Page 25 of Screwed
Seeing her with that sick little girl, being so warm and nice, dressing up as a princess to make Hannah happy, visiting the hospital—which was a crap place to be—and nearly in tears because a little girl she barely knew was dying…a strange sensation twisted in his chest. The affection he’d developed for Callie over the years, as well as the inconvenient physical attraction he’d always felt for her, now mixed with admiration. It all swelled up inside him and became something…huge. Intense.
Impossible.
She was his best friend’s girlfriend. And he was in love with her.
Time stopped, and his world narrowed to a pinpoint of light as this realization struck him. He felt like he’d been tackled hard and slammed to the ground.
“Are you okay?”
He focused on her face, her eyebrows pinched together. “Yeah.”
“Is there anything you need? Or want?”
Oh fuck. He stared at her. So pretty and sweet, gazing back at him with innocent eyes.
You. I need you. I wantyou.
He was so screwed.
“Why aren’t you at the game?” he managed to croak.
“Oh. I’ll get there.” She lifted a shoulder. “Want me to get you a Coke or anything?”
He swallowed and curled his fingers into the hospital blanket. “I’m good.”
“I guess you won’t be able to play for a while.”
“Yeah. They said a couple of weeks, at least.”
“That sucks.”
“Yeah.” He cleared his throat. “But I won’t miss many classes.”
“That’s good. I’m sure Beau will help you catch up with anything you miss.”
They were both engineering students. “Yeah.”
“And if you need anything when you get home, let us know.” She paused. “When you get discharged, call us. We can come pick you up.”
“What makes you do that?”
“Do what?”
“Volunteer.”
“Oh. Well, the sorority does a lot of charity work. I’m the one who got involved with Make-A-Wish, and then I roped some of the other girls into doing the Princess Ball with me. I…like making kids happy. It puts my own problems into perspective.” A faint shadow passed over her features that made him wonder what kind of problems Callie Sutherland could have.
“Yeah,” he agreed with a wry smile. “I was lying here feeling sorry for myself until Hannah came in and told me her story. So thanks for that.”
Their eyes met, and she smiled. “These kids are amazing. So strong and brave. Inspiring.”
Again…why did she need to be inspired? She led the perfect, charmed life. He longed to know…because if there was anything he could do to make Callie happy…he’d do it. He’d do anything.
Even if that meant…staying away from her.
Chapter Six
Present day
