The XOXO New Adult Collection: 16 Full Length New Adult Stories (111 page)

She instructed Nicole to bring me to X-ray and then to see the in-office physical therapist about stretches I could do for my shoulder. After I met with both the X-ray technician and the physical therapist, Nicole and I went to lunch and waited for the X-rays to be ready.

As we ate our salads, Nicole and I came up with the plan for me to act like it was no big deal that Jared was lying to me and that he left us at the airport. When he let his guard down, I would slip him two Ambiens in his beer, and then when he passed out, I was to call Nicole for her to come over with a scalpel she would steal from her work. As Jared slept, we would cut his dick off, Lorena Bobbitt style, and flee to Mexico.

We giggled at the thought, but in the end we agreed the smarter choice would be for me to just break up with him. I wanted to anyway and more so since he was hiding something.

After an hour lunch, Nicole and I went into her office and I waited in another exam room for Doctor Sam to come in and let me know the results of the X-ray.

“I’ll let Doctor Sam know we’re back and see if the results are ready,” Nicole said, closing the exam room door behind her.

I sat in the stark white room, flipping through a
Women’s Day
magazine as my nerves came back. The moment I saw Nicole’s face when she walked in with Doctor Sam, I knew something was wrong.

She grabbed my hand, clenching it tight without saying a word. I began to ask what was wrong, but Doctor Sam cleared her throat and my worst fears came true. “Brooke, the radiologist found a mass on the X-ray.”

E
aston

“You’re the best Daddy in the whole world!” Cheyenne said, hugging me as we waited in the security line at LAX.

“Why is that?” I asked.

I already knew I was, but I loved when she praised me instead of being annoyed with me, especially since it was extremely early in the morning.

“Because Courtney’s at school right now, and I’m still on vacation.”

It wasn’t a good thing that Cheyenne was missing school, but the way the cruise worked, it was better that she missed a day of school instead of going to school with little sleep.

“That’s not a good thing, Peanut. It’s not good to miss school.”

“But I am.”

“Yes,” I nodded and started to take off my shoes, “but you will have double homework tomorrow.”

“What? Really?” She whined.

“I’m sorry, Peanut, but it’s the way it happened. But we have your first practice tonight. Aren’t you excited?”

Everything was working out perfect. Practice was to start close to seven, to make sure all parents got their kids to the field. We needed the extra time since we were flying across the country.

“I’m scared.”

We paused our conversation and both went through the security scanner. After we put on our shoes and grabbed all of our belongings, we started to walk to our gate. I looked at Avery, and he was staring at his phone.

“Have you heard from Nicole?”

“Yeah, they made it back safe. Jared didn’t pick them up from the airport.”

“What? She’s just telling you now?”

“No, she told me last night while you were sleeping.”

Fucking Jared. How the fuck did he leave Brooke and Nicole at the airport? What kind of loser does that? I wanted to change our flight and go to Boston instead of home. I wanted to beat the shit out of him!

“Dad!”

“Yeah?”

“I’m scared, and I don’t want to go to practice,” Cheyenne said, bringing the conversation back to her and taking my thoughts away from Brooke.

“Don’t be scared, Peanut. I’ll be there to help you.”

“I guess,” she said, pulling her phone out of her backpack.

“Text Nicole for Brooke’s number. I want to call her,” I said to Avery.

We arrived at our gate, taking a seat to wait for boarding.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, man. Brooke would have given you her number if she wanted you to call her.”

“I don’t care. Give me your phone, and I’ll do it.”

“No,” he said, moving the phone out of my reach.

“Just do it, or I’ll tackle you right here and take it from you.”

“Daddy, I have to go to the bathroom,” Cheyenne said.

My head was spinning. There were two girls in my life that needed me, and one I couldn’t get to.

“Let me go with you. I don’t want you to get kidnapped,” I said, standing up.

“I won’t get kidnapped, I’m ten!”

“You never know. Let’s go.”

I walked her to the bathroom and waited outside while she went in and did her business. My mind kept thinking about Brooke being stranded at the airport. I guessed she wasn’t technically stranded since there were taxis, and I assumed that is the way they got home.

