by Teague, AS
“You’re a pain in my ass,” he grumbled before swinging his uninjured leg onto the bed. The doorbell rang again, and I looked at him pointedly. “Let her in already.”
I bit the inside of my cheek to keep the victorious smile from forming on my face and spun on my heel. “I’ll get it, Sandy. You help Aiden get comfortable.”
I figured that I’d pushed him about as far as I could for one night and left the two of them alone to get settled in.
* * *
Aiden: The nurse quit.
I groaned and blinked the sleep out of my eyes before reading the message again. “What the fuck?” I murmured to myself before noticing that there was another message in my inbox.
Aiden’s nurse: Hi, Ms. Holstein. I just wanted to let you know that Aiden asked that I not come back again.
Quit, my ass.
I typed out a quick reply to the nurse apologizing, for what I didn’t know, but without a doubt it was nothing that she had done. Then I pulled up his thread.
Me: Oh no! What happened?
I watched as the text bubble appeared and waited to see what sort of bullshit he would come up with. I wasn’t disappointed.
Aiden: It was the strangest thing. The night was going great, we were laughing, having drinks, really connecting. Then I asked her to help me to the bathroom and she had the nerve to stand there beside me while I tried to piss. She was just too forward for me. I like a woman who makes me work a little harder.
I rolled my eyes.
Me: She’s a nurse. She’s supposed to watch you pee.
Aiden: I don’t know, it was all just a little unsettling. I had to let her go.
Me: I thought you said she quit.
Aiden: Yeah, that too.
I groaned and pushed out of the bed of the rental house I was staying in ten minutes from Aiden’s mansion.
Me: I’ll see you in an hour. After I’ve called the home health agency and asked them to send a new nurse.
Aiden: Or you could just be my nurse. I wouldn’t mind if you watched me in the bathroom.
Me: Oh, is that right? Would you like me to help you in the shower too?
Aiden: Hell yes.
Me: Not a chance. See you soon.
I dropped my phone on the nightstand and shuffled to the bathroom to shower before heading over to Aiden’s.
Chapter Fifteen
Aiden
“Man, can’t you tell Brooke to call her and make her go home?” I groaned into the phone.
Griff’s deep chuckle echoed across the line. “You really think that Brooke can make Mel do anything? Hell, you think that I can make Brooke do anything?”
“She has to go. You don’t understand. She’s here every day, doing everything for me.” I shifted in the hospital bed, the pillow falling to the floor, and groaned. I hated this stupid bed more now that it was in my house than I did when I was in the hospital. It was just a constant reminder that my life was one hundred and eighty degrees different than it had been a mere week and a half ago.
“And this is bad because?”
“I don’t want her here holding my cock while I take a piss.”
“A month ago, you would have given your left nut for her to touch your cock, and now that she’s there, you want her to go? You sure you didn’t have a head injury too?”
“Fuck you.”
Griff laughed again and then cleared his throat. “Seriously, Aiden. How are you doing?”
A head injury was the only thing that it seemed like I didn’t sustain in that game. A broken leg and torn ligaments, but no concussion. I should have been glad, but I almost wished that I couldn’t remember the moments after I went down.
How was I doing?
Shitty. At best. More like fucking horrible.
My leg hurt. It throbbed constantly, but the daily physical therapy that Mel insisted on doing herself was pure torture. I hated the pain meds because they made me loopy and I was afraid I was going to say something I couldn’t take back later. So, I powered through the pain and then regretted it every evening.
But the fucking pain in my leg was nothing compared to the way my head swam every time I thought about the reality of my situation.
Dr. Reed was a good doctor and an even better man, and despite my protests to the contrary, I knew deep down that there may have been some truth to what he’d said. My stomach turned as the realization dawned stronger every day that I woke up and discovered that I wasn’t dreaming.
“I’m good, man. Coach and the guys have all been by. The wives have sent enough food to feed an army. Sandy’s here, doing everything that Mel isn’t. They are seriously a couple of hens that just keep pecking around.”
“Look, I’ll come out after this weekend’s game. Allie’s been dying to see you and the boys anyway.”
I didn’t want company, but it didn’t seem to matter to anyone what I wanted anymore. Everyone else knew what was best for me, except for me. Maybe seeing my best friend would do me some good though, “Yeah, man, let me set something up with Shay. I’m sure it won’t be a problem to get them here for that.”
Griff and I wrapped up our conversation, and no sooner than I said goodbye, Mel appeared in the doorway.
“Were you standing there listening to my conversation?”
Mel sashayed her way into the room, a tray with food on it in her hands. “Nope. Just good timing. That Griff?”
She set the tray on my nightstand and then dropped into the chair beside me. “I’m not hungry.”
“What?” She glanced back and forth between me and the tray. “This? This isn’t for you.” To punctuate her statement, she grabbed the plate, which held a slice of chocolate cream pie, and took a big bite.
She was pure evil. Chocolate cream pie was my favorite. And I knew for a fact she didn’t like chocolate, but nonetheless, she let her lids flutter closed and moaned, “Mmmm… God, this is amazing. I’ll have to get the recipe.”
