Smitten || DeAndre Jordan {Crush Sequel}

Chapter Twenty Six

Hyland

"Hi, Mom." I smiled widely and silently prayed for strength from above when she opened the door.

"What a surprise!" She exclaimed, stepping aside to allow Chris, Cami, and I to enter. "I wasn't expecting to see the three of you anytime soon. Does this mean your case is finally finished?" She stepped next to me and grabbed my face in her hands, turning it carefully from side to side. "What are these bruises and scratches from?" She demanded with a frown before turning to face Chris with her hands on her hips. "Have you dragged my boy into trouble again?"

Chris swallowed hard, and I wondered if he realized he'd reached to loosen his tie or if it was a reflex from knowing my mom was about to hang him.

"Is dad here?" I asked, trying to deter her.

She glanced at me briefly before turning back to Chris. "He's at the office. Now what's going on?"

"Why don't we go sit down first, and I'll explain everything," Chris suggested. "Cami and Hyland are exhausted. They've been through a lot."

She pursed her lips together and led us down the hall to the arched entryway of the living room. She gestured to one of the large leather sofas and sat across from us. "What's going on?" She said again. "How did you get hurt?"

"I'm fine, Mom, really. I was in a minor car accident. That's all. As you can see, I got a few scratches and bruises. Nothing to worry about." I cast a sidelong look in Cami's direction, and she rolled her eyes.

"Actually, Mrs. Jordan, Hyland was in quite a terrible car accident. He was drag racing against the suspect in the case he's working on, and he rolled his vehicle several times at an extremely high rate of speed. It was quite terrifying," Cami said calmly. "We wanted to call you, but the police department asked us to wait, in hopes of keeping the case from being compromised. Thankfully, Hyland was okay and only required a few stitches to a cut in his head. He was unconscious for a while, though."

I groaned out loud, knowing we were in for it now.

"Thank you, Cami," my mother said evenly. "You have no idea how refreshing it is to be spoken to like an adult. These two," she gestured between Chris and I, "Seem to think I'm a fragile flower incapable of handling any kind of bad news."

My eyes widened in shock. I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

"And you!" She jabbed a finger in Chris' direction. "You should've known better! You can pick up the phone and let us know what's going on."

"Would you have really sat here waiting for news?" I asked, trying to defend Chris.

"It doesn't matter. We're your parents. We have a right to know what's going on, whether it's serious or not."

I sighed. "You're right, Mom. I'm sorry we didn't let you know." There was no point in arguing with her. She always won.

"And shame on you for being reckless in a vehicle! You know how dangerous that is."

"Mom, I've been trained to drive at a high rate of speed. It's not like I have no idea what I'm doing."

"I know what training you've had, and they're called defensive driving courses for a reason. It means you aren't supposed to go out and act like an idiot."