Page 85 of Mine

My heart stopped for a moment when I thought I heard a snap. I rushed to him, pushing the asshole off Webber. The moment I saw his face in agony, I saw red.

“You motherfuckers,” I snarled, ripping my gloves off and launching myself at the first dickweed.

Chaos ensued as I threw punch after punch, seeing Cap and Ro fighting with me. These assholes did it on purpose. The refs pulled us apart just as the medical team was putting Webber on the stretcher. My stomach dropped, seeing him in pain and I was ready to go after anyone after that. Ro held me back as the refs dished out penalties. I was thrown into the penalty box along with Ro and Captain. They had three other players in the box as well. I itched to get back on the ice, but I was worried about Webber.

The rest of the game was slow and brutal with another fight breaking out with Coach threatening to bench us if we didn’t get our shit together. We were up one goal, and we kept the lead for the rest of the game.

Cap, Ro, Clark and I undressed quickly, wanting to get to the hospital as soon as we could because no one was giving us answers about how Webber was doing. I winced, getting my pads off, having to take a deep breath to remove them completely.

“Riggs, you might need to get checked before we leave,” Cap said loudly enough that I knew Ro heard him.

“I’m fine,” I said through gritted teeth.

My shoulder was on fire. I didn’t want to waste time on it and fear kept me from going to get it checked out. Seeing Webber on the floor in agony made me realize that I had limited time left. It was only a matter of time before I was hit so hard that it ended my career.

“Please have them check you out,” Ro said, as people were walking to the showers. “The sooner you do it, the sooner we can leave to go check on Webber.”

“I’m fine,” I groaned.

“Liar, now save us both some time and just get it checked out,” he growled, before he walked away.

He was right, but that didn’t mean I wanted to do what he said. Taking a deep breath, I went to the trainers where they checked me out. They said my shoulder was getting worse and that I would have to get an MRI. If I didn’t get it, they wouldn’t let me play. Arguing with them didn’t help and left me even more frustrated. They gave me instructions to ice my shoulder and do a few stretches. I rushed through my shower, dressing quickly. Ro was waiting for me outside of the locker room.

“What did they say?” He looked concerned.

“Are you ok?” Valencia rushed toward us, inspecting us quickly.

My face hadn’t sustained injuries, but Ro’s face looked banged up. He had a split lip and a bruise forming on his cheek. She reached up to touch his face when she pulled back abruptly. Sadness etched on her face and for the first time, I didn’t like that I couldn’t touch her, or she couldn’t touch us.

I looked around, stepping in front to block them from prying eyes. Ro looked relieved when he grabbed her hand and put it on his face. She still looked sad as she looked at me, cupping my cheek, looking over me again.

“We are fine,” I said, glancing behind me before holding her hand against my cheek and leaning in.

“They deserved everything they got,” Ro said with conviction. “They got off easier than they should have, but we are ok.”

She still looked upset. This was reckless; seeing her upset made me feel feral. I pulled her in for a hug, holding her tightly and kissing her forehead.

“We are fine, Lenny,” I said, not knowing where her nickname came from. “It’s part of the game.”

I felt her nod against my chest.

“Mamacita.” Ro grabbed her chin to look up at us.

Her jaw was flexed.

“I…I know. I’m sorry,” she said, pulling away.

My hand tightened around her.

“Don’t say sorry,” I said, looking at Ro because I didn’t know how to make her feel better.

“You were worried and that's ok.” Ro leaned down. “I like it when you worry, but I don’t like seeing you like this. What do you need?”

“I don’t know,” she whispered. “This is helping, being close to you. I didn’t see the hit and I thought?—”

She looked up at me and then Ro.

“You thought it was one of us.” I finished her sentence.

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