Page 76 of Game On

“No!” she said a little more vehemently.

Shane shifted her in his arms, separating her from the crowd surrounding them. The position allowed her to see his face more fully. He almost looked as if he wanted it to be true. Tears sprung to her eyes. Had she known for sure she wasn’t pregnant, she’d wonder, since she seemed to tear up at the drop of a hat.

“No,” she croaked. Shane brought his face to within inches of hers, grasping her hand at the same time.

“You’re sure?” he asked softly. “Because I wouldn’t mind. In fact, I’d be thrilled.”

Carly swallowed the lump in her throat, gently shaking her head. Had he been serious? It was enough for Carly to wish she were pregnant.

“I almost lost you,” he continued in that same hushed tone so only she could hear him. “It’s taken me all my life to realize I don’t want to be alone. Because of you, I gave Troy a chance and now I don’t want to live without him. And neither of us wants to live without you. The life that I never thought I deserved, that I never thought I would have, is right here with you and Troy. And some wack job with a handgun almost took that all away from me. He almost took you away. What I’m trying to say—in my own sorry way—is I love you, Carly. And I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”

He pressed a finger to her lips, which was okay because she was too stunned to form any coherent words anyway.

“Hush,” he said. “Drink this.” He reached behind her for a glass Donovan had brought over from the bar. “You’re shaking like a leaf. We can talk about this later. Privately. I just needed to get that off my chest before something else happened to mess it all up.” He brushed a kiss across her forehead as he handed her the glass.

“I was going to give her this,” Dr. Mittal said, walking over with a syringe. “But that works, too.”

“Devlin.” Uh oh. Matt playing overprotective brother-in-law was worse than his take-no-prisoners coach mode. She had to give Shane credit though, he didn’t flinch. Ignoring his head coach behind her, he cupped her face with both hands.

“I meant what I said. Every word of it,” he said as he gently brought his lips to hers for a brief but very meaningful kiss.

“Man, this is getting good!” C.J. said.

“C.J.!” Matt, Carly, and Shane said at the same time.

“Oww!” Troy mumbled, covering his ears.

“We need to get this young man out of here,” Dr. Mittal ordered. The EMTs arrived. They carefully placed Troy on the gurney, ready to wheel him to the waiting ambulance.

“We’ll finish this discussion later.” Shane dropped another quick kiss on her lips before rising to follow Troy out.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Matt demanded. Carly couldn’t tell whether Matt was still in coach mode or brother-in-law-mode, but either way, he looked like he wanted to kick Shane’s ass across the room.

“I’m not letting him go to the hospital alone. I’m the only family he’s got.” Shane stood toe-to-toe with Matt, a situation that couldn’t possibly end well.

“I need you here calling plays.”

“Matt! It’s only a preseason game,” Carly said, nearly spilling the untouched Scotch. “Troy needs him more than you do.”

The two men didn’t take their eyes off one another as the rest of the room looked on in silence. “He stays, or he loses the starting position.”

Carly shot to her feet. “That’s not fair!” she cried. “Matt, stop being a jerk!”

“Don’t, Carly,” Shane said softly. “I know what I have to do.” Stepping past Matt, he called over his shoulder. “Tell the Potato Head to have a good game.”

The room was silent as he left.

“How could you?” Carly said, her voice trembling with anger. Her legs gave out again and she sank down onto the sofa.

Matt rubbed his hands through his hair and sighed. “Clark, will you see that my daughter and my sister-in-law get to the owner’s box without incident? And make sure they stay there the entire game.”

Donovan cleared his throat. “A couple of the local police want to ask them both a few questions. I need your permission for them to speak with Molly.”

Gathering Molly in his arms again, Matt pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “If it gets too much for you, Mols, you tell Aunt Carly you want to stop, okay?”

Molly nodded against his chest.

“That’s not all,” Hank said, his eyes on Carly. “There are scores of media out there wondering what’s going on.”

---