Page 38 of Back in the Game (Pride in the Game #1)

The guys started talking once Coach was done giving his orders, some breaking off into pairs to get on the bus. The team doctor followed behind Ryan and Jason, knowing their captain would be the first to avoid them.

“Killinger, I want to talk to you before you get on the bus,” said Coach.

Harrison froze beside him, but then he looked down at Jett and gave him a quick nod, silently telling him to go ahead.

Jett eyed Coach and his boyfriend as he walked past them, but both men were so stoic that it was hard to get a read on them.

He followed Niko onto the bus and found two open seats at the front.

He barely had a chance to sit down before he was handed an ice pack, and John from medical was motioning for his wrist.

Jett was patient as his wrist was stretched and bent in different angles, some more tender than others. He did his best to hide the hickies on his neck, but John was too focused on the purple bruises on his ribs to care about the numerous love marks that Harrison had chewed on him.

“No cracked ribs,” John informed him after some painful prodding. “Keep that wrist iced for the trip back, and we’ll do some pre-game warm-ups at practice, but it’s just swollen from bruising. It will go down after a few days.”

“Thanks,” said Jett. Out of everyone on the medical team, John was his favourite. He was so easy-going and cheerful. “I’ll keep the ice coming.”

John nodded and stood, bumping into Harrison, who was standing behind him. It was comical to watch a big guy like John look up and meet Harrison’s eyes. Jett knew he was tall, but seeing him next to other tall people made it much more obvious.

“Killinger,” said John. “Coach told me and Danny to look out for your leg in the future. He doesn’t want you to overwork the injury with continuous exposure to cold and all the standing you guys do. If you have any concerns, don’t hesitate to ask me.”

Jett held his breath. Enough laughter and conversation was happening around them that Harrison wouldn’t be overheard if he said something rude, but he knew how angry he could get in a split second.

“Thanks,” Harrison said in a strained voice. “I’m good.”

John, who now looked a tiny bit nervous, nodded and left.

Harrison dropped into his seat and leaned back, taking a deep breath.

“I was scared you might punch him,” Jett admitted.

Harrison scrunched his nose. “Does it make me a bad person if I thought I would punch him too?”

Harrison’s hair was still out of its bun. The black silkiness was calling out for Jett to touch it. He twisted a strand around his finger like Harrison had done to him the night before, earning a grumpy look from his man.

“Having someone worry about you is not the end of the world.”

“Worry about me?” Harrison leaned into Jett’s space, gripping his chin and forcing him to meet his gaze. “I don’t give a fuck about that. Doctor boy had his hands all over you and it pissed me off.”

Oh. The possessive words made Jett’s insides squirm, but—

“Killinger, he’s a doctor , he has to touch me to make sure I’m not hurt. Do you want me to be hurt?”

The frown Harrison gave him made Jett want to kiss him.

“No, but it still doesn’t stop me from wanting to kill every person who touches what’s mine.”

Was there a way to tell someone not to treat you like an object but also to keep doing it? Jett didn’t know, but fuck, he needed to figure it out.

“You’re a jealous and possessive bastard,” Jett told him. “It turns me on as much as it makes me want to punch you.”

Harrison smirked, and every ounce of self-respect fled from Jett’s body. “Then I have you right where I want you.”

He couldn’t do this. Jett was already hard and lightheaded from all his blood rushing south. He couldn’t sit beside Harrison for the next few hours, surrounded by people who would witness his debauchery if he mounted him in his seat .

Fuck. He needed to calm down. Jett turned away from Harrison and smacked his head off the glass window, determined to find anything to distract himself.

That worked for sixty-five seconds, until Harrison’s calloused fingers touched his arm and started tracing patterns over his heated skin. His right arm was cold from the ice pack and sore from his injury, but he was sweating, and Harrison’s touch felt like hot brands against his frazzled nerves.

“Wanna play a game, Fraser?” Harrison whispered into his ear, giving it a playful nibble. “We could see how long it takes for anyone to notice my hands in your pants, wrapped around your cock.”

“This is revenge for falling asleep, isn’t it?” Jett growled through clenched teeth. “And no , I do not want to play that fucking game.”

Harrison blew on his ear, and Jett pushed his head away until there was a respectful distance between them. He shuddered when Harrison took his hand, kissing his sweaty palm before setting it on the armrest, placing the icepack on it again.

“I’m being mean,” said Harrison. “It’s hard to leave you alone when you’re blushing, but I’ll be good.”

Jett unzipped his hoodie and took it off so he could cool down, and also hide how hard he was in his damn sweats. “Fucking jerk. What did Coach want anyway?”

Harrison shrugged and said nothing.

His refusal to answer only made Jett more suspicious.

