Collide (Hard Hit #1)

Chapter 1

He had the most beautiful green eyes Shayne had ever seen.

“What’s your middle name?”

Shayne groaned. “Why don’t you ask my weight too while you’re at it? That way, you’ll know all my dirty secrets.”

“I won’t laugh. Promise.” He stopped short of crossing his heart, but Shayne thought it was understood. There were flecks of gold in his gaze as well.

“Let’s not take any chances.”

“Mine is Hansel.”

That gave Shayne pause. If he was serious, that was bad, but still. “Mine’s worse.”

The gorgeous man drew in a hiss through his teeth, wincing. “What were your parents thinking? Worse is a terrible name.”

Shayne’s chuckle turned into a gasp as a sharp pain shot through him. His savior sprang into action, inspecting his ribs for damage. He hit something. Shayne didn’t like it. “Fuck me. How bad is the other guy?” He didn’t look.

“Walking around as if nothing happened.”

“Bastard.”

Sirens rang in the distance. Still his sexy rescuer didn’t move away. “His truck is bigger than your car. He won. Does anything hurt other than your ribs?”

“Everything,” he admitted, attempting to sit up. Sexy savior pushed him back down.

“You could be hurt worse than you realize. The paramedics are almost here.” His gaze shifted down Shayne’s body.

“Can I call someone for you?” Shayne’s mind went blank.

If there was a God in heaven, this gorgeous man would stop asking him questions.

Getting t-boned by a huge F150 on his way home from being released by the Blue Fire’s—the minor league hockey team he’d played for going on ten years now—was not the best start to a day he’d ever had.

Even if he had every right to do so, he didn’t want to have a fit of dramatics in front of this man who was already seeing him at his worst. If he hadn’t pulled Shayne from the car, he’d be freaking out right now.

“I can dig around in the wreckage for your phone if you need to let your…” he cast a glance around, obviously searching for the correct term.

“… Significant other know you’re all right. ”

“It’s Wayne,” Shayne said, cutting him off before he could dig further. “My middle name is Wayne.” Suddenly, answering the man’s first question seemed nowhere nearly as embarrassing as admitting he had no one to call.

“That’s not terrible.”

“My first name is Shayne.”

A smile exploded across the man’s face at Shayne’s confession. “Now I have to know. What’s your last name? Please tell me it rhymes.”

Shayne winced. “It’s Smith.”

Throwing back his head, he roared with laughter at Shayne’s answer. Even the way his throat moved fascinated Shayne. His brown hair looked soft. He wanted to touch it. It figured Shayne would meet this gorgeous man on the worst day of his life. He swiped at his eyes.

“I’m Lincoln, by the way.” An EMT appeared over his shoulder before Shayne had time to respond. Lincoln stood, switching his attention to the new arrival. “I’m pretty sure he has at least two broken ribs.”

The blond paramedic nodded, surprisingly accepting Lincoln’s appraisal. Of course, Lincoln sounded capable. It made him hard to ignore. “We’ll be careful lifting him.”

“I’m going to ride with him.”

The EMT nodded. “Let me grab a gurney and we’ll get him loaded.” Lincoln went down on his knees next to Shayne once more, meeting Shayne’s gaze. His eyes were so kind. Life was unfair.

“You don’t have to come with me.”

The sweetest smile Shayne had ever seen touched Lincoln’s lips. “Yes I do. I’m the bastard who hit you.”

Of course he was because… life.

“Your Cadillac has arrived,” the EMT announced, saving Shayne from making things more awkward.

Between the massive pain, gritting his teeth, and sweating, Shayne couldn’t focus on anything until they were crammed into the back of the ambulance.

It took him a minute to realize Lincoln hadn’t stopped holding his hand throughout the entire process.

He held Shayne’s stare, silently lending his strength.

A portable monitor kept time with Shayne’s heart and was the only sound inside the vehicle.

It seemed his injuries didn’t warrant a siren.

Thank goodness. He didn’t think his head could handle the noise.

The EMT finally broke the silence and called into question Lincoln’s presence. “Is this your man?”

Lincoln’s gorgeous eyes twinkled at the question. Shayne’s mouth went dry, and he responded without thought. “I have a feeling he’s about to see me with my clothes off.” A low chuckle rumbled from Lincoln’s chest. The heart monitor beeped in protest. Tattletale. He was so fucked.

Much to Lincoln’s relief, Wendy was the nurse in charge of Shayne in the ER.