I glared at her. “You don’t like chocolate.”
Her lids flew open. “Oh, you’re right, I don’t. But you do. Want some?” She held the plate toward me and then pulled it away. “Wait, you’re not hungry.”
She pushed to her feet and ceremoniously dumped the rest of the slice into the trash can by the door.
“Why the hell did you do that?” I all but snarled, disbelief coursing through me.
She set the plate and fork back on the tray, the rattling exaggerated, and then lifted a shoulder. “Maybe if you quit being such a stubborn ass, you could have eaten that slice of pie. But since you’re hell bent on being a non-stop dick, that’s the price you pay.”
“The price I pay?” I gestured wildly at my knee, the leg brace and wrapping making it twice the size of the other, and then flinched as a shot of pain raced up my leg from the movement. “The fucking price I pay? I’m pretty sure I paid more than enough for a lifetime with this injury, and you want to be petty about a piece of pie?”
“No,” she snapped, “I want to be petty about your attitude.”
“My attitude? I think I’m entitled to be upset about a career-ending injury!” I couldn’t believe the words that were coming out of her mouth.
“That’s your problem. You think because you were an amazing quarterback in the prime of his career that you’re entitled to something. Well, accidents happen and nobody is guaranteed anything in this life. Look at Brooke and Griff and the hell they went through…. But you wallowing in self-pity and treating me like I’m the one responsible for your situation isn’t going to change anything. It’s only going to keep you from getting better, because you aren’t giving it your all in PT and you’re half-assing it.”
“What the hell do you know about my all?”
“I know that when you want something, you don’t stop. It’s the reason that we met seven years ago and never had a chance to be together, and yet here I am. Because. You. Didn’t. Quit.” She jabbed her finger in my chest, and I had to grit my teeth to keep from exploding. “You’re
not a quitter.”
“Yeah, and a lot of good that not giving up on you did me.”
“I’m here now!” she shouted.
“That’s not what I want!” I roared.
“Then tell me what you want! Tell me, and I’ll make it happen!” she yelled back, her eyes blazing.
“What I want? I want to be able to walk up my stairs and sleep in my own bed. I want to go outside and throw a football with my kids. I want for this to be a fucking nightmare that I wake up from, but every morning, when my eyes crack open, I’m slapped in the face with the reality that I can’t even take a piss without needing help.”
She put a hand on her hip. “Finally! The truth! I’m not going anywhere, but if you need some space, I’ll give it to you. Over the last seven years, you always came back to me. It was always you who texted me, so now it’s my turn to be the one to come back.”
She spun on a heel and marched to the door. “I’m really trying here, Aiden. I want to help you because I care about you. If you need to cuss, do it. If yelling will make you feel better, then freaking scream. If you need to sling insults, fine.” She stuck her hands out to the side. “I’m right here, and I am strong enough to be your punching bag. But don’t make me out to be the bad guy here.”
Chapter Sixteen
Mel
I’d marched out after our fight, thoughts of packing my shit and leaving racing through my mind. I’d actually gone back to the little house I’d rented and started slinging my clothes into my suitcase, but then I remembered that I’d promised that I wasn’t giving up on him.
So, instead, I gave him the space that we both needed.
It was the third day after I left that I was awoken to the sound of my phone buzzing. I groaned and rolled over, pulling it from the nightstand, and was surprised to see it was from Aiden.
Aiden: The physical therapist quit.
I stared at the message, unsure of how to respond. I figured that him messaging me was his attempt at extending an olive branch, but did I take it? Did he deserve that? After several long minutes, I decided that I needed coffee and a shower before I responded. I always did my best thinking in the shower anyway.
After the biggest cup of joe I could find and a steaming shower, I was toweling off when my phone chimed again with an incoming message. When I pulled the text thread up, I saw that I had several missed messages from him.
Aiden: Okay, fine, I fired him.
Aiden: He wasn’t working me hard enough.
Aiden: If I’m going to get back on the field next season, I need someone who’s going to force me to be more than half-ass.
I smiled. It was a pathetic attempt at an apology, but I appreciated it, nonetheless. Plus, it told me exactly what I needed to know: He did want me there. It didn’t excuse his bad behavior, and I wasn’t going to run back to him and just let him walk all over me. But I’d told him while he was in the hospital that I was Team Aiden and I’d meant it. What kind of team player would I be if I abandoned him now, when he was at his lowest?
Me: You sure you didn’t fire him because you couldn’t stare at his chest while he worked your leg?
The text bubble immediately popped up, and I quickly got dressed while I waited for him to respond. I hadn’t planned to do anything today, much like the last couple of days, but I had a feeling that my plans to binge-watch the latest crime documentary were going to be changing.
Aiden: Believe it or not, his pecs were bigger than yours.
Me: This is the worst apology I’ve ever gotten.
Aiden: Who said I was apologizing?
Me: Oh, that’s not what this was? I’m sorry I misunderstood. If you’ll excuse me, I was right in the middle of something.
