Misadventures of a Rookie (Misadventures #11)(32)

He scoffed. “Duh.” Again my heart was doing a wild jig in my chest as he held my gaze, waiting for the truth. “Why didn’t you go to college when you got that full ride?”

I felt like something was in my throat, lodged so I couldn’t speak. Nothing was working. I was almost frozen.

When he reached out, taking my hand in his, he laced our fingers together. His eyes burned into mine. “I would never tell anyone.”

I swallowed hard, gazing into his emerald depth as he whispered, “I know you’d kill me if I did.”

I smiled, laughter bubbling in my chest as I looked down at our hands. “It doesn’t matter. It’s all in the past.”

He shrugged. “Sure. But I want to know.”

“Why?”

“I think it’s gonna open up who you are.”

Glancing down at our hands, I covered them with my other and inhaled hard. Did I want him to know who I was? Why did he want to know? Why was this so damn hard? I was supposed to have wild sex and leave…yet, here I was…not wanting to leave. And seriously considering opening up to the one guy I swore I’d never get involved with.

Before I could even mutter a word, the curtain opened and a guy dressed in a Suns T-shirt and jeans came in. It was Chet McPherance, the team doctor. With his lips pursed, Chet rolled his eyes. “Really, Persson?”

Gus laughed as he let go of my hand. “What? I’m good.”

He came toward the bed, and I cleared away the pizza box, my heart still pounding in my chest. I had worked a bit with Chet—not much, but I’d seen him enough in passing to know his face.

He unwrapped Gus’s hand and examined the stitches and wounds. “You could have lost your hand.”

“I’m fine.”

“Was the dog worth it?”

He nodded proudly, and my heart may have skipped a beat. “She’s a beauty for sure.”

“Well, there is that. You know I love dogs.”

“I do too,” he said, flinching a bit while Chet put the bandages back on.

“Everything looks fine, but you can’t play tomorrow.”

Pure rage filled Gus’s features. I was so used to his playful way that his angry side scared the shit out of me. “What the hell do you mean? I’m fine! Dude, come on, I can’t sit out.”

“Persson, I can’t let this get infected being in your gloves. At least if you sit out a night, you have four days of healing.”

“I’ll get a new pair!”

“It doesn’t matter. You sweat in your gloves. That can’t sit on that wound! You need a couple nights off.”

“That’s bullshit. Wrap it with cellophane or something!”

But Chet was shaking his head. “Sorry, Persson. You’re sitting out tomorrow.” He tapped Gus’s knee and then reached for the chart. “You can go home as soon as the ER doctor releases ya. Have a good night.”

He left without waiting for Gus to answer, probably because it was apparent that Gus was pissed as fuck.

I walked to the bed and leaned my hip against it. “I’m sorry.”

He shrugged. “It is what it is. Just fucking sucks.”

“I know,” I agreed.

“I can’t sit out when I want to go to the Tornadoes, you know?”

“Yeah, I hear you. But they are already seeing you. You’re doing so great.”

“Yeah, but I wanted to play more. Fuck.”

I inhaled hard and really didn’t know what to say. When he reached up, taking my hand with his good one, I met his gaze as he shrugged. “Oh well, at least I got to be with you.”

That stupid heart of mine skipped a stupid beat once more. “I’m sure you’d rather play than hang with me.”

“I want both,” he said, and then he kissed the side of my hand. “I’m ready to get out of here.”

“Me too.”

He glanced up at me and smiled, but that wasn’t what had me gasping for breath. No, it was the pure unadulterated lust in his eyes that consumed me from the top of my head to the bottom of my feet. How he could go from upset to horny in two seconds was beyond me, but then…I was feeling the exact same thing. I wanted him, desperately.

Pursing his lips up at me, he blew me a kiss before he said, “Don’t worry. We’ll be naked soon enough.”

That should have pleased me. It should have gotten my engines burning, but it didn’t.

It saddened me.

Because that meant this would be over soon.

Oh, I was in so much trouble.





Chapter Eighteen





Gus





“Man, it’s going to be a boring game tomorrow.”

I glanced over at Bo. The windows of her Jeep were down. The breeze blew her hair everywhere. I expected her to pull those red locks up, but she didn’t. She drove, oblivious to the strands tangling against her face. She looked like one of the babes I liked checking out. She wasn’t tanned like typical eye candy on the beach. I was pretty sure she’d turn into a lobster if she went outside. Her cheeks were red from the fresh air, but then they had been like that all night.

And what a night. I thought it was going to be awful. Sitting in an ER was never the best time, but being there with her was. I loved listening to her laugh. I was bummed that I wasn’t going to play tomorrow, but the more I thought about it, the more I knew the doctor was right. I was just glad the dog, Sweetie, was okay. In the time it took me to get out of the ER, Maxy had named her and taken her to the vet. I was kind of pissed I didn’t get to name her, but at the same time, I would have named her something worse than he had.