Chapter Twenty-Five
The moment Danny’s eyes fluttered open, Eliot let out a breath he felt like he’d been holding since the moment he’d watched him go down during the game. He’d paused what he was working on to watch it, knowing that he couldn’t spare the time to be there in person, but not wanting to miss at least seeing Danny play.
Eliot still didn’t know a damned thing about hockey, but he knew he was in love with a hockey player.
Well, ex-hockey player now, he supposed. Still. Not knowing didn’t mean he wasn’t impressed.
“Hey,” Eliot said, squeezing Danny’s hand. He’d been holding it since he’d been allowed into the room, waiting for him to wake.
A glance at the clock told him it had been a little over an hour, now.
“Hey,” Danny responded, his voice soft and rough from disuse. “Water?” he asked, coughing as if to emphasize how much he needed it.
Eliot got up and poured him a glass from the jug on the bedside table.
Hockey players evidently had good health insurance.
Danny gulped the water down greedily, sighing when he was done. “Thank you.” He coughed again, but this time from drinking too quickly. “I wasn’t sure you’d be here.”
“Where else would I be?” Eliot asked innocently.
He knew he hadn’t made it clear how much Danny meant to him. He was going to fix that as soon as he had the chance. Danny meant too much to him to risk losing him now.
Seeing him collapse on TV had driven home how strongly Eliot felt. Even though he’d known it was only his knee, and that Danny would be fine, he’d felt his heart leap into his throat, his stomach bottom out with panic.
He’d seen someone he loved in distress, and for just a few seconds, it had felt like dying.
There was no way in hell he was letting Danny go without a fight.
“Working, maybe,” Danny said. “I know you’re busy. This means a lot.”
“Well, firstly, you’re more important than any work. Secondly, the article went live today, and it’s going in this month’s print issue, too. There’s over five thousand words of evidence and analysis. The FBI are already involved. Walter’s not getting out of this.”
“Sounds like you’ve had a helluva week.”
Eliot chuckled. “You could say that. It’s been worth it, though. Your team is safe. My cover story is that I was pretending to date you to get to the bottom of Walter’s bullshit and then I accidentally fell in love with you anyway.”
Danny opened his mouth to respond, then paused. He went to start a sentence a few times, but each time stopped himself before he got the first word out.
Taking his hand again, Eliot smiled softly, and waited. This was exactly the response he’d imagined.
“You’re in love with me,” Danny said with child-like awe. Eliot’s heart swelled in his chest.
“You could say that,” he repeated softly, leaning in close to kiss Danny’s cheek.
Danny made a soft, happy sound, and turned his head to catch Eliot’s lips. His mouth was still dry, his lips cracked from lack of fluids, but that didn’t stop it from being the nicest, sweetest kiss of Eliot’s entire life.
“I love you, too,” Danny said. It was obvious that he was still sleepy and under the influence of heavy painkillers, but Eliot believed him anyway.
“Good.” Eliot reached into his pocket for his lip balm, uncapping it and spreading some onto his finger. When Danny saw what he was doing, he didn’t bother to resist.
Eliot smiled as he spread the balm over Danny’s lips. Maybe it wasn’t the most useful way of taking care of him, but he needed to dosomething. He’d been so worried while he’d waited for Danny to come out of surgery.
“If I admit that feels kinda good, will you keep touching me?”
Eliot laughed softly, grabbing a tissue to wipe his fingers and then reaching out to play with Danny’s hair. “Right up until someone tells me to stop, if you want.”
“I want,” Danny said. “I missed you at the game.”
