I wasn’t a fan of all the attention. I’m not one to flaunt or showboat around and as far as Maize goes, after the incident, she mostly kept to herself or hung out with Kaitlyn. I found out later she was a scholarship student. Maybe she had to focus on her running and classwork and didn’t have time for parties. That doesn’t change the fact that she was one of the mean girls—girls who never had anything to do with me until I was a baller. Of course, Chelsea Haverstock was a mean girl too and that didn’t stop me from sleeping with her in my senior year of high school.
“She looks different,” Linc says.
He’s right. She does look different. She was a cute sixteen-year-old, now she’s a tall, gorgeous college senior who excels in track. Impressive really, and now I might have taken it all away from her. Just because I don’t like her doesn’t mean I want bad things for her.
“Fuck,” I say again. I’m responsible for the accident and I need to at least see what I can do to help. “Listen, I’m going to go to the hospital.”
“I’ll come with you,” Linc says.
Steph slides her arm around Linc. “Me too.”
“Hey, what’s going on?” I glance up to see Kaitlyn coming toward me. Her ponytail bounces as she picks up her pace. “I was out front when I heard the ambulance. Who’s hurt?” She glances around the track, and her face pales as worry moves into her eyes. “Wait, shit. Where’s Maize?”
I jerk my thumb over my shoulder, to the street. “She, uh…”
“Oh my God, is Maize hurt?” she asks, her voice rising, bordering on hysteria as her gaze goes from me to Linc, to Steph, back to me again.
“It’s her ankle. I think it might be broken.”
“Holy shit.” She starts toward the street.
“Where are you going?” I call out.
“To the hospital. Where do you think I’m going?”
“I’m going too. Come on. I’ll drive you.”
She keeps walking, and I guess if Maize hates me, her best friend does too. “It’s too far to walk. Come on, Kaitlyn, I’ll drive.”
She slows and spins, her jaw tight. I don’t miss the way Steph has her head lowered, like she’s looking down her nose at Kaitlyn, because she’s not dressed in the latest, most fashionable yoga clothes from that ridiculously overpriced store.
She yells out, “Fine.”
“Meet me in the lot,” I say and hand my keys to Steph. She takes them and doesn’t even acknowledge Kaitlyn as she stalks off, not bothering to wait or make conversation. She could at least show concern for Kaitlyn’s best friend.
I nod to Linc and we head to the locker rooms to change. A few minutes later, I’m behind the wheel of my Jeep, Kaitlyn beside me and Linc and Steph in the back as I maneuver through the campus and hit the street. Ten minutes later, I’m at the hospital and squeeze my Jeep between two cars. Linc pulls up his parking app to pay, as Kaitlyn and I both hurry inside.
Kaitlyn scans the waiting room. “They must have taken her in already.”
“I’ll go find out.” I walk up to the nurse’s station, and a pretty little blonde behind the counter offers me a big smile.
“Hi there.” She smiles, and Kaitlyn snorts behind me.
“Seriously,” she murmurs.
Ignoring her, because I am not flirting like she thinks, I ask about Maize and find out that she’s been rushed to surgery. I thank the nurse and plop down into a chair next to Kaitlyn.
She turns to me, her face tight. “What the hell happened anyway?”
My stomach twists as I toss my car keys to Linc. “No sense in you both hanging out here. I’ll give you a call when I know more and you can come get us then.”
Linc catches the keys and nods, and I bend forward to brace my elbows on my knees.
“Are you going to answer me?” Before I can get a word out she continues. “It obviously has something to do with you, considering you’re sitting here.”
“It was an accident.”
She snorts. “Oh, just like you pulling down your pants. Was that an accident too, Christian?” What the fuck is she talking about? I don’t get the chance to ask before she blurts out, “Okay, tell me everything. Exactly what happened.”
I let her earlier comment go, and exhale. “Kyle missed the ball, and it hit her. She went flying and landed hard.” I steal a quick glance at Kaitlyn to find her shaking her head, and I can almost hear the wheels spinning.
“Fuck,” she murmurs. “This is bad, so bad.”
“Yeah, my sentiments exactly.” I glance at Kaitlyn’s ponytail, the glow on her cheeks, like she’d just been running herself. “What does this mean for her? You know, for track.” I have no idea if she’s a scholarship student here or not, but I can only assume she is, based on the fact that she told me I’ve probably ruined her future. I didn’t want to come right out and ask, and make her feel, less, somehow.
Instead of answering, Kaitlyn pushes from the chair, and shoves her hands into her pockets, but her non-answer says it all. Shit. Kaitlyn paces for a few seconds and heads to the coffee machine. Coins plink as she drops them into the slot, followed by gurgling sounds. She surprises me by coming back with two paper cups.
“Thanks.”
She doesn’t respond. Instead, she sits down and loudly sips, like she’s purposely trying to annoy me, but I’m already upset with myself as it is. I toss up a silent prayer, and tell myself that it’s nothing serious and that after minor surgery she’ll be back on her feet in no time. My gut however, doesn’t quite believe it.
“Should we call her parents or something?” I ask.
“No.”
I shift on the hard plastic
