21
MANIC
I groanedand limped through the door. I still couldn’t believe I’d come off my fucking bike. It’d been a long time since that happened, and I was feeling it.
I caught sight of myself in the mirror. I had a shiner already and a cut on my lip. My leg was grazed and I’d fucked up my elbow.
“You doing okay? I mean, you’re not as young as you used to be, those old bones are probably brittle as fuck,” Riff said, following me in.
“Fuck off. Some painkillers and sleep, and I’ll be good as new.”
“Think you’ll need more than that, brother.”
I grunted.
“Though, one good thing might’ve come from you riding like Turnip and coming off your bike,” Riff said, following me inside.
Turnip was one of our prospects. I had hoped that name wouldn’t stick, but the poor fucker seemed to be stuck with it now. “What’s that?”
Riff’s grin slid from his face and he scrubbed his hand over his dark-blond hair. “Addie heard about the crash and she’s on her way here with Lila.”
I spun on him and groaned. God, everything fucking hurt. “How the fuck did she find out?”
He actually looked sheepish. “I texted Lila after it happened. Didn’t realize she was with your girl.”
“Fuck. I told you I didn’t want her finding out.” She was probably freaking out right now. “Fuck.” This could set her back. I’d been reading up online to try to learn what she was dealing with, and something like this could trigger her.
Riff kind of winced. “That’s not all. When Lila told her, Adds collapsed—”
“What the fuck do you mean, collapsed?” I wanted to strangle him. It didn’t matter that it wasn’t his fault.
Riff planted his hands on his hips. “I don’t know, man. Lila said Adds freaked out and fainted.”
We heard Lila’s car outside a few minutes later.
I limped to the door and yanked it open. Addie was already striding up the path.
“Baby, I’m okay,” I said before she could reach me.
She stopped and her gaze sliced over me. I looked down at myself and held in my groan.Fuck. My jeans were torn at the knee and there was blood. My jacket was off, and there was no hiding my messed-up elbow. That’s why I didn’t want her to know, at least not until I’d cleaned myself up. “Looks worse than it is, cupcake.”
She looked up at me. “Have you been to the hospital?”
Her voice sounded small, shaky. “It’s just a few scraps, baby. I hit some ice, but got thrown onto grass. There’s nothing to worry about.” Besides the texts and her slipping into bed with me at night, we hadn’t really talked. This wasn’t how I envisioned it going down when she was finally ready.
Lila threw me an apologetic look.
I grinned. “All good, Ly.” I needed to keep things light and make Addie see it wasn’t a big deal.
“This isn’t goddamn funny, Levi,” Addie said and stormed inside.
I sobered. “I know that.” I took her in from head to toe, looking for any sign she’d hurt herself when she’d fainted. She wouldn’t meet my gaze. “Addie?” I strode forward and pulled her into my arms. “I’m okay, baby, I promise.” She tried to pull away, but I couldn’t bring myself to let her go. “Fuck, you’re shaking.”
“We’re gonna head out,” Riff said.
“I’ll call you tomorrow,” Ly said, then they left, and it was just Adds and me.
“I scared you, I know that, but—”