Page 151 of Saving the Halfback

His eyes fluttered open, and he tried to move his legs but winced, grabbing his left thigh. “Shit, shit, shit.” His voice was weak.

“We got you, man,” Chase said. “Let’s get you off the ground.” Lachlan rolled Nolan onto his back, and then he and Chase reached down, each grabbing an arm and pulling him up to his feet. “You’re right, he is dense.” Chase grunted.

“My GPA used to be three point eight,” Nolan said, his head rolling to rest on Lachlan’s shoulder.

“Sorry, bud, mine is four point two.” Lachlan chuckled.

“Bullshit. Show me.”

Lachlan pulled Nolan’s arm over his head and across his shoulder, getting a better grip around his hip. Chase did the same. “Yeah, sure, let me just whip it out,” he said sarcastically.

I choked a little and Ethan sighed. “I think we are talking about three different things here,” he said, walking with me behind the other guys.

Chase grunted under Nolan’s weight. “Wait, how do you get above a four?”

“Because I’m special.” Lachlan grinned.

Nolan winced. “Yeah, special classes.”

We were almost to the truck when Nolan’s feet suddenly stopped moving, and Chase and Lachlan cursed, trying to grab him and stop him from slipping off them. “He’s out again. Why does he keep going in and out?” Chase asked.

Ethan got in front, and the three of us grabbed Nolan and pulled him onto Ethan’s back. “Is he seriously that overtired that he can’t keep consciousness?” I asked. “What time has he been running since?”

Lachlan shrugged. “I told him to send me a text whenever he goes out by himself, but he never does. He called when he pulled his muscle because he couldn’t move and didn’t want his dad to know.”

“It will probably be easier to pull him into the bed of the truck,” I said. I tugged off my hoodie, and Chase did the same, then I laid the tailgate down, and we put our hoodies on the truck bed for him. It took both Lachlan and Chase to pull Nolan from up top, and me and Ethan to push him from below to get him up into the bed and onto our hoodies. Then we dragged him back, closer to the cab. “Hospital?” I asked.

Lachlan shook his head. “He said he just wanted to go home.” I knew that feeling. “Roll him onto his side, in the recovery position.”

I did as Lachlan asked. “You know, when we took first aid and CPR in class, I never thought we would be using it so much in day-to-day life.”

“Sorry,” Chase said.

My eyes flashed to him. “Don’t be. I’m glad we learned it.” I sat down next to Nolan’s head, and Lachlan took the other side. “Just go easy on the turns,” I told Ethan as he shut the tailgate and he and Chase got into the truck.

I held on to Nolan’s shoulder. In my mind, I was holding him steady to prevent him from rolling, but I found myself gently rubbing his arm. Lachlan pulled his sweater up over Nolan to keep the cold air from getting to him, then his hand found mine. “He’ll be okay,” Lachlan told me. “He had us to call. He’ll be okay.”

Yeah, he had us. What would’ve happened if Nolan hadn’t become part of our group? What would’ve happened if he didn’t have us as friends, family? His father was destroying him.

I pushed away the tears that threatened to fall and used the pain and anger I felt for that man to steel myself.

When we got to the condo, the garage door was open and the lights on, displaying the gym equipment no doubt waiting for when Nolan got back from his run. After all this, Nolan had football practice at the school. Weeks, months, this had been going on, weekends included. And then add in all the shit we’ve been going through…how many times did his father tack on extra runs for punishment when he missed his sessions? No wonder he was so exhausted. It was a miracle he didn’t get injured earlier.

Ethan turned the truck around and backed up to the open door just as Nolan’s father stepped out of the house. “What are you doing?” he snapped.

“Fuck you,” I growled at him.

Lachlan blinked at me a couple times before smiling and reaching for Nolan. Ethan and Chase were there right away, helping unload him, the same way we got him in.

“Nick, what happened, wake up.” His dad was displaying a mixture of anger and maybe an edge of hysteria.

“Where’s his room, Rob?” Ethan grunted once Nolan was draped over his back. “He’s okay, he’s just tired,” he tacked on. Rob did look on the verge of ready to fight us.

“I know where it is.” Lachlan didn’t wait for permission or instructions; he held the door open as Ethan carried Nolan into the house, Chase close behind.

“Tell me what happened to my son!” Rob yelled. “What did you do? Nick, wake up!”

“Nolan!” I finally snapped. We stood at the bottom of the stairs as Ethan made his way up, Chase placing a hand on Nolan’s back to keep him from falling off.

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