Page 24

TWENTY-FOUR

HUDSON

Accepting Madeline’s offer snaps her into gear.

She springs to her feet and tosses all the items from the first aid kit back in the plastic box. She throws away the Band-Aid wrapper and moves around me.

“Tell me what I can do,” she says.

“I have limited movement with this sling.” I try to lift my arm, but I end up wincing in pain. “I promise this isn’t a line, but I, ah, could use some help getting out of this suit. My shirt more specifically. And there are pain meds in the kitchen cabinet. I could use two of those and a glass of water so I can take them in a few hours.”

“Are you sure you don’t use that suit line regularly?” Madeline smiles. “It was very smooth, Hayes.”

“First time, if you can believe it.” I watch her unbuckle the sling and ease it away from my shoulder and arm. “Has Lucy ever broken a bone?”

“No. She sprained her ankle after a rough game of recess kickball when she was in kindergarten, but she recovered just fine. This is my first time helping with a big injury.”

“I’m honored I’m your first.”

“On a scale of one to ten, how badly are you hurting right now?” she asks.

“A seven? Eight? I’m getting tired. That’s amplifying the pain, but I hurt less than I did after the initial hit. Guess that’s encouraging.”

“Can you straighten your arm?”

“No, so we’re going to have to get creative with my stripping. You can cut the jacket if you need to,” I tell her.

“Your suit looks like it cost a lot of money. I’m not going to cut it.”

“I can buy a new one.”

Madeline hums and easily takes off the left side of my jacket. She moves to my right arm and gently tugs on the end of my sleeve, successfully removing the clothing and dropping it to the floor. “Step one is done.”

“Next up are a ton of buttons.”

“It’s a shame you didn’t show up to the arena shirtless tonight.” She starts at the top of my shirt, unfastening the buttons one by one. “Would’ve solved a lot of your problems.”

I grip the vanity when she has to give the cuff of my shirt a firm yank to slip it over my wrist. “I’ll keep that in mind for my next game,” I grit out.

“ Shit . That was too rough of me. I’m sorry I’m hurting you.”

“It’s okay.” I blow out a breath when the air hits my bare skin. “It had to be done.”

“Hudson.” Madeline’s fingers graze my right shoulder. They dance down my arm then back up to my collarbone, and the featherlight touch is like a balm on the ache. “This is a nasty mark. It’s definitely going to bruise.”

“Not pretty, is it?” I glance down at the souvenir courtesy of my dickbag opponent. “I’m sure it’ll be worse tomorrow.”

“Does your body always look this banged up?”

“No. I mean, I’m sore after games, but it’s from exerting myself. I don’t normally have battle wounds besides the occasional cut or scrape. Tonight is an exception.”

“I would’ve decked the guy if I were you,” she says under her breath, and I laugh. “What? I’m serious.”

“Fighting is one of the reasons people watch hockey. He wasn’t going to just let me score. The hit was aggressive, yeah, but he was doing his job.”

“Would you have hit someone that hard?”

“No.” I think about the time I accidentally high sticked an opponent. He had to leave the game to get stitches, and I felt terrible for weeks. “It happens, unfortunately.”

Madeline doesn’t say anything else on the matter. She takes a step back, eyes dropping to my pants. “Do you need help with those?”

“Oh. Um.” I blush and clear my throat. “It’s only one button. I think I can get them.”

“Right. Sorry. I didn’t mean to be presumptuous.”

“You aren’t,” I hurry to say. “Thanks for the offer. I have some pajama pants in my dresser. Top drawer. Could you grab me a pair?”

“Any preference?” She goes from the bathroom to my room, and I do my best to make quick work of the button of my pants and the zipper. The thought of her touching me in that way makes my head spin even more than it already is, and I want to speed this up. “Plaid? Navy? Do these have unicorns on them?”

“You can thank my teammates for those.” I stare at my reflection in the mirror and frown when I get a good look at the aftermath from the hit. It’s not pretty, and it makes sense why I’m ready for some more pain medicine. “We did movie night at an away game last season. Everyone had to bring a ridiculous pair of pajama bottoms for a teammate. Maverick thought he was being cute when he handed me those. I gave him ones with pickles on them, so I got the last laugh.”

“You know that’s the pair you’re getting, right?” Madeline calls out.

“I would’ve been disappointed otherwise.”

