The two guys bent to hug him and ruffled his sweat-dried hair. They were being careful of his shoulder, but Harrison could tell that the pain from the injury was starting to catch up to him.
“We didn’t want you to leave without saying goodbye,” said the one he knew was Derek Greene. “A lot of the guys are pissed at Hersey for tripping you. Barzetti even spoke for the first time to tell him off.”
“Tripping is for losers,”Leland Sandford said in a deep voice. “You’re a shit captain.”
The words appeared to cheer Jett up, but his smile still wasn’t reaching his eyes.
“You two need to get to your bench,” Harrison reminded them. “The game is about to start.”
They were reluctant to let Jett go, but it was that or risk their game. Harrison stood back as he watched the young men say their goodbyes, shooting nervous looks at Jett as they hurried out of the room.
“Fucking call us, Jetty,” Sandford said, waving one last time before he left and closed the door.
The moment they were alone, an awkward silence fell. Harrison let it go on until he heard the second-period buzzer, and then spoke.
“Jett, we’re going back to the locker room.”
“You don’t have to come,” Jett said quickly. He was shaking again, and Harrison could hear his teeth chattering. “You’re the goddamn coach, Killinger. You should be behind the bench.”
“I’m a consultant at best, Fraser.” Harrison folded his arms and stared at the top of Jett’s blond head. “Do I need to carry you to the shower?”
Jett jumped to his feet with a frustrated snarl, glaring at Harrison with furious, golden eyes. The height difference between them wasn’t as significant with Jett wearing his skates, but Harrison held his ground and didn’t back down.
Jett froze like cold water had been dumped over him, his eyes wide as they stared at each other. Tears spilled over his cheeks, and his expression crumpled. Jett bowed his head and let out a horrible, gasping sob, and it was all Harrison could do to grab him in a fierce hug and hang on.
“Fuck, Sunshine.” Harrison wrapped his arms around Jett’s waist as best as he could with all the gear between them and pressed a kiss to his head. “It’s okay, baby. I got you.”
Jett went limp in his arms, tears soaking Harrison’s shirt, and his shoulders heaving with every gasp of breath. It had to be so painful with his injury, but Jett made no move to stop himself and save his body from the pain.
“We just need to get you out of this gear, and then we can leave,” Harrison told him in a whisper. “We can shower at the hotel before we take off. We don’t have to stay here longer than we need to.”
“I’m sorry,” said Jett. “Please don’t leave me. I’m sorry, I’m sorry,I’m sorry—”
Harrison lifted his chin and kissed him, unsure how to stop his senseless apologies. He didn’t know why Jett thought he was going to leave, but he knew what it was like to feel the dam break after holding back a river of shit for too long.
He didn’t expect or need Jett to make sense. All he wanted was to get them out before anyone caught wind of their plan.
He had no choice but to drag Jett from the room, tears and all. Harrison let Jett cling to him as he led him to the locker room, where he found Danny from medical and a few other staff members on standby. They helped him get Jett out of his gear and force water into him.
Danny checked Jett’s shoulder, which was already turning an alarming shade of purple and showing signs of stiffness. Jett had fallen silent again, but he groaned and hissed whenever Danny moved his right arm at a certain angle.
“Lots and lots of ice, and I have a cream and a sling I’ll give you.” Danny handed Harrison a tube of something to throw in Jett’s travel backpack. “Advil every four hours for now, but I’ll stop by Jett’s place tomorrow afternoon and do a recheck on him, and then maybe we can bring him in to get imaging done. Try not to let him use it to take weight until we know nothing is torn, but don’t keep it immobile.”
“Thanks.” Harrison checked Jett’s cubby one last time, making sure he had everything his boyfriend might need. Whatever he missed, he knew Jett’s teammates would scoop up before they left.
When Jett was dressed in a pair of joggers and one of Harrison’s hoodies, Danny approached Jett and handed him Fenwick the stuffed dragon. “The guys were adamant that he go with you,” said Danny.
Jett took the stuffed animal and crushed it to his chest, giving a silent nod as he stared at the floor.
Harrison tugged him back onto his feet, thanking Danny once more before they were ushered out of the locker room by one of the female staff. She led them through the maze of hallways to where he knew the rentalwould be parked. No one stopped them or got in their way when they left, but Harrison didn’t breathe again until they were inside the car and the doors were locked.
Jett leaned his head against the window, looking tired as he held onto the stuffed dragon like a lifeline. Harrison hated seeing him like this. Now he knew exactly how Jett felt when he found him frozen in the shower, half-dead.
Harrison input the hotel location into the GPS and drove, his mind racing as he sped down the busy streets. Traffic wasn’t bad, but he wanted to get them out of New York and on the road before the arena emptied.
Ten minutes later, they were parked in the underground parking of their hotel, and Harrison was helping Jett out of the car. A buzzing in Jett’s pocket kept filling the silence between them, so Harrison bit the bullet and took the phone out to answer it.
“Hello?”
