Cleat Catcher (The Cleat Chaser Duet Book 2) (21 page)

In a swift motion, he gripped my waist and flipped me over his knee. I squeaked in protest. “Braden, your knee—”

“Is in tip top shape for this little activity.” He gripped the back of my neck and pushed so I laid flat against his thighs, my legs dangling in the air.

“The nurse could come in.”

He rubbed my ass through the fabric of my skirt. “Then you should probably be quiet.”

Smack.
The sound was loud in my ears, but probably didn’t go much farther than our room. The sting was bearable. At least it was, until he yanked my skirt up and gave me three more strikes on my bare skin in rapid succession. On the last one, I dug my nails into his calf and barely managed to stifle my cry.

He massaged the sting away, running his hand back and forth across my ass before delving lower.

I bucked, but his hand at my neck tightened. “Braden, we can’t.”

He slid his fingers through my slick folds and sank one inside me. “Shh.”

I bit back my moan as he pumped in and out of me in a languid rhythm.

“That’s my good little slut. Teasing me, getting me all worked up. Now you know what a bad idea that is.”

I nodded, though being a tease skyrocketed up my list of “favorite things to do to Braden.” He added a second finger and released my neck to run his hand along my back. When he leaned over to get a better view of what he was doing to my pussy, I thought I might combust. In and out, he slowly worked me into a frenzy.

When he drew his fingers to his mouth and licked them clean, I shuddered.

When the door opened and the doctor walked in, I screamed.

B
RADEN

I
LOOKED UP
as the familiar doctor walked through the door.

“Hey, Doc. Good to see you.” My face had to be bright red as I lifted Nik from my lap. She stood up straight, covering her face with both hands. I wasn’t sure how to play this one. It wasn’t every day that my doctor caught me fingerblasting my girlfriend in his office. I decided to roll with it.

“Not sure if I’m familiar with that technique for examining a patient. What do you call that?” Doc chuckled and walked toward me.

“Oh my God.” Nikki’s words were muffled against one of her palms that she’d clapped over her mouth.

“So yeah, Doc, this is Nikki. Nikki, Doc.”

Nikki held out a hand, still covering her eyes with the other. “It’s, umm, nice to meet you.”

Doc smiled and took Nikki’s hand. My phone buzzed in my jeans across the room. Nikki hurried over, as if glad for the distraction, and dug it from my pocket. She handed it to me, and I swiped across the screen. It was Coach. “Just a sec, Doc.”

Coach: What’d the doctor say?

I quickly typed back a reply.

Me: He just walked in. Patience, you old fucker. I’ll let you know soon.

I started to hand the phone back to Nikki when it went off again.

Coach: Suck my dick. I want to know as soon as you do.

Me: You will. I promise, loverboy.

I laughed and gave the phone to Nikki, who stowed it in her bag. She returned to my side and grabbed my hand as the doctor faced me. He gave her a warm smile, and she squeezed my hand. They seemed to be over the initial embarrassment, at least. “It was just Coach.” I shrugged.

“So why are you here?” He turned the warm smile on me.

A draft from the vent on the floor reminded me of the fact I was free balling, and a slight shudder rippled through me.

“Knee.” I pointed at my leg. “The usual.”

“Those do seem to be a problem with you catchers. How long has it been hurting?”

Nikki nudged me with a sharp elbow. I knew better than to lie. “A few weeks.”

“Tell me what happened.”

“I ripped a liner to left. All was fine the first few steps to first, and then—” I took in a long breath through my nose. “I felt a small pop, and pain radiated through my whole leg. It kind of went numb for a second.”

“Hmm, I see.” Doc reached down and lifted my gown enough to expose my knee.

“It’s been getting worse. I can barely walk on it anymore.”

“And you kept playing on it, didn’t you? Despite the pain?” He shot me a hard glance.

“Yeah. It was stupid, I know.”

“Well, you guys have a lot on the line with your bodies. You’re not the only athlete to play hurt. Don’t be too hard on yourself.”

I grinned, and Nikki glared at Doc. He must have sensed her frustration, because his tone changed. “Don’t get me wrong. It would’ve been better to come in right when it happened. I don’t want you to make a habit of this.”

“So what do you think is wrong?” Nikki folded her arms across her chest.

“Why don’t you lie down, Braden, and let me feel around on it. If you don’t mind.”

Nikki snorted. “Sorry. Sorry.”

I cracked a smile, loving every bit of her dirty mind. Pushing myself all the way up on the table, I laid on my back as Doc prodded my knee from every angle and watched my reactions. He gripped the ball of my foot, his other hand around my knee, and twisted my leg.

“Fucking, Christ!” I gripped the side of the exam table and winced.

“Okay. Sorry. I’m done.” He released his hold on my leg.

“Is it bad?” Nikki cringed.

“Here’s the thing, guys—knees are funny. There are a lot of things going on in there with every little movement. We need an MRI to know for sure.” Doc glanced over at Nikki.

She didn’t appear satisfied with his response. “Any
ballpark
guess?” She made air quotes with her fingers when she said “ballpark.”

“It’s probably your ACL. The pop you felt has me concerned that a ligament snapped or tore.
But
the fact it wasn’t more pronounced gives me hope it might be less serious. I really don’t feel comfortable guessing until I can see what’s going on in there. It could’ve been that his knee just rolled out of place for a second, maybe stretched a few things out. He could’ve stepped on something in the base path and it’s just bruised. So we just have to wait and see.”

