Page 45 of Stumped

“You okay, superstar?”

His forehead smoothens and he nods. “Dreading the idea of leaving your flat.”

“The idea of putting on work clothes makes my skin itch, too.”

“Maybe we can stay in for the rest of the summer and never go anywhere.”

“I would honestly love that, but…”

“You’re the boss and you’ve gotta make the big bucks.”

With a slight tilt of my head, I say, “And you need to get back on the team.”

He nods, but it feels so halfhearted, alarm bells start going off in my head. I grab his chin to get his attention.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

“Don’t you want to get back on the team?”

He sighs, squirting shower gel into his hands and soaps himself up.

“I do, but sometimes I feel like I’m going to be in PT forever.”

“I thought you were improving and it looked like you might be back on the pitch soon.”

“I am and my shoulderisstronger, but whenever I ask them, they don’t seem to know.”

I frown at the tone of defeat in his voice and poke him in the chest. “You can’t give up.”

“What the fu—ow,” he says when I poke him again. “Jesus, stop with those weapons of mass destruction.”

“Promise me you won’t give up.”

“What if everyone else is giving up on me?”

There it is.

Ever since that morning in Mumbai, I’ve been thinking about his words. I know this setback has made him question everything and doesn’t see himself as being good enough or worthy. I wish I knew how to help him see what everyone sees, because he’s brilliant. The injury did shake his confidence, but the team would be stupid to let him go. However, there’s so much more to all of this than he’s willing to share with me.

“Nobody’s giving up on you,” I say with certainty. “As long asyoudon’t give up, you’ll be back on the field in no time.”

His lips twist to the side and he nods slowly. I rinse us both off and hand him a towel before drying myself. His jaw is tight and shoulders are pressed to his ears.

“Elias.”

He hums and wraps the towel around his waist. “You’re so fucking beautiful,” he whispers.

“As are you,” I remind him and he smiles, a real one but also a little sad.

“I’ll keep working my ass off, I promise.”

“I know you will, because this sport means everything to you. Don’t let a bunch of people tell you that you’re not ready when you know you are.”

“Am I?”

“You manhandled the heck out of me hours ago. I think you’re ready to whack a few sixes for your team.”

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