Rebound (Seattle Steelheads #1)(57)

What should I tell them?

Dude, it’s your call.

Finally, he took a breath. “So, um, remember when you two asked if I was seeing someone?”

Both kids nodded.

Then they blinked.

Then their heads snapped toward me, and they were in shock all over again.

“You’re… He’s your boyfriend?” Claire squeaked.

The word made my heart flip, and I had to defer to Geoff again. Well, am I your boyfriend?

Geoff’s smile made my knees weak. Holding my gaze, he said, “Yeah. He’s my boyfriend.”

Warmth rushed through me. Probably stupid, but whatever. Geoff was okay, he was okay with me meeting his kids, and he was okay with calling me his boyfriend. I didn’t really care if it was stupid to be relieved and almost giddy over all that.

“Whoa,” Claire said.

Beside her, David pinched the bridge of his nose. “My dad. Is dating Asher Crowe. What. The hell.”

“Hey!” Geoff said with a laugh. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Just…” The kid dropped his hand and gestured wildly at both of us. “Dad. Dude.”

I chuckled, not quite sure what to say.

Right then, there was a knock at the door, turning everyone’s heads, and a nurse stepped in. Immediately, she halted and scanned the room. “Oh. It’s gotten a bit crowded in here, hasn’t it?”

“Just a bit,” Geoff said.

“Well.” She cleared her throat. “You all can stay in here, but I need to borrow you”—She pointed at Geoff—“for that head CT.”

“Joy.” Geoff put his icepacks aside and sat up slowly. As he swung his legs over the side of the gurney, he winced, and I put a hand on his shoulder.

“You good?” I asked.

“I’m good.” Gazing up at me with a soft, tired smile on his lips, he put his hand over mine. “Looks worse than it is.”

Both his partner and his ex-wife coughed, “Bullshit.”

“Hey.” He wagged a finger at them. “That’s enough out of you two.”

Okay, now I was confused. Was it worse than it was? How bad was it?

The nurse insisted Geoff ride in a wheelchair, which he did after some protest. So he was convinced he could walk, but the nurse… Was that policy? Or did she know something I didn’t?

I hugged myself and, after the door had shut, turned to Laura and Valerie. “Someone want to fill me in?”

“Oh, he’ll be fine.” Laura waved a hand in the direction he’d gone. “Just, fair warning? There is no one on the planet who will downplay an injury like him.”

“Mmhmm,” Valerie said with a nod. “Take it from both of us.” She gestured at Laura. “If Geoff insists he’s okay, but you think he needs to see a doctor? Trust your instincts and drag him by the ear if you have to.”

“Oh.” I laughed. “So he’s like a hockey player, then.”

Valerie inclined her head. “Is he?”

“Yeah. I, uh, won’t tell you about some of the injuries I’ve played through.”

“Oh dear Lord.” She rolled her eyes and sighed dramatically. “Are we going to have to check on you two constantly?” She turned to Laura. “We’re going to have to check on them constantly.”

Laura was already nodding, an exasperated expression on her face. “Yep, I think we are.”

“Hey!” I protested with a laugh. “We’re not that bad!”

Geoff’s kids smothered their own amusement, and I thought I heard David mutter, “Yeah right.”

Despite them giving me a hard time about me and Geoff both apparently being the type who’d pretend we were fine even with blood shooting out our eyeballs, it was surprisingly easy to hang out with his partner, ex-wife, and kids. I’d already known Laura was pretty chill, but Valerie was nice too, and meeting a boyfriend’s ex-wife was turning out to be the most anticlimactic and drama-free thing ever. Ditto with meeting his kids. David and Claire both asked me a little about hockey, but they seemed kind of shy, especially with Geoff out of the room, so I mostly talked with Valerie and Laura. Considering it had only been like an hour since I’d been freaking the fuck out and worrying myself senseless that Geoff was badly hurt, I was totally down with anticlimactic and drama-free.

Geoff came back, and the nurse said it would probably be a while before the results came in. The ER was busy tonight, so someone would be along when they could. I took that as a good sign. If they were really worried about Geoff’s head injury, they wouldn’t wait around. I’d had enough concussions to be able to gauge how serious it was—or how serious someone thought it was—by how fast tests and results happened. The meh, we’re working on it attitude tonight made me feel a hell of a lot better.

Eventually, Valerie turned to the kids. “All right. It’s getting late. We should get home so you two can get some sleep before school.”

The kids both scowled but nodded. They carefully hugged their dad, each holding on for an extra moment, which he clearly didn’t mind at all. After everything he’d said about their relationship being shaky these days, I supposed I wasn’t surprised.

I said goodbye to the kids and their mom. After they’d gone, Laura stepped out to make some calls to their captain and a few other people, so Geoff and I had a few minutes to ourselves.