Page 57 of Adorkable

Tripping over my own feet, I was vaguely aware of the hands steadying me down the stairs.

“He’ll be okay.” Hooker’s voice at my ear. “Don’t worry, Spitz. He’ll be fine.”

I barely heard her as two medics jogged onto the field and went to work. Each one of Becks’s groans was amplified to a sonic boom in my ears, loud, deafening.

This can’t be happening, I thought, finally making it to ground level. Becks couldn’t be hurt. He just couldn’t be. Soccer was his passion, what he was made to do. God wouldn’t take that away from him, not now, not ever. It would be too cruel.

Please, don’t take this away from him, I prayed silently.

Eyes stinging, I watched them carry Becks off the field on a stretcher. It was one of those things I’d have nightmares about long after this day.

“Spitz.” I looked to the side and saw Hooker. Guess she’d been there the whole time. “He’ll be fine,” she said with certainty. But how could she know?

“Sally, I’m going to take Mrs. Kent and the boys home,” Mom said, holding Mrs. Kent’s hand, the rest of the boys following close behind. They looked destroyed. “Can Hooker or Clayton take you home?”

“No problem,” Hooker said and led me to the locker room.

My heart sank further as I spotted my dad, blocking the door. Deputy Spitz must’ve gotten called in to work security for the game. He was in uniform and watched impassively as we approached.

“Can we go in?” Hooker asked.

Dad shook his head. “Family and team members only.”

But Becksismy family, I wanted to scream, but my voice had gone mute the minute I saw Becks laid out on that stretcher.

Hooker didn’t seem to have that problem.

“You’re kidding me, right?” she said, eyes narrowed. “You can’t seriously be that heartless to your own daughter. Can’t you see she’s upset?”

Upset didn’t even begin to cover it. Honestly, it was like I was suffocating, dying a little more with every second I was away from Becks. But I was glad Hooker was there. I’d need her strength if I was going to get through this next part.

Swallowing hard, I did the one thing I’d promised myself I would never do. Something I’d sworn off over a decade ago.

I asked my father for a favor.

“Please,” I said, voice shaking, from despair or disgust I wasn’t sure. “Let me in. I…I need to see him, Dad. To make sure he’s okay, to see if Becks needs me. I need to know he’s alright, so just…please.”

His eyes moved slowly over my face, his expression unreadable. I wasn’t sure what he saw, but I felt like I was going to dry heave right there on the concrete. I’d never asked him for anything after he’d cheated on Mom. Not once. There were no weekly visitations. There were no yearly birthday cards with cash in them. If I overlooked the fact that we lived in the same town, I could practically pretend he didn’t exist. I’d never cared that he wasn’t around, preferred it that way. But I needed to see Becks, needed it like air in my lungs.

If my father was the key to getting to him, I’d do whatever it took.

Dad met my eyes a moment later, and I knew even before he spoke what his answer would be.

“Sorry, Sally girl,” he said with a shrug. “It’s the policy. There’s nothing I can do.”

Hooker’s mouth hung open like she couldn’t believe it—but I could.

I’d given up on him a long time ago. Somehow, though, he still managed to disappoint me.

Hooker shook her head then said, “You really are a bastard, aren’t you?”

“You watch your mouth.” Dad frowned, tugging up his belt and holding a hand out to me. “She’s just overreacting like her mother always did. She’ll get over it.”

“No,” I said, and they turned to me. “It’s fine, Hooker, I’ll just wait.”

“But—”

I shook my head. “No,” I repeated. No, I wouldn’t get over it. And no, I wouldn’t ask again. “I’ll wait.”

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