Page 24 of The Goalie in Room 1

“Give me your leg.”

My gaze snapped to his. “Buy me dinner first,” I smirked.

The corner of his mouth twitched. “Cash.” A small laugh made his voice hitch as he said my name.

There he was again. Thad. Not Dr. Vale staring at my fucked-up knee like it was a puzzle to solve, but the silver fox Daddy who’d spent nearly an hour staring at me like I was something he wanted.

“You’re bossy.”

“Your leg, brat.”

Jesus fucking Christ on a cracker. That growly shit should be considered a weapon of mass destruction considering what it did to my dick.

I lifted my aching, throbbing leg toward him. Thad caught me carefully at the ankle and guided my leg across his lap. The relief was immediate. My eyes fell closed. Fuck me. I hadn’t realized how badly the weight of my own leg was pulling at the knee until it wasn’t anymore.

“Better?”

I opened my eyes to find him watching me. I nodded. His mouth moved, and I pointed at him. “Don’t.”

“Don’t what?”

“Say whatever you’re about to say.”

One dark brow climbed.

“Yeah, don’t do that either.”

“What?”

Mimicking him, my brow lifted.

“Raise my eyebrow?”

“Yes. Don’t do that either.”

His face twitched with laughter that huffed from behind his pressed-closed lips. Seconds ticked by as we stared at one another. “How long have you been behind the bar?” he asked.

“Tonight?”

The eyebrow climbed even higher.

Fucking asshole. So much for avoiding the question for a bit longer.

“A few hours.”

“And how long have you been hurting?”

I knew the man was this amazing freaking ortho doc, but how the hell did he clock that shit?

“Who said it’s been hurting?” I hedged.

He didn’t say anything. Didn’t have to. That fucking eyebrow did all the talking.

I rolled my eyes. “Fine.”

My leg was killing me. Had been for over an hour. What bothered me wasn’t that it hurt. It was that he’d noticed. I thought I’d been masking it so well. Thought I wasn’t favoring my right side, but…I guess I was wrong.

“Fine isn’t an answer to that question. The answer to how long requires a unit of time.”