Page 257 of Wrong Pucking Jersey

“Do I?”

“Maddox.”

“Mikayla,” he sweetly states, leaving me to give up once again on this losing battle.

If we have to stay in this hospital for a day, I’ll die from anxiety.

That’s why he’s nagging me.

Distracting me.

Doing what I need to keep me somewhat sane until I’m in the quietness of my safe haven, where I can let the tears run down my cheeks and sob away my sorrows.

I’m happy to be alive.

That’s not why I feel like an emotional bomb that’s ticking to its explosive demise.

I hate hospitals.

Hate worrying people.

Dislike being in positions that make me feel helpless.

All it reminds me of is my late youth and the agony that showed all the time in my mother’s eyes.

As her life dwindled away… until she was nothing but ash.

“Sorry.”

The two of us blink and look to our right to confirm the word of apology came from Wolfgang. His head hangs low, his eyes staring at the spoon of oatmeal that’s still in his grasp.

My eyes widen when I see the droplets of water that follow, a droplet falling into the center of the spoon that trembles slightly.

“If… I checked my phone properly, none of this would have happened. You wouldn’t have been at risk, injured, or forced to be on time off. My negligence potentially cost your dreams… Mishka’s internship, Maddox’s career. It’s all because of me.” His voice overflows with sadness, and it breaks my damn heart that he’s putting on the blame on his shoulders. “I thought I could ignore those text messages. I’ve done so for six years. I didn’t think they would actually act on it. That they were willing to put those I love… in danger’s way.”

He takes a shaky breath before he lifts his head so we can see his tear-stricken face.

“If you want me off the team, Maddox, I’ll understand,” he begins as he looks into Maddox’s eyes. Then he turns his gaze to me. “And if you no longer want me being a part of the Heartbreaker Crew…involved…romantically with you, Mishka, I under—”

“???????????????.”

Maddox and I must be on the same wavelength because the single word leaves our mouths at the same time, stopping him from staring to say such words into existence.

“Wolfgang,” I begin as I reach with my trembling hand to take the spoon from his grasp and put it on the side of the food tray that I’d barely touched. “Don’t you dare say such a thing? Don’t you throw away what we’ve just started?”

“It’s my fault you almost died, Mishka!” he can’t even fight the sobs that follow. More tears flow down his flushed cheeks, making me teary-eyed.

Wolfgang doesn’t cry.

It’s been such a long time since I’ve seen tears shed from those beautiful eyes that are always playful or admiring me from afar. Sadness didn’t suit Wolfgang. Seeing him so heartbroken makes me want to throw the towel in on all this and give up on my dreams.

I know some would say it’s stupid to be so emotionally moved to throw away the towel over a man’s expression of emotion, but that’s how important this is to me. How important it is for this to work.

This new relationship between my Heartbreaker Crew.

We can’t back down, or all this progress will be in vain.

Without hesitation, I lean forward enough to kiss him, my shaky hands lifting to brush away his streaming tears.

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