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CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

EASTON

I tried to pull away so I could get more of the story from Gary, but he’d latched on like a barnacle and refused to let go. I couldn’t do anything with him right now. With an exasperated sigh, I relented. “Alright, Gary. Up. I’ll carry you.”

This wasn’t a safe place. There was a reason I never brought Gary to watch me fight, no matter how many times he asked.

I knew he was curious, and I wouldn’t mind showing him a safer version of what I enjoyed, like a friendly match with Coach, but I didn’t like him here.

He was innocent, and people were looking at him like a piece of meat.

Since I wasn’t asking him to let go, he did as I asked, shifting his grip to my neck instead so I could pick him up.

He wrapped his legs around my hips so tightly it made me grunt.

On a normal day, I’d make a sexy comment to get him to smile, but now was not the time.

The little I saw of him, he looked like he got the shit kicked out of him, and there was blood on his face. He needed to see a doctor.

Coach stuffed my earnings into my bag and led the way out of the warehouse. I normally liked to do at least two fights, but I wasn’t obligated. And no one said shit when I walked out. They’d end up on the floor if they did. I could fight just fine, even with a Gary barnacle attached to me.

I went to Coach’s car and tried to put Gary in the front seat, but he tightened his grip and let out a whimper that was actually kind of heartbreaking.

“Yeah, he wouldn’t let go of me either when we put him in my car. I think he’s too scared to sit alone,” Angel said.

That irritated me, but I couldn’t begrudge Gary some comfort while making his way to me. Angel said he only wanted me. That felt pretty good. And I knew he and Angel were only friends. Didn’t stop me from being a possessive asshole, but right now I could put it aside for Gary.

“Why don’t we split up?” Coach suggested. “Angel can sit with Gary and–”

“No…” It was the first word out of Gary’s mouth since he showed up, and it was half a sob.

He didn’t want to let go. I tightened my grip around him with a frown.

We weren’t anything serious, just a fake couple until the rumor blew over, but he didn’t seem to care.

And something about him needing me made my chest feel tight. It was weird.

“I don’t feel comfortable letting Angel drive home alone, Gary,” Coach wheedled. “And he drives like a bat out of hell. He’d only scare you more.”

Angel let out an offended gasp. “Excuse you! I can drive carefully! I won’t scare him! You’re just a big baby!”

“You blew two red lights,” Coach snapped.

“Barely red! They were practically yellow!” Angel shouted back.

Ugh. This again. Those two seriously needed to fuck it out. It was annoying how often they yelled at each other. They were polar opposites and butted heads way too often, but none of us were blind to the sexual tension.

“Shut up,” I growled at them both. “Angel, drive us to the damn hospital. If you run any fucking lights, Gary won’t be the only one who will need a doctor.

Coach, meet us there in case we need another ride home.

” We’d driven separately since Coach was going to be late so splitting up was for the best. It wasn’t smart to leave cars here overnight.

Not if you wanted it to still be there in the morning.

Angel was still grumbling, but my demands got them moving.

I slipped into the backseat of Angel’s car, spinning Gary so he sat on my lap sideways, his face still buried in my neck.

I felt wetness dripping against my skin, and I couldn’t tell if it was blood or tears, which wasn’t fun.

It stopped eventually, but then Gary’s head started to loll and that worried me.

“Gary? Need you to stay awake, sweetheart.”

He whimpered in protest, but I couldn’t let him fall asleep right now. He could have a concussion, and the only information I had about those was that you were supposed to keep them awake. I kept prodding at him any time I felt him falling asleep again, ignoring his protests the whole time.

“Might want to put a shirt on,” Angel suggested at a red light. “They’ll think it was you that hurt him if you show up bruised like that.”

“Thanks,” I muttered, reaching for my bag that Coach had tossed back here with us.

I ignored the cash and the towel, snagging my t-shirt from the bottom.

Getting it on around Gary was a task, and he only lifted off long enough for me to pull it down before he was clinging to me again.

Once I was dressed, I gave in and held him close, burying my nose in his hair, offering him as much comfort as I could muster.

