Page 53 of The Goalie in Room 1

Before either of us could say anything, the anesthesiologist came into the room. “How’s our patient doing?”

“Fine,” I said, lying through my teeth. “Since Dr. Vale hasn’t discharged me, are you the one I’ve gotta beg to let me out on good behavior?”

“That I am, considering the issues you had after surgery.”

Half an hour later, I was fully discharged. I sat waiting for Thad to return from wherever he disappeared— “No. Fuck no. Absolutely not,” I swore as a wheel chair rolled into the room with Thad behind it.

“What was it you said during surgery?” Thad paused, looking sharply at me before snapping his fingers. “Oh yeah! You said you’ve had three surgeries in eleven months. Which means you know there’s no way you’re walking out of a hospital.”

“This isn’t a hospital,” I grumbled.

Thad scoffed, “Maybe not the hospital proper, but we are a surgical center for the hospital. We have to abide by procedures, and even if we didn’t, I’m governed by common sense. And there’s no damn way you’re getting on crutches today.”

I huffed in frustration as the dominant tone simultaneously enraged me and turned me on, though I couldn’t decide which it did more. I’d known it would be difficult to separate the three Thads—Dr. Vale, Thad, and silver fox Daddy—but what I hadn’t realized was just how hard making that separation would be in real time.

“Yeah.” I nodded with a sigh. “Okay.”

Getting me out of bed, into the chair, and then into the car left me a sweaty, trembling mess. Cranky was my default since the accident and the subsequent shitstorm of my life, but that had nothing on how pissy I became when sick and in pain. Teeth gritted, I locked my jaw to keep from biting Thad’s head off for being too helpful.

He handed me a bottle of water before pulling us out of the parking spot in the garage. “The drive’s about an hour at this time of day, if you want to sleep.”

I nodded, taking a sip of water, still worried about puking again. I fucking hated puking. I figured most people did.

“Is there anything other than clothes you need brought over from Halo House?” Thad asked as the city traffic gave way to coastal highway.

I cracked the window, the salty air filling my senses as I set my gaze on the Pacific and shook my head no. “No. Not today. Depends on how long you’re holding me hostage.”

“Hostage, huh?” Thad scoffed, rolling down his window as well.

Head rolling on the headrest, my gaze moved from one beautiful sight to another. The Pacific had nothing on Thaddeus Vale. His profile was aristocratic and strong, with a straight nose—how the hell did he play hockey without ever breaking the damn thing—and a neatly trimmed beard. My eyes followed his long, thickly muscled arms to where his hands wrapped around the steering wheel. The man exuded confidence, dominance, control, and sex. He pulled me in, and I didn’t know if whatever magnetism there was between us would allow me to walk away, even if I wanted to.

“Hostage…though it’s not a kink I’ve ever been interested in. But with you…? I doubt there is anything I wouldn’t try a couple dozen times. Even then, I could probably be persuaded.”

His head turned, his eyes meeting mine. The warm brown gaze I’d grown used to heated to a molten chocolate that took my breath, and even through the pain and drugs, I felt my cock twitch.

“Same,” he said before turning his eyes back to the road. His massive SUV chewed up the miles between the hospital and wherever he lived.

Where he lived turned out to be a house that could have been pulled from my mind’s eye and plopped down on the most picturesque spot on the planet. At least what I could see as he pulled up to the house and into the garage. I knew the man was filthy fucking rich. Like living in the mud and muck and dust and dirt filthy rich, but this…? Holy fuck. This looked like professional athlete or movie star or fucking royalty kind of rich.

I bit back the holy shit exclamation that threatened to spew forth when Thad wheeled—yes, wheeled because he refused to let me use crutches today—me into the house. This was no house. This was a mansion. A palatial, wide-open living space made to make you feel like you were living and breathing the view beyond. Outside, the house blended into the landscape, even with its sleek concrete-and-metal exterior, but the moment you walked into the space, the house fell away, leaving the view of the Pacific beyond.

“So…welcome to my⁠—”

“If you say humble abode, I’m going to punch you in the dick since it’s all I can reach in this fucking chair, you ungodly tall giant,” I groused.

While he laughed, I took control of the chair, clumsily wheeling myself across the expansive space to the glass wall. Even in the near darkness, the view was impressive.

Home.

The word echoed in my mind. Craziness. That word fit with the one beating itself against my skull.

Safe.

The two words felt synonymous, but they fell away like the house gave way to the view when my brain registered Thad’s footsteps padding softly behind me, first away and then coming closer until he walked past me. My focus on Thad made everything fall away. A moment later, he pushed open the wall of glass and the smell and sound of the Pacific coast became part of the interior. They wrapped around you, and if I didn’t want to leave before, I really didn’t want to fucking leave now.

Clearing my throat, I wheeled myself out onto the balcony that overlooked the ocean. “I could sleep out here.”

“I have, and I highly recommend it. There’s nothing like it,” Thad said.