Free Dare To Love Series: Hot Dare (Kindle Worlds Novella) by Avery Flynn Page B

pain of his wrist and palm crashed into him like a defensive tackle hopped up on steroids. The throbbing extended up his arm to his shoulder, the one he led with when he tackled. If it was fucked, so was his career—his whole life.
    Angie rushed to his side, crouching down beside him as the boat sped toward the dock. “Are you okay?”
    “Fuck no, I ’ m not okay.” He lifted his arm to show her the ruined mess of his palm. The move forced a branding iron of burning-hot agony deep into his wrist, which had already ballooned up to twice its size.
    “Shit.” She reached out to touch him, but pulled back at the last second and fisted her hands by her side. Her big brown eyes were wet with concern. “We already called the ship ’s doctor. He’ s going to meet us at the dock. Everything ’ s going to be okay.”
    Impotent rage spiked in his blood, it was the only thing that quieted the screams of agony from his arm. It was fine and dandy for her to be worried now. She ’ d told him it was safe. He didn ’ t know what kind of research she ’ d done into the parasailing company ’ s safety record, but it obviously wasn ’ t enough and he was the one who ’ d be paying the price.
    “No, it ’ s fucking not going to be okay. I just got back from an injury. I ’ m thirty years old and I ’ m breaking down like a refrigerator that ’ s been dropkicked into hell. Plus I ’ ve got a hungry backup who wants my job more than he wants to breathe. This could be my career.”
    “It ’ s too early to freak out about that now,” Angie said as she unsnapped the safety harness from around his legs and waist, her gaze never meeting his.
    The forced calm in her voice and neutral expression on her face told him exactly how much he needed to be freaking out as they zoomed toward the nearby dock.
    The ship ’ s doctor stood on the boat dock. A ship ’ s purser sat on a nearby ATV, presumably to get them back on board as quickly as possible so he could receive medical care. A dark emptiness filled him at the sight. Fucking doctors. No good news ever came from them. All they wanted to talk about was being cautious, taking a wait-and-see approach. They never understood the position he was in—how easy it would be for the league to leave him in the dust.
    And Angie thought it was too early to freak out about a little thing like his entire life going straight to hell.
    “No, it ’ s not too early,” he snarled, focusing his pain and frustration on her with the single-minded tunnel vision that helped him lead the league in sacks a few years ago. “It ’ s too damn late to stop myself from taking a stupid fucking risk because it was suggested by a hot broad I was banging.”
    She flinched as if he ’ d struck her. “You ’ re in pain. We ’ ll talk about this after you see the doctor.”
    Talk. Talk. As if that would stop his life from crumbling underneath him. “If this screws me from getting my starter position back, we don ’ t need to talk at all.”
    Her jaw tightened and her eyes went blank as if she could stare straight through him. “I see.”
    “I fucking hope so,” he shot back.
    She stood and whipped her head to the side, but not before he saw the moisture glimmering in her eyes.
    The boat puttered to a stop at the dock. Angie stepped to the side, making room for the doctor who hustled over. He gave Colt ’ s wrist a brief look before nodding to the boat ’ s captain and his assistant.
    “I ’ ll need to take a closer look on board, but it looks pretty minor all things considered—could be a severe sprain, possibly a break,” the doctor said as he stood. “Let ’ s get you out of here.”
    A sprain. That was the best pain reliever out there. Colt ’ s head started to clear. Even with a wrist brace he could still clean the field with LeRoi.
    The guy in the parasailing T-shirt helped Colt to his feet and started to lead him off the boat.
    Angie pivoted, turning away from him. Her shoulders sank and