The Penalty Box - Teagan Kade Page 0,38
anything? Reading material, liquor, someone’s head?”
Even smiling hurts. “We’ll talk when you get here.”
“Try to stay conscious.”
“I’ll do my best,” I reply.
Linnea is the first through the door twenty minutes later. She looks distraught, hand over her mouth.
“That bad, huh?”
She comes to the side of the bed, takes my hand. “No, no, just a shock.”
Peyton and Phoenix enter behind her, standing back while we talk. I expect to see Titus until I remember he flew out this morning.
“I’m sorry I didn’t make it,” I tell her. “Really.”
She shakes her head. “No, I am sorry, for assuming the worst.”
“You really thought I’d do that to you? I can be a real asshole, I know, but…”
“You can make it up to me.”
“Hey, if you two are going to get it on we’re out of here,” says Phoenix, pointing between himself and Peyton.
“You didn’t have to come,” I tell them.
They approach the bed behind Linnea, Peyton speaking, “And miss out on seeing you lie there looking like an Egyptian mummy? Fuck yes we had to.”
Linnea’s not in a joking mood. “They said someone attacked you. Did you see who it was?”
I blink, a sudden jolt of pain pressing me forward from the pillow. “No. They hit me from behind, with something long and hard, I think.”
Phoenix sniggers, collapsing against Peyton. “Oh, man, wait until we tell your team you were attacked by a flying dildo.”
I give him the finger. “Keep that up and you will be the one in this hospital bed.”
“Bro, you’ve never been able to take me. Besides, it’s two on one.”
Linnea smiles at me. “Two on two, actually.”
Peyton laughs, nudging Phoenix. “Pretty sure Linnea could kick your ass, man.”
“Probably,” he concedes. “What is it about all these King women being so damn tough and gnarly?”
“I guess they’re just attracted to the cream of the crop,” I reply, watching Linnea and wishing I wasn’t in bed, with a head injury…and an audience.
Still, she seems certain to get to the bottom of what happened. “Are you sure you didn’t see who it was that attacked you?”
“No, sorry.”
“It has to be Rex or one of his goons,” Peyton pipes in. “Who the hell else would it be?” He nods to my wallet next to my phone, a couple of bills clearly sticking out. “They didn’t take that, did they?”
It’s a solid point, which only further confirms Rex’s involvement. I recall the incident in the locker room prior. He had motive, too. He doesn’t want me to marry Linnea. I should be thankful I’m not dead.
“All I remember is the pain and then waking up to Harry Potter.”
My brothers look at each other in confusion.
“You sure you’re all there, man?” asks Phoenix.
I wave my hand around trying to explain it. “No, like… The dude who helped me, he was wearing… Shit, never mind. Point is, a man and a woman helped me, called me a cab.”
“What do you want to us to do?” asks Peyton, crossing his arms. “Because I’d love to bust in some heads, personally.”
I look at Linnea, can see the pain in her eyes at seeing me like this. “I know what we have to do,” I tell her.
She’s struggling to hold it together. “What?”
“We get married, right here, right now.”
At first she laughs. “You’re serious?”
“It’s the only way I can protect you.”
Linnea looks behind herself to Phoenix and Peyton.
“It’s your call,” they tell me.
“You should focus on getting better,” Linnea tells me. “It can wait.”
I squeeze Linnea’s hand, speaking aloud. “No, it can’t. Call Dad,” I tell Peyton. “He knows the officiant from the ceremony. He can get this happening.”
Peyton takes out his cell. “On it,” he says, heading out of the room.
Phoenix pulls his out. “I’ll call Alissa, see if she can help.”
Soon it’s just Linnea and me left in the room.
“It’s the right call,” I tell her. “It won’t be the wedding you hoped for, I know, but at least this way it’s done. After this, there’s nothing your father can do.”
She nods. “I know.”
I look back towards the door. “Don’t suppose you brought your wedding dress?”
*
It takes less than an hour to arrange everything.
It’s quite a strange set-up having so many people crammed into this tiny hospital room. Phoenix and Heather are here, Peyton, all dressed up to the nines. Dad showed up with Alissa, brought along an officiant he told me this was far from the most unusual ceremony he’s attended. Alissa even had a truck load of white flowers delivered, turned the place into a