My Brother's Best Friend

Chap. 32

"Where's your brother?" Michelle asked.

I readjusted my laptop screen so I could see her video chat better. "Not here."

"Shouldn't he be home from practice by now?"

"He's getting back at me," I said, rolling my eyes. "I didn't call him last night, so he isn't talking to me. And now he's out and he's not going to call me."

"So let me get this straight. The two boys you live in an apartment with aren't speaking with you?"

"Yeah," I agreed. "It's great to be me right now."

"Well I mean you did get pissy over Parker using that skank-hoe as a rebound, and then you went and used Daniel-"

"Okay," I interrupted. "Whose side are you on anyways?"

"The side of justice."

I rolled my eyes. "Some best friend you are."

"Hey so are we going to the game tomorrow night?"

"Possibly," I said, with a shrug. "Depends on what type of speaking terms Emmett and I-"

I was interrupted by the apartment door swinging open, Parker hurrying inside.

"Where's Emmett?" I asked.

He ignored me as he leafed through the Emmett's medicine cabinet in the kitchen.

"I'll call you back," I said to Michelle, before ending our video chat.

"What's going on?" I asked, shutting my laptop and placing it on the coffee table.

"Where's his emergency inhaler?" Parker asked.

I sprinted back to his room, taking his emergency inhaler out of his nightstand.

"What's the matter?" I asked, handing it to Parker.

He took off running, and I followed him down the six flights of stairs and outside.

Two of his teammates were waiting with him in the parking lot, where he was struggling to breathe.

"What happened?" I asked.

"He didn't use his breathing treatment last night because he was pre-occupied," Parker snapped to me, as Emmett took a hit from his emergency inhaler.

I felt like I'd taken a blow to the chest.

"And then he went over his limit at practice today," Parker snapped to Emmett.

Emmett took two hits from his inhaler, before leaning back against Parker's car, slowly lowering himself to the ground.

"Call coach," Parker said to one of the younger teammates. "Tell him we got the situation under control."

Emmett reached a sitting position, leaning back against Parker's car as his breathing slowed.

"What happened to his practice inhaler?" I asked Parker.

"He ran out of hits," Parker said, his hands on his hips. "So when I went to grab it, it was empty."

I wiped a tear off my cheek.

"This is my fault," I said, my voice shaking.

"Kind of," Parker agreed.

"I'm sorry," I said, a few more tears dripping down my cheeks.

And then much to my surprise, Parker reached out and squeezed my shoulder, offering me a tight smile.

"It's not your fault," he amended. "I let my temper get the best of me, sorry. It's nobody's fault."

"Help me up," Emmett said to Parker, extending his hand up towards him.