The Game by Vi Keeland by Vi Keeland

I touched my cheek. “Oh my God, really? It’s noticeable?”

She smiled. “You’re flushed, and your eyes have that glazed-over look.”

“All we did was kiss, I swear.”

“Must’ve been some kiss…”

My eyes lost focus even remembering it. “He’s such a good kisser.”

Talia bumped shoulders with me. “Okay, I said I was happy for you, but now you’re just making me jealous.”

An hour later, we loaded the boys into the van. They got to go into the underground parking lot beneath the stadium where the PT van was parked, which they were really excited about. When we arrived at Talia’s building, the kids unloaded and took turns shaking hands with Christian while I said goodbye to Talia.

“Thank you again for everything. This was the best birthday he’s ever had.” Talia winced, and she grabbed her right side again.

“Are you okay? That pain is back?”

“Yeah. I just ate and drank too much.”

After maybe twenty seconds, her face went back to normal, and she seemed fine again. But I didn’t like that it had happened more than once today. “If it keeps happening, do you promise to call me? Or go to the ER and then call me?”

She lifted her purse to her shoulder and waved me off. “Yes, Mom.”

I shook my head and kissed her cheek. “I’m calling you tomorrow to see how you’re feeling.”

“Thank you so much.” We looked over at Wyatt, who was now talking to Christian. “He seems really great. Don’t run from this one. Give it a chance. Something about the way you two look at each other makes me think he could be the one.”

I watched as Christian and Wyatt did some handshake slap thing, then looked back at Talia. “I think you might be right. He might be the one. It just remains to be seen if he’s the one for me, or the one who will break my heart.”





CHAPTER 20




* * *



CHRISTIAN



“It’s yours.” I leaned over, unplugged the vibrating cell, and passed it to Bella. She’d been sound asleep, but when I said it was Talia, she bolted upright.

“Talia would never call at three in the morning if something wasn’t wrong.” She quickly swiped to answer. “Hello?”

I listened to one side of the conversation.

“Oh no.” She pulled the covers off. “Where are you?”

Quiet.

“Is Wyatt with you?”

Quiet again.

“Okay. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

Bella hung up and rushed out of bed.

“What’s going on?” I stood and started pulling on my underwear before knowing why I was getting dressed.

“Talia’s appendix burst. She needs to have emergency surgery.” Bella scrambled around the room, looking for the clothes I’d stripped off of her hours ago.

I picked up her bra and held it out. “Where is she?”

“Lennox Hill with Wyatt.”

I grabbed my cell. “I’ll call an Uber. It’ll be faster than going to the garage and getting the truck out.”

“Thanks.”

A half hour later, we found Wyatt waiting in the emergency room. His head was in his hands as he sat in an orange plastic chair. Bella rushed over. I stood behind her with my hand on her shoulder.

“Wyatt? What’s going on? Where’s your mom?” she asked.

Wyatt stood and hugged her. “They just took her up to surgery. They said she has a blood infection.” He pulled back and raked a hand through his hair. “It’s my fault. She’s had pain the last four days, ever since my party. I should’ve made her go to the hospital.”

Bella shook her head. “It’s not your fault. It’s mine. I was supposed to call her Monday to check in, and I got sidetracked and never did. I’m so sorry.”

I squeezed Bella’s shoulder. “It’s neither of your faults. Did they say how long the surgery would take?”

“They said it’s usually only an hour or two.”

I nodded. “Alright, good. Is this where we’re supposed to wait? Usually there’s a special waiting room near the surgery area.”

“They said I should go up to the fourth floor. But I told Bella we were in the ER, so I figured I’d wait here for her.”

“Okay,” I said. “Let me ask the security guard how we get up to where we need to go.”

Luckily, the guard didn’t recognize me, and the three of us were able to go straight upstairs to a quieter waiting area. We spoke to the nurse at the desk and told her we were waiting for Talia Kane, and she said she’d check on how things were going in about a half hour and come let us know.

Wyatt sat back in his chair and spread his long legs wide. “Did you know you get me if something happens to her?”

“Nothing is going to happen to her,” Bella said. “But yes, I did know that. Your mother and I talked about it years ago.”

“What’s a medical proxy? Mom also told the nurse you had one of those.”

“A medical proxy is a legal document where you name someone to make medical decisions for you, in the event that you’re unable to make them yourself.”

“Mom’s not going to be able to make decisions after this?”