pulled his phone out and started adding more contacts from his phone.

“Who are you adding?” I asked, trying to see over his shoulder.

“Stop being nosy.” He turned away, so I couldn’t see it.

“Send me a text, so I can add her,” Nolan said.

“Might as well put me in there,” Sam said. I hadn’t realized he’d been listening.

My smile grew, but I tried to play cool and hide it behind large bites of food. A few of Beth’s friends got Lach to add them. In his distraction, I also stole two breadsticks. I think I deserved them after the roller coaster of a morning I’d had. He handed my phone back just as the bell rang for the end of lunch.

“I swear, if you just gave out my number to the whole school…”

He grinned, his blue eyes twinkling. My heart did a funny flutter, and I tried to hide my smile. How was I going to survive this guy?

Gym class was the best yet. We didn’t have to run the track and started a first aid course which, over the next week, would dive into common athletic injuries. Lachlan, Nolan, and I grouped together while going through our CPR portion.

Trying to do chest compressions while Lachlan and Nolan sangAnother One Bites the Dustwas a great feat. I was holding back my laughter to the point that tears ran down my cheeks. I nearly lost it when Lachlan started moving the dummy’s mouth, getting him to say stuff like “Oh, thank you, my lady for saving me.”

That night,I was doing my homework in my room, my history book spread out across my bed, when the banging started. I froze and closed my eyes, trying to bring myself back to where I was now.I’m in my room. The door is…My eyes flew open, immediately finding my door that wasn’t fully shut, meaning…it wasn’t locked.

On my way to the door, I peeked out the window and saw the small shed. It used to house the saddles and bridles before the new barn was built this past summer. Now, it sat empty. Momtalked about turning it into a chicken coop but hadn’t had the time to do it. And that damn latch refused to close properly.

I walked out of my bedroom and down the hall to the stairs. I could hear Dad and Mom talking at the bottom.

“They are giving him another week before they take him off,” Dad was saying.

“Is there any chance he will recover?” Mom asked.

Dad was silent for a moment. “Well, I wouldn’t think so, but the nurse was saying one scan showed a possibility. But he needs to recover from the injuries some more.” My stomach rolled.

“Dad?” I called.

“Yes?” he answered back, walking over to the bottom of the stairs to look up at me.

“The garden shed is open again.”

Dad shook his head. “Bailey, you have two perfectly good working legs, you can go close it yourself.” He turned to walk away, but over his shoulder, he added, “I’ll go to town tomorrow and get a lock for it.” I understood why he was getting annoyed; this wasn’t the first time I’d asked him to go out and close it.

I took a deep breath and went back to my room, trying to ignore the noises. It only got worse, though, almost like it was getting louder and echoing in my mind. The creak as the door opened, the hinges straining, and then the slam as it shut. Again and again. An ache settled right at my temples. I tried to rub it away, but I couldn’t take it anymore. I left my room and ran down the stairs, slipping on my boots and trudging out the door. I hesitated a bit when my feet hit the gravel, but after taking a deep breath, I continued around the back of the house.

The closer I got to the shed, the dizzier I became, but that probably had more to do with the fact I was now holding my breath. I reached out to push the door in place, allowing the latch to catch, so I could have a few hours of quiet before it startedagain. The moment my hand touched the wood, an icky feeling slithered down my spine and my stomach rolled yet again.

The wood disappeared beneath my fingertips, and in its place, my nails dug into the leather of a saddle. The saddle oil filled my nose and tears rolled down my cheeks. “Easy, princess…this is going to hurt.”Ed’s voice sent a tremor of pain rolling through me.

And then the banging started. As if someone were laying their fists against the door from the inside, smashing into it with all their might. “Let me out!” he screamed. “Let me out of here, you lying bitch.” I braced my back against the door as it shook, every blow sending a tidal wave of fury through me. “LET ME OUT!!!”

“I’m sorry,” I whispered, and then I screamed, “I’m sorry!”

15

Chase

Isat on my balcony as I watched Hadley and Derek flirting in the hot tub below. They had been getting closer the last few weeks…could I blame her, though? I had been pulling away more and more.

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