I wanted to talk to her and find out why Jared was such an asshole and why he did that. If my girlfriend—the girl I was in love with—left on vacation for eight days, I would be at the airport early to make sure I was there whenever her plane arrived.

By the time Cheyenne and I got back to the gate, they were boarding the plane already.

“Did you get her number?”

“No.”

“Do it!” I said, handing my boarding pass to the attendant.

“I’ll do it when we land. Nicole wants me to call her when we get to JFK.”

“Fine, but you better call her as soon as we land.”

“I will, calm down.”

Once we were in the air, I purchased a movie for Cheyenne to watch for most of the six-hour flight home. I kept thinking to myself that Brooke was fine. She was an adult and could take care of herself, but I wanted to take care of her. I already missed her and that was freaking me the fuck out.

*~*~*

“D
o it!”

“Jesus, let my phone boot up,” Avery groaned.

We had just landed at JFK, and the whole flight I thought about Brooke. I thought about the way Jared had sealed his fate, and now Brooke would break up with him, and I would swoop in and make her mine. It didn’t help that the movie Cheyenne picked to watch,
Man of Steel
, ended up being a love story at the end.

I waited for Avery to text Nicole as we exited the plane. We walked towards the baggage claim, and I kept wanting to rip the phone from his hands. He wasn’t hurrying, and I wanted to do it myself. I would have thought that he would want to call Nicole first thing, but I guess since he had already spoken to her the night before, he got his fill.

Well?” I questioned when we arrived at the bagged claim.

“She...um, hasn’t texted me back.”

“Call her!”

“She’s at work. I’m sure she will text me back when she goes on a break or something.”

I groaned...again. I just wanted to hear Brooke’s voice and make sure she was okay. Tell her that I was there if she wanted to talk or ask for advice on how to break up with Jared. I also wanted to know if she did break up with Jared.

Maybe he didn’t pick them up because he was hurt and she wasn’t able to break up with him, yet. My brain was jumbled with so many emotions that I wasn’t used to. Brooke not saying goodbye hurt me, but I understood. I just didn’t want her walking out of my life.

We grabbed all of our bags and met my dad out on the curb. By the time we arrived at my house, we had told him all about the cruise, and Cheyenne had told him all about California. Avery’s truck was at my house, so my dad dropped us all off.

School was out for the day, and Courtney arrived home just in time to run over and wrap her arms around Cheyenne. Practice wasn’t for another hour, so they ran to Cheyenne’s room, and I heard Cheyenne start from the beginning about her trip to California.

“I’ll see you at the gym at nine, and text me Brooke’s number when Nicole calls you back,” I said, tossing Avery his keys.

“She did already.”

“What? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Look, you need to sit down.”

“Why? If she didn’t dump Jared yet, I’ll be a man and deal with it,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest and leaning against the kitchen counter.

“That’s not it.”

“Okay?”

“You know how Brooke’s shoulder has been bothering her?”

“Yeah?”

“Well...” he paused, took a deep breath and started again. “Nicole made her go to the doctor today and they took an X-ray. They...uh...found a mass, dude.”

I felt like the wind was knocked out of me. “A mass like a tumor?”

“Yeah.”

*~*~*

I
couldn’t fathom losing two women that I loved from dying before their time. I guess it was Dana’s time, but she was too young. She had her whole life to look forward to, but she would never see Cheyenne go to her first dance, go to prom, have her first boyfriend (I didn’t want to think about that day) and walk down the aisle.

I knew that I was a bad person for the way I treated Dana, but since her death, I had changed. I didn’t know if I was still being punished for being an asshole, but I wouldn’t survive if Brooke died, too. Was this Dana punishing me? I told her to take Brooke from me if I deserved it, but Brooke didn’t deserve to die.

Deep down in my heart, Brooke and I were meant to be together. Like I’ve said many times before, she makes me a better person. I thought my forever was supposed to be with Dana, but life has a way of working out other than how you plan it. Brooke was meant to be my forever, and now I stared at Avery as he confirmed that Brooke has a tumor in her shoulder.

