Chapter 3
THREE
JAYDEN
I hadn’t lied when I said Sutton looked like shit.
That didn’t stop him from looking so good.
Just seeing his face, having him so close, eased a part of my soul that I couldn’t explain.
Add that he was talking to me in complete sentences, with only a few of his usual grunts, and I was like an overeager puppy, desperate for any attention he’d give me.
But fuck, I was tired.
Between the pounding in my skull and the occasional dizziness where my sight went fuzzy, it was difficult to concentrate.
Plus, there was me drifting off midconversation.
Every time I came to, Sutton was staring at me intently, fear etched on his features.
And every single time I woke, he was holding my hand.
“What time is it?” I asked around a yawn, my jaw cracking and the stitches on my face pulling.
Sutton mimicked my yawn and unfortunately let go of my hand as he tugged his phone out of his pocket. “Almost seven.”
“You look beat.” Tired eyes stared back at me, a given since his flight from the States brought him straight to me. While I didn’t know what time he’d arrived earlier today, I knew it had been morning. He’d barely left my side since. “Why don’t you head to Ryan’s?”
“No chance. I’m fine here.”
His response rolled through me, relief caressing the edges of my mind. Now that he was here, I didn’t want him to leave. I was a needy asshole at the best of times, but this side of Sutton, where he cared and looked out for me, I liked best.
“You heard from Ryan?” I asked, trying to control my overeager smile that he didn’t want to leave.
He bobbed his head and gave another yawn. “Yeah. He texted about an hour ago and told me to let them know when I was ready to go, and Nate would come and get me. Told him I was fine staying put.”
This time there was no holding back my grin. “Missed me that much, huh?”
I expected a grunt, and he didn’t disappoint. He looked away, though, avoiding eye contact.
Concussion sucked. A broken finger pissed me off. But Sutton appearing here after a season of blowing hot and cold before settling on Arctic temperatures messed up my head in a way my shitty headache from the crash couldn’t process.
Me being… well, me, I grunted loud enough to capture his attention, opened my mouth, and let my inarticulate words tumble free.
“If I’d known all it took was a knock to the head and a broken digit to stop you being a dick, I would have made that happen six months ago.
” I waited for a beat, my stare on him. The dickstain simply looked at me, his expression impassive.
“But apparently, the dick hasn’t fallen off your head completely. ”
Aware I was being over-the-top and dramatic, I didn’t have it in me to stop or even care. I wanted a reaction. Needed it like my next breath.
His quirked brow was at least a reaction. Still, the fucker said nothing.
“Yeah, it’s still there on your head. I’m surprised you can carry the weight,” I continued, trying to get a rise from him.
With a bland tone, he said, “My impressive dick size would have most men struggling. Not so much me. I’m used to it.”
A bubble of amusement pushed past my snark, and my lips twitched.
“You’re not that big.” Okay, he totally was.
Having known the man for as long as I had and inevitably been naked so often, I had no issues admitting as much.
Usually. Sutton did not need an ego boost, so there was no chance I’d be agreeing with him.
Once again, the ass quirked his brow at me, calling bullshit.
I lost some humor, my aching head letting me know it was almost time for another dose of painkillers. I hoped one of the nurses would be by soon. “What are you doing here?” My sigh was heavy, tired.
Sutton’s gaze danced around my face, reading my expression before he spoke. “I may have overreacted and panicked when Nate called telling me you’d been injured, asking if I could let your parents know.” His voice was tight, his concern bleeding through his words.
That was the thing about Sutton. He always told the truth, said it how it was. It was why his distance over the past season had hit me so hard. It just wasn’t like him. His concern for me inched its way into my awareness more fully. When it settled, my pulse sped up.
“And now that you’re here?” I had no idea what his plans or intentions were.
Did I even want him to stay? Hell yes. There wasn’t a chance I’d beg, though.
I missed him, so much so that emptiness had burrowed deep and taken root in my gut.
But I’d tried over and over again to figure out what was going on, and I was exhausted.
With his gaze fixed on mine, he took a swig from his can of soda, taking far too long to swallow the liquid. I narrowed my eyes at him, sure he was doing so on purpose.
“Since I’m here, I thought I’d stick around for a while. Make the most of the trip.”
