Page 59 of Stealing Home

The hotel is already swarming with Central Valley students who followed the team for the away game. They don’t care that they might have watched our season end in the second game. All they want to do is party, and most of the team shows their real priorities by joining them.

Max scowls at the scene in front of us. “You’d think we came back victorious the way all these idiots are celebrating.”

Taylor is still with the rest of the team when I go up to our room. Using my alone time to my advantage, I FaceTime Harlow.

“Hey, hotshot, how did it go?” she asks before she really assess me. “What’s wrong?”

I shift uncomfortably and wince as pain radiates from my hip. Panning down with the phone, I pull my sweats down and show her the angry red mark and swelling in my hip. “Got hit by a bad pitch,” I tell her when I move the camera back up to my face.

“Shit, were they trying to hit you?” she asks.

“Feels like it,” I grumble.

“Isn’t there a trainer with you guys?” she asks.

“The head trainer has family in this area, so he’s out to dinner with them,” I hedge.

Talking about her estranged husband is uncomfortable. I don’t want to hurt her by bringing up the fact he’s still seeing Alicia, and I also don’t want to see any evidence she still cares.

Harlow follows what I’m not saying though. “Right, and the assistant is probably already tending to Nando. Well, you need to get that checked out at the hospital. I’ve seen bone bruises before, and my guess is that’s what you’ve got, but you should still rule out a fracture.”

“You worried about me, Low?” My voice has taken on a low timber.

She rolls her eyes. “Don’t try and be all sexy with me now. You won’t be able to follow through with that hip.”

“You could take care of me.” I start to get hard thinking about her mouth sinking down over my cock.

“I know what it means when your eyes darken like that. If the doctor clears you, I will be realniceto you, hotshot.”

I groan, and let my head fall back. “I wish I were back home with you. This shit was getting old before you were in the picture, and now it’s unbearable.”

There’s a knock on the door before it opens. Taylor strolls in with Coach Tucker. “Saddle up Ryan,” Tucker says, “I’m taking you, Ortiz and Reynolds to the hospital to get checked out since our useless training staff is either out with family or fucking the head coach.”

“Hey, sweetheart, I’ve got to go,” I tell her.

“Let me know what they say.”

I give her a slight smile. “I promise. I’ll call you later.”

Harlow blows me a kiss and ends the call.

Tucker’s eyes narrow, then he starts laughing. “This is the best example of karma I’ve ever witnessed.” He wipes tears from his face, then grows more serious. “We don’t need to talk about it, because if this shit hits the fan I’m going to pretend I didn’t know anything. I’ve got enough problems with that dickhead, but be careful. He’s a mean son of a bitch, and even though he’s been screwing Alicia every chance he gets, he’s still not going to react well when he hears Harlow is seeing someone. It’s going to be worse if he finds out it’s you.”

The look on my face lets him know how much of a shit I give about what Rivera thinks and he holds up his hands. “For what it’s worth, I’m glad she’s got you. Harlow is a sweet woman and doesn’t deserve the bullshit he’s put her through.”

“Did you know he was abusing her?” I ask.

His eyes widen, and I have my answer before he speaks. “I swear I didn’t.” His shoulders slump and he gets lost in thought. “But, I’m ashamed to admit I’m not surprised.”

“This entire fucking team looked the other way and let it happen,” I accuse.

He nods. “We did, and you’re right to call me out for it. My wife is going to have my balls when I tell her, and she’ll be right too.”

“Rivera is the asshole, so don’t take all the blame on yourself,” I say, surprised I’m trying to comfort him. Tucker is a good guy, he just likes to put his head in the sand when it suits him.

“Still, I’m going to do better. I should have told her when I learned he was cheating on her. Now, let’s go grab the other two and sneak you guys out of the hotel.”

He turns to Taylor. “Not a word, Jenkins. We suffered enough of a blow today in the game. No use worrying the others if these three turn out to be fine. And I especially don’t want that weasel Chase to hear about this. He’ll go run and tell the coach so he can take Ryan’s spot.”

---