Page 32 of Dirty Play

“Well then, how about we talk about what we can do when you get out of here? If your parents are interested?” Miles asks, waiting for her parents to nod before handing her a jersey. “Maybe something you could wear this to?”

When she opens it up, she easily puts her previous squeal to shame. Miles brought her a signed jersey, as well as pretty much any other gear he could find in her size. He wanted to give options to his number one fan. His words, not mine.

“We’ll get you tickets—any game you want to come to, just let us know. Plus, once you get out of here, you can come down to the arena and we’ll give you a tour anytime, all of you.”

They chat back and forth about hockey and her playing soccer, and I can’t stay focused on their conversation because my eyes keep gravitating toward Gwen. She’s not working this afternoon; her shift starts later tonight, but she still came to visit and enjoy this time with Kennedy.

And she looks fucking hot in jeans and a t-shirt, her dark, wavy hair framing her bright, green eyes that keep bouncing back to me.

It’s good to know I have some effect on her, even if she’s barely speaking to me.

The rest of the visit goes smoothly. We meet some of the other patients, bring some fun team gear to pass out to, and leave some at the nurses’ station as a thank you.

It’s not until we say goodbye that I realize I need to do something.

“Hey, I’ll meet you guys out front,” I tell the guys as they walk down the hall toward the exit. Turning around, I run back toward the office, thankfully catching Denise and Josh still outside, while Gwen and Kennedy make their way back to Kennedy’s room.

“Hi, Cade,” Josh says when he notices me. “Did you forget something?”

“No, well, I guess maybe,” I say, stumbling over my words as I try to figure out how to ask this question. If it’s even appropriate for me to ask this question. “Uh, my sister went through the same thing Kennedy is going through, and well… I was a match for her. Unfortunately, I couldn’t donate at that time, and she ended up passing. But that’s not the point. I was, uh, wondering… I know you guys haven’t found a match yet… I’d like to get tested, if that would be okay with you.”

The moment the words are out of my mouth, tears well up in both their eyes— tears of both sadness and hope—and I know in this moment this is the right call for me.

“I—Are you sure?”

“Positive. I wish I could’ve done more to save my sister, but I couldn’t. And if I can help save your daughter, I’d really like to.”

Josh’s hand immediately stretches out toward me, shaking my hand and pulling me into a hug. Obviously, this is just about getting the testing done. There’s no guarantee or even a high chance of me being a match, but it’s something. I think this is the spark of hope they needed to realize you just never know when you’ll find that match.

“Thank you, seriously. For today—for making my little girl smile again. And hell, thank you for this,” he says, choking on his words.

“I do have one favor, though. It’s a little thing,” I say, nervous because I hate secrets.

“Of course, anything.”

“Can we keep this anonymous for now? I think by now you’ve realized that Gwen and I know each other outside of the hospital. She, uh, she doesn’t know all the stuff I just told you, and I’m not exactly ready to get into all of it yet.”

They exchange a glance, tiny smirks playing on their lips like they know an inside joke that I’m not a part of.

“Obviously, we will make sure to keep your name out of it. Although we’ll have to let Sally know. She’s the one who’s been in charge of the testing.”

“Actually, I’ll just head to the front and go check in with her now. Might as well see how quickly we can get this started.”

“What took you so long?” Trevor asks, leaning up against his truck.

To my surprise, Sally was at the desk when I went there, and she took me to get my blood drawn to start the process. I was in and out within ten minutes, so they haven’t actually been waiting all that long.

“Got caught up talking with Josh and Denise. Sorry about that,” I say, fidgeting with my watch, feeling a bit off for some reason. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Harris watching me, his eyes narrowed like he’s assessing me. And dammit, I’m not ready to talk about what I just did. “Wanna go grab some lunch? I’m fucking starving.”

“I can’t. Ellie has to work tonight, so I’ve gotta grab Addy,” Trevor pipes up.

“I’m in,” Harris says.

“I’m Trevor’s ride. Besides, I think I have a date,” Miles adds, unlocking his car with a grin.

“You think?” Trevor asks.

He just shrugs and laughs.

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