Page 46 of Fall to Me
A bell dings, waking me up, and the pilot begins speaking.
“Good morning, Blaze. This is your captain speaking. We’ve reached our cruising altitude of 35,000 feet. The seatbelt sign has been switched off, and it’s now safe to move around the cabin freely . . . within reason. For the next few hours, please refrain from body checking your teammates unless it’s to keep Aiden Brodie out of my cockpit.”
I look over at Aiden, and he shrugs his shoulders. “What? She’s hot!”
“Dude, I’m pretty sure you majored in fuckery.”
“Yeah? And what did you major in?” Aiden asks me curiously.
I open my mouth to answer, but Sean cuts in. “He majored in psychology.”
“Wait, seriously? How did I not know this?” Aiden asks as his brows tug down.
Sean nods, jerking a thumb toward me. “Why do you think I call him Doc? The man can break down your childhood trauma in under five minutes.”
I sigh, leaning my head against the window, and mumble, “I’m not that good.”
I went to college close to my hometown in Arizona, and that’s where I met Sean Mac. We played on the same team togetherin Pheonix for two years before I was drafted. When the pros started to become a possibility, I promised my parents that if I went pro, I would continue to work towards a backup plan. You can never be too comfortable when you choose a professional sport as your career. One minute you could be fine, and then the next, suffer a career-ending injury. My original degree was engineering, but then life happened, and I went into psychology. After I was drafted, I completed my bachelor’s degree and my master’s program online. Maybe once I retire, I’ll pursue a career as a sports psychologist. Who knows? What I do know is this isn’t really a big deal.
“Sure, you are,” Sean says, pointing in my direction. “You told me my commitment issues probably stemmed from being ignored as a child.”
“You told me you were a middle child. I was only stating the obvious.” I laugh.
Aiden leans his back against the window, studying me intently. “So . . . what would you say about meDoc?”
Don’t say it. You have nothing to prove here. Just keep your fucking mouth shut, Carter.
“Seriously, I really want to know,” Aiden goads. “I’m curious.”
Don’t fucking do it.
“Just do it,” Sean says, mirth dancing in his eyes.
Letting out a groan, I tilt my head, then look over and peer at him through narrowed eyes. “You really wanna know?”
Aiden nods.
Okay, well, he asked for it.
“You chase random women and do stupid shit, like creating outrageous sex positions and almost breaking your dick, because you need validation. Sometimes you mistake attention for affection.”
Aiden shifts in his seat. “Oh. Damn. Okay, what else?”
“Was that not enough?” I ask with a raised brow.
He chuckles and waves his hand for me to keep going. I rub my palms down my face and sigh.
“You press boundaries. I would guess that’s because when you were in the rearing phases of your childhood, your mom was inconsistent with your punishments. Not because she was a bad parent. She was a tired single mom, who was trying her best to raise a rowdy little boy by herself. At the time, the only thing she knew to do, for the sanctity of her own mental health, was to give in to you.”
Sean throws his head back and laughs. “See? What did I tell you?”
Aiden chuckles and holds his hands up in surrender. “Okay. I really hate to admit it, but that was oddly . . . accurate.”
When I shake my head, my peripheral vision catches on someone standing in the aisle right behind Cal’s seat. I turn my head, and my heart fucking stops as River stands there with her arms crossed against her chest.
Goddammit.
I step over Cal and bump into him, waking him up. “Sorry, man.”
