Alex

“But I’m her boyfriend,” Alex said laying on the charm. “I’m practically family.”

“That may be so,” the nurse in the ugly pink and white bird shirt intoned. “But unless you’re a blood relative, I can’t let you back to see Miss Adams.”

Alex swallowed his annoyance. He wasn’t used to being told no, but he wasn’t deterred. He flashed his panty-dropping smile and leaned over the counter. “Look,” he said in a low voice. “You might not realize who I am, but I need access to my girlfriend’s room.” He twisted so the number four on his jersey was visible and poured on the charm as he winked his sinfully chocolate eyes at the nurse. But the damn woman’s frown only deepened.

For real? What was wrong with this imbecile? Everyone in LA knew who number four was. Alex Alvez was a household name. He was the first high school soccer player to ever score a corporate sponsorship. His face was on Nike billboards up and down the freeways.

“What’s it gonna take?” Alex asked pulling out his wallet. He thumbed through the stack of hundred dollar bills before plucking a few out.

“That’s it, get out,” the nurse ordered pointing toward the exit.

“Are you getting this?” Alex yelled to his cameraman. “This is discrimination. I’m going to file a lawsuit.”

The nurse paled and started stuttering angrily, but just then an officer and doctor came through the double doors from the patient wing to the waiting room. The officer instantly bristled taking in the scene. “What’s going on here?” he demanded.

“This man was trying to see a patient that isn’t authorized for visitors and they won’t turn their cameras off,” the nurse accused, pointing at Alex’s crew.

Great. This was not what he needed right now. Alex was exhausted from the game and he’d played terribly because Lucy had let him down. Of course once he found out why she wasn’t there he felt a little bad. He decided to show up to check on her, knowing footage of her in a hospital bed would go a long way to smooth over his shitty performance on the field.

“Officer,” Alex started, but the doctor interrupted.

“Alex Alvez?”

“Yes!” Finally, someone in this dump recognized him.

“I’m assuming you’re here to see Lucy?”

“Yes,” Alex said waving his camera crew over. “I’m just trying to see my girlfriend. I’ve been told she was in a terrible car accident.”

The cop cut between Alex and the doctor, shoving the camera lenses down with a forceful hand. “No media filming in any California state medical facility without permits.”

“I have a permit,” Alex said angrily, even though he didn’t—at least not for this particular hospital.

“Can you produce it?” the cop asked.

When Alex didn’t answer, the cop nodded his chin toward the exit. “Like the nice nurse said, no filming and no visitors. Check back tomorrow, and without the cameras.”

Alex reined in his temper and turned away from the cop, motioning for his crew to head out. Alex stomped past them and was halfway out of the hospital before the doctor caught up with him.

“Wait,” he called.

Alex motioned for his crew to leave them alone and then turned abruptly to face the doctor. “What?”

“If you ditch the camera crew I can get you in to see your girlfriend.”

Alex took an aggressive step toward the doctor. The guy was a head taller than him, but Alex was through keeping a lid on his temper. Lucy’s disappearing act had royally screwed with his performance on the field tonight and now Alex couldn’t even get any footage of her in her damn hospital bed to get some sympathy after she’d made him look like a fool.

After the game, he’d had to answer about thirty reporters’ questions about why Lucy wasn’t there, not to mention the millions of comments flooding his social media about Trista McAllister. Kissing her at the game today may not have been the best idea.

Alex already was pissy enough about losing the game. He didn’t need to deal with people commenting about who he kissed. And he didn’t need some doctor who looked barely older than he was giving him pity access. He was fucking Alex Alvez. He didn’t do pity.

“Thanks, but I’ll pass,” Alex hissed, his voice full of venom. Then he stormed out of the hospital and headed to his Range Rover.

Alex was way past wanting to see Lucy. If he went to her room right now he’d say something neither of them wanted to hear—that this thing between them was over. It had been for a while, but she still owed him and he was gonna make damn sure she kept up her end of the bargain.

Jaxon

Wow! Douche nozzle didn’t even begin to cover it with this guy. What the hell did Lucy see in him? What did anyone see in him? There were plenty of good soccer players out there, but no amount of athletic skill or money condoned such horrid douchebaggery.

Jaxon had been trying to do the guy a solid. He’d thought Alex was probably a wreck worrying about his girlfriend. Jaxon had been willing to page his uncle to see if he had a minute to talk to Alex and maybe take him back to Lucy’s room just to put his mind at ease. But that was before he acted like a total douche canoe.

