“She’s fine.” I stand and wobble. My heart races. Although, that may have more to do with my anger and the adrenaline still coursing through me.
Rhett takes my elbow to steady me. “Maybe you should sit for a minute.”
I rip my arm away. “I told you I’m fine.”
Except, I’m still wobbly and I almost eat it. Wordlessly, Rhett takes me by the arm and helps me off the ice.
“I think Jeff is here.” The guy with neatly styled blond hair says. He comes to my other side, and the two of them all but carry me off the ice with tight grips on either elbow.
“Can you go let him know we’re coming back?” Rhett asks him. He takes over, walking in front of me with his hands at my waist. His large palms span my ribs, and the heat of him seeps through the thin material of my tank. He guides me onto the bench just off the ice.
“Jordan, go with Liam. If Jeff isn’t here, call the front desk and see who’s around. We’ll be right there.”
“I said I was fine,” I insist, although ouch, my hip throbs where I landed.
He crouches down in front of me and hands me my blade guards. “You hit pretty hard.”
“Yeah, I know. I was there.” The edge to my voice is lost in his concerned gaze and the pain shooting down my left side. Damn, that hurt.
“I’m so sorry.”
I wince as I put on the guards and stretch out my legs in front of me. “So much for staying on your side.”
“Do you feel like you can walk, or do you want me to carry you?”
“You can’t be serious.” A small, manic laugh slips from my lips. “You're not carrying me.”
He nods once and stands tall. Ignoring the pain, I get up and walk ahead of him toward the trainer’s office. Every step makes my hip ache.
Jordan and Liam are waiting for us, standing next to one of the trainers I don’t know, but I recognize the blue polo shirt they all wear.
“Hey, I’m Jeff. Heard you took a spill on the ice.”
A spill? I glance at Rhett, who looks down at his skates as he speaks, “I skated into her.”
Jeff's brows raise. “That had to have hurt. There are guys on the team that couldn’t collide with Rauthruss and walk back here on their own.” He motions with his head for me to come back. “Hop up here and let me take a look.”
Rhett and the guys linger as I awkwardly sit on the trainer’s table.
“You three can go,” Jeff says.
Jordan and Liam don’t need any more encouragement, but Rhett is slower to leave.
“I'm going to wait just outside,” Rhett says. I’m not sure if it’s meant for my benefit or Jeff’s.
I hope it’s not mine. I want him here even less now than I did an hour ago. And that’s saying something.
“Anything hurt?” the trainer asks once they're gone.
“My hip, mostly. Also, the left side of my face, but I’m okay, really. I’ve been hurt worse.”
“Then there is no harm in taking a look. Lie back and roll onto your right side.”
I do as he says, and he feels around, tenderly pressing on my hip and then raising and lifting my leg, asking if it hurts as he moves me at different angles.
“Well...” he says finally. “I think you’re going to live, but I’m going to grab some ice packs and have you sit back here for fifteen or so.”
“That’s not necessary.”
“It is necessary. You took a nasty hit. Ice it and hang around for a bit.”
When he walks off, I lie back and press my fingertips to the tender skin under my eye. I can hear the guys out in the hallway. The door is open, and they aren’t even attempting to whisper.
One of them says, “How many more girls are you going to make cry today?”
“She didn’t cry,” Rhett snaps back.
I try to follow their conversation as they continue to poke fun at Rhett. I don’t have enough backstory to make complete sense of it, but I can understand enough to determine that Rhett is exactly the type of guy I pegged him for—a complete player. Not to mention an inconsiderate brute.
Pity. He really is nice to look at.
3
Rhett
Adam and Maverick walk down the hallway toward Jordan, Liam, and me. We’re still waiting outside of the trainer’s room.
“What’s going on?” Adam’s worried expression darts between us.
I bypass his question to ask my own. “What are you guys doing here?”
“I texted them,” Liam says. “I wasn’t sure how serious it was.”
“Having a real bang-up day, aren’t you?” Mav asks, shaking his head with a grin.
“She’s fine.” I think. I hope. I’ve never seen someone fly through the air like that. She probably weighs a hundred pounds, and I hit her skating fast to reach a puck Jordan knocked toward her side of the rink. I was afraid it would hit her, or she’d trip over it. I should have let it go. Hindsight is a real bitch.
“Is she still in there?” Adam points toward the open doorway.
“Yeah.”
“You two can take off,” Adam tells Liam and Jordan. “Thanks for the heads-up.”
I push off the wall and slap hands with Jordan and then Liam. “Thanks for staying.”
“Try not to make anyone else cry today,” Jordan says and then juts his chin toward the trainer’s room. “But, uh, if she needs consoling like Layla did, I’m wide open.”
“Yeah, yeah, you’re a real Prince Charming,” Adam says and shoves at his shoulder. “How about you get some rest tonight so you can get your ass back here at six in the morning?”
Jordan salutes him with his middle finger. “Aye, aye, captain.” He looks to me. “Later, lady-killer.”
Adam keeps up his tough-guy act until they’re gone. His serious expression melts into a wide smirk. “Tired? Sleeping okay?”
I glare at Maverick.
“I didn’t tell him,” he insists, raising his hands in front of him.
“Actually, it was Heath I overheard telling the story of your narcoleptic hookup.” Adam leans against the wall, smiling at my expense.
“Does everyone already know?” It’s rhetorical. Of course, they do.
Mav answers anyway. “Kind of hard to keep a story like that to yourself.”
“Ah, relax,” Adam says. “I’m impressed in a weird sort of way. At least you’re getting back out there. And I’m glad we finally have some embarrassing stories to lord over you. God knows you have plenty on me.”
“That’s a fact.”
Adam crosses both arms across his chest. “So, you fell asleep hooking up with one girl, and then you came here to blow off some steam and took out another chick?”
I rub my forehead with two fingers.
“Is that an accurate summary of your day, buddy?” Maverick asks.
“I fucking hate you guys.”
Adam tosses his head back and laughs. “Who is she anyway? Liam just said a skater.”
“I don’t know.”
Jeff sticks his head out, holding on to the doorframe. “We’re done in here. You guys can see her if you want. Although maybe keep a foot of distance in case she feels like repaying you for the shiner she’s going to have.