She’d always been nice to him. Either her kindness extended to today as well, or she was so used to seeing Lincoln around, she didn’t question his presence.

It didn’t matter what her reasoning was as long as he got to stay.

Several times, he’d clenched his hands into fists to hide the way they shook.

He’d known for a while now that his hours were out of control, but he really needed some sleep.

What if he’d killed this man? He’d glanced down for half a second to change the station on his radio and now here they were.

While Shayne had been in x-ray, Lincoln had answered to the police on the matter.

He’d landed a ticket and—no doubt—his insurance would drop him after this one.

None of it was as important as what could’ve happened.

It also didn’t explain why he couldn’t walk away.

His truck barely had a scratch and his brother had dropped it by the hospital an hour earlier.

Lincoln could leave. There was nothing holding him there, except something was, or rather someone—Shayne.

As Lincoln suspected, Shayne had cracked two ribs.

Thankfully, he hadn’t broken them, but it would take a while for them to heal.

He’d also sprained his ankle from the force of slamming on the brakes.

There was a small cut beneath one of his eyes that required two stitches and several small abrasions over the rest of his body.

Too bad none of those things touched his hotness level one iota.

The man possessed the lightest blue eyes Lincoln had ever seen.

Since they were coupled with dark-brown hair that curled at the ends and a body that was…

damn, Lincoln couldn’t tear his gaze away.

Lincoln patiently waited while Wendy finished scrubbing the final cut and left them alone before resuming his flirting. It was terrible. He couldn’t stop.

“Cracked ribs, huh? Guess I’ll have to take it easy on you.

Don’t worry. I have faith in my skills.” Shayne’s chest expanded as he took a deep breath.

It drew Lincoln’s gaze, nearly causing him to hum with delight.

He cleared his throat, attempting to swallow it down. “How hard is it to breathe right now?”

“They have good drugs here.”

“That’s a non-answer if I ever heard one,” Lincoln said on a chuckle.

Shayne smiled. It did something to Lincoln’s chest. Even the man’s lips were amazing.

Maybe it was the adrenaline still racing through his system, making him insane.

Lincoln really wanted this guy. It was borderline insanity.

Damn. Seriously. He could do some naughty shit to this dude.

No matter how he struggled with his brain, hoping to make it behave, it wasn’t happening.

If nothing else came from today’s carnage, he was getting to know Shayne better.

Meeting him had been a collision of fate.

A wicked smile touched Lincoln’s lips and an unholy light entered his eyes, making Shayne want to hear his thoughts.

“You’re supposed to keep a sprained ankle elevated,” Lincoln said, pointing out the obvious.

He didn’t wait for Shayne to respond. His expression could only be described as sinful delight as he added, “Lucky for you, I have strong shoulders.” Shayne blinked.

Maybe he had a concussion. Surely Lincoln didn’t mean what he thought.

“You didn’t hit me, and you didn’t say no. Is that a maybe?”

“Um.” Shayne cleared his throat. The last thing he wanted was to misunderstand. “Was there a question in there somewhere?”

Wendy reappeared, interrupting them. “Good news. They’re going to let you go home. I have your discharge papers. We just need to find you a new shirt since we had to cut yours off.”

Lincoln shot to his feet. “I’ll find something.” He was gone before Shayne could protest.

“That man is outrageous,” Shayne said before he could call it back.

Wendy blinked and glanced around the room.

“Who? Dr. Linette? He’s the dullest person I’ve ever met.

” Wendy covered her mouth when she obviously realized she’d spoken aloud.

Shayne got it. It happened to him all the time.

She dropped her hand, sounding horrified.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean that the way it came out. ”

It was on the tip of Shayne’s tongue to ask who in the hell she was talking about until it dawned on him she meant Lincoln. He was a doctor? It piqued his curiosity. “You know Lincoln?”

Wendy nodded. “Sure. He’s the attending physician here.”

Huh. “Does that mean he’s in charge?” At this point, Shayne was simply making conversation. Inside his head, he was mulling everything over. As far as he could tell, there wasn’t a single boring thing about Lincoln, but this woman knew him better.

Wendy dipped her chin as she typed something into the computer next to Shayne. “He keeps the ER running smoothly. Funnily enough, all it usually takes to keep the residents on task is one look from him. This place would fall apart without him.”

She gave Shayne’s leg a pat, thankfully, missing his injuries. “I set your discharge papers over by the sink. As soon as someone shows up to take you home, you’re out of here. I’m sure you’ll be…”