The schmuck acted like he didn’t even care. He’d probably only been there to get some footage for his followers anyway. Jaxon shook his head in disgust. LA was getting on his last nerve. The whole damn town was obsessed with their social status—and he didn’t mean place in society—social following was more like it. Every last kid Jaxon had met on campus at Saint Andrews was more concerned with snapping, posting, tweeting, and trending than having a real conversation.

Even the teachers were guilty. They perpetuated the problem by using social media to converse with students. They sent assignments straight to each kid’s personal Saint Andrews chat page. That’s how homework was turned in and graded, too. It was a huge switch from what Jaxon had been used to in public school in San Diego. Just thinking about it made him miss his normal suburban life. Sure Jaxon had Snapchat and all those apps on his phone, but it wasn’t the end all be all of his life.

San Diego wasn’t the dark ages, but sometimes it felt like it. There, he had friends IRL—aka: real life people who spoke to him face to face. And right now, he missed the simplicity of it.

The only reason Jaxon even recognized Lucy at the accident was because she was the only student at Saint Andrews who’d spoken to him. Jaxon had been so shocked when she started talking that he looked around the classroom to see whose attention she was seeking. It couldn’t possibly be his . . . but it was.

He remembered their conversation. It was the first and last notable one he’d had at his pretentious boarding school.

“Hey, I’m Lucy. I guess we’re lab partners.”

Jaxon had just stared at her like a complete dildo.

Her soft laugh startled him. It was a kind sound, not mocking like he’d expected. “Yes, I’m talking to you. You’re Jaxon Bradburn, right?”

“How’d you know that?”

“Well, you’re the only guy in class I don’t know, so . . .”

“Oh. Right.”

“Where’d you transfer from?”

“San Diego.”

“Oh, I love San Diego,” she’d said, excitedly. “They have the best zoo in the world. Have you ever been there?”

Jaxon didn’t answer her question. He did what he’d been doing for the past year—he shut her out. “Look, I don’t really do partners.”

Lucy giggled softly again, looking up at him with her bright hazel eyes. He remembered how enormous they seemed in her tiny heart-shaped face. When Jaxon didn’t say anything else her expression faltered. “Oh, you’re serious?”

He nodded slowly and Lucy laughed again, this time it was a nervous sound. Then Jaxon had simply turned his back and walked out of class.

Not his finest moment. But it was his first week at school. Starting at a new school was rough. Especially senior year. Especially after the semester already started. Especially after everything Jaxon had been through.

He knew he was making excuses. But the truth was, he’d been a mess then. Hell, he was still a mess now. But he’d adjusted to life at Saint Andrews over the past few months. And now he found himself feeling pretty fucking awful for how he’d treated Lucy—even more so now that he knew she dealt with an ass-hat like Alex on a daily basis.

Maybe this was some sort of karmic payback for treating her like shit.

‘Dear Jaxon, you were a jerk, now you’re gonna have to feel bad for life because you were mean to a girl who you may or may not have crippled. PS, she’s the only girl in LA who’s been nice to you, so good luck dealing with that guilt sandwich.’

Sincerely, The Universe.

Jaxon tried to push the guilt away, but the sound of Lucy’s laughter echoed through his mind as she smiled at him in his classroom memory. Jaxon suddenly found himself wondering if he’d ever hear her laugh again. The thought stole the breath from his lungs. If he’d known then that could be the last time he’d hear that joyful sound, would he have paid better attention? That was the kind of question he asked himself daily—but normally it pertained to his mother.

What was the last conversation they had? What was the last nice thing he said to her? When was the last time he heard her laugh? When was the last time he said I love you?

The automatic doors to the hospital whooshed open behind Jaxon and shook him from his misery. How long had he been standing halfway between the set of doors where Alex left him?

“There you are,” Conner called. “That dude was a real wank stain, huh?”

Jaxon huffed a laugh.

“Well, I’ve gotta head back to the station. You sure you don’t want a ride home?”

“Nah, I’m gonna hang here for a while.”

Conner gave Jaxon a brotherly grin. “She’ll be alright. Smalls is a fighter if she made it through that wreck.”

Jaxon swallowed the tightness in his throat, but he smiled for Conner’s benefit. He didn’t want his brother worrying about him being an emotional sideshow while he was on duty. That’s how shit went wrong. And the Bradburn boys had had more than their fair share of wrong in the past year. It was time for things to turn around.

“Stay safe, bro.”

“Always,” Conner called, grinning as he walked backward through the automatic doors that led to the parking lot, delivering a salute before he disappeared into the darkness.

Jaxon wandered back into the hospital, grabbed himself a paper cup of hot coffee from the café and made his way back to Lucy’s room to check in on her.