“This isn’t funny, Z.”
“I know. I know!” she said, deciding to take one more dig as she reached her hand out to him. “Don’t worry. I’m a pro at covering these things up.” The glare was instant, and she had to laugh again. “I’m kidding!”
He took her hand and squeezed it then pulled her to him, nearly spilling both their beers. Valerie laughed most of the way back to the booth at how ridiculously easy it was to rile him up. But she knew after all these years he had to know she was just playing with him when she said things like that.
She was able to sneak the cover up out of her purse without anyone seeing her then sneak back to where he was waiting. It didn’t completely cover it since it was so dark, but unless you were really looking it was covered enough.
For the next hour or so, everyone in the booth was in good spirits, laughing and having a great time. Then Sal got the call. The mood instantly changed when Sal said that it was their dad on the phone. They didn’t expect to hear from him until at least tomorrow. Sal had rushed out of the booth to take the call, and when he trudged back in a few minutes later with that somber look, Valerie knew it couldn’t be good.
“Gramps is in a medically-induced coma now.”
They all stared at him, equally concerned, as he explained how the other day when his grandpa had fainted he hit his head and now there was some brain tissue swelling. The doctors didn’t want to chance it, so they had to perform emergency surgery to help alleviate the swelling and then put him in a coma until the swelling went completely down.
“That could take up to a week, and Mom and Dad are gonna be over there at least that long.”
“No shit?” Alex asked. “They’re gonna be gone for a week?”
Sal nodded. “Maybe longer, but he said he’ll be in touch. You gonna be okay with the restaurant or you need me to take some time off?”
“Nah,” Alex said too quickly. “I got it. I’m just worried about Dad. He was a mess before he left.”
“He sounded okay,” Sal assured Alex.
They all got back to work since the crowds hadn’t slowed down, but the mood had definitely taken a somber turn. By the time they were done and had everything packed back in the vans, Valerie leaned in and hugged Alex. He hugged her back tightly. “You okay?” she asked, looking up at him.
He took a deep breath. “Yeah,” he said, nodding. “I’ll be better if you stay with me tonight. Will you?”
Since last week when he first asked her to stay with him, she’d only slept at her own place twice. She nodded, feeling her heart swell that he’d want her with him again. “I’ll stay with you,” she said, smiling.
“Thank you,” he said, kissing her sweetly.
As if he really needed to thank her. Valerie rested her cheek against his hard chest. The more time she spent with him and the more their relationship was beginning to feel like a normal one, the more she was convinced of one thing: the wild roller coaster they’d had to endure to get here had been absolutely worth it. If she had to do it all over again, she would—in a heartbeat.
Chapter 4
Alex
What the hell was he thinking? Time Series Analysis? Really? Of course, Sal thought it’d be a good idea to take this course. His brother loved this shit. Alex had already dropped a course and failed another. There was no way he could fail this. His parents had enough to deal with right now for Alex to risk losing his scholarship and have them deal with his tuition. But if he didn’t pass this course with at least a C-, he’d be off the team and his scholarship would be history.
Professor Davenport examined the computer screen in front of him with Alex’s coursework and the shitty grades Alex had gotten in the last couple of assignments and quizzes. Alex had already looked into it. There was no way around this. It was too late to drop the class, so his only option was to pass the class no matter what it took. He knew he was grasping, but he had no choice but to sit down with his professor and implore the old man to give him a chance. He’d do extra credit work or write a paper—whatever it took.
The long silent moments the unsympathetic professor stared at the screen using his mouse to scroll felt like an eternity. The old man continued to scroll agonizingly slowly, looking completely unimpressed—irritated even. When Alex was finally out of there, he had to refrain from letting out a roar; he was so pissed at himself. But at least it wasn’t a “Sorry, there’s nothing that can be done.”
He had one feeble last chance to fix this, and if he didn’t have so much other shit going on, this wouldn’t feel so overwhelming. Still, he was determined to do whatever it took. He’d spoken to his dad earlier that week, and his dad had broken down mid-conversation about his grandpa. Alex would not add to his father’s stress.
He checked his phone as he rushed to his car. His ankle therapy was in less than ten minutes. There was no way he could miss that. The last thing he needed now was for his ankle to get any worse. Then he’d really be in deep shit.
After that, he needed to get to the restaurant then back to football practice. Even though he couldn’t do a full practice with his ankle still feeling this weak, the coach expected to see him there anyway. All players, even the ones recovering from surgery as he was, were expected to be there dressed and learning the new plays even if it was just by memory.
He groaned as he drove off with thoughts of the next gruelingly busy week, because on top of it all, he now had what Davenport had added to his already overflowing workload.