Page 17 of The Quarterback

Colton shrugged. “I only take the pills to help me sleep. I try to stay distracted during the day.”

“You must have one hell of a distraction. This is not a painless injury.”

Colton squirmed. “Can I go back to practice next week? Just be on the field, or go to the team meetings? I’m not gonna do anything to hurt my shoulder. It’s the last week of practice before the summer break. I don’t want to miss it.”

The doctor stared long and hard at Colton. “You know what’s at stake if you horse around.”

“I do.”

“I’ll allow you to attend, but as an observeronly. I’m going to make sure Coach Young and the rest of the staff know you’re on restricted status. If you do anything that risks your shoulder, they’ll send you home. Understand?”

“Yeah, I got it.”

The doctor turned his attention to Nick. “Can you keep an eye on him? He’s been doing great this past week. Do I have you to thank for that?”

Nick’s eyebrows rose. “I don’t see Colton every day, so I can’t really keep that close of a watch on him—”

“Oh.” The doctor frowned. “I thought…”

“And Colton is doing well because he’s taking charge of his own healing. He’s doing great all on his own. He doesn’t need a minder,” Nick finished.

Colton smiled as he stared down at the tile floor.

“Well, then, come back in another week, and we should be able to take the sling off part time. We’ll get you started on simple stretching moves, and we’ll keep controlling the pain, too, all right?” The doctor squeezed Colton’s left shoulder. Colton grimaced.

For the drive home, Nick fished out a blanket he had in the trunk and rolled it up, then helped Colton slide it between his chest and his sling to try to cushion the impact from his car’s high-strung suspension. It seemed to help a bit. At least, Colton didn’t clench his teeth as hard as they headed down the highway.

“No moreHalomatches next week,” Nick said.

“You could come over after practice. I’ve got a ton of other games you can try, too. You and Wes could playMaddenagainst each other. And I’ve gotDestiny, andRed Dead, andTetris—”

“Tetris! Now you’re talking.”

Colton grinned. “See, you gotta come back. You need to show me what you’ve got inTetris.” He frowned. “Unless you’ve got other plans. Have I been cramping your social life?”

“No, you haven’t. I don’t really have a social life right now. I’m not seeing anyone.”

“You could. I’ve seen girls look at you when we go out.”

“I’m not interested in dating at the moment. The divorce isn’t final yet. And I know I don’t have to wait, but…” He shrugged. “It’s a goalpost for me, I guess. And that’s not what I came down here for.”

“Hashtag dad life.”

“It’s chauffeur life this week.” He grinned as Colton groaned. “And lunch delivery life.”

“Speaking of lunch, do you want to stop somewhere? I’m starving.”

“Sure,” he said. “What do you want?”

Colton gave him directions to a burger joint. “My treat this time, okay?”

Once he’d parked, he fished out the gift he’d bought for Colton from behind his seat. It was still in the Amazon box, the flaps refolded so Colton could open it one-handed.

“No fucking way,” Colton breathed when he looked inside. “Are you kidding me? How did you find this?” He lifted out the one-handed PlayStation controller. The joysticks and buttons were rearranged, and the controller was made to balance on a knee or the opposite forearm or even a wheelchair mount. Colton would have to learn a new way to hold it, but when he did, he’d be able to do everything with his left hand.

“There are lots of one-handed gamers in the world. I knew this had to exist.”

Colton turned the controller over, his lips parted, jaw loose and slack.