Page 187 of Gabriel
Me: Are you on campus?
I stare at the screen,earning more of Coach’s ire, but I waste precious seconds waiting on a response that doesn’t come.
“Herrera!”
“On it, Coach.” I hastily comply—putting my phone away—but Cecilia’s silence weighs heavily on my mind. I’m probably overreacting, but the way Austin looked when he left, I don’t like it. And I don’t trust the fucker.
The last time he was pissed with me, he took it out on Cecilia.
What if he tries shit like that again?
Fuck.
I should have thought this through. Had a plan in place for watching over her, at least until the dust settled. She’s been back for a few hours now, so with any luck, she’s already tucked away safely at home for the day.
She doesn’t have practice today. It’s supposed to be a recovery day for her and the rest of the team after the meet, so she shouldn’t even be on campus right now.
I exhale a breath. I’m letting Holt get in my head, and I need to shake it off. That asshole doesn’t get to mess with me anymore.
“Come on,” Julio says, sensing my unease. “Let’s just get through today.”
Nodding, I concede, telling myself I’ll go to Cecilia’s place and check on her as soon as practice is over.
Coach puts us through a series of drills for the next thirty minutes that leave me dripping in sweat, but despite the physical exertion, I can’t shake the feeling that something is wrong.
Cecilia still hasn’t responded to my message despite the two additional texts I sent, and worry is gnawing at my gut.
I don’t like this.
“Something’s wrong,” I tell Julio, wiping the sweat from my forehead with the hem of my shirt.
“Obviously. Coach is pissed and taking his anger out on us.”
“Not that,” I tell him. “Cecilia isn’t responding to my messages.”
Felix jogs up beside us. “Bro, if you don’t get back on?—”
“I need to go.” There’s no reason for me to think something has happened to Cecilia, but I know it in my gut. Something is wrong. I got what I wanted. Holt’s off the team. But my girl still isn’t safe. I know how he operates. Holt always retaliates.
Fuck. This was a mistake.
“You can’t just walk out in the middle of practice,” Julio says.
“Watch me.”
“Gabe—” I wave him off, but he falls into step, jogging beside me.
“What are you doing?” I ask.
“You’re not going alone,” Julio says, his voice resigned. “We’re coming with you.”
Felix nods in agreement, his expression determined. “Yeah, man, we got your back. We’ll deal with the fallout with Coach after we find your girl.”
Relief sweeps through me right as Deacon joins us, his usually calm demeanor replaced by a steely resolve. “I’m coming, too,” he says.
I open my mouth to argue. Coach is going to lose his shit if we all walk out right now, especially with a game coming up.
“We’re a team, remember?” Deacon says, cutting off my argument. “We stick together.”
