“Is that true?”
I tilted my head back and groaned, the noise reverberating painfully.
“It’s just a small one.”
“And that’s it?”
“And the bump on his head.”
“Kodi, will you cut it out already? I’m fine. Having a headache and a bump is normal. It’s not a sign of a concussion.”
“It’s one of the signs, though,” she argued. Dustin chuckled at our exchange before stepping over to a counter at the back side of the bay. He returned with a printout that he handed to Kodi.
“This is a list of all the things to look out for when it comes to a concussion. One or two of the symptoms are normal after any head injury, but if they’re still present tomorrow morning, then you can start worrying. And just so you know, the whole keeping a patient awake thing is an old wives’ tale. Sleep is the body’s best recovery tactic.”
“Told you,” I mumbled under my breath, even though Kodi was clearly focused on flipping through the hand out.
“I know it feels like she’s babying you, Kean, but be grateful your girlfriend is being fairly reasonable. I’ve seen partners freak out after an injury and ask the player to retire.”
I was so shell-shocked by Dustin calling Kodi my girlfriend that I just … stopped thinking altogether. If my brain was capable of reading any of my body’s senses, I’m sure I’d realize my jaw was on the floor.
“We’re not dating. I’m just his PA,” Kodi said, not looking up from the papers.
“Oh, shit. Sorry,” Dustin stumbled, embarrassment coloring his cheeks.
“It’s all right. Proximity effect. I get it. But I would never go for this grumpy asshole,” she said with a little laugh. Then she clapped the tops of her thighs and stood. “All right, let’s get you home, Kean. I’ll keep an eye on you for a few hours, then get out of your hair.”
I was too hung up on what she said about not dating me to comprehend the last half of what she said.
“Why not?”
“What?” Her brows furrowed as she looked back at me and out of the corner of my eyes, I could see Dustin cringe before backing away.
“Why wouldn’t you go for me?” It was a stupid question. There were at least half a dozen reasons she shouldn’t consider me, the highlights being that I was sort of her boss and that I haven’t been all that nice to her since she was hired.
“Oh. I don’t date players anymore,” she said, like it was simple. But I had follow-up questions.
“Why not?” I pushed off the cot and followed her out of the med bay, assuming that Dustin would stop me if there was anything else he needed.
“Because I went through …” She stopped herself, biting her lip hard enough that the plump flesh darkened. “I dated a couple and it didn’t work out is all.”
“Did they hurt you?” The small headache was starting to rage as blood rushed in my ears.
“Oh no! They were just kinda … fun for a while, but the actual relationships were always stale.”
My head hurt too much to try and find any deeper meaning to what she said, but this did mean that Brooker didn’t have a chance with her. Which should be enough.
But it wasn’t.
“Fun how?”
Kodi stopped suddenly and turned to me with fire in her eyes.
“Do you not understand what you just asked or do you not care how wildly inappropriate it is to ask it?”
“I didn’t mean fun like —” I tried to argue, because I genuinely hadn’t meantthatkind of fun, but quickly gave up as she narrowed her eyes at me and something sunk into the pit of my stomach. “Sorry.”
“Good. I’ll give you a break because you might be concussed, but —”
