Page 21 of Leave Me Not: Nick & Elissa #2 (Badger Creek Duet #8)

21

NICK

T his is bad. This is really fucking bad. At a guess, I’d say Lucas has multiple broken bones from that landing and the shit storm that came after it. Yet somehow the coach is standing here on the platform, arms crossed over his chest and a look of what can only be described as annoyed disappointment on his face.

“You need to get the doctor,” I say without thinking.

The coach turns, sees me and Lis now standing on the platform, the glare he gives us hot enough to melt the fucking snow. “I thought you were off this weekend, O’Connor?” he says, his words like steel. “One minute you don’t want to jump and the next you’re here on your day off. You want to get out there? Work on that triple kicker you seem reluctant to try?”

I blink, unable to believe he’s saying this to me right now. “Lucas is hurt, Coach. He needs?—”

“No, you need to leave,” he shouts, cutting me off.

I feel Lis’ grip on my hand tighten and I instinctively move so she’s standing behind me, wanting to protect her from whatever’s going to happen next.

“He needs a doctor!” I shout.

The coach rolls his eyes, throwing an arm in the direction of where Lucas lies on the ice. I reluctantly turn to see the medics are now there with him, a stretcher lying on the ice as they attach a neck brace to him. I watch the whole scene, my heart pounding at everything that’s happened, at the fear I know he must have felt when he lost that landing.

It’s every jumper’s worst fear, not the landing itself, but losing it. Knowing you haven’t yet hit the snow, but that there’s nothing you can do to recover what you’ve just fucked up. Knowing also that it’s going to hurt like hell.

I take a deep breath as I see Lucas lift an arm and push his goggles up and I exhale, grateful, realizing at least he’s conscious.

“Get out of here, Nick,” the coach repeats, cutting into my thoughts and I feel my other hand, the one not holding Lis’ curl into a fist as an overwhelming urge to punch my coach comes over me. I cannot believe how little he cares about what’s just happened to one of our jumpers.

“Nick,” Lis whispers, her other hand on my back, tugging at my sweater.

The coach smirks, his arm now pointing at the door behind us. “Go. You wanted this weekend off and you have it. I don’t want to see you until Monday,” he says, before turning his back on us.

My grip on Lis tightens as I turn now and lead her through the door, down the stairs and back to my room. My heart is pounding in my chest, my brain going a mile a minute as try to comprehend how my coach, who is supposed to be a guy who cares about us, who only wants the best for us, reacts the way he did to an accident like that.

That wasn’t just a shitty landing, that was a messed up, dangerous one. A landing that’s pretty much going to rule Lucas out for the next six months, maybe a year. His shot at the Olympics is basically done.

“Nick,” Lis says again, gripping my hand tighter.

I don’t stop, pulling her behind me, until we reach my room. Once inside, I slam the door behind me as I walk over to my bag, throwing random shit in before I grab Lis’ bag too.

“Nick, what are you doing?” she asks, her hand on my arm, stopping me.

“We’re leaving,” I say, knowing I’d made these plans as a surprise for Lis anyway, but hating that they’re now sort of tainted by what’s just happened.

“What do you mean leaving? You can’t?—”

I blow out a hard breath, stopping my packing as I turn to her. None of this is her fault and all I wanted was for this weekend to be perfect. Lis showing up early had been amazing and only made it more perfect. But I also had more stuff planned, and now with everything that’s happened, I feel like it’s ruined.

“Nick,” she whispers, a worried look on her face.

I step closer, pulling her into my arms as I rest my cheek on the top of her head. “I’m sorry.”

Lis pulls back, looking up at me. “What are you apologizing for, this isn’t your fault.”

I lean my forehead against hers. “Because I really wanted this weekend to be perfect,” I whisper. “I wanted everything to…”

“Hey,” she says, her hand moving to my cheek. “This weekend is perfect because we’re together. Don’t let this ruin it.”

My eyes close, knowing she’s right, but still hating that she just saw what she did. It’s not like I’d try to hide it or anything, hell, even I’m freaked out by Lucas’ accident. I just fucking hate the way my coach acted, the way he spoke to me, pretty much reinforcing what Lis and I both think about him.

He’s an asshole who doesn’t give a shit about me or anyone in the team like he claims to.

“I know,” I eventually say, opening my eyes as I give her a smile. “It is perfect, but we’re still leaving.”

“What—”

I drop a quick kiss on her lips. “I already made plans, babe, we’re just gonna go a little earlier. Grab your things.”

An hour later, the Uber is dropping us off at the boutique hotel set high up in the mountains, on the other side of the valley to the training facility.

I’d heard about this place my second year here and it’s a place I always dreamed of bringing Lis to, even if by that stage, we were long over. So the second I knew I was coming back here and she was coming to visit, I made a reservation. Especially given everything that had happened right before I left.

“What is this place?” she asks as we check in at the small office.

It literally only has ten rooms, and they are actually more like small cabins, private and isolated with amazing views of the mountain according to their website. There isn’t even a restaurant, just room service. The lady behind the desk smiles as she hands me the key and a map for how to get to our room and as we turn to leave, I take Lis’ hand in mine.

“You’ll see.”

Lis smiles at that and I can’t resist leaning in to give her a quick kiss before we make our way to our room. When we get there, I unlock the door, before taking Lis’ bag from her hand and letting her go in first.

“Oh my god, Nick,” she says as I follow her in, closing the door behind me. “This…this is…”

Perfect. The room is absolutely perfect, exactly as it was online and everything I asked for. The entire wall opposite us is glass, the outdoor area covered in snow and lit up with soft lighting, hinting at the amazing view we’re going to wake up to.

