“What does this all mean?” I ask hesitantly.

Her eyes open and she stares at me with a confidence that shocks me to my core. “I don’t know what any of it means, but I’m sure as fuck not going to let this beat me.”

My lips twitch, wanting to smile at her sass, but I’m still filled with too much terror right now. “We’ll talk about this later,” I tell her gently. “Right now…think you can get some sleep?”

“Yeah,” she says with a small smile. “I’m pretty wiped out.”

I stand up from her bed and watch as she turns on her side, curling one arm up under her pillow. She looks so small and frail right now, which causes anger to surge inside me. Why does this happen to someone like to Olivia? Especially when I just found her?

Olivia closes her eyes and I turn to walk out of her bedroom.

“Garrett?”

Turning to look back at Olivia, I find her watching me with heavy eyes. “Thank you. I didn’t want you to see this. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”

“It’s okay,” I murmur, but nothing about this is okay. I’m not sure how it can be. “Just get some rest.”

My instinct is to flee. Just this morning, I had convinced myself that Olivia was the woman who I could take a chance on. I had stupid thoughts of hanging out with her, going on adventures, her coming to my games, and me sinking into her body every night. I was actually a bit juiced up thinking that it could be a hell of a lot of fun to get to know her…to have a relationship with her.

But now that all seems to be coated in bitter ash and I can’t really see past the fact that she’s lying in bed sick, and I have no clue how to handle it.

Is this going to kill her? Am I getting involved with a woman who could die?

I have no answers, and that just pisses me off more.

As I let myself out of Olivia’s apartment, I pull my phone out of my pocket and flip through my contacts so I can dial up our team’s orthopedic doctor, Mark Godson. He’s a pretty cool guy…nursed me through a wrist sprain late in this past season, and we’ve become friends.

He answers on the third ring. “What’s up, Garrett?”

“I need some information on cancer,” I tell him.

“Yeah…well, in case you forgot, I’m an orthopedic doctor,” he says with a laugh.

I’m not in a fucking joking mood. “Just get me someone that can answer some questions for me,” I snarl into the phone. “And the sooner the better.”

Mark’s voice softens. “Yeah…sure. No problem. A buddy of mine practices oncology. I’ll have him call you. Are you all right?”

“I’m fine…a friend of mine, not so much.”

“When do you want him to contact you?” he asks.

“About five minutes ago. I’ll be waiting,” I say, and I disconnect the phone.

I try to get a handle on my emotions. But they are too thick for me to wade through them. I’m hoping this oncology doctor can at least educate me so I know what I’m dealing with, and until then, I have someone else I need to talk to that has some explaining to do.

—
I ring the doorbell, impatient, annoyed, and bristling with resentment. When the door swings open, Alex looks at me with joyful surprise. “What’s up, dude?”

“You fucking asshole,” I growl at him, and his eyes become wary. “How come you didn’t tell me?”

Giving a long, drawn-out sigh, Alex steps back from the door and waves me in. “You know about Olivia?”

I walk into his house, itching to punch him in the face. My hands fist up tight, and the need to do violence to something is almost driving every rational thought out of my head. “Yeah, I fucking know. I went over there to see her and found her heaving her guts up in the toilet.”

“Is she okay?” Alex asks with worry as I slump down on his couch.

“She’s sleeping now,” I tell him as I scrub my hands over my face. When I look up at Alex, I ask, “Why, man? Why didn’t you tell me?”

Guilt flashes hard in his eyes, and before he can answer, Sutton walks in and comes to stand beside Alex. “Because Olivia asked us not to.”

“Fuck that…you should have told me,” I say, leveling my gaze on Alex. Because I’m his best friend, and he is the one that should have told me. “You knew I was interested in her. I had a right to know.”

“Come on, Garrett,” Sutton says calmly. “You don’t have the best track record with women. We figured you’d be losing interest right about now. It’s your pattern.”

Hot, molten rage bubbles inside me. Surging up from the couch, I brush past both of them and jerk their front door open. Turning back, I pin my eyes on Sutton, and I know I must look pissed because she flinches. “Don’t you dare fucking stereotype or judge me. You don’t know a fucking thing about how I feel.”

I walk out of their house, slamming the door behind me. I haven’t made it down the front two steps when I hear the door opening back up and Alex is calling out, “Garrett…wait.”

I hear Sutton’s voice also call out to me. “I’m sorry, Garrett. I didn’t mean it like that.”

I don’t even bother turning around to look at them. “Yeah…well, fuck you both,” I call out over my shoulder. “Thanks for the friendship. Means a lot.”

Practically jerking my car door off its hinges, I throw myself into the front seat and peel out of their driveway. My phone starts ringing, so I fish it out of my pocket and answer, “Samuelson.”