he had a little line of drool hanging out of his mouth and sent it to Jill. She responded with a laughing emoji.
Jill: Thank you for being there. I love you both.
Me: Love you too. Tell Moose the same.
Honestly, I was surprised Tiller’s dad hadn’t already been lighting up my phone with concern over Tiller’s injury status. I liked the man fine, but sometimes I wondered what Moose would do if Tiller could no longer play the game.
I sent my mom and dad an update although I was sure Coach was probably well aware of the situation. Within minutes, he responded.
Coach: Mikey? What are you doing at the hospital?
Me: Tiller’s still here for tests.
Coach: What does that have to do with you?
I felt my blood go cold. Ever since Tiller had offered to make my “one season only” gig permanent, my dad had been very vocal against it. He’d even gone so far as to get me a different job by sending me over to another player’s house under false pretenses. A straight, married player’s house.
I’d tried explaining that Tiller and I were not in an inappropriate relationship of any kind, but Coach seemed to think two gay men in the same proximity couldn’t keep their dicks in their pants.
After five years of valiant effort, I could now confirm we could, in fact, keep our dicks in our pants.
Regrettably.
Coach: I’ll be there in five. You can leave now.
I didn’t respond.
“Baby?”
I looked over to see Tiller blink awake. He looked dazed and confused, which explained the endearment. Over the past few years, he’d slipped and called me baby when he’d been very tired, hurt, or sad. I’d tried not to think too much about why he did it or why it socked me square in the gut when he did.
“Yeah?” I reached out and took his good hand in mine. “How you doing?”
“Wanna go home.”
“I know. Why don’t I go find someone and ask how much longer?”
“You have your car?”
I smirked at him. “Actually, I have your car. The SUV.”
The corner of his mouth quirked up. “You love that thing.”
“If you’re going to leave an eighty-thousand-dollar vehicle in the garage, then hell yeah I’m gonna use it.”
“My truck,” he slurred. “Granddad.”
I squeezed his hand. “I know.”
He turned his head on the pillow and locked eyes with me. “Wanna go home with my… Mikey.”
Oh hell. No. No, no, no. I was not going to get soft and smushy for Tiller Raine. My boss. My dad’s star wide receiver. No.
I cleared my throat and stood up, dropping his hand like a hot potato. “I’ll go check on your status. Hang tight.”
When I found a nurse, she paged the doc and got the go-ahead for us to get the hell out of there. I helped Tiller change into the warm-up suit and running shoes I’d had the foresight to grab from the locker room before leaving the stadium.
Just when I was finishing pulling his shirt on and getting his arm back into the sling as gently as I could, my dad and Tiller’s agent came racing in.
“Shit,” Markus said the minute he saw the sling.
“Fuck,” Coach groaned, raking a hand through his thinning hair. “Fucking Mopellei. I’m gonna kill him.”
Tiller narrowed his eyes at my dad despite his hazy pain medicine fog. “You called the play, Coach.”
I stepped back and tried to disappear into the corner of the room. If he was going to challenge my father’s coaching, I was going to do my best to become one with the beige vinyl wallpaper.
Markus, in his efforts to be the consummate mediator, held his hands out in a calming gesture. “That’s unproductive. Why don’t we talk about what it’s going to take to get you back in the game? Where are the doctors?”
After consulting with the doctors and learning that Tiller was out for at least four weeks, the mood in the room dropped a thousand degrees and the tension rocketed up.
“What are you still doing here?” my father snapped at me.
I opened my mouth to respond, but Tiller beat me to it. “He’s my ride.”
Coach’s nostrils flared. “What, did you just abandon your boyfriend midgame?”
So… I may or may not have told my dad a little white lie. No harm, no foul, right?
Tiller’s eyes snapped to mine. As far as he knew, I hadn’t dated anyone. Ever. We simply didn’t discuss our love lives with each other. I assumed it was one of the reasons he’d reacted so strongly when I’d mentioned hooking up