Twisted Collide: The new sports romance in the Redville Saints series
Twisted Collide: Chapter 66

The fluorescent lights of the waiting room flicker a harsh glow above me.

I squint my eyes, a headache brewing behind my lids.

Who knows how long I’ve been sitting here, and I still haven’t heard anything. Robert went back to see if he could replace someone to give us news on Josephine.

The door swings open, and my heart lurches in my chest but then drops when an elderly man walks toward the exit.

Not him.

I wonder how much longer it will take for someone to come out here. My back hunches forward, and I lift my arm to knead the muscles tightened by my neck.

This chair is not the most comfortable.

I can’t believe she fell.

I can’t believe I failed her.

No matter how hard I try, her scream plays on repeat in my mind.

Over and over again, I hear the sound.

Over and over again, I see her fall.

Every time I replay it in my mind, I can still feel the skin on her arm slip across my fingertips when I finally reached out for her.

None of this would have happened if I had only reached out when she first asked me.

I close my eyes, and there it is again.

The sound of the thud.

The blood.

All the blood.

My breathing feels choppy, and I pull in large gulps of air.

“You okay, man?” someone says beside me. “Sin?”

I open my eyes. Mason is there, and Hudson is barreling over in my direction.

Behind him is Aiden, Cassidy in tow.

Hudson’s face looks red with rage. “What happened to our girl?”

“She fell.”

“How the fuck did she fall in a parking lot, Sin?” he practically growls.

“She lost her balance. She was walking on the ledge. It wasn’t that high, only about two feet off the ground, but she hit her head on a loose piece of concrete.” Guilt makes my tongue heavy, but what else can I say? It’s the truth; she lost her balance. She did something stupid and lost her balance.

You let her fall. It’s all your fault.

It’s always your fault.

Molly is the next to enter the room. Her eyes look red-rimmed like she might have been crying. She throws her arms around my neck when she sees me. “Is she okay?”

I shake my head. “I don’t know. I haven’t heard anything yet.”

Molly is the closest thing to a friend as Hellfire has.

She had you.

I had no choice. With my uncle blackmailing me, I can’t be with her. If I had reached out when she asked, she would have thought there was hope for us, but between my uncle and her father, we were over before we even started.

“There’s no news at all?” Hudson asks.

I shake my head. “Nothing.”

I sit back down in the cold metal chair. I’m happy to have my friends here, but they don’t even know the half of my relationship with her.

“Why were you with Josie?” Hudson finally asks. “Alone in the parking lot?”

He eyes me in a way that makes me uncomfortable. Hudson is usually the playful one out of the bunch, but right now, his demeanor is anything but playful.

He thinks I hurt her.

And he is definitely not wrong in a sense.

“What are you implying?” Molly steps up into his space. Eyes colder than ice.

“Mind your business, pest.”

I stand from the chair, moving Molly out of the way, getting up in Hudson’s face. “Do not speak to my sister like that.”

“Enough!” I look to my left to see Robert approaching us.

“There is no need to fight. We’re a team,” Coach Robert tells us.

“Not when he’s speaking to my sister like that.” I grunt.

Molly’s small hand touches mine for a second, giving me a squeeze. “While I appreciate the big brother act, I can handle myself.”

She can, but I’ve spent my whole life protecting her. I’m not going to stop now.

I finally nod and sit back down.

Aiden turns to Coach. “Any news?”

“Nothing yet.”

“Well, maybe if we knew what happened,” Hudson starts up again, and Molly practically growls at him.

“She fell. Want to know why? ’Cause we were arguing. But I didn’t push her. She was on the ledge, walking, and she fell.” I lift my hands and bury my head in them. “I couldn’t get to her in time.”

“It wasn’t your fault.” Robert places his hand on my shoulder, and I’m surprised he doesn’t ask what we were fighting about. I’m surprised none of them do. Then again, they’ve always respected my space. “Accidents happen.”

But it was my fault.

I’m the reason she was there.

I’m the reason she fell.

And if I were a better man, none of this would have happened. She would have been okay if I had just stayed out of her life.

I’m not good for her.

Just then, the ER door opens, and a doctor walks out.

“Father of Josephine Moreau?”

Robert moves to him quickly. “I’m Josie’s father.”

I move closer to hear, but I’m not sure I’ll be able to make out his words with the way my heart pounds in my chest.

The doctor nods to Robert before speaking. “Your daughter suffered a concussion. She also has a pretty nasty gash on her hairline. That’s where the bleeding came from. We ran a CT scan to check for any internal bleeding or swelling in the brain, and thankfully, everything looks normal.”

“She’s going to be okay?” Robert’s body trembles.

“Yes, she has sprained her ankle, and we do want to keep her here for observation due to the blood loss and concussion, but I expect her to make a full recovery.”

Relief floods me at first, but then it’s soon replaced with a thick guilt that chokes me from the inside.

“Can I see her?”

“Of course. She’s in room 505.”

“Thank you,” he says before he turns and nods a thank-you to us as well, then he follows the doctor to his daughter.

Now that I know she’ll be okay, I can’t stay.

“I have to go.” I head toward the door.

“Dane, wait.” Molly comes rushing at me.

“I can’t.”