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“Fair enough.” The doctor finishes up and then leaves, taking the tray of medical gauze and tape with him.

I come to stand by the bed when Zach reaches down and takes my hand in his, brushing his thumb lightly over my knuckles. “What are you doing here?”

“I had to see you. That didn’t look normal out there.”

He says nothing but comes to sit at the edge of the bed. I can tell he’s feeling dizzy, and I want him to lie down, but I know he won’t listen.

Pulling me between his legs, he’s only wearing a pair of athletic shorts, and I can see some of the bruising coming out on his chest already. Even between the tattoos, it’s obvious. “I’m good.” He pushes a piece of hair back from my face, and his eyes dance between mine. “You came to check on me.”

“Of course. I was worried.”

“The last time I got hurt, and I was in a hospital bed I was?—”

“Alone?”

He nods. “Yeah.”

I hold his gorgeous face in my hands. “Yeah, well not anymore.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

ZACH

Luna stands in my kitchen stirring a pan of pasta sauce, shaking her hips to the beat of Taylor Swift’s “Cruel Summer.”

Goddamn, even with my swollen left eye, I can make out the way her perfect ass sways beneath the long pink T-shirt and leggings she’s wearing.

“Food’s nearly ready. How’s your head?” She begins spooning the arrabbiata sauce over the homemade ravioli she got straight to preparing when we got back from the game.

I come to sit at the counter. “I’m good.”

Walking the bowls and tossed salad over, she eyes my face carefully. “It looks so painful.” She sets our food down and winces, bringing her hand to the corner of my eye and stroking the puffiness with her finger. “I think it needs more ice.”

Wrapping an arm around her waist, I pull her into me. “Will you ever stop worrying about me?”

She shakes her head and grabs a cherry tomato, popping it into her mouth. “Nope. But I do want to know what happenedout there. One minute you were dodging his punches, the next you were almost out cold.”

“I hesitated. Adrenaline took me over there, ready to lay him out for injuring Jessie. Next thing I know, I’m running through all the worst-case scenarios.”

She inspects the bruising on my left cheekbone. “The psych isn’t helping?”

I shrug. “I guess it’s not an overnight thing.”

She comes to sit next to me. “Give yourself some grace. You’ve been through a lot.”

“I’m not sure Coach sees it that way.”

“Yeah, well, he didn’t get attacked last season. Because that’s what it was. If you were attacked like that on the street, people would have a different opinion.” She picks up a piece of ravioli. “Tell him to come speak with me.”

I drop my fork and laugh. “There’s my Rocket Girl.”

“Don’t mess with the best.”

“This ravioli is fucking delicious, Luna.” I nudge my shoulder against her, flirting like hell.

She nods. “It is, isn’t it.”

My smile grows wider; she’s like sunshine on a cloudy day. “I missed you. You know that?”