I look at him, surprised.
He doesn’t react—doesn’t explain how he knew. He just stands there, waiting.
And that makes the back of my eyes burn.
To know thatsomeonesees me …
I pop the pill into my mouth and swallow dry, the bitterness of it matching the sensation in the back of my throat.
“I don’t drink coffee,” I mutter, my voice quieter than I meant.
“I know,” he says. “It’s tea. Chamomile tea, specifically.”
He knows? My nose stings, making me sniff. “Thanks.”
Did Alicia put him up to this? No, I bet it was Ash—although I can’t see him and Ash texting like old friends. Either way, I take a sip and sigh.
I don’t love chamomile tea, but Patty must have put an unholy amount of honey in it because it’s delicious.
I take another sip, and my shoulders relax as the warmth spreads through me. I open and close my mouth, trying to make the ringing stop.
“May I?” Patty asks me, holding his hands up like he’s about to touch my face.
Why is he about to touch my face?
My heart starts pounding for a different reason. We’re far enough from the exit that I’m not worried about anyone seeing, but …
What is happening?
And why aren’t I stopping it?
“For your headache,” he says, and then he puts his fingers on the sides of my jaw and presses, his fingers crawling up and down along the muscle, easing the tension with a firm, careful touch. I close my eyes at the pressure, and after only a minute, the ringing in my ears lessens. Some of the throbbing in my head dies down, too.
I sigh. “How do you know how to do that?”
“One of the perks of major jaw surgery,” he says. “Better?”
My eyes are heavy when I open them. I cover his wrists with my hands, pulling them from my face. “A little, actually. Thanks, Patty.” I take another sip of the tea. “Do you mind if we go back to the bus? I’m done in there.”
He nods and starts escorting me.
“You missing your friends?” he asks as we walk through the belly of the arena.
His head is on a swivel, scanning for potential threats, even though another bodyguard—Rafael, who used to be Special Forces—meets up with us in an adjoining hall.
“I’m fine,” I say. “You?”
His scoff is quiet, barely leaving his throat. “I’m always fine.”
“How’s Sean? Didn’t he have a game tonight?”
“Blue Collars won, three-two. Sean had twenty-five saves.”
“Twenty-five! That’s insane.”
“A little more than average, but yeah. He’s killin’ it.”
We’re almost to the back doors, where the bus is waiting.
