Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
Mia
After everyone from the team was shooed out of Tate’s room I went back in, surprised that Gabe had already left.
I never got far after I escaped Gabe earlier.
Instead, I went to the lobby and called Denise, mostly to ask her if she was crazy.
She cried and it broke my heart. She said she’d had to test Gabe and, so far, he didn’t seem to care that he didn’t see much of her.
I had no idea what to say. Guilt pressed on me because I knew why.
Deep down, I knew all the reasons why and I couldn’t say. It wasn’t my place to speak for Gabe.
Pushing open the half-closed door after my sneak peek, I saw Tate was half asleep from the drugs and I knew I should wait to talk to him in the morning but I might lose my nerve by then. I had to tell him now, before he could misinterpret my attention, that I wanted to be friends and nothing more.
Approaching the bed, I reached out and touched his face, then scolded myself, knowing I should have touched his good arm instead, a less intimate body part.
Too late to worry because he opened his eyes and looked at me.
As his lips curved up in a slow overly pleased smile, my chest squeezed and I wondered if I was crazy to end any romance between us.
But the image of Gabe, ever present in the back of my mind, popped forward and I knew it would be unfair to Tate if I stayed in the unholy circle between him and Gabe. I needed to break from that triangle.
“Hi again,” he said. “You’re here late.”
“I know. I had to talk to you. About us.” Between my words, the tone of my voice and the look on my face, he quickly got that this wasn’t a happy visit and pressed the button to raise the bed so he was sitting up, face serious, eyes becoming alert.
“What is it?”
“I . . . think we can only ever be friends, you and I. I’m sorry.” I stopped talking, meeting his eyes directly, not blinking or looking away as my heart thudded too fast and my nerves jumped.
“I didn’t think you were the kind of girl who’d kick a guy when he was down.” His smile took the sting from his words.
“I know, right?” Relief brightened me, gave me more words.
“But Tate, you know I really like you and I want to be able to visit you, help you with recovery, without giving you the wrong impression. It would mean a lot to me to be able to help you. I know how hard it must be for you to be out of the lineup now after the first game of a new season with a new team.”
He gave me a long look, not a hundred percent focused, his spurt of adrenaline running out. I thought he’d fall asleep without responding, but after a few tired blinks of his eyes, he said, “I’d appreciate all the help I can get. I’d never turn away a true friend.”
I squeezed his hand and said, “Get some sleep and I’ll see you tomorrow.”
I turned to leave, but he stopped me with his words. “Gabe’s a lucky guy.”
When I turned back, heart pounding again faster than ever, to ask him what he meant by that, his eyes were closed. After a pause, I decided to leave well enough alone. But my heart raced all the way home and I had a hard time getting to sleep that night.
Punching my pillow, I finally told myself that if I wanted any peace, I’d better find a handsome young doctor to hook up with and fast. And maybe on second thought it didn’t even matter if he was handsome.
Or young. Or a doctor. I just needed to find some man who wanted to hook up for a casual relationship who had nothing to do with football.
And who was not remotely comparable to Gabriel Wyatt.