She turned out to be my best friend, and she wasn’t just pretty, she took my breath away. I wanted to wrap her in my arms forever, kiss her and tell her that everything would work out. No one had ever been there to take care of her. She was the one to always take care of everyone else, and now my other best friend was keeping me from her.

“Get her number for me now!” I growled.

I was beyond pissed. I wanted to pack Cheyenne in the car and drive to Boston. Every fiber of my being was telling me to get to Boston.

“Nicole said it’s not a good time.”

“I know it’s not a good time. She fucking has a tumor, Avery!”

“Dude, don’t shoot the messenger. We’ll go this weekend. You need to spend time with C.C. You haven’t seen her in a week, and today is her first softball practice. I’m going to go see if the bar is still standing, and tomorrow we need to go through the books and make sure everything went smoothly.”

He was right, but I didn’t like being so far away from her. I couldn’t save Dana, but I was going to do everything in my power to save Brooke. She was a fighter. She was strong, and she was
my
Superwoman.

“Fine. Give Nicole my number and tell her to give it to Brooke. Tell her that I want to talk to Brooke—no, tell her I
need
to talk to Brooke!”

“I will.”

Avery left me standing in my kitchen, looking out the window and thinking about Brooke. Men are supposed to be strong, but around Brooke, I was wearing my heart on my sleeve. I wanted to show her how much I wanted her. The way she kissed me, I knew that she wanted me. I thought Jared was the hurdle, but the tumor might be the hurdle I can’t jump over.

“Daddy, are you ready to go?” Cheyenne and Courtney came out of her room, bringing me out of my thoughts.

I turned, pushing down the lump in my throat, putting a smile on my face and masking the pain I was feeling in my chest. “Yeah, Peanut, let me go change real fast.”

*~*~*

A
s I drove my Peanut to the field, I came to the conclusion that if I didn’t hear from Brooke, then she didn’t want me like I thought. There was a reason why she didn’t give me her number and a reason why she left without a goodbye. She said it wasn’t goodbye, but when going through a major health issue, I could imagine wanting to disappear from society.

I didn’t want her to go through it alone, but I would check in with Avery and see how she does through the process. If she were to call me, I would be there for her. I wanted to tell Cheyenne about Brooke, but I didn’t want to bring her up if we would never see each other again—or at least in a relationship aspect.

The way Avery’s brain worked, I wouldn’t be surprised if he and Nicole were married by the new year.

I stuck my phone with my wallet and keys in the bat bag that carried the equipment that I bought for Cheyenne. Before we left for vacation, we threw the ball around, and I also took her to the batting cages. We still needed to work on her hitting since that was her weakness. She had never played any sports before and was jumping into
fast
pitch softball.

“Girls, gather around.” Courtney’s dad, Phil, motioned for us.

After introductions of Phil and myself, practice was underway. There were some girls who couldn’t throw, catch or hit a ball. It was understandable, but after seeing that Cheyenne wasn’t the worse on the team, she relaxed and started to play really well. She even went as far as trying to teach a teammate how to throw
like a boy
.

I laughed as I watched her in her new element. Whenever I was teaching her how to throw, I would pick on her, telling her that she was throwing like a girl. She would stomp her foot and tell me that she
was
a girl.

After the girls warmed up by throwing the ball in pairs, we broke off into two groups. I hit soft infield balls to the girls that wanted to play infield, and Phil hit popups to the girls that wanted to play outfield.

I don’t think any of them really understood what each position did. I went around the horn, hitting a grounder to each girl and then telling them where to throw it. Some of the girls were picking it up while others still didn’t understand.

I explained to them that it was only the first practice and that they would all understand the rules by our first game.

“I think I’m either going to choose third base...or short stop. One of the two. Daddy, what do you think?” Cheyenne asked, buckling her seatbelt after practice. I thought she already decided on third, but women are always changing their minds.

“Your mom played both. I think either one will be perfect.”

“Yeah, but I can only pick one, right?”

“No, not at all. It’s better to learn every position. Then you can be very valuable when you get to high school or even college.”