I twisted my mouth and ran my tongue over my top teeth, buying myself some thinking time. “You’re staying here? With Nate and Ryan?”
He nodded.
“You sure you can handle being in the same space as me? ’Cause honestly, Sutton, I came here to get away from the sullen shit show you’ve been dishing out all season.
” I ignored the heat creeping up my cheeks, but the fuck if I’d hold back.
Not with him. I watched him carefully, my heart jolting when a flash of remorse appeared on his face.
I wanted nothing more than to go back to how things were. I wasn’t dense enough to not know all this distance was because of my actions last off-season. I’d mentioned it a time or fifteen, but Sutton hadn’t confirmed or denied anything.
That simply left me more confused.
I’d apologized and laughed it off, teased, and shrugged. None of my reactions had made a difference, though, and in many ways, they’d made Sutton more distant.
Maybe now, if he could pull his head out of his ass long enough, we could finally figure things out.
“I’ll make sure I work at removing the dick from my head. How about that?”
I smiled, the gesture wide and warm. “Sounds good. Just don’t strain yourself in the process.”
He snorted, the sound relaxing my shoulders.
“So apparently I need to hold back for a week or so before anything high octane.”
Sutton smiled, the whites of his teeth perfect and almost blinding in the rays filtering in from the setting sun.
Fuck, it had been a long time since I’d had that directed my way.
“I think only a week is wishful thinking and it may be closer to three, maybe more, but just to be clear, no bungee jumping.”
“Or riding kangaroos, apparently.”
He grunted out a laugh and looked at the time on his phone.
“You know, I don’t think you’re allowed to stay.”
Intensity shone in his eyes as he stared me down. I quirked my brow at him in response until he sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. “I’m not leaving until you stop freaking me out by falling asleep midsentence.”
Emotion fizzed in my chest, the reality of the past twenty-four hours creeping into my system.
I hurt, ached like I’d been body-slammed by a truck, which wasn’t too far from the truth.
On top of that, my injuries worried me. It wasn’t like I was at death’s door or anything like that, but concussions were the worst, and I could totally do without a broken bone.
While training for the new season was still a couple of months away, I didn’t want this to hold me back from a killer season, especially since Sutton was speaking to me again.
When Sutton gripped my uninjured hand once again, my gaze lifted to his. There was no disguising my watery eyes, and Sutton was the only person alive who I’d allow to see such emotion.
“You’ll be okay, and I’m not going anywhere, you hear me?”
I swallowed hard and blew out a shaky breath, forcing a light chuckle. “Fucking meds.”
He squeezed my hand in response and pulled back when a nurse entered the room. I hadn’t seen the dark-haired woman before.
“Hey, Jayden. I’m Maddy. I’m just going to check your vitals, and it’s just about the end of visiting hours too.” She cast a glance at Sutton, whose large frame stiffened in the chair.
“Maddy,” I said, aiming for an easy grin and thickening up my drawl; so far, the Australians seemed to like it. “This here is Sutton. He’s literally flown in all the way from America just to be with me to make sure I wasn’t dying, and I had to convince him it was a car and not a snake that got me.”
Maddy smiled. “Our snakes do get a bad rep.”
“That they do. You think it’s going to be a problem if he stays?”
A sympathetic smile spread across her mouth. “Unfortunately, that’s not going to be possible. I may be able to give you another hour, but only relatives are allowed to stay the night.”
Disappointment knotted in my stomach. “I’d think my man Sutton here flying fourteen hours or so to be with me would be special circumstances, right?” This time I aimed for puppy-dog eyes.
“Your man?” she asked, tilting her head at me, her gaze bouncing between the two of us.
Before I could answer and say he was my best friend, Sutton’s “I’m his fiancé” had me slamming my mouth shut and staring at him bug-eyed. I bit down on the inside of my cheeks. Disbelief was etched on his features, and when he looked at me, I could see the absolute panic there.
Amusement burst to life in my chest. His bullshit admission was absolutely the kind of thing I would do.
Like the fucker I was, I held my hand out to him, palm up. “That’s right, baby.” I eyed him, then my hand, and grinned hard when he sighed, rolled his eyes, and took it. This reaction was much more in line with what I knew from the man.