Page 61 of Absolutely Pucked
“No one.” His eyes narrowed further. “Ford?”
I swallowed heavily. “It’s nothing.”
“You’re so fucking full of shit. Hugo told me he saw a guy on your phone with Nugget. He didn’t get a good look at him, but he said the guy seemed familiar.”
That goddamn traitor. I was so done hanging out with people who could see things. Micah and Jonah were going to be my new favorites from now on.
“Uh-huh,” Boden said, pointing his finger at my face. “I fucking knew it. You’re hiding something.”
“So are you!”
He blinked at me.
“Sowereyou,” I clarified. “It’s just…I’m still dealing with my thing, okay? And I will talk about it, but not right now.”
He looked like he was going to stand up and beat me with his crutches until I confessed, but luckily, the nurse appeared with the stack of paperwork I had to sign and the bag of scripts she’d filled for me since the pharmacy was on the ass-end of the hospital, and Boden and I were both pretty beat up from the game.
“You’re lucky you’re cute,” she said as she handed me everything.
I grinned at her and flipped my hair, which was a frizzy mess from all the game sweat. “Tell me something I don’t know.”
Boden groaned loudly as I finished signing everything, then tucked my things into my messenger bag, grabbed my crutches, and did my best not to put too much weight on my broken rib. Boden was behind me, slower than I was but keeping pace since I couldn’t move as quickly as I wanted.
“Is it someone we know?” he asked just as we made it to the exit.
I sighed and stopped, turning so he could see my lips. “No.” That wasn’t a total lie. Up to the night at the bar, Killian was someone we knew of. Boden had never met him. “I’m probably making a giant mistake, but I really fucking like him. Like, he literally makes my toes curl when I kiss him.”
“So what’s the big deal?” He froze. “Crisse, is it Journey? No. Oh my God, is it Jordan? Is he fucking cheating?—”
“It’s not Journey or Jordan,” I said quickly. “It’s not anyone from any of the teams. And it’s not my boss,” I added when he sucked in a breath. “Just…please, for the love of God, let me handle everything first.”
Boden hesitated, then sagged forward, letting his crutches take most of his weight. “I can’t argue with that. I fucked up pretty bad with Hugo for a while. Just promise me you’re alright.”
“I’m alright.” For now. God only knew how things would get once the cat was out of the bag.
“Then I’ll let it go. But Ford, if he’s someone bad…if he’s someone who might hurt you?—”
“No. He won’t hurt me,” I said. But he had hurt someone I cared about. A lot. Probably too much. My stomach clenched.
“Just promise you’ll come to me if you need me,” Boden said quietly.
I nodded, then leaned in and swooped a kiss to his cheek before turning and heading for the doors. The only thing I could do was escape.
CHAPTER
SEVENTEEN
KILLIAN
My back was achingas I hauled two massive bins outside to dump the trash. My hands were covered in tiny cuts from cardboard boxes, I had calluses in places I didn’t know could get calluses, and my back hurt like I was a ninety-year-old man.
It probably had everything to do with the fact that I’d been tied to a desk for years and hadn’t bothered trying to keep up with my physique apart from running on a treadmill twice a week, but I hadn’t realized how bad it was.
I was angry. I was tired.
And very, very humbled.
With a heavy grunt, I started tossing bags into the bin when my phone began to buzz in my pocket. It couldn’t be Ford. He was in the office doing some kind of paperwork, which meant it was either Delia, which I doubted, or Daniel taunting me about something else.
