Page 158 of Cheap Shot

“Thankyou.” Brie glanced up at him. “Seb said you called 9-1-1.”

“Least I could do,” he said gruffly.

Brie glanced at Krista. “Thanks for making sure I got here safely. I was so frazzled I?—”

“Hey,” Krista said softly. “That’s what friends are for, right? Text me when you know more and if you need anything, and I meananything, you let me know, okay?”

“Okay,” Brie said quietly.

The women hugged and then Brie disappeared in the back.

Krista frowned. “I get the feeling that she’s used to handling everything alone, or with Sebastian. Will you let me know if they need anything? I want to help out.”

“I’ll do my best,” he said. “But she seems pretty stubborn about accepting help.”

“Yeah, sounds like some hockey players I know,” she said with a laugh. “I’m used to it.”

Luke gave her a half-hearted grin.

“Do you want me to stay? I could keep you company while you wait.”

“Nah,” he said. “I’m okay. Thanks though.”

“Of course. Can I give you my number in case there’s something I can do to help or something changes?”

“Sure,” he said.

After they exchanged numbers, she leaned in and gave him a hug, then said goodbye. He watched her walk away, the skirt of her green dress billowing around her and making people’s heads turn.

Tom was a lucky man.

But, as Luke took a seat in the waiting area, he felt pretty lucky that things had worked out the way they had with Sebastian. Although nothing would feel right until he knew Harper was okay.

Luke sent a text to Sebastian to let him know where he was, then dicked around on his phone for a while, playing stupid gamesand trying to keep himself occupied. He cleaned up some useless downloads and screenshots, then deleted a bunch of stupid pics of Tanner that he was constantly sending in the team group chat. Luke realized he no longer needed either of the hookup apps he’d used previously and got rid of those too.

Luke shifted in his seat, uncomfortable, and stood up to stretch. He paced for a little bit until he realized people were glaring at him, then went out into the lobby where he could do it in peace.

He was just cursing himself out for not having a spare pair of headphones in his car, so he could listen to an audiobook or something, when he heard a familiar voice.

“Luke?”

He turned to see Sebastian staring at him from a few feet away. He looked wrecked. His hair was a mess and his face was so filled with worry that it made Luke wonder if he’d gotten terrible news.

“Harper?” Luke asked tightly. “Is she okay?”

Sebastian’s face crumpled.

“Harper will be going into surgery soon,” Sebastian rasped. “She’s rejecting the pacemaker and it’s going to have to be replaced. Fuck, she’s already been through so much. I don’t … I can’t …”

But his voice trailed off because he didn’t know what else to say.

“C’mere,” Luke rasped.

Sebastian shook his head. They were in a public place. Luke wasn’t out, he wasn’t anyone who ever wanted to come out that broadly, as far as Sebastian knew. “You don’t have to?—”

“I saidcome here.” Luke held out his arms and Sebastian knew better, but he couldn’t seem to stop himself from walking forward.

He closed his arms around Luke’s waist and rested his head against his shoulder. Luke’s arms tightened around him, pulling him into a bone-crushing hug. Sebastian let out a small wet gasp.