I sat up straight, but kept my eyes locked on the floor. “I’m done. It’s all going to be over.”

Nik scooted closer to me and ran her fingers down the back of my arm. “That’s not what he said. There’s a chance. Right, Doc?”

“I need to order the MRI. I’ll get you in right now. I know there’s a radiologist on duty who can read it. We can get results in the next thirty minutes or so. Okay?”

I tilted my head up to Nik’s face and then turned to Doc and nodded. “Okay. Let’s do it.”

“These things usually take weeks, and we’re going to find out in thirty minutes. We’re doing the best we can, so please just be patient a little while longer.”

“Thanks, Doc.”

The next thirty minutes was going to be the most torturous span of time in my life.

The end of my career was all I could think about as I sat on the cold metal in front of the big fucking machine. I had to take my mind off of it somehow as I laid down flat on my back. “Don’t be getting all jealous now.”

Nik stared back at me, puzzled. “What?”

I glanced to the MRI machine. “They’re about to shove me all slow-like into this giant pussy magnet. I just want you to know that it’s not by choice. I’m doing this because it’s what you wanted.” I gave a thumbs up to the giant metal box. “Been called a pussy magnet a time or two in my life too.”

Nik snorted. “MRI pussy jokes, huh? You cheating bastard. How could you?”

“Just taking one for the team, baby. I’m doing this out of love.”

The machine fired up and started to whir.

“Please hold still.” It was the tech person’s voice. “We’re just taking you in past the knee, that’s it.”

“Hear that, babe? Just the tip. Just for a second. Just to see how it feels.” I stiffened my toes to the sound of Nik’s giggling. We’d watched
Wedding Crashers
so Nik was now in on the jokes. “In and out all quick-like. Just a teaser.”

The mechanical table moved me in and out a few times before the machine shut down. The tech walked around and helped me up before leading Nikki and I back to the same waiting room.

What was probably fifteen minutes seemed like hours as we waited for the doctor to return. Nikki was uncharacteristically silent as she sat next to me on the exam table. But she kept my hand in hers and leaned into me, giving support without saying a word. I’d told myself I wouldn’t worry about anything until I knew what I was up against. It was silly to do otherwise.

Nikki and I jolted upright when we heard the door handle rattle. The doctor strolled in with a file full of pictures. Nikki’s tiny hand squeezed around mine.

“It’s good news, Braden.”

Nikki and I both let out huge sighs. I turned and smiled at her.

“Well, not great news, but good. There’s no visible ligaments that are detached or torn.”

“Awesome!” Nikki squealed and clapped for a moment.

“Just, hang on a second, okay? I can see where your MCL is stretched though. It’s most likely strained. That’s what’s causing you so much discomfort. There are a lot of nerves that run through that area of the knee. Playing hurt isn’t helping it heal at all. It needs to tighten back up.” He held up his hand and made a fist. “I don’t know how you’ve managed the pain this long without resting. So I’m sorry to tell you this, but the season is over for you. It’ll take several months to rehab it back to normal.”

It was like a ton of bricks crushed me in the chest. My lungs deflated, and I dropped my face into my palms.

“Wait? You just said it wasn’t torn. That everything was good. You said that right?” Nikki turned to me. “I heard him say everything was fine. It was good news.”

I could hear Nikki’s scolding tone, but I couldn’t bear the thought of looking at her. Tears started to well in my eyes, because I knew the one big truth with the people in the front office. It was all about perception. I was already a liability, and they would use any excuse they could to cut me loose. At best, they’d use it as leverage to pay me less on my next contract.

I finally lifted my head to the Doc and stared into his eyes. “So that’s it? Has to be for the season?”

He placed a hand on my shoulder and squeezed. “I’m afraid so, son.”

Nikki wrapped her arms around me. I caught her scowling at the doctor. It made me grin, knowing how much she wanted me to succeed and be healthy.

“It’s okay, babe. He’s just doing his job.” My words had no effect, and Doc was kind enough to still be respectful.

“I’m sorry, Nikki. If I could fix him right now, I definitely would. I promise. I’ll give you guys a minute. Braden, I’m going to write up a prescription to manage the pain, and you need to start rehab as soon as possible. I’ll get you all the information and bring in a brace.”

“Thanks again, Doc.”

After the door closed, and Doc had left the room, Nikki sniffled. “We’ll get a second opinion. He doesn’t know shit.”

I chuckled. “Babe, he’s the leading knee specialist in the world.” Somehow, I thought she might be more upset than I was. I’d expected worse news.

“Well—I just—there’s someone better than him out there. And we’ll find them today. I don’t care.”

I grabbed her by the arms and turned her to face me. Her eyes misted and her face tinged with a light pink. “It’s okay. I’ll deal. Somehow.”

“Braden—” She placed her palms on my cheeks. “—you need to let it out. Don’t do what you always do. This has to be torture for you.”

I looked away and exhaled a long breath. “I know. You’re right.” I turned back to face her. “I’m fucking scared, babe. What if this is it? What if I never get to play ball again?” I nuzzled into her shoulder. It all hit me at once—anger, frustration, and sadness. I wanted to crawl into the corner and die, and at the same time I wanted to burn the building to the ground. I stared long and hard at her and the tears started to stream down my cheeks. “D-don’t tell Easton.”