Danny shifted uncomfortably. “Yeah, kinda.”
He tucked Eliot’s water bottle back into his bag, putting it behind the driver’s seat this time and moving his own seat back as far as it could go, lowering the backrest until he was reclining as comfortably as possible.
“But why keep going? Why not get the surgery instead of living in pain like this?”
“My team needs me.” Danny hesitated, not sure how much he should say.
Eliot had proved he was on his side tonight, though. He deserved a little trust, and if he knew, he’d have an easier time helping.
“We’re kinda in trouble. Money’s running out, sponsorship dollars are down, we really need a cup win this year or we could end up… we could just stop existing. And other teams might take most of the guys, but not all of them, and they’d all have to move and stuff. I can’t let them down when they need me most.”
“Even if it costs you your health?” Eliot asked.
“My dad died a few years back. Car crash, wasn’t expecting it. I’m stuck out here, a million miles away from my mom, so the team is all I have. We could probably be closer-knit than we are, and I never really fit in like I could have and I fit in even less now, but they got me through that, and I owe them. Besides, it’d put Walter out of a job, too. Without him, I wouldn’t have a career.”
Eliot sighed. “Okay. So we need to work specifically on keeping your secret. Which is why you really can’t date, right?”
“No,” Danny said automatically. It was part of it, and it made actually dating a terrible idea—it was hard to hide a busted knee if it gave out while you were having sex—but he’d told Eliot the truth in the first place. “No, I was being honest with you. I can’t trust myself in a real relationship right now. But I think I can trust you.”
“You can,” Eliot promised. “Now that I know what’s going on, you can trust me.”
Humming, Danny closed his eyes. He believed that, right down to his bones. Eliot was one of the good guys, and he was very lucky he’d found him.
