Page 43 of Worlds Collide

“Yes!” she says excitedly. “Peter and I are flying down on Monday and staying through Friday. We’ll stay with Clive, of course. You’re gonna spend a lot of time with us, aren’t you?” Her tone changes to challenging by the end and nothing in the world could stop the smile from blooming on my face.

“Of course I’ll see you two. Every day. If Peter lets me snoop around on his latest project then I definitely won’t complain.”

“It sucks that you won’t be in the OR with me, though.”

“Who knows,” I tell her. “Maybe you can nag Dr. Yang into letting me join you two.”

“That’s a good idea, I’ll call him now. Talk later.”

She hangs up before I can tell her I was joking and I shake my head. Oh well, I won’t regret saying it if Dr. Yang says yes.

I stare at the black screen of my phone for a long minute and can’t help but feel sorry for myself. The one thing I’ve ever done only for myself is become a doctor. All I’ve wanted was to work in a hospital, learn how to help kids, and just live my life without having to answer to my parents.

I guess I am making all of that happen, but having to take time off because of something I did to right the wrongs of the Clemson family is ironic and it absolutely sucks.

This upcoming week I’ll get to hang out with Diana and Peter, and with Clive more than likely, but what about after?

For at least three months am I supposed to spend all day studying instead of getting the working hours I’ve been counting on?

My phone lights up again and Adam’s face appears on thescreen. I’m not expecting a scolding this time, but I’m still relieved the damn thing is on silent because I’m not in the mood to hear that up-beat song right now. And if he scolds me even a little for giving away as much money as I can, then I’m going to belt him.

“Hey,” I answer.

“How are you, buddy?” I hear the honest concern in his tone and it’s then that I remember he has a game tomorrow.

“I’m okay, are you home?”

“No, we’re playing in Pittsburgh this week. But are you really okay?”

“No, of course I’m not, but it’s not like this is anyone’s fault. I can’t do anything about it but wait for the attention to go away.”

“Uhh, it’s absolutely someone’s fault,” he snaps back. My eyebrows rise to the top of my forehead but I don’t have time to ask him what the hell he’s talking about before he starts ranting. “It’s Wolf’s fault. If he’d just left you alone, then you wouldn’t have so many people trying to get money out of you.”

“Adam,” I start as calmly as I can. “All the words coming out of your mouth are absolutely stupid. You do know that, don’t you?”

“No they’re not,” he counters back,brilliantly. “There are a lot of weirdos obsessed with Wolf, you know? He’s the reason you’re getting?—”

“You know, I love you,” I interrupt him. “You’re like my actual brother, Adam Peter, and it’s only thanks to you that I know the true love of family, so I’m not going to mince my words, okay? You’re being a dickhead, and you better cut it out before you call me again, got it? Wolf is not responsible for all of this happening and neither am I for wanting to try out his dick. Hope you have anamazing fucking game tomorrow. Goodbye.” I shout at the end then hit the screen to end the call.

I lower my head between my shoulders and breathe hard.

Yeah, I’m not super happy with Wolf, and I’m entitled to that anger, but he’s not responsible for every bad thing that’s happened. Whatever thing Adam has against Wolf is his problem, not mine. Having to deal with that is not something I want to do, in fact it’s not something I will ever agree to, so if by some miracle Wolf apologizes and we patch things up, then Adam’s just going to have to get in?—

My phone buzzes again.

“What now?” I ask the empty room and my mouth goes dry when I see the caller ID. “Hey,” I tell him quietly.

“Hey CJ,” Hawk says in his always sunshiny voice. “I’m going to the Warriors game tomorrow and have a suite. You wanna come? A few of the wives I like will be there with me, but Tate never speaks and I think having another man there could maybe smooth things over a little for me, you know? Because we didn’t invite almost anyone from the team to the wedding ,and now everyone knows we already got married but no one knows when or where. And we want to keep it that way, believe me, but I don’t want Derek’s teammates or their significant others to hate me.” I hear the pout in the last few words before he finally takes a breath.

“How are you, Hawk?” I ask softly. I’m smiling already just from hearing his rambles.

“I’m okay. I mean, a little bit nervous because, you know, you slept with my brother and the whole world found out right away, and I don’t know how you got him to let his guard down enough to kiss you in a hotel hallway, so maybe I have some questions. But I know I’m not gonna ask them. Because Wolfie clearly doesn’t want to talk about it, and he deserves to have his privacy, and I don’t want to intrude or butt in, you know?”

“I do know,” I say but he’s already talking over me again.

“And also nervous about the wives thing.”

There’s a beat of silence where I wait to hear if he’s going to keep talking, but when he doesn’t, I answer the way I want to—because I like Hawk and I consider him a friend, no other reason. Also, it looks like he won’t push the thing with Wolf so I won’t have to feel awkward about it.

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