Chapter 10
987 Words
That was when I realized I wasn’t alone.
I turned around.
Titus stood a short distance behind me, watching.
I immediately looked away.
“AirPod guy,” he said.
“Yeah.” I wiped at my face, trying to pull myself together.
He came closer, studying me for another moment before recognition settled fully across his face.
“Augie, right?”
I nodded.
Then he noticed I had been crying.
“Hey.” His expression changed. “Are you okay? What’s going on?”
“It’s not—” I looked away again. “It’s not your problem. It isn’t anyone’s problem. I’m just being dramatic.”
“You don’t look dramatic.”
“It hasn’t really been my night, and I don’t—” I stood. “It’s not your problem, Titus. You have enough problems of your own. I just need to go.”
I got up too quickly.
The dock was slick beneath my shoes.
My foot slipped.
I went down hard.
My knee struck the edge of the steps, and pain shot through my leg. The fabric of my new jeans ripped instantly. When I looked down, blood was already spreading through the tear.
Titus crouched beside me.
“I need to get you to the hospital.”
“You barely know me.”
“That doesn’t matter.”
“Did you come with someone tonight?” I asked.
“Did you?”
“Yeah. Cal’s here somewhere. And everything.”
“I’m not waiting for them.” Titus looked at the gash again. “I’ll let them know. I need to get you to the hospital.”
“You don’t know me.”
“I can see your knee is bleeding, you’re losing blood quickly, and you’re upset.” His voice remained steady. “You need someone in your corner right now. Why not me?”
I stared at him.
“This is embarrassing.”
“No. You need someone to be there for you right now, and I guess that person is me.”
He had no idea how true those words were.
I still fought him on it.
Titus refused to take no for an answer.
The next thing I knew, I was sitting in his car with a stack of paper towels pressed against my knee, trying not to bleed all over his seats.
My phone buzzed.
Cal.
Where are you?
I typed back carefully.
On my way to the hospital. There was an accident. A friend—another guy—is taking me.
His reply came almost immediately.
Me and Margie are on our way. Tell us what room.
No. Enjoy your night.
Augie, I’m coming to the hospital to check on you. I’m letting Bryce know too.
I sighed.
Titus glanced at me. “Something about that message bothering you?”
“You don’t even know what it says.”
“I can tell you didn’t like it.”
“My friend is just being extra.”
“So you do have friends?” Titus asked. “Here I thought maybe I was your only one.”
“Yeah, go ahead. Judge the weird chubby guy who sits on docks and cries.”
“I’m not judging you. You’re having a rough night. Some parties aren’t fun.”
“A lot of parties aren’t fun.”
“Not really your scene?”
“I go for my friends. I know how to blend in when I’m with them, but without them I’d just be the loser standing in the corner or crying on the dock.”
Titus chuckled softly.
“I guess I was anyway,” I added.
“I’m sure you had a reason.”
“Yeah. A lot of good that did me.” I adjusted the paper towels against my knee and winced. “Now I have to go to the hospital and figure out how to make this work. How I’m going to pay for it, and—”
I stopped myself.
“Never mind.”
“Pay for it?” Titus asked. “You don’t have insurance?”
“I do. Kind of.”
He looked at me in a way that made it obvious he had never needed to worry about anything like that.
“It’s not your problem,” I said.
“You say that a lot.”
I went quiet.
“No offense, Augie, but you act like you carry everything alone. Like you have no one to shoulder any of it with you.”
I looked down.
The tears started again before I could stop them.
How did this stunningly attractive man see through me so easily?
“I’m fine,” I said. “You get used to it. Some people are meant to have people, and some people are meant to be there when everyone else needs them, then be okay on their own.”
“That’s a bunch of bull.”
I looked at him. “What?”
“Even your explanation is complicated. You don’t believe that.”
I fell silent.
“Just get me to the hospital.”
“Okay.”
“And thank you.” I leaned my head back against the seat. “I’m sorry I ruined whatever fun night you were having so you could play hero with me.”
“I think you needed a friend. Or at least someone in your corner.” He nodded toward my phone. “Sounds like some of them are coming.”
“Yeah. Maybe.”
“Or maybe they’re the people who made you cry.”
“Titus, you don’t want to go there.”
He grinned slightly. “There’s a story with you.”
“It’s a boring one.”
By then, he was pulling up to the hospital.
The emergency-room staff rushed me inside and examined my knee. The gash was deep enough that they would need to stitch it.
Great.
- Writer
