“You okay to drive?” I ask, hoping that he is. I’ve had too much to drink. He seems fairly sober.
“I had a beer a couple of hours ago, but that was it,” he says, as he puts the vehicle in reverse and starts to back out of the space. “I’m fine.”
It’s a tension-filled car ride the entire way. Eli’s worry radiates off of him in waves, and his brother calls about thirty minutes into the journey, frustrated that we aren’t there yet.
“Where the fuck were you anyway?” Ryan asks, sounding furious.
“Up by the lake at a costume party,” Eli tells him, his voice ragged. “The house was over an hour away from the hospital. We’re halfway there.”
“We? Who are you with?”
“Ava came with me.” He sends me a quick look.
“I thought you two were broken up.”
Eli winces. “We’re—back together.”
I don’t correct him because I feel the same way, even though we didn’t actually say those words to each other. I don’t do anything but stare straight ahead, curling my hands into fists, hating how shaky and nervous I feel. I need to be strong for Eli right now. He needs me. I can’t be all worked up over what his brother is saying and how he’s treating Eli. He’s just worried.
“Well, what the fuck ever, just call me when you get there and find out what’s going on with Mom, okay?”
“Will do,” Eli says, his voice determined.
They end the call and, once again, there’s silence. But I don’t think I can stand it. I want to ask questions, but should I? I don’t want to upset Eli more.
I’m curious though. I want to know.
“Do you know what happened? With the car accident?”
He nods. “She was by herself. And her blood alcohol level was over the legal limit so I guess the cops want to arrest her. Even though she hasn’t done anything or hurt anyone but herself. Fuck, I don’t know. I guess we’ll find out.”
“What are the extent of her injuries?” I ask.
“That I don’t know. Ryan didn’t say much, so I guess we’ll find out.” His jaw hardens. “She’ll be fine. She has to be.”
I hope so. The relationship Eli has with his mother has always been described as volatile, but I know he’d be devastated if something horrible happened to her.
Completely devastated.
We make small talk, but it’s forced. Eli is completely distracted. Worried. And I don’t want him so preoccupied he gets us in a car accident as well, so I stop trying to keep up the conversation. By the time we’re at the hospital, it’s late, yet the parking lot is crowded. Eli finds a spot to park and whips into it, shutting off the car and climbing out without waiting for me or talking to me at all.
I feel invisible as I follow him into the emergency room. My phone dings with a notification and I check to see it’s Ellie, who I texted right after we left to let her know what’s going on.
Ellie: You at the hospital yet?
Me: We just got here.
Ellie: Keep me updated, okay? When you get a chance.
Me: Will do.
“She’s in a room,” Eli says to me after he’s spoken with someone at the front desk. “The nurse didn’t go into detail, but she said we could head up to the second floor. That’s where she’s at.”
“Let’s go,” I say, going to him and taking hold of his hand. “Come on.”
I take the lead, finding the elevator, the two of us standing close as we wait for it. We stand even closer as we ride the elevator. I wish I could comfort him. My arms literally ache to do so, but he’s so tense, his body practically vibrates.
All I want to do is make him feel better.
We exit the elevator and approach another desk, and this time, the nurse is full of information. I stand right next to Eli the entire conversation, wanting to hear what she has to say.
“Your mother is okay.” The woman scans the computer screen in front of her. “Lacerations to her face, most likely caused by the airbag. Ummm…” She taps at the keyboard, squinting at the screen. “Looks like she has bruised ribs and a possible concussion. They’re keeping her overnight for observation.”
“That’s it?” Eli asks hopefully.
The nurse glances up at him. “Injury wise, she came out fairly unscathed, which is normal when it’s a drunk-driving case.”
Eli’s entire body tenses up. “Are you sure she was drunk?”
“Alcohol level noted at .09, almost a .10. Yes, she was legally intoxicated.” The nurse’s expression is not particularly friendly. “Does she drink and drive often?”
