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Poor Reece. My heart sank. I’d caused him more trouble. I hadn’t meant to.
Miri rolled a ball underfoot thoughtfully. “I’m sure he’s just burned out. I’m hoping that working here will help him lighten—”
Miri frowned and grimaced. Her hands flew to her lower belly and her face creased with pain. She opened her mouth to speak but a grimace stole her words.
I took her by the shoulders. “What is it? Pain? Contractions?”
She doubled over, her face pale. She put a trembling hand between her legs and it came back red. A spreading patch of crimson stained her light leggings. Her terrified eyes met mine. I grabbed her, holding her upright. The endless expanse of green and white chalk sprawled around us. We were miles from being able to call out for help.
Fear gripped my stomach, but I kept my voice calm. “Can you walk? Can you get off this pitch?”
She grimaced, then nodded.
I slipped an arm around her waist. “Good. Everything is going to be okay. I’ve got you. Let’s get you to the hospital.”
Chapter 28
Reece
Lana twisted the ring on her finger in a wild circle. “Well? What should I do? What can I say to her?”
My eyes burned with exhaustion. It had been impossible to relax with Skylar next to me in the bed. We’d hardly slept. I hadn’t wanted to close my eyes and miss any of it. I snapped my head back to Lana. I had no right to sit in this chair and counsel anyone. How was I supposed to offer advice on this? Lana had hurt the woman I cared about. If Skylar knew we were in here together, she’d be pissed off. Not that I’d ever say anything. I might have been unethical enough to sleep with a client, but I wasn’t about to add breaching confidentiality to my list of wrongdoings.
Lana readjusted her shin pads beneath her socks. “Sean told me that things had been over for a long time. They hadn’t been sleeping together anymore. They didn’t love each other. Skylar won’t even give me a chance to explain. She doesn’t reply to my texts. I think there’s something going on. Maybe she has a new man.”
I pasted on my most noncommittal expression. “How do you feel about your relationship with Sean?”
She frowned and swiped at the back of her cheek. “We don’t have a relationship. It was a few flirty texts and a couple of kisses. I shouldn’t have done it, but Skylar is being extra about it.” Lana dropped her head into her hands. “I’ve fucked up. I couldn’t stop. It was Sean Wallace. I knew I couldn’t have him, but that made it more exciting, so much harder to resist. He’s a tosser, but he’s so hot. I’ve always liked him. It was an infatuation… an obsession. It’s a kind of madness when you want someone like that. You lose all sense of reasoning. Do you know what I mean? Some people have this power over you. I can see now what a prick he is, but it’s too late.” Her voice broke. “Skylar will never forgive me.”
“You’re being hard on yourself.”
“We’re best friends. More than friends—I’m her second in command. I’m the one she can rely on, whatever happens. I should have had more control. I have to make it right with her. I don’t know how. She won’t even speak to me.”
Guilt made my shoulder blades itch.
I should have had more control.
My gaze fell on the pitches outside. Skylar would be in this building somewhere. I shouldn’t have even been in this office doing this job. I’d lost every right to help people when I’d overstepped the boundary. Another stab of guilt made my chest tight. What would Mum say if she knew what I’d done? What would my family think when they realized what kind of man I was? I’d slept with a client… more than once. I’d had zero self-control.
“Are you okay?”
I jumped at Lana’s voice. I had to get my head in the game. This wasn’t fair on Lana. She wanted to repair her friendship with Skylar. At least I could have one positive impact on the team and help with some restorative work between the two of them.
A frantic knock sounded on the door. Lana’s gaze flashed to the clock and she folded her arms. My next appointment wasn’t for another half an hour. I opened the door a fraction to see Gabe. He was breathless, pale, and crumpled. Completely un-Gabe-like. My stomach dropped. I knew something bad was happening without having to ask. It was the face Mum had worn all those times we went back and forth from the hospital to visit Dad.
“Miri.” The word fell from his lips and then he ran off, eating up the corridor in long strides.
I caught a flash of Skylar’s purple hair in the crowded maternity waiting room and raced to her. Gabe got there before me. He grabbed Skylar by the elbows and swung her around to face him. “Where is she?”
“It’s okay. She’s okay. She’s in labor. They wouldn’t let me stay.”
I kept my voice level despite the churning in my guts. One of us had to stay calm. “What happened?”
Skylar ran a trembling hand over her pallid face. “We were on the training pitches and she doubled over.”
I swallowed, my heart beating a rhythm. She wasn’t due for another month. The eggshell-blue hospital walls closed in around me.
Somehow I managed to keep my voice even. “Is she okay? Is the baby okay?”
