Perfecting Patience by Tabatha Vargo Read Free Book Online Page A

teammates in the morning to go back to Florida. I’ll make sure she calls in you the morning.”
    I ran my hands roughly through my hair.
    “Y’all had no business going to The Pit. You both know how dangerous that place can be!” I yelled into the phone.
    It wasn’t my thing to yell at females, but I was so worried and pissed that I couldn’t help it.
    “Dude, she’s fine. She’ll call you in the morning.”
    And then the phone went quiet.
    It took everything in me not to trash my phone again. I wanted to throw it at the wall, but I couldn’t. It was killing me being this far away and not being able to be there for her. She was drunk and sick and who knew what else, and I was hours away stuck on a fucking bus, helplessly waiting for her to call me back.
    That night I couldn’t sleep for shit. Every hour my emotions changed. For an hour, I’d be so pissed that I could kick someone through the face, and the next hour I’d be so worried that I wanted scream. It fucking sucked.
    The sun peeked through the curtains, the bus in stop-and-go morning traffic, when my phone finally rang. Looking at the screen, a picture of a smiling Snowflake popped up. Pressing my finger against the screen, I answered.
    “Feeling better?” I said rudely into the phone.
    I hated being mean to her, but I hated that she kept me up all night worried, too.
    “Not really. I feel like I got hit by the bus I’m riding on. I’ll be back in Florida in about three hours.” Her voice was raspy and rough.
    She was definitely nursing a serious hangover and as bad as it sounds, I couldn’t help but think how much she deserved it.
    “Well, that’s what happens when you drink too much. You get sick and you feel like shit the next day. I hope it was worth it.” I sat up and threw my feet over the side of my bunk.
    “What’s wrong with you?” she asked.
    I shook my head in aggravation and took a deep breath. Long-distance relationships sucked so much ass.
    “What’s wrong with me? Are you seriously asking me that? You went to The Pit… alone. Every time you go to there something happens to you. I spent the entire fucking night worried about you.”
    “Shut the fuck up, man!” Tiny called from the bunk beside mine.
    “Kiss my ass and go back to sleep,” I yelled back.
    I put the phone closer to my ear.
    “I didn’t sleep at all last night.”
    I knew when the words came out that I sounded like a little bitch. Shit, I felt like one, but I was so angry with her. It was just like old times.
    “I’m fine, Zeke. So stop it,” she said softly into the phone.
    It was obvious she was surrounded by other people and didn’t want to have this conversation in front of them, but I never gave a shit about what other people thought. Then again, I’d never really given much of a shit about anything. Thinking about it now, caring about someone kind of sucked some ass, too.
    “Whatever, Patience.” I said her full name like it was a punishment. “I’m over this shit already.”
    I hung up.
    The minute I did it, I contemplated calling back immediately, but I was so sleepy and annoyed. My phone rang over and over again, and as badly as I wanted to answer it and apologize for being a dick, I didn’t want to talk. The boys were starting to bitch so I silenced my phone, rolled over, and went to sleep.
    We had an interview on some radio show in four hours and I was running on no sleep and not much food. I was already half-assing this tour and being a part of the band. The guys were already starting to complain. I needed to shape up or ship out. Ship out to Florida, preferably.
    *
    I didn’t talk to Patience again until a day later. By then I’d blown off some steam and she was feeling better. I didn’t apologize for hanging up on her and she didn’t apologize for making me worry. Instead, we just kind of both never talked about it again.
    She filled me in on her game and told me about going to visit her Aunt Sarah and Sydney. Since Florida State