“I don’t know. I don’t control her,” Eli retorts.
I place my hand on his arm, trying to calm him. He sends me a questioning look but otherwise doesn’t say anything. “What room is she in?”
“Two-thirty-six.” The nurse points down the hall. “But it’s not currently visiting hours.”
“Don’t really care,” he says, as he pushes away from the counter and heads down the hall toward her room. I send the nurse an apologetic look and follow after him, stopping short when he enters the room, without hesitation, marching right up to the bed she’s lying in.
He’s standing at her bedside when I walk inside the room and pause at the foot of the bed.
“Mom,” he whispers, his voice rough with emotion as he stares at her face. There are bruises already forming, and tiny cuts on her face too. One laceration is so large, she has a giant bandage covering it. “Mom, wake up.”
She doesn’t react at all. I haven’t seen his mother in a while, but she looks really thin. Almost gaunt. She’s lying flat on her back, her arms at her sides, her entire body eerily still.
It’s a little freaky.
Eli settles his hand on top of her head, his touch gentle as he drinks in her beat-up face. I see the pain cross his own face, the way he frowns and swallows hard. He strokes her hair carefully, his voice louder.
“Mom, it’s me. Eli. Wake up. I want to talk to you.”
She makes a noise, like a little groan, turning away from him. He keeps speaking, his tone low and soothing until her eyes finally flutter open and she turns to look at him.
“Eli,” she says, her voice full of wonder. “What are you doing here?”
“I came as soon as I heard,” he says, trying to smile at her, but it comes out looking forced, so he gives up. “You okay?”
“It hurts.” She averts her head, her eyes falling closed. “My whole body.”
“What happened?”
“Swerved to avoid a rabbit that darted out into the road.” She shakes her head, grimacing. “Hit a tree.”
Eli’s silent as he takes in what she said. So am I, feeling helpless. I can’t do anything or say anything. Why did I come?
To be here for Eli. To give him support when he needs it the most. He’s hurting. And probably doesn’t know how to deal with this.
I’ll help him the best that I can.
“I always tell you to just hit those little fuckers,” he says ferociously. “Now look, you got in an accident over them.”
“Eli, language,” she says on a gasp, a soft bit of laughter leaving her. “It’s okay. I’m okay. Not so sure about the car though.”
He sends me a look before he returns his attention to his mom. “Did you talk to the cops?”
“The cops? Yes, the police were there, but…why would I talk to them?” She frowns, a little crease forming between her eyebrows.
“Mom.” He brushes his fingers through her hair again, seeming at a loss. “They said—they said you’d been drinking.”
“I had a few glasses of wine. No big deal.” She waves a dismissive hand, wincing. It’s as if every little movement pains her.
“The nurse said something about the cops possibly pressing charges.”
“I’m harmless.”
He makes a disgusted noise, then immediately contains it. “We’ll talk tomorrow.”
“Are they keeping me here overnight?” She tries to lif
t her head, glancing around the room. “I don’t want to stay overnight.”
“The doctor wants to keep you for observation.” He reaches for her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. “They’re just doing what’s best for you.”
She nods, turning her head in my direction, her eyes going wide when she spots me. “Ava, is that you?”
I send her an awkward wave, feeling dumb. “Hi.”
Her gaze goes from me to Eli, and then back to me. “I thought you two were broken up.”
“We’re working on it,” Eli says, his voice clipped.
He won’t look at me, and it kind of hurts, but I know he’s not mad at me. He’s in pain. Confused and conflicted. I’m sure he’s scared for his mom, and mad at her too; she did this to herself. I thought she’d stopped drinking so much.
Apparently not.
“Aw, that’s nice. Always did like you,” his mother tells me, her eyes sliding closed.
Eli makes more small talk with her while I text Ellie and keep her up-to-date on what’s going on with his mother. She says all the right, supportive things and I can’t help but think I lucked out in the best friend department.
She’s such a good friend to me. I don’t know what I’d do without her.
