Page 99 of Replay

I’d find a way to get her back here. If Mom hadn’t said anything too horrible to her. Would she be upset I hadn’t told Mom about her?

I had to make it right. But my head was getting dizzy, and my thoughts were floating away from me. I fell asleep again.

Chapter 29

Let’s See if Gandalf Had Any Advice

Katie

I was exhausted, sore, worried and irritated when I let myself into the condo. I’d booked the day off sick, so once my shoes were off I headed to my room and collapsed on my bed, fully dressed. I crashed immediately.

I woke to sunlight, a full bladder, and a hungry belly. I stretched out on the bed, and decided peeing and a shower were my top priorities.

Dressed in fresh clothes and feeling clean, I headed to the kitchen for coffee and food. I set my laptop up on the countertop and got back in touch with the world. There was nothing from Josh, but the man had just had surgery, so I had to cut him some slack. I was worried about his mother though. Would she even tell him I’d been there?

I had emails from school, and work to do, but my mind kept returning to Josh. How was he? There was nothing meaningful in the news reports out there. Had he regained consciousness? Would his knee recover? Would he be able to play again?

I picked up my phone and brought up Daniel’s number. I sent him a quick text, asking for news of Josh.

Aren’t you at the hospital?

Run off by Mrs. Middleton. Haven’t heard from Josh.

Let me check and get back to you.

I was still antsy, so I stripped my bed and threw a load of laundry in. Vacuumed my bedroom and cleaned the bathroom. Mindless work that kept me busy but didn’t require me to focus.

Jess pinged, asking how Josh was doing and how I was doing. Jayna and Callie sent messages too. I blinked back tears at the unexpected support. I’d been feeling alone, but these women wanted to be there for me.

Callie promised to ask Cooper for any information he knew, and Jess asked JJ, who didn’t have anything new to offer. I thanked them and explained that Josh’s mother, who was not a fan of mine, had made me leave the hospital.

Finally, Daniel got back to me. He’d arranged with the team to get Josh’s things from the locker room and take his phone to Josh at the hospital. He’d give him the phone with the messages I’d sent and promised to tell him I’d been there and wanted to see him again.

It was a relief to know he hadn’t had his phone, rather than that he hadn’t wanted to reach out to me. By this time, he should be awake and aware. Insecurities still had a grip on me. Josh hadn’t told his mother, so maybe he wasn’t as serious as I’d thought.

I shoved those thoughts aside and passed the news on to the nontraditional WAG club. Then, mostly through force of will, I was finally able to focus on the things I needed to get done related to work and school.

My advisor asked whether the time I’d taken off as sick was for female issues. Was this something that would continue on an ongoing basis in future, so he could be prepared. Asshole. Stupid asshole, since this was December, and I hadn’t taken any sick time to date. Unless he thought I was preg?—

My brain screeched to a halt. What was the date? It had been a couple of weeks since the non-condom sex with Josh, and wasn’t I supposed to have my period now?

Shit. I scrambled to work out timelines. I wasn’t regular, but I was late, wasn’t I? I opened my calendar and counted. I hadn’t definitely missed but if something didn’t happen soon…

I curled up in a chair in the living room, clutching my phone in case Josh reached out. What if… I didn’t even want to think the word. One brief moment of distraction during sex, and this could change my life.

What lousy timing. Josh injured, exams, Christmas break coming up, problems with my advisor—I just wanted to bury my head under a pillow and not come up for weeks.

The sound of the condo door opening jerked me out of my doom spiral. I sat up in time to greet Madeline as she came down the hallway.

As always, she was impeccably dressed—a pantsuit, hair and makeup perfect, carrying a garment bag and rolling a carry-on behind her. You could do a photo shoot for a successful professional with how she looked all the damned time.

“Hi.”

She frowned at me. “Are you all right?”

I closed my eyes and sighed. “Honestly, I’ve been better.”

“Wine, ice cream, talk, or rom-com?”

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