Page 63 of Back in the Game (Pride in the Game #1)

Adams and Fallon had left to start damage control before the second period, but Bracken had refused to leave for any reason. He still sat next to Jett with an arm around him, keeping a physical presence of support in the hopes that Jett wouldn’t break into pieces as long as he was there.

“Alright,” said Bracken. “Gear off, Jetty. You need to be showered and out of here during second period.”

Jett stopped shaking and lowered his hands, his eyes bloodshot and still full of tears. “What?”

“The game—” Jett began.

“I got the game handled,” said Bracken, giving Jett the most confident smile he could muster.

“We’re going to bring home the win, don’t you worry about that.

The guys are fucking fired up right now.

All I care about is getting you back to Toronto without being hounded by every idiot with a camera.

They’ll be expecting you to stay with us, but that’s why this plan is brilliant. ”

“Ryan, I can’t do that.” Jett sniffed loudly and grimaced. “I can’t leave the guys with only one point on the board. ”

Bracken’s expression hardened. “Jett, I’m not asking you to leave, I’m telling you. Adams would have pulled you for the rest of the game with that shoulder injury, and you know it. You’re going to ice it for the eight-hour drive back home, and check in with medical before next practice.”

“This is bullshit.” Jett clenched his hands into fists. “I don’t need you to baby me. I’m not your kid brother.”

“Thank god for that, or we would really be getting nowhere.” Bracken looked at Harrison and said, “You got him?”

“You know I do.”

Jett’s cheeks were blotchy from crying, and flushed red with anger. He opened his mouth to argue further, but furious knocking on the door made them all freeze.

Bracken finally let go of Jett to go to the door, his posture tensed for a fight as he threw it open and barked, “ What?”

“We want to see him,” said a male voice that Harrison didn’t recognize. “I don’t care if we have to fight you, Bracken.”

“You guys know we’re expected back on the ice in three minutes, right?”

“Let them in,” said Jett.

Bracken sighed loudly and met Harrison’s gaze once more. “Get out of here before anyone catches on. I’ll send you the info on the rental.”

Harrison nodded and used Jett’s chair to push himself up, wincing as his bad leg throbbed angrily. He moved just in time for two Barbarian players to come racing into the room in full gear with their helmets clutched in their hands.

“Jetty!”

Jett stared up at them, shoulders slumped and expression broken. “I’m okay,” he said hoarsely. “You have a game to play. Get out of here.”

The two guys bent to hug him and ruffled his sweat-dried hair. They were being careful of his shoulder, but Harrison could tell that the pain from the injury was starting to catch up to him.

“We didn’t want you to leave without saying goodbye,” said the one he knew was Derek Greene. “A lot of the guys are pissed at Hersey for tripping you. Barzetti even spoke for the first time to tell him off.”

“ Tripping is for losers,” Leland Sandford said in a deep voice. “ You’re a shit captain. ”

The words appeared to cheer Jett up, but his smile still wasn’t reaching his eyes.

“You two need to get to your bench,” Harrison reminded them. “The game is about to start.”

They were reluctant to let Jett go, but it was that or risk their game. Harrison stood back as he watched the young men say their goodbyes, shooting nervous looks at Jett as they hurried out of the room.

“Fucking call us, Jetty,” Sandford said, waving one last time before he left and closed the door.

The moment they were alone, an awkward silence fell. Harrison let it go on until he heard the second-period buzzer, and then spoke.

“Jett, we’re going back to the locker room.”

“You don’t have to come,” Jett said quickly. He was shaking again, and Harrison could hear his teeth chattering. “You’re the goddamn coach, Killinger. You should be behind the bench.”

“I’m a consultant at best, Fraser.” Harrison folded his arms and stared at the top of Jett’s blond head. “Do I need to carry you to the shower?”

Jett jumped to his feet with a frustrated snarl, glaring at Harrison with furious, golden eyes. The height difference between them wasn’t as significant with Jett wearing his skates, but Harrison held his ground and didn’t back down.

Jett froze like cold water had been dumped over him, his eyes wide as they stared at each other. Tears spilled over his cheeks, and his expression crumpled. Jett bowed his head and let out a horrible, gasping sob, and it was all Harrison could do to grab him in a fierce hug and hang on.

“Fuck, Sunshine.” Harrison wrapped his arms around Jett’s waist as best as he could with all the gear between them and pressed a kiss to his head. “It’s okay, baby. I got you.”