We’re in his mom’s room for over an hour when Eli suddenly approaches me, his expression serious.
“I want to stay, but I don’t think she’ll know whether I’m here or not.” He waves a hand in the direction of the bed, where it appears his mother is sleeping peacefully.
“She’ll be safe here. We can leave her and you can go home and get some sleep yourself. Then come back in the morning to pick her up and take her home,” I suggest.
He nods, his expression grim. “You don’t think she’ll be upset when she wakes up and I’m not here?”
“She’ll be okay,” I reassure him. “You can call her first thing in the morning. She’ll understand you wanted to go home.”
“I have my game tomorrow.” He makes a face. “I won’t have time to pick her up from the hospital. Guess I’ll have to miss the game.”
Alarm races through me and I touch his arm. He can’t miss tomorrow’s game. Too much is at stake for him—like his future. “I can pick her up for you.”
He frowns, his gaze locked on me. “You would do that for me?”
“I want to help. I don’t mind.” I smile at him, suddenly feeling a little shy. I don’t know why, considering I would’ve done this before, when we were together. And now we sort of are again, so it makes sense. Right? “Are you ready to leave?”
Eli glances at the hospital bed, watching his mom for a moment before he turns back to me. “Okay, yeah. Let’s go.”
We leave the hospital in a hurry, both of us acting as if we can’t wait to get out of there. The antiseptic smell clings to my nostrils, even after we’ve both climbed into the car and we’re back on the road. From the hospital, we’re still almost forty minutes from Eli’s house, and even farther to mine.
I’m kind of hoping I’ll get to stay the night at Eli’s, though I don’t want to push. But where else am I going to go? Plus, he’s exhausted. I’m sure he just wants to crash into bed, not drive me all the way back to my parents’ house an hour away from here.
“Thank you for coming with me,” he says, as he’s pulling out of the parking lot.
“Of course,” I tell him softly. “I don’t think I did much, but you’re welcome.”
“It helped just knowing you were there.” He glances over at me, his gaze meeting mine. “It always helps, knowing you’re in my corner.”
My chest grows tight at his admission. “I will always be in your corner, Eli. Even when we were broken up and you were being a jerk, I was still totally in your corner. Always supporting you.”
He’s quiet, returning his concentration to the road, his hands gripping the steering wheel tightly. I watch him, noting the exhaustion lining his face. His hair mussed from him running his fingers through it. Faint lines bracket either side of his mouth, and for the first time ever, I realize he looks so much older.
And so tired.
“You want me to take you home?” he asks, his voice quiet.
When he looks in my direction, I slowly shake my head. “I want to go home with you, Eli.”
Twenty-Three
Eli
I’m stunned by Ava’s request, but then again not. We did just pretty much make up back at Jackson’s party. I was about to take off her clothes too, until the phone call.
Still can’t believe my mom crashed her car into a damn tree, all to save a stupid rabbit.
I shake my head, frustration mixed with anger making my blood simmer. Her car accident was stupid. I can think this because she didn’t badly hurt herself, thank God. It could’ve been so much worse. She could’ve wrecked with another car. She could’ve killed innocent people—
No. I can’t think about it. Something needs to change. It’s going to be a hard conversation to have with her but, damn it, my mother needs to lay off the booze once and for all.
And it’s all on me to make her stop.
I head into the turn lane, grateful when the light turns green almost immediately and I’m able to whip a U-turn, heading back the way we came until we pass the hospital and we’re on the way to my apartment.
Caleb won’t be home. They’re staying the night up at Jackson’s rental. That had been my plan too, until this.
I scrub a hand over my face, trying to tamp down my frustration.
“I guess you’re okay with me coming home with you?” she asks, amusement lacing her tone.
“Definitely,” I say gruffly, reaching out to settle my hand on her bare knee, my fingers sliding upward along her thigh. If I was in a better mood, I might try to get her off while driving, but my mood is actually for shit and I’m exhausted.