Inside, the cabin has a huge bed that looks super comfortable, dominating the middle of the room. On the far side is a crackling fireplace, a small kitchenette and table area and to the left of me is the bathroom, which I know also has floor to ceiling windows so we can enjoy the view from the bath.

“What is this place?” Lis asks, turning to face me.

I drop our bags on the floor before pulling her into my arms. “You threw me a little, showing up early last night,” I say, smiling because I love that she came early. “I’d planned this for us because we never really got to have a honeymoon, so…”

“This is…” Lis trails off, looking around the room again as she takes it all in again. “You booked this for our honeymoon?”

“Yeah,” I say, closing the distance as my mouth finds hers. “I know we’ve done everything backwards, but I wanted to give you this,” I whisper. “I wanted our wedding to be special. I wanted to give you a honeymoon you deserved.”

“Nick,” she whispers, kissing me. “Our wedding was perfect, everything is perfect. Including you.”

Grinning, I kiss her again before bending down to pick her up. I feel my knee twinge as I straighten, the pain still there, despite the day off the slopes, but I ignore it, not wanting to ruin this moment.

“I love you,” I whisper, my lips against hers as I carry her, not over the threshold, but definitely over to the bed.

“Can I ask you something?” Lis asks, an hour or so later.

We’re lying naked together in this insanely comfortable bed, the only light coming from the fire and the lights strung up outside. Lis is lying with her head on my shoulder, her arm across my stomach as her fingers trace the lines of the tattoo on my chest.

“Babe, you can ask me anything,” I say, kissing the top of her head.

Lis lifts her head, propping herself up on my chest. “What happened today, that…that was bad, right?” She asks and I know she isn’t just referring to Lucas and his accident.

“Yeah,” I say, blowing out a breath as my fingers trail slowly down her spine and back up again. “It was really bad and…shit, I’ve never seen the coach like that,” I admit.

Lis swallows hard, shifting a little closer as her hand moves to my cheek. “It scares me, Nick,” she whispers, her words barely audible. “I think…” She trails off, looking away as she sucks in a breath before turning back to me. “I think he’s putting you in danger.”

“Yeah,” I whisper, with a nod. “I think the same.”

She shuffles higher so she’s almost hovering over me. “What are we going to do?” she asks in a worried whisper. “If he forces you to keep jumping, if…” She trails off again, glancing down to my knee, uncovered on the bed, but clearly still swollen.

I brush the hair back from her face, cradling her jaw as I lift my head off the pillow to press a soft kiss to her lips. “I know, Lis. It worries me too.”

She doesn’t say anything, but she doesn’t have to, it’s written all over her face. And I get it, I really do. While I might have once thought the coach genuinely gave a shit about me and my injury, after what I saw today, I no longer believe that.

Now I think he’ll stop at nothing to win. Stop at nothing to have the best team at every meet, at every comp. At the fucking Olympics even, regardless of the cost.

“What are we going to do?” she whispers, and I can see her eyes are shining with unshed tears.

“Babe,” I whisper, curling my hand around the back of her neck and bringing her close. “I promise I’m going to fix this,” I tell her.

“How?” she asks, her forehead resting on mine.

I brush my lips against hers, knowing I will do whatever it takes now, to get out of my contract, to get away from my coach and back home to Lis. “I’m going to go and see my surgeon,” I whisper. “I’m gonna get a second opinion about my knee.”

“Really?” she asks, pulling back, her eyes wide. “You think your team doctor is wrong?”

I shake my head. “I think the team doctor is lying,” I admit. “And I think the coach is asking him to.”

Lis blinks at my words, as the full implication of what I’m saying sinks in. “Seriously?” she whispers.

I shove a hand back through my hair, wishing our honeymoon wasn’t being ruined by all this. When I’d booked this weekend for us, I wanted everything to be perfect, a chance to catch up and also an opportunity to give Lis what she deserved.

I know we got married quickly and without any of our friends and family there. And then a couple of days later, I’d left, none of which screamed romance or celebration or anything close to what I wanted to give her.

I wanted to make up for that. I wanted to make up for so many things with Lis.

“I don’t know, babe,” I concede. “I’m kinda thinking on the fly here. After what we saw today.”

“Well, I think you’re right,” she says, her eyes wide as she props herself up again. “And I think we need to tell the lawyer too.”

I wrap my arms around her, pulling her so she lies fully on top of me. As much as I know everything she is saying is right, having thought all of the same things on the drive over here, I don’t want to talk about it right now.

This weekend is supposed to be about us, and I’m not going to let anything ruin that.

“Lis, babe,” I whisper, leaning up to give her a quick kiss. “I love you, I really do, you know that. I promise I’m going to fix this. But right now.” I pause, my hands sliding down to her ass, gripping it hard as I rub her against me. My dick is already hard, never able to get enough of this woman.

“Right now?” she says, smirking as she sits up so she’s straddling my hips, knowing exactly what I’m changing the subject to.

My hands move to her thighs, sliding higher as my fingers glide over her tiny belly before finding her breasts, teasing her nipples. I already know being pregnant, she’s like a million times more sensitive than normal and I fucking love it. Love how responsive she is to my touch.

“Right now,” I repeat, gently pinching her nipples and loving the gasp she lets out, the way her head falls back a little, her long brown hair hanging loose over her shoulders. I sit up, my mouth finding hers in a deep kiss, my hands moving back to her ass as I rub her against me, reminding her of what this weekend is really about. “Right now,” I say again, my words low, my lips against hers. “I really want to enjoy my honeymoon with my wife.”

Lis smiles against my mouth, her arms around my neck as she shuffles her hips, the tip of my dick sliding inside her. “I really like the sound of that,” she murmurs, before shifting so I’m fully inside her, not thinking about anything else now except how fucking amazing it feels.