Page 109 of Succeeding Love

“Kid, you’re putting me in a bad position. I really don’t want to make your mom more upset than she is.”

“So she’s mad at you and not him?” He lifted his chin.

“It was a joint effort,” I scoffed dryly. “Your dad was a drunk asshole, and I got defensive. That’s all I’m telling you. If your mom wants you to know more, she will tell you herself.”

Preston stared at me like he was taking my measure. Then he pursed his lips, nodding to himself. “Fair enough.”

I sighed, feeling like I had just passed some test. “So, your mom?.... Is she still asleep?”

Preston raised a single eyebrow. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

The kid was pushing his luck with me now. “Is she awake or not?”

His smirk slipped, and he looked back towards his garage like I was missing something. Then I noticed it. Lynn’s car was gone.

Preston looked back at me. “She’s awake. She’s also not home.”

“Where is she?” I was worried instantly.

“The asshole is still being an asshole,” Preston snickered, shaking his head. “She’s at the hospital.”

My eyes went wide, fear rising in me. “Is she okay? Did he-”

“Mom’s completely fine. Dad’s the one who’s not.”

Texts And Surprises

Feighlynn

“This paper explains the dos and don’ts with his neck brace, and this one is for his cast. Follow up with his regular doctor for pain.” The nurse passed me the papers for Nick’s discharge.

I leafed through them, looking for the prescriptions, so I could drop those off on the way back to his condo.

What a mess.

I looked back to narrow my eyes at Nick, tired of his crap. He was staring out the window with an empty look in his eyes.

This was in part my fault too, which is the only reason I stayed and agreed to help him get back to his apartment. If I had just gone to bed, or if I’d never sent Vin home to begin with, then I never would have been on my phone to make such a monumental mistake.

The text I sent while I was in a sleepy haze was accidentally sent to my ex. Not Vin, whom I had intended it for.

I still can’t believe I did that. While I was deleting and retyping text after text, exiting out of my phone just to open it again, I ended up opening a text from Nick, thinking it was Vin.

Nick texted me almost the same thing Vin had. “I’m so sorry.”It was the top text in my inbox, and since the messagewas so similar to Vin’s, I messed up. When I typed out and sent “I miss you,” it went to Nick. Then Nick, being the idiot he was, decided that meant he needed to come over.

He never even made it out of his parking spot. Nick put his car into drive instead of reverse, then slammed into the concrete wall in front of him.

The security guard that heard the crash came to find an inebriated Nick passed out behind the wheel. He called an ambulance to take him to the hospital, where he was treated for a fractured wrist and a sprained neck.

He was cognitive when I got to the emergency room, and I could see the shame clearly in his expression upon seeing me. But there was also expectation and hope.

When I asked him what he was doing, why the hell would he try driving that drunk? That was when he told me about the texts.

I still can’t believe it. My sleepy mistake caused him to nearly kill himself.

“I’ll get a wheelchair to escort you both out,” the nurse said, eyeing the two of us cautiously. The hospital staff caught on quickly to our strained relationship. Especially after the yelling match we had when I clarified the text was not meant for him.

“I can walk,” Nick muttered, swinging his legs from the bed.