“So he’ll grow on me, huh?” I said to Willow and chuckled.
“What did you say?” Preach glared at me.
Willow whipped around with a huff. “She’s my lab partner, and I told her you would grow on her if she gave you a chance, but even I’m doubting that right now.”
“Whatever. Where are we going?” Preach sat up.
“I get my official brace today,” I said, holding up my bad hand.
“Tell ’em I’m not coming in,” Preach mumbled.
“Sure thing, Cher.” I rolled my eyes.
As the Jeep pulled up to the clinic, I gathered my bag from the floor. “See you guys in an hour.”
“Yay,” Preach said. “Can’t wait to spendallthe time with you,Dream Crusher. Cleaning desks, running from mice, drivingyouall over the place inmycar.”
“Again, you realizeyouhitme, right?” She held up her hand. “And because you can’t drive worth shit, my leave date for basic training is pushed back.”
“Oh, pushed back? Really? Pushed back? You poor little thing!” He shot afuck youglare at me. “Well, I can’teverplay hockey again!”
“Wait, what?” Brodie said from the front of the Jeep as he turned around.
“Preach, no!” Willow’s eyes filled with sorrow.
“Oh shit, your second opinion,” I said.
“Why didn’t you say something?” Brodie asked.
“And it gets better.” Preach laughed. “Mom gambled all my college money away. So, no college for me!”
I sat there, my hand on the door handle, but I was frozen. I couldn’t move. What could I say to that?Holy shit!
“You know what? Screw you guys,” Preach said, then landed a bulldozer-size glare on me. “Just go to your appointment,Dream Crusher.”
I fumbled for the door handle, not feeling sorry for him anymore. “You know what, you’re a dumbass. Instead of working through the bad news, you skipped school and got drunk. That says a lot about you,Preach. You wouldn’t have stayed relevant on a college hockey team. You would have gotten kicked off the team at the first sign of conflict.”
Using my good hand, I yanked on the door handle and almost fell out of the car. A blast of cold air filled my lungs, causing me to cough.
“Hey, Grace. Wait up,” Willow said as she jogged up to me. “Listen, I know it’s not my job to apologize or make excuses for Preach, but he’s going through some stuff. He’s normally a good guy. Maybe just lay off him a bit for the rest of the day? Brodie and I will deal with him. Sober him up.”
“A good guy? Well, if he is, he’s hiding it pretty well,” I huffed and opened the clinic doors.
“Something similar happened to me. I was a mess. My future had been demolished because of one bad jump. One freak injury. Luckily, I had people in my corner to help me get back on my feet.” She stepped into the clinic with me. “He’s in a bad place right now.”
A tiny shred of empathy swirled in my core. I didn’t have time for drama. I just needed to serve my hours and get this wrist fixed up so I could get on with my life.
Grace waved at the receptionist. “Hey, Kaj, Preach isn’t feeling very well and he won’t be able to make it in today. Can you let his PT know?”
Kaj nodded, their long, black hair cascading over their shoulders as they did.
“Thank you. I’ll let Mr. Ken know.” They turned their brown-eyed gaze toward me and said, “Grace, you can head back and hop up on one of the tables. Heidi will be with you in a moment.”
“See you in an hour.” The bell on the door rang as Willow headed back outside.
“Hey, Speedy. How was school?” my dad asked, stepping out from the supply closet, holding two resistance bands and a dumbbell.
“Ah, fine.”