Wait, why did Axel need to be wrapped? I turned back to Jenkins and asked, “What’s wrong with Broxton? Knee giving him trouble?”

He looked up at me in surprise, his eyebrows like two dark, fluffy caterpillars inching up his forehead. Dude really needed to invest in a wax kit. “You didn’t hear? Brox was in a car accident. Got a couple fractured ribs. They were worried about a concussion because he was out of it for a little while, but that’s been ruled out already. Damn stubborn ass is insisting he can play through it, so he’ll need his ribs bound really tightly.”

My heart stuttered. Axel was in an accident?

My tongue snaked out to lick my dry lips. “Wh-when did this happen?”

Jenkins looked up at the thin lights on the ceiling as he thought about it. “Uhhh, I think it was maybe Thursday evening? They said he had just left the grocery store.”

My chest felt like a sumo wrestler had just done a flying leap onto it. Holy fucking shit. It must have happened right after he saw me and Carrie in the store. And oh God, I had just elbowed him in the ribs not even an hour ago when he was trying to talk to me. Way to go, Bitchy Blaire.

The fall of my tennis shoes on the dark, cross-hatched floor was muffled as I made my way into the state-of-the-art Recovery Lounge to find Axel sitting on a table and slipping on his T-shirt. He had obviously just gotten out of a cryotherapy machine, a large silver full-body chamber that was used to help with soft tissue damage, muscle pains, and a host of other injuries and conditions.

He made a cross with his index fingers when he saw me, like he was trying to ward off the devil. “Back! Back, evil hell spawn!” he cried, making me giggle through my embarrassment.

Stopping in front of him, I gave him his due apology. “Ax, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know about your accident until just now. I shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions.” I put my hand on his bare knee, his leg hair crinkling beneath my palm, and he covered it with his big, rough hand. I felt a bolt of electricity shoot through my hand, up my arm, and all the way down to the apex of my thighs.

Dammit, how could this man still affect me like this after all these years? Axel’s pupils dilated, and his eyes dropped to my lips as his thumb lightly caressed the back of my hand, making me fairly certain that I wasn’t the only one affected by our close proximity.