A Divorce He Regrets (Raina and Alexander) novel Chapter 368

AVA

The roar of the crowd vibrated through my chest as I stood on the bleachers and my palms clutched so tight around the railing that the cold metal pressed grooves into my skin.

I had promised myself I wouldn’t look for him. I had told myself over and over again that I was here for Liam, that my cheer belonged to no one but my brother and that was it.

But the lie cracked before the first whistle blew. Every few minutes, my eyes betrayed me as it searched past the blur of jerseys until they landed on him. Kye.

He was moving with sharp precision, weaving through bodies like the game bent itself around him. He wasn’t just part of the field… he commanded it.

And fuck me because part of my cheers weren’t only for Liam. They were for him too. So much for having nothing to do with him.

I was cheering for the two men who mattered most, fighting on the same team. It made my chest ache with a complicated pride that I couldn’t name.

Then it happened… one moment Kye was sprinting, strong and untouchable with his eyes fixed ahead. The next, he crumpled.

It wasn’t a stumble nor was it a graceful fall, he dropped like the ground was ripped from underneath him.

I let out a gasp, the sound ripped raw from my throat as I saw blood. How is that possible?

Even from where I stood, I saw the stain spreading fast and booming dark against his jersey.

My legs started moving before my brain could catch up and I shoved past shoulders, nearly tripping over knees as I clawed my way down the stands. People cursed, bodies resisted, but nothing mattered. Nothing except him.

“Kya!” My voice broke, swallowed by the chaos.

By the time I hit the grass, a crowd had already formed around him, players, officials and my brother was on his knees, his arms catching Kye’s body as it sagged against him.

“Move!” I shouted, pushing through. Someone grappled my arm, but I ripped free, dripping hard to my knees in the dirt beside them. “What the hell happened, Liam?”

Liam’s face was pale and filled with panic. “I-I have no… no idea,” he stammered. “One second he was fine and the next he—“

Kye’s lips were bloodless, his breath shallow and his eyes somehow found mine, barely open but filled with pain.

“No, no, no,” I whispered, grabbing his hand and pressing it against my chest like I could anchor him to me. “Don’t you dare close your eyes.”

His fingers trembled as they reached up, cupping my face, making my skin burn under his touch.

“I’m sorry,” he breathed, the words rasped and cracked. Why does he sound like he’s saying his goodbyes?

Tears blurred my vision. “Don’t you do that. Don't you talk like it’s goodbye.” My voice shook fiercely. “I don’t accept your apology, not until you’re better. Not until you’re standing again, do you hear me?”

He hesitated, then clenched his jaw. “I think… I think that the bullet was meant for me.”

I blinked, stunned. “What do you mean?”

My chest squeezed and my stomach fell. Shielding? He had taken it for Liam. But why will Kye do something like that?

Liam echoed the same, and the couch waved the officers off but they promised to return.

When the doctor finally appeared after what seemed like hours, silence cracked like lightning.

“For someone who lost that much blood,” he started slowly, “he’s alive. For now.”

The words cut like glass. For now?