Chapter 21
ZOE
Shit, that looked bad. I didn’t need to play football to know landing like that had to hurt like a bitch. The crowd was silenced. A moment ago they were going nuts, willing Kane to catch the ball like his life depended on it. Now, as he lay on the cold, wet ground, not moving, they were rendered speechless.
I felt Spencer move before I heard him.
Quickly he slipped out from behind me, “You okay here for a minute?” he rushed as he stepped onto the bench beside me.
Everything was happening so quickly. I could see the torment and conflict written on Spencer’s face. I nodded obligingly. I didn’t want to be responsible for holding him back. He didn’t need to watch over me, even though he thought he did. I was a big girl. I’d be fine. Well, at least I’d pretend to be.
“I’ll be back,” he promised as he jumped from the stands and dashed across the field in long strides, barely breaking stride as he jumped the fence on the way to his fallen brother.
And then I was cold. Not cold from the breeze that ruffled my hair, it was a cold that came from within, chilling me to the bone. An intense freeze that I didn’t want to admit. Wrapping my arms around my chest tightly, I winced as my ribs protested but I didn’t loosen my grip.
“Zoe, I’m right here. Just breathe,” a deep voice reminded me in my ear.
I jumped with fright. My boots slipped on the damp metal and before I knew what was happening, I was falling backwards. An uncoordinated tangle of limbs flailing everywhere. I waited for the pain as I hit the seats yet it never came. Instead warm arms ended up beneath my arms, holding me until my feet steadied beneath me. When I managed to look up I found sympathetic brown eyes gazing down on me. Eyes filled with pain and concern.
“You got it now?”
“Yep. Thanks, Derek.”
Of course he was there. I shouldn’t have thought for a minute that Spencer would have left me unguarded. If he couldn’t do it himself, and Kane was unavailable, then there was only one other person in this world he’d trust. Derek. Not only was he the town cop, sworn to protect and serve, but Spencer had known him since they were in nappies.
Drawing my attention back to the field, I watched as Spencer and another guy half-carried half-dragged Kane from the field. His face was filled with pain and I knew it wasn’t good. “I’m just going to?”
“Yeah. Let’s,” Derek agreed, not even waiting for me to finish. It was like he knew me as well as Spencer did. A feeling that caught me a little off guard.
As carefully as possible, I padded down from the grandstand, ignoring the curious looks before stepping onto the grass and waiting for Derek to join me. As soon as he did, he wrapped my hand in his and led me towards the edge of the field where Kane lay.
As we approached, I could hear the colourful language spilling from Kane’s mouth in a non-stop waterfall of profanity. Spencer’s deep chuckle accompanied Kane’s whinging. Obviously it wasn’t a life threatening injury if they were carrying on about it like this, and immediately I felt relieved. I couldn’t bear to see any more pain at this point.
“What’s so funny?” I asked as I stepped up behind them, resting my hands on Spencer’s wide, sturdy shoulders.
I didn’t realise what I’d done until I saw the way Kane looked at me. It had just felt so natural to step to Spencer’s side and reach for him. Without a word, I’d gone straight for him and he hadn’t stopped me. He hadn’t flinched. Not once. The look in Kane’s eyes, even through the pain…I realised that maybe I’d done something wrong. The moment I went to pull my hands away, Spencer stopped me, grabbing my hands with his own and wrapping them around his neck.
“My poor, baby brother here hurt his little knee,” Spencer taunted, watching as fury settled over Kane’s face.
“At least I played?” Kane threw back without missing a beat.
“I had better things to do.” Spencer winked at me before kissing my frozen fingertips lightly.
“I’d say.”
I was not liking being the subject of their sexually-filled innuendoes. The way Kane looked at me was making my skin crawl. If Spencer hadn’t been holding me in place, I couldn’t promise I wouldn’t have been running screaming for the car. There was something more sinister behind Kane’s words. Something I didn’t understand. Something I couldn’t place.
“So, what’s the verdict?” I asked, pointing at his knee, desperate to redirect the conversation to safer topics.
“Nothing dramatic.” Kane shrugged nonchalantly.
“You sure?”
“Yeah. Just twisted it when I landed. Nothing a good rub down won’t fix.”
“That’s good to hear.”
“You volunteering?” Kane winked, his gaze burning my skin.