Jett went limp in his arms, tears soaking Harrison’s shirt, and his shoulders heaving with every gasp of breath. It had to be so painful with his injury, but Jett made no move to stop himself and save his body from the pain .

“We just need to get you out of this gear, and then we can leave,” Harrison told him in a whisper. “We can shower at the hotel before we take off. We don’t have to stay here longer than we need to.”

“I’m sorry,” said Jett. “Please don’t leave me. I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry —”

Harrison lifted his chin and kissed him, unsure how to stop his senseless apologies. He didn’t know why Jett thought he was going to leave, but he knew what it was like to feel the dam break after holding back a river of shit for too long.

He didn’t expect or need Jett to make sense. All he wanted was to get them out before anyone caught wind of their plan.

He had no choice but to drag Jett from the room, tears and all. Harrison let Jett cling to him as he led him to the locker room, where he found Danny from medical and a few other staff members on standby. They helped him get Jett out of his gear and force water into him.

Danny checked Jett’s shoulder, which was already turning an alarming shade of purple and showing signs of stiffness. Jett had fallen silent again, but he groaned and hissed whenever Danny moved his right arm at a certain angle.

“Lots and lots of ice, and I have a cream and a sling I’ll give you.

” Danny handed Harrison a tube of something to throw in Jett’s travel backpack.

“Advil every four hours for now, but I’ll stop by Jett’s place tomorrow afternoon and do a recheck on him, and then maybe we can bring him in to get imaging done.

Try not to let him use it to take weight until we know nothing is torn, but don’t keep it immobile. ”

“Thanks.” Harrison checked Jett’s cubby one last time, making sure he had everything his boyfriend might need. Whatever he missed, he knew Jett’s teammates would scoop up before they left.

When Jett was dressed in a pair of joggers and one of Harrison’s hoodies, Danny approached Jett and handed him Fenwick the stuffed dragon. “The guys were adamant that he go with you,” said Danny.

Jett took the stuffed animal and crushed it to his chest, giving a silent nod as he stared at the floor.

Harrison tugged him back onto his feet, thanking Danny once more before they were ushered out of the locker room by one of the female staff.

She led them through the maze of hallways to where he knew the rental would be parked.

No one stopped them or got in their way when they left, but Harrison didn’t breathe again until they were inside the car and the doors were locked.

Jett leaned his head against the window, looking tired as he held onto the stuffed dragon like a lifeline. Harrison hated seeing him like this. Now he knew exactly how Jett felt when he found him frozen in the shower, half-dead.

Harrison input the hotel location into the GPS and drove, his mind racing as he sped down the busy streets. Traffic wasn’t bad, but he wanted to get them out of New York and on the road before the arena emptied.

Ten minutes later, they were parked in the underground parking of their hotel, and Harrison was helping Jett out of the car. A buzzing in Jett’s pocket kept filling the silence between them, so Harrison bit the bullet and took the phone out to answer it.

“Hello?”

“Harrison, is that you?”

It was Jett’s dad. He sounded sick to death with worry.

“It’s me, Mr. Fraser. I have Jett with me.”

Jett let out a shaky breath and made no move to take the phone from him.

“I know you do, my boy. I just saw that horrible hit Jetty took with his shoulder, and then that woman…” Mr. Fraser let out a shaky breath that sounded very similar to his son’s.

“I know Jett doesn’t want to talk right now, but if you could let him know that I’m going to be on the next plane to Toronto, I’d be grateful. ”

They were on the elevator now. Harrison was unsure if Jett had heard what his father had said, but he showed no outward reaction.

“I’ll let him know,” said Harrison. “And tell me when you land and I’ll come pick you up.”

“Nope, I’ll Uber,” said Mr. Fraser. “I don’t want you to leave my boy’s side. I have the address, the spare key and half a brain. I’ll be there when I’ll be there.”

The bravado coming through the phone was impressive, but Harrison was starting to catch onto these goddamn Frasers.

“Okay, please keep me updated. I’ll get the guest room ready for you.”

“Thank you, Harrison. I appreciate it.”

“No problem, Mr. Fraser.”

There was a pause, and then Mr. Fraser said, “Call me Dad, Harrison.” And then the line went dead.

Harrison held on to Jett’s phone as they got into their room so it wouldn’t get lost. He pointed Jett toward the bathroom and gave him a gentle nudge, frowning when he shuffled inside without saying a word.

They had tons of crap everywhere, and normally Harrison was a stickler for neatly packing things away, but he couldn’t afford to do so right now. He left clothes out for them to change into, but everything else got thrown in with a prayer.