Distantly, I was aware of the medical team rushing onto the pitch, and Harvey Raines gesturing frantically while Jude’s teammates gathered around his still figure, but my entire focus was on Jude. He was hurt, and I needed to be with him.
I didn’t even see the stewards barrelling towards me until my progress was abruptly halted, strong arms restraining my body.
“Fuck!Please.I have to— That’s my—my friend out there.” Fuck. He was so much more than my friend. He was myeverything.
“Sir. It is an offence to enter the field of play. I’m going to have to ask you to leave the stadium.”
My words were choked out in a desperate rasp. “He’s not moving. I need to be with him.”
The other steward gave a long-suffering sigh. “I understand, but it is an offence to enter the field of play. You need to come with us.”
No. Something was seriously wrong, and I needed to go to him.
My heart was pounding out of my chest, my gaze fixed on the still form of the person who mattered more to me than anything else in the world.
“He’s mine. I need?—”
“Now.”
My shoulders slumped in defeat as I was forcibly moved backwards, and I watched, my heart in my fucking throat, as Jude was carried off the pitch on a stretcher.
Sick with worry for Jude, I was barely aware of the stewards turning me around. But when they manoeuvred me towards the stadium exit, my surroundings came into focus and something inside me broke.
In the stands, people were pointing and shouting, video and photographic evidence captured by a sea of phones.
Fuck.
There was no possible way to spin this as the actions of a concerned friend.
I’d just outed us. Not only in front of the thousands of people in this stadium, but in front of the cameras, broadcasting my actions to the world.
32
Cody
“Mr. Clements?”
I lifted my head from my hands. “Yeah?”
The man standing in front of me gave me a brief, professional smile. “Mr. Nielson is asking for you. Down the corridor, first door to the left.”
“Thank you.” Unfolding my body from the uncomfortable plastic chair, I rose to my feet, taking in the man’s lab coat for the first time. “Do you know— Is he okay?”
“He will be,” the man assured me. “We took him down to the hospital for scans, and he’s back here with the physio now. He’s got some ligament damage, but no tears. Two weeks rest, then a gradual return to training. All in all, I’d say he got off lightly. That was a nasty tackle.”
“Thank fuck,” I whispered, slumping back against the wall.Two weeks. I’d been sitting in this corridor for over four hours, torturing myself by imagining every worst-case scenario in my head. Torn ligaments, broken bones, surgery, rehabilitation. The possibility that I might have witnessed the man I loved lose the thing that made him the happiest.
I hadn’t even dared to think about the other complication. The one that I’d brought upon us both.
“Indeed,” the man said, his professional smile morphing into something more genuine. “Best not keep him waiting.”
When I knocked on the door and entered, I couldn’t help myself. I strode over to Jude, who was propped up on an exam table, and wrapped my arms around him, burying my face in his neck. “I’m so fucking sorry,” I rasped. “I was so scared, and I?—”
“Hey. It’s okay. I’m fine. It looked worse than it is.” Pulling back, Jude studied me, concern in his widening eyes. He lifted his hand, brushing a trembling finger across my cheekbone. It came away wet.
“Shit,” I mumbled, releasing him to rub at my eyes. “I’m sorry. I should just leave you?—”
“You’re not going anywhere, okay?” His hand found mine, and he gripped it firmly. “Stay.”
