Quarterback Sneak (Red Zone Rivals #3)(17)

“Don’t,” he warned them quietly before angling the phone so they couldn’t see me anymore, and I couldn’t see them.

“Thanks for taking care of our boy, Julep!” one of them yelled.

“You’re welcome to dinner anytime,” the other added.

I smiled, though my brows bent in a mixture of curiosity and confusion as Holden’s jaw tightened and he gave the screen another warning glare.

“I’ll call later when I’m settled in,” he said, and then he cut the call without another word.

I rolled my lips together. “They seem nice.”

“My uncles,” he answered, shaking his head. “Like two mother hens.”

“They care about you.”

“I guess there are worse things,” Holden surmised as we pulled up to his house.

I smiled, considering how much he looked like his uncle. I’d thought it was his dad.

Immediately, I wondered why it wasn’t his parents who had called.

It wasn’t my business to ask, though, so I parked in the driveway across the street from my own, and before he could reach for it, I unclicked Holden’s seatbelt for him.

“Limited motion,” I reminded him, and I thought I saw him roll his eyes as I hopped out of the car and rounded it to open his door for him.

“Wow, how chivalrous,” he commented, swinging his long legs out. He unfolded his massive body from my tiny car, getting out slowly.

I gave him a patronizing smile.

But then, once he was standing, he stepped into me, making that curve of my lips slide off my face like oil.

With how much larger he was than me, that one step should have made me feel small, should have made me feel intimidated.

Instead, it was electrifying.

And his next words were soft, smooth, and sultry, like he’d pin me up against this car right now if he wasn’t injured.

“What else are you going to help me with, Julep Lee?”

I ignored how my heart hammered in my chest as he looked down on me, his eyes sweeping over my chest before they met mine again. Then, I tilted my chin up, defiant.

“Maybe… if you’re lucky?” I rasped, lifting my hand. Holden’s gaze was on mine until I extended my pointer finger and tapped it right in the center of his chest.

He seemed enraptured by that finger, his throat tight as it held his focus. I dragged my nail down the center of his chest, keeping my eyes on that nail until I hit the top of his abs. They tightened at the touch, and I smirked, letting my gaze slowly wander back up as I lowered my voice to almost a whisper.

“I’ll help you with your deodorant so you don’t smell like such a moldy foot.”

I said the words sweetly, crinkling my eyes with an exaggerated smile before I stepped back and gestured for him to lead the way inside.

Holden looked like he wanted to pop off with some smart remark of his own, tongue in cheek and eyes watching me like he appreciated the challenge I didn’t even realize I’d raised.

But if he did have something else to say, he resisted — just as much as he resisted the urge to grab his gym bag off my shoulder when I retrieved it from the back seat.

It killed him already, not being able to take care of himself. I hoped as much as he did that he’d only have a week or so of this before we could introduce movement and get him on the road to recovery.

For all our sakes.

OceanofPDF.com





Holden



I knew Julep walking me inside was a mistake.

I knew before I opened the door, leading with my left hand while the other lay suspended in a sling around my neck. I knew before my three roommates paused their video game, mouths wide like that of a trout before they hopped up and rushed over to help Julep with my bag.

I knew, and yet I still had to watch it happen.

I had no choice.

“Hey, sweetheart, let me get that,” Leo said, attempting to take my bag from Julep with a wink. I couldn’t help but smirk to myself when Julep pinned him with a glare and shrugged away from him, adjusting my bag even higher on her shoulder.

“Welcome to the Pit,” Kyle added, tossing his arm around her shoulder. “To what do we owe this… pleasure?”

His eyes trailed down the length of her while I gritted my jaw and tried not to boil over. I had absolutely zero right to feel any sort of possession over that girl.

And yet…

“Are you both fucking stupid?” Braden interjected, and he gave my roommates murderous glares before his eyes softened on me. “What’s the verdict, Cap?”

I swallowed, glancing down at my arm in the sling. “Cuff tear.”

That same silence that had burned my ears in the hospital fell over us then, all eyes floating to my already-swelling shoulder.

“He’ll be fine,” Julep said when no one responded. “And back before the season is over.”

Kyle grinned from where he still had his stupid fucking arm around her. “With you at his bedside? I have no doubt.” He leaned in a little closer then. “And my room is just down the hall, if you ever want to check on me, too.”

My jaw ached with how hard I clenched it, but I didn’t have time to tell him to fuck off before Julep leaned away from him and pointed her finger into his chest, her smile wide and dazzling. “Hey, aren’t you the one Riley Novo embarrassed in a game of five hundred before making you shave her name into your head?”