So I lift my hand from her thigh and settle it back on the steering wheel like a boring ass chump.
By the time we’re pulling into the parking lot of my apartment complex, my eyelids feel like they have concrete blocks sitting on top of them, they’re so heavy. We climb out of the car and I lock it, then Ava follows me to my apartment building.
“This is nice,” she says as she looks around, a shiver moving through her since it’s so late at night and pretty fucking cold, especially considering what she’s wearing, which isn’t much. “Looks brand-new.”
“It is,” I tell her, leading her right to our front door. I unlock it and let her inside first, following after her and shutting and locking the door behind me. I don’t bother turning on any lights. I just head straight for my bedroom and Ava falls into step behind me, hurrying along.
The moment we’re in my room I close the door, toeing off my shoes almost immediately.
“I’m exhausted.”
“I’m sure,” she murmurs, watching as I collapse on the edge of the mattress and pull my shirt up and over my head, dropping it onto the floor. I undo the fly of my jeans and rise to my feet, once more, tugging them off. Until I’m just standing there in only my boxers and my socks, wishing I was in the mood to take this in a different direction.
But I’m not. I need sleep.
I just want to forget what happened tonight with my mom. At least for a little bit.
“Come on.” Ava approaches me, her fingers curling around mine. She turns me to face the bed, then reaches for the comforter and tugs it back. “Get into bed.”
I let go of her hand and crawl under the covers, rolling onto my back at the same time that she covers me with the comforter, pulling it up to my chin. “Taking care of me?”
Her smile is faint. “You’re letting me so…yes.”
She shrugs out of the flannel shirt and I watch her with heavy-lidded eyes, my gaze eating her up. That fucking tank top should be illegal. Her tits appear ready to pop out of the neckline at any moment. She plops her perfect butt on the edge of my bed and kicks off the cowboy boots, a pleasurable little moan leaving her after she removes each on
e.
I shouldn’t find that sound arousing, but I do.
“My feet were killing me,” she announces as she stands once more, her hands going to the front snap of her denim shorts as she slowly scans my room. “Do you mind if I take a shower?”
“Go for it,” I murmur, anxiously waiting for her to drop those shorts.
I might be tired, but I’m not dead.
She lets them fall, revealing that she’s wearing pale pink panties with thin white stripes.
Fuck.
Ava kicks off the shorts and makes her way back over to me, bending over so her tits half hang out of her top, pressing her mouth against my forehead. “Go to sleep,” she murmurs against my skin before she lifts away from me.
She’s standing in my room in a skimpy tank and a pair of panties, every one of my wet dreams coming true, and I’m so exhausted I can barely move.
Fuck my life. Seriously.
“Grab a T-shirt from my closet,” I tell her, pointing to where it’s at. “To wear to bed.”
“Okay,” she chirps as she turns toward the closet, flashing her mostly bare ass to me, since those panties are really nothing but a skimpy thong.
Jesus. I might have a heart attack.
My eyes close as I hear her rummage through my closet. God knows what she’s finding, but damn it, I have nothing to hide. This girl knows everything there is to discover about me. I have no secrets.
She leaves the closet and then I hear the gentle closing of the bathroom door. The sound of water turning on as she starts her shower. My mind starts to drift, filled with pleasant, sexy images of Ava in her undies and tank. Of her perfect breasts straining against the fabric when she leaned over me. If I’d been more awake, I would’ve nipped at her. Grazed my teeth against her nipple. Tugged the fabric down farther and exposed her completely.
Yeah. Did none of that. All I can do is smile as I drift off to sleep, secure in the fact that my girl is back.
My girl is mine.
Something’s tickling my nose.
I wrinkle it, trying to get away from whatever it is touching me, but it’s right there. Surrounding me. I don’t want to open my eyes or check my phone. I’m warm and sleepy and I don’t want to know what time it is. Not yet. That might ruin everything.
The Senior (College Years Book 4) Page 19