Page 63 of The Quarterback
He sent the ball sailing back to Colton again right as his phone began to ring. He pulled it out and checked the caller ID. Most calls he sent to voicemail. Next to nothing interrupted his time with Colton. It had to be an emergency, or someone he couldn’t push off, to tear him away. Colton had become his priority in ways he tried not to think about too closely.
He blinked at the phone screen. Riley Kimbrough was calling.
He held up his hand, signaling to Colton to pause their game as he swiped to answer. Fifteen yards away, Colton’s head cocked sideways. He turned away. “Hello?”
“Nick.”
Kimbrough’s tone hit him like a slap. His back went ramrod straight. “Riley? What’s wrong?”
“Something terrible happened, Nick.” Kimbrough sighed.
He heard Colton jogging up behind him, sneakers shuffling through the grass until he stopped at Nick’s shoulder. He passed the ball back and forth in his hands as he stared at Nick’s profile.
“There was an accident at one of the rigs this morning. Guy got hurt real bad. I don’t think you know this, but all of my sons have worked on these rigs, and now my grandsons are starting their years out there, too. The guy who got bit this morning… He was one of my grandson Luke’s best friends.”
Colton was close enough now to hear every word. His huge eyes rose and met Nick’s. They stared at each other.
“I’m sorry. Is he… Is he going to be—” Nick’s throat clenched.
“Well, that’s why I’m calling. He was hurt bad, real bad. The kind of injury where every second counts. And thanks to you and your network, my guys were able to get the right emergency care to him as quick as they could. So he’s gonna live. It’s gonna be a long road for him, but he’s gonna live. Thanks to you.”
Nick’s eyes blurred and his lungs seized, and the only sound that came out of him was a strangled kind of gasp. “Riley—”
“You need to know, Nick, what kind of impact you’re having. I may be shoveling millions into your company for this private mobile network, but when days like today happen, I’d give you ten times what I’m paying. A hundred times. Your network saved a man’s life today, and it’s going to again. You need to know that.”
He shook his head. He couldn’t speak.
“I gotta go. I’m at the hospital. I’ll talk to you soon. Say hello to Colton for me.” Kimbrough hung up before Nick could say anything.
Nick dropped his phone to his side and shut his eyes. Colton closed the distance between them, standing so close Nick could feel Colton’s heartbeat pounding against his bicep, where his skin pressed against Colton’s chest.
They were in public, damn it. If they weren’t, he’d turn to his lover, wrap his arms around Colton’s waist, and sag against his chest. He’d feel Colton’s arms around him, too, because he needed to feel those arms right now and Colton always knew what he needed. His shoulders quaked. Damn it, he wanted to reach for Colton so badly.
Colton snaked an arm around his shoulders and tugged him into a sideways hug. “You saved someone’s life today.”
“No. I’m just a salesman. I’m just a tech guy. I don’t—”
Colton turned him until his forehead ground against Colton’s neck. His lips brushed Colton’s collarbone, over the neckline of his T-shirt.
There were a hundred people in the park, and Colton had one arm thrown around him. His shudders turned to trembles, then to all-out shaking, and he buried his face in the meat of Colton’s chest as he gripped Colton’s T-shirt in both of his fists, right over his belly, hidden between their bodies.
“Didn’t I tell you you were amazing?” Colton whispered.
Nick shook his head. “Doctors saved his life. His friends saved his life.”
“You were the first link in that chain.” Colton’s lips pushed against his hair, a there-and-then-gone, quicker-than-a-blink kiss. “If your network wasn’t there…”
If anyone took more than a second glance at them both, their secret—Colton’s secret—would be blown open. He couldn’t let that happen. Stepping away from Colton would be like ripping off a scab, though. He left his hands fisted in Colton’s T-shirt for too long, but he just couldn’t let go.
“Want to go home?” Colton asked.
They were supposed to toss the ball around for another hour or so, butyes, he did want to go home. He wanted to go where they could be together. Where Colton could hold him, and he could listen to Colton’s heartbeat, and he could press his face into Colton’s chest and forget about the world and mobile networks and what he needed to say to Justin or anyone else. He wanted—needed—Colton.
And that was the problem, wasn’t it?
But… “Yes.” He needed Colton, damn it. Needed that understanding and the way he looked at Nick. Neededhim.
“Then let’s get out of here.”
