“I’ll go grab them for you, Mikayla.”

“Y-You don’t have to,” she argues, her eyes still puff and red from crying. “It’s not like a life and death reaction to Hydras. I can just go back to my dorm and get some allergy medicine. Besides, we’re supposed to be focusing on Maddox.”

I love how she’s trying to divert the attention from herself.

“It’s better to be safe than sorry, Mickey,” I voice with a sense of urgency. “You’re our team nurse. We have to ensure you’re taken care of. Just like how you ensure we’re all intact before and after every practice.”

She looks at me with her glassy eyes.

If Dr. Bridgett wasn’t here, she’d be glaring at my obvious attempt to get us alone.

All three of us.

I wanted to get this over with. To confront the elephant in the room that’s lasted for longer than five years.

I knew Damien was ready to make moves, and I wasn’t sure about Wolfgang, but Maddox already claimed our Heartbreaker Queen as the leader of our crew.

At least, the remainder of our crew.

All we need is to get the idea out there and see where we stand. We’re no longer the immature boys from years ago who didn’t know what we wanted in life.

Five years was more than enough to realize, all we want is right here.

Our Queen should have been ours five years ago.

“Mikayla, Ace is right. You’re important to the team, and there’s a game at the end of this week. We need you at the game, so it’s best for us to prevent you from further contributing to a potential allergic reaction,” Dr. Bridgett emphasizes. “It’ll only take me ten to fifteen minutes, then I’ll be back,” she concludes and heads to the door. Opening it, she glances back at Maddox and me.

“Look after Mikayla until I get back. If her reaction worsens before I arrive, there are EpiPens in the locked drawer there. The emergency code is 555.”

“Thank you Dr. Bridgett for taking our concerns seriously,” I sweet talk while giving the believable worried eyes. “I’m really glad we came by and didn’t dismiss our concerns.”

“If possible, can you write a note after this is done in regard to why we took so long to get back?” Maddox offers. “I don’t want Coach Cyrus thinking we’re slacking without good reasoning.”

“Certainly!” She bobs her head. “I’ll call him on my way and let him know you three are still at the nurse’s office, so you might miss the remainder of practice. He’ll understand our precautions once I give him an overview.”

“Much appreciated,” Maddox answers with a voice filled with gratefulness.

We should have just gone to acting school at this point.

Dr. Bridgett looks at Mikayla.

“Just focus on breathing, Mikayla, and if you have troubles, use the oxygen mask behind you to help. If you really feel off, don’t hesitate to call 911.”

“I don’t think it will get that serious,” she mumbles. “Thank you, Dr. Bridgett. I’ll do that if need be.”

“Excellent. I’ll be back.”

The moment she closes the door, I lock it and turn to look at the King and Queen of our rebuilding Heartbreaker Crew.

Please let this spontaneous, risky decision pay off.

“Before we jump to the point,” I begin. “When Dr. Bridgett returns, we go with the alibi that I managed to have a dose of allergen medicine in my emergency pouch.”

The way the two of them stare at me in disbelief only has me chuckling.

Leaning back against the door, I reach into the hidden pocket I created in the inside layer of my jersey and pull out the smallest pouch that represents exactly what I’m talking about.

Mickey’s blue eyes are wide and reflect her absolute shock.