Page 11 of Hold Me Down

Until today, when he broke his leg during a fucking training exercise.

It was so stupid that he would laugh if he could, but he just… He didn't have it in him. The reality of spending months off work was bad enough, but the weight of Kalei's anger and disappointment on top of that made Dave wish to burrow under the covers and not come out until he was ready to get back out there.

"Here we go," Travis murmured as he lowered Dave down to sit on the couch now.

"Thanks."

Staring at his leg with a frown and a sick feeling in his stomach, Dave missed Travis picking up a pillow from the armchair, but he definitely noticed him lifting Dave's leg to put said pillow under the cast on the coffee table.

"You need anything?"

Travis's question seemed to be directed at Dave's foot, and Dave was tired of his best friend avoiding his gaze, but he was also tired in general and had no energy left in him to have that conversation right now.

Kalei's tough love had been more than enough for one day.

"A do-over would be nice," Dave finally said, and he winced at his grumbling tone.

He wasnotgoing to be a model patient, that was for sure.

"You and me both." Travis patted him on the thigh. "But I meant more like water or soda before I order us some dinner. What would you prefer?"

Biting back the first, and the second, response that came to mind, which were nothing more than bitching and moaning about his fate, Dave forced himself to come up with a real answer. He might not be hungry, but he should eat—and so should Travis.

"I'm voting Indian. And I'd love a glass of water, thanks."

It felt weird.Hefelt weird. They should be shooting the shit, or maybe laughing it up, instead they were talking like two very polite robots.

Once Travis headed to the kitchen, Dave closed his eyes and rested his head against the back of the couch.

Maybe if he didn't look, he could pretend his life wasn't suddenly a complete shambles.

Damn it, he should probably tell people, shouldn't he? If he didn't text his brother, at least, there would be hell to pay.

Dave tilted to the left to pull his phone out of his pocket, only to hiss in pain, because the move put pressure on his leg.

"You good?"

He almost dropped the phone at the sound of Travis's voice, but, thankfully, it was one humiliation he managed to avoid today.

"I forgot myself, it's fine." He waved his phone. "I figured I should text Colin before he finds out and kicks my ass."

His brother had the unbelievable ability to know stuff, somehow, and Dave had stopped trying to hide things from him a long time ago. It never really worked.

Travis usually teased him for the brotherly confessions, as he called them, but not this time.

"I'm pretty sure it's my ass he'll want to kick," he said instead, handing Dave the glass of water.

"Hey." Dave stared at him, waiting, but when Travis still didn't meet his gaze, he pressed. "Hey, look at me."

And,damn, whether Dave had energy for this or not, he needed to clarify things, because seeing the anguish in Travis's eyes was… Well, it was absolute shit.

"I'm not blaming you, okay? I'm not." Dave shook his head. "It was an accident, and the move could have worked. Oh, and also, a small detail—I agreed to the plan, so how about we don't treat me like a child who is only following someone else's directions, huh?"

Something shifted in Travis's eyes as he listened, and while it wasn't clear what he was thinking, at least he wasn't looking like a guy walking freely towards the shooting squad anymore, so Dave would take it as a win.

Everything else, they were going to figure out.

Somehow.

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