Page 191 of Make Us Yours
~ One Week Later ~
Something’s wrong.
I’m not sure what, but I feel… off.
I’ve felt it since I woke up this morning, a knot in my gut that won’t go away. Like when you forget something super important, and all day, your mind will sense that you’re forgetting something. But this time, it doesn’t feel like something forgotten.
It feels like dread.
It’s the same feeling I had when I walked into the care facility—the day we found out Trinity wasn’t doing well. It’s that feeling of knowing something’s about to happen but not being able to put your finger down onwhatexactly.
When I was on my morning jog with Veronica this morning, she could sense something was off, and when she asked, I told her I felt strange. She said I probably just slept wrong or was hungry and that it would pass. But I didn’t sleep wrong, and I wasn’t hungry, and it still hasn’t passed.
The problem is, I’m not the only one who feels it.
Gabe, who’s usually happy-go-lucky throughout the day, woke up with a sour face. He told me he kept having a strange dream but couldn’t remember what it was. All he remembers is a loud crashing sound and running. And since then, he’s had a strange look on his face, like he’s anxious about something.
We’re currently on our way to the training facility in my Aston Martin for our late morning practice, and I find myself worrying the farther away we get from home. Just leaving was rough; I didn’t want to go, and neither did Gabe. I think he held on to Veronica for a good ten minutes before I forced him into the elevator.
Gabe is looking out the window, chewing on his lip with his phone in hand. Hekeeps sending texts to our girl and breathes out when she replies a few seconds later. My fingers drum against the steering wheel, desperately wanting to grab onto the wheel and turn us around.
“Should we tell her to go to one of the houses? Maybe she could go spend the day with Aubrey and her guard,” Gabe asks, looking at me with uncertainty in his eyes.
“I don’t know…” I work my jaw, unsure what to do about this feeling.What if we’re just overreacting? Maybe we’re just growing impatient with the whole Victor thing.“I’m sure everything is fine. Let’s just get through our practice, and then we’ll go straight home.”
Or maybe we’re just anxious because in two days, we’re leaving for an eight-day away stretch, and it will be the first time we leave Veronica alone for so long.
“Yeah, okay…” He nods, but he doesn’t seem convinced.
“She has security. Marcos and Ricky are right outside the building. Nothing’s going to happen to her,” I tell him, trying to ease his worry and mine at the same time.
“I know.”
A few minutes later, we arrive at the training facility and make our way into the building. But we get stopped right at the entrance when we notice the whole team waiting around, with Coach and our General Manager talking to someone who works here. There are big yellow caution tapes blocking our access to where we need to go.
“What’s going on?” I ask as Gabe and I reach Silas, who stands in the front near Coach.
“One of the main pipes burst overnight, flooding the rink and gym,” Silas says, listening in on the conversation happening beside him.
“I don’t think we’ll be doing any practice or training today,” Clay mutters as we wait for the verdict.
Finally, the worker leaves, heading down the hall behind the yellow tape as Coach turns to us. “All right, boys, listen up. Practice is canceled for today since we were unaware of this situation and don’t have a spare place to train with such short notice.” He gives us all a tight smile.
“Luckily, we won’t be needing the facility until we get back from the road, so let’s hope all is back to normal by then. We’ll notify you all if there are any changes. You all head home and enjoy your time off with your families, I’ll see you all at the airport in two days.”
We all turn and head back out to the parking lot, not in the least upset about getting an extra day of rest. “Hey, you guys want to come over for dinner later?Morgan’s finally past her nausea stage and started cooking again; she’s been going at it for the past two days. Claimed she missed it,” Clay offers as he heads over to his SUV.
“Sounds good to me,” Silas tells him as he jumps into his Range Rover.
“We’ll be there,” Grey says, opening his truck door.
I look at Gabe, who shrugs. “Yeah, sure. We’ll see you guys later,” I tell him as we get back into my car.
My foot’s heavy on the gas as we drive home, that feeling inside of me growing by the second. I don’t know what it is, but I know we need to get home. Even Gabe is getting antsier with every mile we pass, his knee bouncing up and down as he drums his fingers on his thigh.
“I don’t like this… I feel like I’m gonna be sick.”
I look over to him. “Do you want me to pull over?”
