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“I wanna hug you, but I don’t wanna hurt your ribs, baby.”
Hayes slid a hand around the back of TK’s head and pulled their foreheads together.
“I’m so sorry, Ty. I’m so sorry this happened,” he tearfully whispered against Hayes’s lips. “I just wanted to take you out for your birthday, do something fun. I didn’t mean…for any of this…”
“I know that, Teek.”
“I think…I think we…might need help.”
Hayes wailed in distress as he burst into tears again, TK following right behind him. “I think so, too. We’ll…get it. We’ll get help. We’ll do it together, OK?” Hayes turned his face and kissed his friend on the cheek, nuzzling his face against it before kissing him once more.
TK nodded, pulled away, and slowly made his way over to the officers, avoiding eye contact with Ryan Baylor, who was now in the room and leaning against the wall, arms crossed and stone-faced.
Hayes watched as they exited the room, and it was at that point he noticed his boyfriend standing there.
“Rook,” Hayes whimpered pathetically. “I’m…I’m…”
“You’re what, Hayes?” he replied, unaffected. “A fucking DUI. Really? I hope you’re not expecting sympathy from me. Because you won’t get it.”
“Rook, I’m…”
“You’re what, Hayes?”
“I’m sorry…”
“Fuck that. Don’t tell me you’re sorry. That’s weak and that’s bullshit. You’re what, Hayes?”
“I’m…”
“You’re what?” Ryan yelled, exasperated.
“I’m…a drug addict. And I fuckin’ need help, baby.”
Ryan raked his fingers through his hair and exhaled loudly, relieved to finally hear him admit that, especially considering the conversation he’d just had with Aiden Hughes and Neil Halloway in the ER waiting room.
Within the next 48 hours, Tyler Hayes and Travis Kadin would have no other choice but to accept the help that was coming if either of them planned on keeping their professional hockey careers and reputations alive.
An Invitation to Join the Fight (17)
December 12
The Tampa Bay Lightning were currently in Columbus, Ohio for their game tonight, a game in which Ryan should have been playing. The previous night, they’d won against New Jersey 6-3, a game in which Ryan should have played.
Ryan should have been working on his leg strength and speed with his new teammate in the weight room, practicing with the team in Columbus before the game tonight, attending the team dinner, and continuing to forge connections with the guys and establish himself as a part of the Lightning organization.
Instead, he was driving Hayes in the Raptor to UBS Arena for the intervention the Islanders organization was having for him and Travis Kadin under the guise of “an emergency team meeting.”
He was exhausted, as he’d spent the past two days toggling between taking care of his injured boyfriend and preparing for the intervention. The first person he called was Hayes’s mother, April. She’d thanked Ryan repeatedly for taking care of her boy and for booking and paying for her flight to Long Island so she could be there.
Next was Amara, who’d spent hours researching rehabilitation facilities in the Tampa area that worked with the NHLPA because Ryan wanted him nearby during his recovery. She ultimately set up an appointment with one that was able to admit him tomorrow.
Because that’s the kind of stress she needed while being 9 months pregnant and ready to pop out a kid at any moment.
Finally, though reluctantly, he’d gotten in contact with TK’s older brother Trevor, who still lived in his hometown of Jacksonville, Florida. He’d informed him of everything that’d happened over the past few months.
“Thanks for calling, man. I had no idea. Trav’s always been a bit of a hot mess, especially since all the bullshit with that bitch in Nashville, but…we had no idea it had gotten this bad. He hides it well.”
Teek’s mother had passed away a few years ago, but his brother and father were flying up to take him back to a rehab facility in the Jacksonville area that was able to admit him immediately following the intervention.