He was about to poke the bear again when his phone rang in his pocket. Jett pulled it out and saw Arlo’s name on the screen, and his heart immediately dropped into his stomach when he saw the missed texts from other people.

The bus turned on and started to move as Jett answered the call.

“Townsend?”

“Jett!” Arlo sounded panicked and out of breath. “Fuck, man. Please tell me my cousin is there with you. I’m fucking freaking out.”

Jett shot a look at Harrison, who was looking down at his phone, playing one of his colourful games.

“He’s here,” said Jett. “What happened? ”

Arlo gave a relieved laugh between his panicked panting. He sounded near manic.

“Oh fuck—thank fuck he’s there. I thought he was dead. My calls and texts aren’t getting through on his phone, and my old teammate went to the lake house, but Harrison wasn’t there, and his car was in the garage.”

Jett turned and plucked Harrison’s phone out of his hand, ignoring the pissy look it earned him. He found the settings and wasn’t surprised to see it in airplane mode. He flicked it off and handed Harrison back his phone, smiling brightly.

“Your cousin was so excited to see me that he forgot to turn airplane mode off,” Jett told Arlo. “Give him a call now, and I promise he’ll answer.”

Arlo didn’t even say goodbye before he hung up. He called Harrison back not two seconds later, and Jett accepted the call before Harrison could be a dick and ignore it.

“Arlo?” Harrison’s expression was worried for a brief moment, but then he rolled his eyes and let out a long and tired sigh. “Why are you crying, you big baby. I’m fine.”

Jett turned his attention back to his phone so they could have a minute and used his time to read over his messages. Most of them were from Arlo that morning, but there was a missed call from his dad and a single text that said, Call me when you’re not BUSY.

Yeah, his dad had definitely seen that kiss on TV. Jett hadn’t checked social media yet, but could only imagine what was happening. It was best to ignore it all.

He found his dad’s number and hit call. The phone rang a couple of times before it picked up.

“Jetty-boy.”

“Hey, Dad.”

There was an awkward pause.

“Are you going to tell me, or do you want me to start guessing?”

“Uh…” Jett struggled to find the words, but somehow, he landed on, “I won the game.”

His father laughed. “Looks like you won the guy, too.”

Jett cringed. “How bad did it look? I didn’t mean to do that—Harrison just showed up, and I wasn’t really thinking—”

“Bad?” His dad cut him off. “Jetty, you didn’t look bad. Everyone has been talking about you two nonstop. They adore you. That kiss made headlines, boy. I went and bought every magazine and newspaper I could find so I can frame them right next to your Killinger poster.”

“ Dad !” Jett hissed.

“I don’t care about any of those assholes,” said his dad. “What I care about is when you’ll be bringing your new boyfriend home to meet me. This will be the first time—I’ll have to buy a shotgun and hide it under the couch—”

“Don’t you dare!”

“You’re both coming for Christmas, right?”

Jett hit his head off the window. “Only if you promise not to buy a fucking shotgun to threaten my boyfriend with.”

“Done,” said his dad. “I’ll make a lasagna and set a stocking up for Killinger. What kind of candies does he like?”

Jett was so embarrassed, yet so grateful to call the amazing man on the phone his father.

“He hides cans of Pringles in his house from his health-nut cousin, and I’ve seen him eating Coffee Crisp chocolate bars before,” said Jett. “When I learn more, I’ll let you know.”

“That’s my boy,” said his dad. “Now that I’ve tortured you enough, I’ll let you go. Tell Harrison that I said hi, and I’m looking forward to meeting him.”

“Okay.”

“And if you guys could tell me the wedding date before plastering it all over live TV first, it would make me very happy.”

“Goodbye, Dad.” Jett hung up his phone and took a breath. That somehow went better and worse than he expected.

“You’re annoying me, Arlo. I’m hanging up and blocking your number.”

Jett looked over in time to see Harrison end the call with a scowl. “Was he crying that entire time?”

“The crying would have been easier to deal with,” said Harrison. “It’s the gloating that annoys the shit out of me.”

Harrison was so cute when he was annoyed. The scowl was more manageable than his damn smirking any day.

Jett moved the armrest between them out of the way and wiggled closer.

He placed his head against Harrison’s bicep, letting out a pleased sound.

He was still tired from the game and the early morning wake-up.

He wanted comfort and warmth, and to maybe fall asleep on the flight back to his city so he could regain enough energy before taking Harrison to his apartment.

There was no way he was going to miss out on another chance to get Harrison naked in his bed. No sleep, no injuries, and no damn food. Within the next five hours, he would get laid or die trying.

Hopefully, Harrison was smart enough to get on the same page as him.