Page 81 of Icing the Play

“No, it’s Myles.”

My pulse froze. God no. “What do you mean?” As I stepped into the kitchen, I plucked my keys off the island. I needed to leave here, and fast. “JJ, what happened to him?”

“He was in an accident with a fucking motorized scooter.” He scowled. “And hurt his knee. He’s getting a CT scan now. He needs you, not me.”

He had that right. “Okay, I’m on my way.” I jogged to the front door and threw it open, stopping in my tracks.

A brown-suited man stood in the entry, his hand poised to knock. “Oh, hello. I’m Myles’s father.” He tilted his head, eyeing me. “Have we met? You look familiar.” He stretched his hand out.

Fucking hell. Not now. I gaped for a beat. “Yeah, I think we might have met back when Myles was in high school. I’m an old friend of his.” My heart pinched. Myles was far more than a friend. But he wasn’t out to his family. As I shook his hand, I said, “My name is Cooper Hayes.” The guy had the same large, brown eyes as Myles, but his hair was dark and graying in the temples.

"Oh, you play football, right?” He freed my hand. “Is Myles home?” Swaying his head, he looked inside the house. “I have a surprise for him. I was here for a league meeting, and I got tickets for the game?—”

“No, he’s not here. He’s ah, I just got a call that he’s in the ER.” Fuck. Why did this happen now? I closed the door behind me. “If you want to come with me, I’ll take you to him.” I strode past him and to my waiting truck parked in front of the house.

“My God, what happened to him?” His father followed me to my truck.

“Something about a motorized scooter. He hurt his knee. That’s all I know.” I unlocked the truck and climbed inside. Hadn’t Myles been complaining about his knee? But was this even the same one?

After his father stepped into the truck, I started the engine and took off.

I parkedin the lot at Tempe St. Luke’s. This was the hospital all the teams used at ASU, so I was pretty sure his team doctor had already been called. I glanced at Myles’s dad as we left the truck. Fortunately, the hospital was only a five-minute drive. The silence on the way over was deafening.

We hurried through the automated sliding glass doors under a large metal awning and stopped at a triage desk in the corner. With a peek at Myles’s dad, I said, “Hi, Myles Cummings is in the ER, and we need to see him.”

“Are you family?” a keyboard-tapping man in blue scrubs asked.

“Yes, I’m his father.” He straightened his spine, looking the young man over.

“Okay, I’ll let you in and take you to him. He should be finished with imaging by now.” The man in scrubs stood.

A large door swung open to our left, and we walked through it.

“Right this way.” The man held his arm out and strolled past closed curtains and rooms, along with a nurse’s station.

As we trailed behind the man, my stomach tied in knots. I fisted my hands and released them. How bad off was Myles? Not just physically, but emotionally? And how the hell would I keep my feelings for him from spilling over in front of his dad?

We came to a partially opened curtain and JJ stood there, texting. He looked up from his phone. “Oh good, you’re here.” He furrowed his brows.

I stopped next to Myles’s bed rail, looking him over. A thin hospital blanket covered his lower half, with his one leg exposed in a brace. An ice pack rested on his knee.

Myles lifted inside the bed and snatched my hand. “Cooper, thank God you’re here. I wanted to call you, but—” Myles halted, his mouth falling open and his gaze locking on his father. “Uh, Dad? What are you doing here?” He dropped my hand.

Fuck, I should have stopped him. But I couldn’t think straight. I faced his dad. Did he even notice the hand holding bit?

Clearing his throat, his dad glanced at me and then faced Myles. “What happened?”

After a peek at me, Myles said, “One of those motorizedscooters hit me.” He swallowed hard and clenched his jaw. “I think my foot got caught under the wheel and I wrenched my knee.”

JJ scoffed. “They’re not allowed on walkways, but this guy was a newbie.”

“I wonder if it was the same asshole who almost hit me a few weeks ago?” Shit, I swore in front of Myles’s father. I stared at Mr. Cummings.

“Yeah, well, it looks like Myles is in expert hands, so I’ll leave you to it.” JJ briefly greeted Myles’s dad, said his goodbyes and left.

Myles hung his head. “I might have torn something.” He played with a fold in the blanket.

“Son, I’m so sorry this is happening right now.” He stepped to the side of the bed, wrapping his fingers around the rail. “Dean mentioned a scout from Seattle was visiting you this weekend.”

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