I couldn’t resist the urge to wait while he typed out his response.
Aiden: Sandy wanted to know if you are going to be here today?
Me: Still not an apology.
Aiden: I’m sorry.
Me: Not accepted. But, yes, I’ll be there shortly.
I set the phone down and finished getting ready.
* * *
“Quit firing the people who are here to help you,” I ordered as I stalked into the guest room at Aiden’s house.
He scowled. “Wow, you really know how to make a guy feel missed.”
“Who said I missed you?”
The frown turned to a shit-eating grin, and he threw his arms out to the side. “You know you missed me.”
I shook my head and dropped the bag of stuff that I had on the end of his hospital bed.
“What’s that?” he asked, a brow raised as he nudged the bag with a toe.
“That is a bag full of torture devices.” I grinned. “And not the red-room-of-pain kind that you’re hoping for.”
His head fell back against his pillow and he groaned.
I shook my head. “Oh, I don’t want to hear any complaining out of you. It wasn’t me who said you needed to be pushed harder.”
“Pretty sure it was exactly you who said that.”
“Ah, so you do listen to me.”
“You were yelling and in my face. It was pretty hard not to hear you.”
I started pulling out the equipment I’d brought, each one more intimidating than the last, and when I finished, smirked. “Hope you ate your Wheaties this morning.”
Aiden groaned loudly. “No one says that.”
“You really wanna open that can of worms before I start working with your leg?”
He must have seen the evil gleam in my eye because he held his hands up in surrender. “Forget I said anything.”
“Done.” I clapped my hands together. “Now, before we get started, I need to know one thing, Quarterback.” I leaned over the rail of the bed and dropped my voice. “Are you a team player?”
His brow wrinkled in confusion. “Of course, I am.”
“Good.” I beamed. “Cause I’m all in with Team Aiden. If you’re going to get back on the field again, you have to be too.”
I moved to stand and right myself, but Aiden’s large hand caught the back of my neck and brought my face inches from his. “Am I forgiven?”
His voice was gravelly, his eyes so intense that it nearly made me squirm. “Give me more than half-ass, and I’ll consider it.”
He licked his lips, and I couldn’t stop my gaze from following the trail his tongue made across his full lower lip. My own tongue had made that journey not so long ago and suddenly, I ached to do it again. He flexed his hand, his fingers digging deliciously into the sensitive skin of my neck, and he dropped his voice to a whisper. “I will give you anything you want if you fix me.”
My heart stopped hammering in my chest when I realized the depth of his words.
That lineman had broken more than his leg. He’d broken Aiden Shaw’s spirit.
I swallowed hard, forcing the emotion that had crept up my throat away, and gave a quick jerk of my chin. I would do whatever I could to help Aiden find his will again.
Chapter Seventeen
Aiden
Mel had wasted no time trying to kill me when she got to my house. I’d barely had a chance to pop a pain pill before she’d forced me out of bed and started working my knee.
I’d been an athlete my whole life. Two and three practices a day had been the norm growing up. College and the pros hadn’t changed that. If anything, I’d worked even harder once I’d been drafted, determined to show my team and my coaches that I was worth the pick they’d used to get me. I hadn’t let them down.
And still, with the last twenty years of rigorous training, grueling practices, and scorching summers, I’d never worked as hard as I had that morning with Mel. She’d pushed me long after I’d told her I needed a break, she encouraged me when I’d pleaded with her to stop, and she’d all but cheered when I’d finally collapsed onto my makeshift bed in the guest room of my house. I wanted to vomit or cry or both, but I knew that she would never let me forget the day she’d pushed me past my limit.
“You’re a
sadist,” I panted as I tried to straighten myself in the bed. Her soft hands scooped my bad leg and gently slid it under the covers, and as much as I hated that I needed her help just to get in bed, I couldn’t ignore the way my skin buzzed where her fingers touched.
I’d been a dick.
She’d been right to call me out on it.
I’d been mean.
She would have been right to have walked out of my house and never returned.
I would never have blamed her if I hadn’t heard from her again.
I told myself that I didn’t give a shit that she’d left me high and dry. It was a lie; she’d left me, sure. But high and dry? Not even close. Despite what I’d said, she’d still made sure that I had a physical therapist coming to work with me when she wasn’t there. She’d talked to Sandy daily, checking in on me, something my sweet housekeeper had made me promise I wouldn’t tell Mel about.
But after nearly three days of radio silence, I couldn’t take it anymore. I’d pulled up the thread of our conversation and stared at it for almost an hour before I’d finally said ‘Fuck it’ and sent the message. I should have held out a while longer. Like, for fucking ever. If I’d known she was going to try to murder me with PT, I wouldn’t have ever messaged her again.
“I’m only doing what my coach told me to do.” Her smirk was so fucking sexy I couldn’t stand it.
“Your coach wants you to ride him… You gonna do that too?”
She frowned and tapped a perfectly manicured finger to her full lips. “Can you catch a sexual harassment charge on a football team?”