Page 62 of Meet Me in the Penalty Box

“Nico,” she whispered. “What are you doing? You can’t come to the hospital with me.”

“The fuck I can’t,” I growled as I cut my eyes at her. “You’re hurt. I’m not letting you out of my fucking sight.”

Her throat bobbed and a worried look passed through her irises. “Nico,” she started as she tried to argue, but I shook my head at her.

“This isn’t up for discussion, love. I don’t give a shit about what happens or who sees us. I’m not leaving your side.”

She let out a deep breath and her expression was grim. “Goddammit.”

“I know, love,” I murmured as she closed her eyes and tightened her hand around mine. This was either going to be the end of us or the end of her career. Either way, someone was going to catch wind of this and there was only so much denying the both of us could do. “I know…”

CHAPTERTWENTY-SEVEN

HARPER

The stretcher was smooth on the linoleum floor of the hospital. The entire emergency room was loud with the noise of other patients and the staff consistently on their toes. I watched in a daze as people rushed past us. My head felt like it was swimming while simultaneously pounding. The blood on my forehead had since dried and turned into a scab that felt like a piece of glue stuck to my skin. It felt taut and was really sore.

They wheeled me into a room and Nico was right there walking beside me the entire time. A nurse stopped him at the door as she put her hand up in front of him.

“I’m sorry, sir, but we need to check to make sure it’s okay if you’re back here with her.”

His eyes went wild and his jaw clenched. “I’m not going anywhere without her.” There was a coldness in his tone and it was almost too calm. It was as if he were a volcano that was getting ready to erupt. Like the calm before the storm.

The nurse glanced over at me and looked back at him. “Please wait outside for one moment. If you don’t cooperate, I will have to call security.”

Nico’s gaze flashed to mine and I nodded at him. He let out an exasperated sigh and stepped out of her way. The nurse pulled the door shut behind her and stepped inside the room. “It’s protocol for us to ask questions in private in regards to your safety.”

My eyebrows pulled together. “Okay…”

She went through a series of questions, all of which I answered honestly. After she deemed it was safe to let him back into the room, he rushed in like a whirlwind and took his spot back by my side. He was standing guard, like he would attack anyone he thought wasn’t doing what they should be or if they were a threat to me.

Various nurses and doctors came in to check on me before they decided I needed to get a CAT scan for them to make sure there was no trauma to my brain. Nico’s phone began to ring as we were waiting for someone to come take me back. I watched his face fall as he looked at the screen and glanced back at me.

“It’s Wes,” he said with his voice low. “Fuck.”

“Answer it.”

Nico frowned, but he accepted the call and held his phone up to his ear. His body instantly grew rigid as he listened to Wes rambling through the speaker. “No, we’re fine. We’re at the hospital right now for Harper to get checked.”

His jaw was clenched as he listened again and he ran a frustrated hand through his hair as he hung his head. His shoulders sagged and something wasn’t right. “Who all knows?” He fell silent again. “What the fuck did it say?” Silence again, but his footsteps filled the void as he began to pace. “No. Fuck. That’s not what happened at all.”

My head was still pounding and there was a feeling of dread building in my stomach from the way Nico was behaving. I watched the slight limp in his gait and that made me feel even worse. My mind began to race as I played over every possible worst-case scenario in my head.

“Yeah, I’ll let you know when we get out of here. Thanks, bro,” Nico said quietly to Wes before walking back over to the bed. His eyes instantly found mine. “Someone posted about the accident on Twitter. No one has any idea how anyone found out… but I’m pretty sure everyone knows.”

I stared back at him for a moment as the words registered and settled in my mind. “Shit,” I mumbled as I realized what this really meant. My job was officially in jeopardy. Nico’s eyes were laced with concern and I reached out for him, for his hand. His palm was warm against mine. “We’ll worry about it all later. You need to get your leg looked at.”

Nico was silent for a moment. “Fuck my leg. What happens to us?”

“What do you mean?” I demanded, just as the radiology technician stepped into the room. “This changes nothing between us, Nico. I’ll figure it out.”

His eyes softened. “No, you won’t. We will—together.”

I held his gaze, feeling his words as they settled deep within my soul. There was nothing but love radiating from the way he was looking at me and I could literally feel his words. We were no longer separate entities. We were in this together and we would figure it all out together instead of alone.

As the technician wheeled me away, I felt Nico’s absence as soon as his hand left mine. He was always in a better position when it came to our little secret we had between us. If anyone found out, Nico would always be safe because they weren’t going to jeopardize his career because of a little scandal. I was much more expendable than he was.

There were plenty of other photographers out there and they didn’t need me. I’d be easily replaced and I already knew that was the position I would find myself in. I knew this would eventually blow up in our faces, I just didn’t know when.

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