We pulled into the emergency bay where ambulances normally parked, and Angel waved me out. “I’ll park and come join you in a minute. Go.”

Unlike Coach, I wasn’t worried about Angel. He might be short, but that twink didn’t take shit from anyone. And I taught him how to fight myself.

Sliding out of the back, I kept Gary against my chest in a princess carry.

He didn’t protest the position, which showed just how out of it he was.

The last time I tried to carry him like this, when he said his legs were dead after a run, he squawked and wriggled until I set him on his feet again.

It was fun playing with him like that. This situation was seriously not funny.

“Is everything okay?” a nurse called from the sliding glass doors.

“He was attacked,” I answered, shutting the door with my hip and going around the car to join her.

Angel left to go park the car while the nurse led me inside.

He hated it, but I made Gary look up, and the nurse took one look at him before moving him to a bed.

Good. We weren’t sitting here for hours waiting for him to be seen.

I didn’t care how much money I had to throw at the situation, they were going to make Gary a priority.

There was a flurry of activity as they got to work checking Gary out.

They wouldn’t let Angel or Coach join us, but Gary started sobbing inconsolably when they tried to make me wait out in the waiting room, too.

From then on, I refused to move. If they had a problem, they could go through me.

After telling them he was my boyfriend, they were more lenient about it.

The only time I absolutely couldn’t go with him was when he was getting his scans. The nurse, an older brunette with a patient smile, let me stay in the hallway, but she couldn’t let me back in the room with him.

“I’m sorry. There’s radiation in there, and it’s just not safe. It won’t take long,” she explained to Gary. She rubbed his arm where he still clung to me. Seeing the refusal on his face, I brought his hand to my lips, kissing his knuckles lightly.

“I need to make a phone call anyway. Get your scans, and as soon as you’re done, I’ll join you again. I’ll even sit on the damn bed if it helps.”

His bottom lip trembled, but he released me, those big brown eyes, wide and tear filled, ripping a hole through my stomach.

After they wheeled him back, I took a second to just breathe.

I never, and I mean never, used my family for help, but if I didn’t get some help now, I was going to end up killing someone.

Or several someones, since it was Gary’s sister who started this damn rumor.

I made the call, ignoring the discomfort in my gut.

“Easton? What’s wrong? It’s late.” My old man’s voice wasn’t filled with gravel, so he obviously hadn’t gone to sleep yet. It was a comment, not a complaint about me waking him up.

“I need your help. Some asshole just attacked my boyfriend.”

He took a second to process that, but I gave him props for rolling with it. “Okay. What do you need from me?”

“I need you to find out who did it. Because if I find him first, I’m gonna end up in prison.”

He knew better than to assume I was bluffing. “I have a friend in the police department. I’ll send him to meet you. Where are you?”

I rattled off the name of the hospital, and what little information I had. I really needed the full story, but I didn't think Gary could handle telling it more than once. He didn’t speak at all to the doctors, just clung to me and cried. It was better to wait until the cop got here.

Gary was brought back to his room not long after, and I kept my promise and crawled into bed with him. He latched onto me with a whimper, his fingers so tight in my shirt, he could probably tear the damn thing off. The nurse didn't protest the position and smiled softly.

“We’ve given him some medicine for the pain. The cuts on his face look superficial. I’ll have the doctor check on them, but I’m pretty sure he shouldn’t need stitches. I’ll clean them out and put some butterfly tape on them once the doctor approves. We’ll need to report this…”

“I already have someone coming. A family friend in the force.”

She nodded. “That works. I’ll let the doctor know, and he’ll stop by once he gets the results of the scans.”

I grunted my acknowledgement, and she turned to walk away, but I stopped her before she could leave.

“He was falling asleep in the car. Should I keep him awake?”

“No, that’s unnecessary. He’s on a monitor, and we’ll check on him often. Even if he has a concussion, that’s not really necessary anymore. He looks like he feels safe with you, so it was probably just his body relaxing after so much adrenaline.”

My arm tightened around his shoulders. He felt safe with me. I couldn’t do shit about him crying, but I could make sure he felt safe. That was something I could pull off. And since I was feeling pretty helpless right now, I latched onto the idea and held on tight.