Page 39 of Offside

I make quick work and climb into bed as she finishes placing the order. When her eyes drift to me once more, they soften.

“How are you feeling? I’ll go find you some Tylenol and water. You’ll need to stay hydrated and you’ll be due for some meds in an hour.”

Before she leaves, I reach for her wrist and clutch it in my hand.

“Why am I here, Karis?”

Confusion wrinkles her brows. I tug her forward so she’s flush with the edge of the bed. So close I smell her sweet, feminine scent, and my dick perks up with interest.

“Isn’t it obvious?” she says stubbornly, lifting her shoulders like I’m an idiot. “You have a concussion and the doc said you needed someone to take care of you for forty-eight hours and you said you didn’t have anyone.”

I shake my head, the corners of my mouth tipping into a knowing smirk. “Nah, that’s not it. At least not all of it. Try again, princess.”

She huffs, her eyes pinning me with a hard stare. Her tone changes back into that bossy one she uses in the workplace. Karis’s expression turns edgy and a defensive frown forms across her mouth.

“Stop calling me princess.”

“Don’t dodge my question,sweetheart,” I drawl in reply. “Why did you offer to bring me here? Would you have done it for another player?”

She struggles to move within my solid grasp and I relent and reluctantly release her. She takes two steps backward and folds her arms over her chest. She hesitates, calculating the words she wants to say, and chews on her bottom lip.

“I…probably not. If you must know, I was scared. Okay? Are you happy now?”

I push myself up against the headboard and scoot over, making room on the side of the bed for her to sit down. I pat the spot, silently offering her the invitation. Probably not the wisest choice if I’m trying to keep my distance. What can I say? Concussion brain has me making poor decisions.

She shakes her head in refusal. At least she’s thinking straight.

“Why were you scared?” I ask quietly. Some deep part of me wants to hear that she cares about me, feels the same connection I do. There is no denying that the attraction between us has lingered and grown unexpectedly.

My question seems to act like a sledgehammer, slamming through the wall Karis has constructed and allowing the levee to break.

I watch as her entire body deflates like a balloon and tears flood from her eyes.

It feels all too similar to the night I flew to Seattle when her uncle was admitted to the hospital. When I showed up at that hospital because of an uncharacteristically sympathetic decision—God knows why—to comfort her during her time of need.

I stretch my arms out to her and this time she comes willingly. Karis sits on the edge of the bed and curls into my arms. I hold her tightly, her wet tears soaking into my T-shirt.

Have I ever just held a woman in bed without it leading to something sexual? Karis brings something out in me that no one else ever has before.

“Hey, come on now…shhh,” I murmur, my lips pressed against the top of her head. “I’m fine. Everything’s okay, princess.”

I stroke her hair as she sniffles softly until her tears have quieted and her body relaxes. When she pushes herself up out of my embrace and lifts her face to mine, her green eyes are red-rimmed and her nose a bright pink.

I reach behind her back and grab a handful of tissues, handing them to her. She blows her nose and turns her shoulders away.

“Thank you. Gah, I should be the one taking care of you right now, yet here you are”—she flutters her hand in the air between us—“taking care of me. What a mess I am.”

“Nah, it’s all good. I don’t mind.”

And oddly enough, I don’t mind it at all. There’s a comfort level between us. A connection.

Silent moments go by until she finally speaks again, her voice barely a whisper and her words accompanied by chirpy hiccups.

“When I saw you lying motionless on the ice…it broke something in me that I’ve managed to keep glued together all these months as I’ve dealt with Marv’s condition.” Her shoulders slump forward and she drops her chin to her chest. I rub her back in a soothing motion, tucking her fallen hair behind her ear. “Seeing you all sprawled out unconscious? I think it brought up all the fears I’ve carried around with me about losing Marv. I was scared shitless that you wouldn’t get up. That…you’d…”

“End up in a coma?”

She twists her head so her worried eyes meet mine. “Or worse. God, it was terrifying. The whole event keeps replaying in my head.”

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