Page 31 of Enemy Games

He didn’t press me to answer his question first. “You look pissed whenever you see me. Just me. You’re fine with the rest of the guys, but when you notice me, you change.”

Huh. I hadn’t expected him to catch that. Maybe he wasn’t as dense as I thought.

But that meant he had to be paying pretty close attention to me.

Why?

“So?” He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “What is it about me that is repulsive to you?”

I stared back at him. The pain in my wrist had subsided, and I was feeling heavy. Like a weighted blanket was pressing down on me. Safe and comfortable.

My body was finally relaxed after the madness of the past few hours, and I was sick of carrying this burden around alone. Sure, he’d brought me to the hospital and stayed with me, but anyone from our teams would have done the same. I was mad. It was a cruel torture remembering all the teasing and mocking when he got to forget. I wanted him to take on the guilt.

“Well, if I remember correctly, you didn’t always repulse me.”

His brows pulled together, and a frown tugged at the corners of his lips. “Remember when?”

“You were really nice at first. You helped me when I fell and cheered when I scored that one time when we played during the high school’s intermission.”

I smiled at that memory. I was so excited that my whole family was there to see my big moment. Then he crashed into me for a hug even though we could barely get our arms around each other.

“Then, one day, you changed.” I shot him a look I hoped made him feel bad. “You were on the big kids’ team. The first one that was split for boys and girls, and you were so mean after that.”

He rubbed his jaw while watching me. “What are you talking about? Boys and girls team? Are you talking about Mite? Peewee?”

I nodded over and over until I started feeling tired and closed my eyes.

“That was like fifteen years ago.”

“I know.” I dropped my head against the pillow. “Sucks that kids can leave such an impression.”

“Wait, you’re saying we knew each other back then?”

He still didn’t get it?

“Go Silver Vikings!” I cheered for our first team.

“What the––”

“How’s my girl feeling?” A deep, lovely voice filled the room, and I blinked my eyes open and smiled at my favorite doctor.

“I’m good.”

He grinned and held up a dark piece of paper. “Good news, sweetie. Your wrist isn’t broken. You’ve just got a nasty sprain.”

“Really?” I beamed at him. “You’re the best. You saved my wrist!”

He chuckled, and it was the best sound ever. I wanted to record it so I could listen to it later. “I’ll wrap it up, then you are free to go.”

“So fast!” I swooned as he moved closer to me. He smelled like peppermint and hospitals. It wasn’t the best combination, but it was better than sweaty athletes' foot, like Shaw. At least, that’s probably what he smelled like. If I had to guess.

He wrapped my wrist up nice and tight, then disappeared for a bit before coming back with a clipboard. “You just need to sign here to be discharged.”

I attempted to scribble my signature, but I barely recognized it. “Oops.”

“It’s okay. I’ve seen much worse.” He winked. “I hope you get feeling better soon, Presley.”

“Thank you!” I called after him as he left.