Page 56 of Wrecking Us
He doesn’t text me back. The message sits there, idle. Delivered but not read.
My fingers hover, itching to say more.
I should have called. Are you okay? How can I help?
All of those would be good things to say to your friend when they’re upset, but it’s not what I really want to say.
I missed you and just wanted to see you. I wanted to surprise you. I wanted to spend what little time I have here with you. My best friend.
But instead, I say nothing. And as I drive back to Minneapolis, my phone never makes a sound, and I think I might’ve just fucked up everything for good. The last thing I ever wanted was to hurt Hudson, and somehow I think that’s exactly what I did.
Chapter Sixteen
Hudson
“My office—now.”
In the entire three years I’ve worked here, I’ve never been called into my boss’s office for something I did wrong.
And honestly, I didn’t do anything wrong this time either. Trey did. I didn’t tell him to show up, and I certainly didn’t approve of it when I saw him at my door. I’d thought it was Jason again, asking me for a report that I told him I would have at the end of the day, to which he’d said was fine. I have a million other things I am trying to handle, so his pointless report on third-down efficiency trends is not my priority. I’m still working on performance baselines from last season, and I need them finished to prepare for camp.
I take a few deep breaths before heading to Thompson’s office. I close the door behind me without him telling me to do so.
“What the hell was that?” he grunts.
I know the language isn’t appropriate, but this is a rugged sport. These guys talk to each other like this all the damn time and it’s just accepted. Normally, it’s not a problem for me, and I guess I can’t say it is today either.
“Honestly, I don’t know.”
“Well he sure seemed to knowyou. I didn’t miss you shoving him. Do I need to call security?”
“No, of course not. He’s an old friend. I think he thought it was okay to find me since he was here for… work.”
He raises a brow. “So you didn’t let him in here?”
“Of course not. I wouldn’t do that. I know people aren’t allowed in this area. We have classified reports hanging around.”
He nods, tapping on his desk as he thinks something over.
“I don’t think he was here to take anything, by the way,” I add. “He’s not like that. I truly think he just wanted to say hello.”
“You better tell him not to do it again. It’s employeesonlyback here.”
“Already planned on it, sir.”
“I will say this does work out in my favor with those fobs, though. How can they deny me now that someone got back here…again?”
“I don’t think they can, sir.”
He narrows his eyes at me like he forgot I was here.
“Get back to work, Daniels.” He shoos me with one hand while reaching for his desk phone with the other. I hurry out of his office and back into mine.
There is a notification waiting for me on my phone from Trey. Just a simple sorry. I swipe it away with no intention of responding.
Trey isn’t a bad guy and he didn’t come here with bad intentions, I get that. But this isn’t the sort of place you can just waltz into. I get he wanted to see HR, and it seemed like that was his plan, but who the hell let him back here on his own? At the very least, he’s supposed to have an escort.
“This is such a mess,” I groan, burying my face in my hands.
