Total pages in book: 54
Estimated words: 53034 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 265(@200wpm)___ 212(@250wpm)___ 177(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 53034 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 265(@200wpm)___ 212(@250wpm)___ 177(@300wpm)
Macintire did a number on her confidence. It’s not a surprise to me that he didn’t see what an amazing woman he had in her. If he doesn’t regret it now, I’ll make sure he does later.
Chapter Nine
Talia
* * *
“Isaac’s down!”
I’m not sure who’s yelling from the bathroom in the locker room—it’s a player, but not one I talk to often. Melina and I are sanitizing equipment in her room, and she immediately sets down the bottle of sanitizer in her hand.
“It’s probably his vasovagal syncope,” she says, rushing for the doorway. “Come on.”
I set down the towel I’m holding, following. The guys are showering after practice, and I don’t really want to go in the bathroom, but I follow Melina in.
Carter is outside one of the stalls, down on one knee.
“Don’t,” he’s saying. “Let Melina check you over.”
They are in the white-tiled space, which is thick with humidity from the showers. Lucien stands next to me as Carter talks to Melina.
“He’ll be okay,” he says. “This happens a lot.”
I glance at him, my gaze locking onto the defined muscles of his chest, which has a light coating of dark hair. Kyle always had his chest waxed; I like that Lucien’s has hair.
“Thirsty?” he asks, smirking.
I roll my eyes, ignoring the question. “Did he lose consciousness?”
“Probably, but just for a little bit. That’s why he falls off the throne. Wasn’t wearing his helmet either.”
I gape at him. “His helmet?”
Lucien nods. “We got him a helmet to wear when he shits. The crap cap. He blows it off, though.”
“Keep his head and neck as still as you can,” Melina says.
Carter pulls Isaac from the stall, his hands hooked under Isaac’s armpits.
“I’m fine,” Isaac is griping. “Show’s over, fuckers. Ouch! Fuck.”
“Shut your piehole, Isaac!” Melina snaps. “How many times have I tried to get you to use a fiber supplement?”
Isaac’s pants are around his ankles and even though I didn’t mean to, I got a one-second glance at his midsection, and his penis is absurdly large—like the size of my forearm.
“I’m fine! Get your goddamn hands off me, Stanton!”
Carter ignores him, dragging Isaac across the floor and setting him down. Melina is trying to hold his head in a stable position. Bash brings a towel for Melina to put beneath his head and the floor.
“Does anything hurt?” she asks, kneeling beside him.
“I’m f—ah!” He cringes. “My neck.”
Lucien blows out a breath next to me. Quiet settles over the room. The team has turned their losing streak around, everything going so well that they’ve all stopped shaving their faces out of superstition. As their starting goalie, Isaac is a huge part of that.
“Call Caroline,” Melina tells Carter. “And get Coach Turner.”
“No!” Isaac barks. “Just give me a fucking minute, I’m fine.”
“It’s his neck,” someone murmurs behind me.
Lucien is tense beside me. There’s a palpable sense of dread in the whole bathroom about Isaac’s condition.
“I’ll get a C-collar,” I say.
News of Isaac’s fall has already spread around the locker room. The team had just finished practice, and many of us were planning to go out for lunch. The mood was light.
Now it’s almost silent.
I find a cervical collar in the training supply closet. By the time I get back to the bathroom, my dad is kneeling beside Isaac, too.
“Be still and listen to her,” Dad tells Isaac, his tone stern. “Melina and Caroline will tell you when you can move. I better not see you even blink until they tell you to.”
“Without moving anything else, can you wiggle your toes for me?” Melina asks him.
Isaac complies, wiggling the toes on both his feet.
“Okay, good.” She looks up at me. “Talia, will you grab a backboard and a blanket?”
I go grab what we need, and when I get back, the room has been cleared of everyone but Isaac, Carter, Lucien, Dad and Melina. A towel has been placed over Isaac’s midsection. I set the board, which will keep his back immobile until Caroline can examine him, next to him.
She instructs Carter and Lucien on how to help her lift him onto the board. I did internships with two minor men’s league hockey teams and a women’s college track team, and I learned that it’s important to not just treat a patient’s body, but also to keep them from panicking.
Isaac’s teammates are doing a good job with that.
“We’ve got you, man,” Lucien says. “Just breathe.”
“I think I’m okay.” Isaac isn’t agitated anymore. “But I get it, and I’ll stay still until Caroline gets here.”
They lift him onto the board, Lucien’s defined biceps flexing with the movement. I’m probably a bad person for admiring his body at a time like this, but at least I’ll be a happy woman while I burn in hell.
“Does anything hurt?” Melina asks him.
“Just my pride.”
“Shit, man, we’re all used to it,” Carter says. “That’s why we got you the seat belt and crap cap.”