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“Wouldn’t dream of it.” I used my arms to lower myself gingerly into the chair. Pain shot through me like a lightning bolt. “Jesus,” I hissed.
I reached out and hit the electronic button that would open the door to the waiting room so that Teagan could proceed through it. There were camera flashes the second the door opened, and several reporters and camera people met us.
“Ace! Could we have a moment?”
“Why are you in the hospital, Mr. Forrester?”
“Your fans want to know!”
They were all speaking at the same time. This is a surgical waiting room and they at least didn’t yell, but it was still unbelievable. One of the nurses or doctors must have leaked it. I figured it would happen.
“What do you want to do?” Teagan had leaned down to speak in my ear.
I put up a hand to indicate I wanted her to pause so I could make a brief statement. If I didn’t, they’d end up chasing us upstairs.
“Can everyone be quiet, please, and I’ll make one statement. I don’t want to answer questions.”
They all quieted down, but the cameras kept flashing. “I’ve just donated bone marrow. I’m fine.”
“Who was it for?” A pretty brunette in a bright pink suit shoved a microphone with a Channel 7 marker on it.
“I’m not at liberty to say.”
“Will you be playing in the European finals with your team? Will you be well enough?” A thirty-something man whom I recognized as a local sportscaster asked.
“I hope to.”
They kept firing questions at me and I put up both of my hands. “No more questions. Thank you.” I turned my head toward Teagan. “Let’s go. Excuse us.”
Teagan started navigating me through the crowd of reporters and bystanders, toward the hallway that would take us out of the surgical wing and into the main hospital. We almost made it through the throng when another reporter asked, “Excuse me miss, aren’t you Jensen Jeffer’s wife? The commentator from ESPN?”
Fuck, my mind screamed. I should have considered the consequences of letting Teagan stay with me here. The last thing I wanted to do was shame her, but on the other hand, if we said nothing it was like screaming the answer.
“We’re all friends from college.” It was the truth without airing all of the dirty laundry.
“From Clemson?”
“Clemson: yes.” I nodded. “Thank you,” I said, effectively dismissing them.
Thankfully, Teagan kept moving and they let us leave. I couldn’t see her face but she wasn’t saying a goddamned thing. I wanted to crank around in the chair to look at her, but it hurt and the reporters would still be watching which would make it too conspicuous. The fucking thing was, I didn’t want to hide anything, but it wasn’t just about me. “Are you okay? Teagan?” She didn’t answer until we were at the elevators.
“Yes,” she said stiffly. “I shouldn’t have been so stupid. I’m involved with two well-known men… of course, the press would pounce. I can’t believe I didn’t think about that.”
“I didn’t either. We’ve got Remi on our minds. All of us.”
“I just don’t want Jensen to suffer any fallout from this.”
“Yeah,” I answered as the elevator dinged and the metal doors opened. We waited for an older couple to file out, but there wasn’t anyone waiting to get into it with us.
Maybe I was being naïve thinking that she’d be able to walk away from Jensen so easily and that no one would suffer any more collateral damage. Maybe I was selfish to think Teagan, Remi and I could build our own little fairy tale. Maybe I needed to rethink things.
The huge weight I thought had lifted during the amazing moments in the recovery room settled back down on me like a sledgehammer. In silence, I pulled my lower lip with my thumb and index finger, contemplating with dread what was the right thing to do. My heart dropped like a stone into the pit of my stomach. I felt sick inside, and the pain filling my heart was a hundred times worse than the physical pain I was experiencing.
Teagan wasn’t speaking either, so I knew what that meant; she was thinking the exact fucking thing.
CHASE
I wanted to talk to Jensen. Ineededto talk to him.
