Page 6 of Cheap Shot
“I’ll grab the nurse on the way out,” Ramona repeats, but I use my other arm to wave her off. I don’t need a nurse. What I need is some answers about what the fuck happened to me.
“I’m not taking no for an answer, Cole.” She levels me in place with a stare, sending a shiver of fear through my entire body. “I’m getting the nurse, then grabbing your mother. While we are gone, youwilltalk to your brothers. Understand?”
I open my mouth to respond, but Alise shakes her head. “Don’t test her, Cole. She is in ‘fuck around and find out mode.’ Trust me, you do not want to find out what she’ll do.”
I’m very familiar with fucking around and finding out the hard way. Instead of poking the bear as I usually would, I heed Alise’s warning. I have a feeling that if Ramona has spent any time with both of my brothers, she is more than capable of holding her own.
“She’s right. If you don’t listen to me about anything for the rest of your life, please listen to me now,” Cooper gripes as he pulls Ramona to him, planting a kiss on the top of her head.
“Assholes. The lot of you,” Ramona grumbles before grabbing Alise by the arm and pulling her through the door.
My eyes flick around the room, looking at anything besides my two older brothers. The suffocating feeling of being trapped, like the walls are closing in around me, settles into my chest. But I won’t give in to those feelings. The last thing I want to do is give either of them the satisfaction of watching me squirm.
By design, I make sure I’m never this close to my brother without a way to escape. To make sure to always put much-needed space between the three of us again. The pain and anger of everything that has happened clogs my throat, but I will it into submission. I could easily give in to the pain, letting it consume me once again. Pulling me back into the dark places of my mind that I don’t know I’ll ever be able to escape a second time. Not without—I’m not going there. Everything is going to be fine. I’m fine. All I need to do is find out what they want and send them on their way.
“You can’t come in here and pretend that you give a fuck about me. It’s too fucking late.”
“Can you stop being angry at me for everything that has gone wrong in your life for two minutes and have a civil conversation?” Cooper growls, shoving to his feet and pacing in front of my bed.
“Do you always have to push his buttons like that?” Beau rolls his eyes before taking a seat on the edge of my bed. He reaches over to pat my legs, but I pull them out of his reach. “How are you feeling?”
“Like I was sucker punched in the head by my supposed teammate and blacked out. My right shoulder is also on fucking fire.”
“You have a concussion, and your right rotator cuff has a large acute tear. It will require surgery.” Beau pauses for a moment, his eyes probably scanning my face for a reaction, but I give him nothing.
This is far worse than I could’ve imagined. A concussion, even with going through CTE protocols, would’ve had me ready for the start of next season. But a tear in my rotator cuff? That shit is a death sentence for my hockey career. I can work my ass off during the off-season, but there’s still no guarantee that I’ll be ready at the start of the season. On top of that, with my contract being up for negotiation, everyone already knows what happened. My only chance is that they don’t know how bad the damage is. If I can’t keep this injury under wraps, I’ll be lucky ifanyonewill make me an offer.
“I need to talk to Remy.” My mind races as I try to think of every outcome for this situation.
There’s no way the Wolverines are going to renew my contract. Especially not after I lost them the championship. I was in talks with teams in Boston and Philadelphia, but I was hoping to remain close to…everyone. I know I’m a walking contradiction. Sue me. I want to be near my family, to have the comfort of knowing I can easily reach them if I need to, but I just don’t want to have any unnecessary contact with them. But none of that matters right now because if I want to keep playing hockey, I have to go with whatever team will have me. I don’t have another choice.
Cooper comes to a stop beside my bed, reaching for my hand but pulls it back before our skin can touch. “I already called him, and he’s on his way.”
“Thanks.”
“Oh, hedoeshave manners.” Beau chuckles as he pulls his phone out and holds it in front of him with the camera pointed in my direction. “Can you say it one more time? I don’t think Ramona or Alise would believe me if I told them.”
“Fuck you.”
“Ah, that’s the little brother I know and love.” Beau smiles before turning his attention toward the door. “I’m going to see what’s taking the nurse so long.”
I want to tell him to stay, that I can wait for the nurse to come whenever she has time, but I don’t. I clamp my mouth shut and silently pray that Cooper won’t say a word until Beau comes back or our mother arrives. Anything to stop from having to be in a room alone with my older brother.
“I have a feeling it’s his subtle way of giving us a chance to talk.” Cooper reaches up to rub the back of his neck, his eyes begging me to engage with him, but we both know I won’t. Not now, maybe not ever.
“That would imply that I have something to say to you.”
I want to turn away and give him my back, shutting down this entire conversation, but with the pain in my shoulder and my stomach wanting to revolt with any major movements, I settle for shutting my eyes.
“Fine,” Cooper huffs, but continues speaking. “How about you just listen?”
I should tell him I don’t give a shit about what he has to say. That it’s all a little too late and will never change what he did. What he took away from me and the rest of the family, but there’s another part of me that wants to know. So I say nothing.
“I had this entire speech worked out for what I was going to say when you gave me the time of day, but I’m drawing a blank.” A heavy silence settles between us before Cooper scoffs. “I know you must be worried about your contract negotiations with the Wolverines, but you don’t need to worry about anything.”
My eyes fly open, pure rage filling my veins. “I don’t have to worry that my hockey career is over because I have no team and could be out for an entire season because of this injury?”
I want to reach forward and sock my brother in the jaw, pain be damned. He said he wanted to talk to me. What that might be about, I have no idea, but it seems more like he wanted to sit here and take control of my life again. A way of molding me into the perfect Cooper replica that he has complete control over, just like everything else in his life.
