Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 92167 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 461(@200wpm)___ 369(@250wpm)___ 307(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92167 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 461(@200wpm)___ 369(@250wpm)___ 307(@300wpm)
“Jesus, guys, what do you want from me?” He locked it and spun, glaring at them. “You want to know how many times I wake at night sweating because I still think there may be a chance I’m not going to walk again or be able to move my arm? You want to know how much of an ass I was when I knew I wasn’t playing again and instead of being happy for Carlos when they made him captain, I said things to him that my father would still whup my ass for today?”
Linc banged his head on the locker without wincing.
“I cut myself off from everyone.”
Mitchell propped his leg up on the bench. “You tried.”
“Not hard enough.” He ripped his shirt off and dumped it on the floor. Fingers on the waistband of his jeans, he arched an eyebrow at them. “Joining me in the shower?”
They laughed. “We’ve showered with you enough, but if you think threatening to get naked before us is going to stop this discussion, you’re wrong. So if you want to have it in the shower, fine, we’ll follow you in.”
“Thanks, Tully, you both do know I have the dinner with the Stevensons tonight, right? I need to shower and pick up Emma.”
Neither looked impressed.
“Fuck,” he growled. “I hate you both.”
“Yet here we are.” Mitchell held his gaze. “We know you entered a dark place with the painkillers and rehab. We know you pushed everyone away because in your mind it was just a reminder of what you no longer had and they had pity for that. Time to move on, Linc. You have a fantastic woman, like Tully said, who is at your side. Open yourself up to the opportunity and take a chance.”
“You don’t understand!”
“So fucking explain it to us,” Tully snapped back. “We’re not going anywhere so you may as well talk. And stop with the I-have-to-pick-up-Emma bit, we still have plenty of time.”
He raked both hands through his sweaty hair, only for it to flop over his eyes once more. “I shouldn’t have been playing when it happened. It was because of my arrogance that I no longer play.”
Tully’s mouth dropped open but Mitchell merely nodded.
“Your knee was already bad,” the ex-basketball player said.
“Yeah.” The admission hurt.
“How the fuck did you know?” Tully glared at Mitchell. “Why am I the last to know?”
“I recognized his gait from when I had hurt mine, Tully. I didn’t say anything because I thought our best friend would have told us, especially since We. Don’t. Keep. Secrets. From. Each. Other.”
Linc heard it in Mitchell’s tone. The pain. Anger. Frustration. Even a hint of fear.
He hung his head. “I’m sorry, guys. I couldn’t bring myself to see pity from either of you, so I tried to keep you away. In the dark. Wanted to handle it on my own.”
“We know.” Tully shrugged. “It’s not like we haven’t all been assholes before and will undoubtedly be again.” He sobered. “Are you okay?”
“I honestly don’t know. Part of me feels like Carlos threw the ball that way so I would have to do what I did to get it back to first in time for the triple play. I feel…” He pressed his lips together. “Betrayed. Or I did. I don’t know. We weren’t friends. Still aren’t.”
Hell, he didn’t have any friends left from those days.
“At least you’re admitting it,” Mitchell said. “First step and all.”
“Thank you, Dr. Phil,” he snarked.
“We’ll never pity you, Linc. You need to know that. We’ll laugh with you, cry with you, and hold your balls over the fire when you need it. Pity isn’t something we do. Got it?”
“Yeah, Tully, I do.”
“Thank God, because that was getting a little too touchy-feely for me.” Tully grinned and backed up.
Linc lunged after him and wrapped his arms around him, making sure to get as much sweat on the man as he could. “I need cuddling first.”
“You fucker,” Tully hollered. “Mitchell, start the water. I’m tossing this bastard in.”
Minutes later, Tully dragged him under the running shower and stepped away with a growl. Linc laughed. For the first time in a long time, Linc thought maybe he could move on. Right now, he had a shower to take and a fiancée to pick up for dinner.
Linc worked the screwdriver, tightening the hinge on the cupboard door at Emma’s. He hadn’t lingered in getting ready for his date with her. He just wanted to be with her and Greer. She’d let him in then had vanished to put on her finishing touches, so he’d walked around her home. When he’d come to the clean kitchen he’d noticed a cabinet door hanging at an angle. They’d all been loose and after going out to his truck for his toolbox, he’d set to fixing the easy things. He would have to come back to finish the rest.