Page 25 of One Choice (Hogan Brothers 2)

Car doors shutting in the distance caused her to flinch while she struggled. Footsteps drawing closer to her had her looking up just as the person reached her. “Levi, what are you doing here?” She tried to sound angry, but it came off more like an out-of-breath whisper.

The concern on his face couldn’t be faked as he wrapped an arm around her waist, taking as much of her weight as he could. “I’ve been here for an hour waiting for you. Are you alright?”

“I’m okay.” She had to grit her teeth so as not to give away the fact she was anything but fine.

“No, you’re not,” he said, swooping her up into his embrace. She wanted to protest, she really did, but Lord did his arms feel good around her, holding her tight to his body as he walked to his car. The relief on her knee wasn’t so bad, either.

“Put me down,” she half-heartedly protested.

“Not happening, sugar,” he countered.

It wasn’t like she was in any position to fight him on it. Besides, she didn’t really want to. She fought the urge to kick him in the junk for the hurt he’d caused her, but just this once, she was going to enjoy the feeling of being close to him.

His muscles rippled against her hip as he walked.

The spicy cologne he wore that assaulted her senses.

His tight grip on her.

She would savor it all for as long as she could before the real him came forth again and made her feel like dirt. For that one moment, she could pretend he cared, that she was his.

Goddamn, did she feel good in his arms. When he saw her emerge from the high school, he’d hopped out of his car faster than the Tasmanian devil could swirl around town. He’d immediately sensed she was in pain and had to help her. She was pushing herself, and it was his fault. He was the tool her friend accused him of being. Now that she was in his arms, he figured maybe he could convince her to let him help her with her knee.

He may not know the extent of her injury, but he’d do anything to help her with the pain. “I’d like to take you to see my trainer,” he told her as they reached his car, and he set her down beside it to open her door.

“What for?” Her question was understandably skeptical.

“He can help with your injury.” She didn’t look convinced. “He’s a physiotherapist, and he helps me after each fight. I’d be worse off without him.” Her glare was unmoving. “Please, Hayes.” She was going to make him beg.

“I need to go to the pharmacy.” She slid in without answering him. She also didn’t refuse him.

“Whatever you need,” he vowed, rounding the hood to get in. As they sped down the street, he watched her, the way she held her leg steady with both hands. Held in every hiss of pain when it moved. He tried to take it easy on the turns, but he couldn’t do anything other than slow down when they hit a pothole.

“The Walgreens on the right is good,” she told him through clenched teeth.

“What do you need, I’ll grab it?” He asked, parking the car.

Her wary look pissed him off. Not at her but himself. “There’s a prescription at the counter for me.”

“Don’t move,” he told her before she could protest.

Jogging into the store, he rushed to the back where the pharmacy was located, glad there was no line as he reached the counter.

“Can I help you?” the woman asked.

“Picking up a prescription for Hayes Morrison.” He was unable to stand still, slightly afraid that by the time he got back to his car, Hayes would be gone. She was too damn skittish, and he had no one to blame but himself.

“Here we are,” she said a few minutes later.

; “Thanks a lot,” he replied as he finished paying, not even sure if she had insurance or not. Not caring either. Helping her was the only thing on his mind.

Bursting through the store’s front doors, his gaze immediately sought her out in his car. When he didn’t see her sitting in the front seat, panic nearly seized him.

“What the– “

“Don’t say it,” he heard her comment as he came to a stop beside the car to see her lying flat across the seat.