She walks back into the bathroom. Her eyes drop to my briefs, but they don’t linger there for very long. She moves her attention to my face and offers me a wide smile. “Here you go.”

“Mind if I hold you while I put them on?”

“Use my shoulder.” She bends over and taps my left leg. I step into the first side, accidentally pulling her hair when I almost topple to the side. “Easy there, hockey guy.”

“Sorry. My balance is off. Did I hurt you?”

“Lucy pulled my hair much harder when she was younger. I’ll survive.” Madeline touches my right thigh. She tips her head back to look at me with wide eyes. “You have a thigh tattoo? ”

I grin and reach down, dragging my thumb over the collection of flowers inked above my knee. There’s a rose and a hibiscus. A lily and a red chrysanthemum. They all form a heart bouquet that takes up a six-inch space on my skin. “I do.”

“Can I… would it be okay if I touched it?”

“Yeah,” I rasp, closing my eyes when her nails trace over the design. “Do you like it?”

“I love it. It’s so intricate. And the colors are gorgeous. What do the numbers mean?”

“It’s the day my life changed.”

I don’t mention it, but they mark the last time I held Mom’s hand. It’s the last time I told her I loved her. It was the last time she was in pain, and it didn’t feel right to get the tattoo without including that pivotal date with it.

Flowers were Mom’s thing. She watched the social media channels of some gardening guy down in Florida and learned how to grow her own garden out in the backyard. I’d come home during the summer and see her hands covered in dirt while she planted the new seeds she picked up at the farmer’s market. There was always a vase on the coffee table in the living room, a different bouquet every week.

After she passed, I wanted to find a way to carry her with me. I wanted her at every game—even the ones I lost. If she were here, she’d probably give me a damn earful for permanently marking up my skin, but this seems like the perfect way to honor her.

“It’s beautiful, Hudson. I’m not glad you got hurt, but I’m glad I got to see this.” Madeline touches the petal on the rose one more time and gives me a small smile. I don’t know why, but the way her mouth curves takes away some of the pain I’m holding. “Who knew you were hiding that underneath your clothes?”

“I’m full of surprises.” I step into the second pant leg and tug on the waistband, pulling the pajama bottoms up. “There we go. Thanks for the assist, Galloway.”

“Happy to help. You said the medicine was in the kitchen?”

“There should be some Advil to the left of the sink. Could you also grab me a bag of ice? I’m going to try to fall asleep with it on my shoulder.”

“Get comfortable in your bed. I’ll be right back,” she says, heading for the kitchen.

I make sure the bathroom is cleaned up and grab my clothes off the floor with my left hand. I drop them in the laundry basket then pull back the sheets, groaning as my head sinks against the pillows.

Exhaustion hits me, and it’s hard to keep my eyes open. Madeline’s soft footsteps approach my room, and I smile when she’s by my side.

“Your gauze is still good, right?” I ask.

“Yeah. Hasn’t budged.” She sets a glass of water on my nightstand and puts the pill bottle next to it. “I brought a thin dish towel for the ice so you don’t get too cold.”

“Smart. I’m probably going to pass out the second I close my eyes, but I don’t want to be uncomfortable.”

Madeline sits on the edge of the bed. She wraps the plastic bag of ice with a white towel and sets it on my right shoulder. “How’s that?”

“Perfect.” I sigh, relaxing for the first time since the injury. “Thanks for your help. Are you sure your finger is okay?”

“Totally fine. Accidents like that happen in restaurants all the time. Besides.” She tosses a wry grin my way. “I had the best caretaker.”

“I don’t know about best .”

“Fine. A decent caretaker.”

“Wow. Downgraded from best to decent? You’re ruthless.”

She laughs and brushes a piece of hair away from my forehead. “Do you need anything else?”

Stay here with me.

Your touch soothes me.

Every minute you’re around, I feel like the part of myself that’s been broken for years is healing.

“I’m good. You’ve done more than enough, Mads. Your service is much appreciated, but you should get some sleep,” I say, yawning at the end. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

“If the pain gets worse in the middle of the night, knock on the wall or yell. I don’t want to see you wincing at breakfast and find out I could’ve done something to help,” she says.

“Same for you. If you need another Band-Aid or fresh gauze, you know where I am.”

“Yeah. I do.” Madeline stands and gives me one last look before turning off my lamp. “Good night, Hudson.”

“Night, Mads,” I say, wishing I could’ve found a way to make her stay.