“I will. I’m not letting him take this away from me a second time.” Each step was torture. I held onto my side.

“How are you going to play?”

“It’ll be fine in the morning.”

“You’re shuffling. And hunched over.”

I straightened up and bit back my hiss, clamping my lips shut. “I’ll be fine.” It came out like a wheeze.

“It’s make or break, isn’t it?”

My shuffled steps stopped. My head shot up and I met his gaze.

Knox shook his head with his arms crossed over his chest. “Let me go get you some ice.” He jogged up the stairs and I sat on his couch, lowering myself down by bracing my hands on the arm and back of the seat.

He came back with some ice packs, towels, an athletic bandage, and a first aid kit. He cracked the ice packs in half and handed them over to me along with a towel.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” He handed me the supplies and let me clean myself up.

“What was there to tell?”

“It was after you missed that game last season, wasn’t it?”

A grim nod.

“Was this what happened?”

Another nod.

“Sonofa-fucking-bitch.” He shot up from his seat. “Why didn’t you tell anyone?”

“What would I have said?” I gritted my teeth and lifted my shirt.

He paced in front of me. “My dad’s abusing me, can you help? What would that have done? I’m fine.”

“Are you shitting me? This is not fucking fine.” He gestured to the spreading bruise on my side.

I covered the area with the ice packs and used the ace bandage to strap them to me. “You could’ve stayed here. You know my parents like you more than me. Or stayed with any of the guys.”

“I’m not a charity case.”

“Fuck you. You’re my friend and you know that’s bullshit.”

“It’s done now. It’s over. What’s the point of talking about it now?” I needed to be at peak performance to prove to everyone I could be an asset to any team that would have me. Once again, my old man had found a way to fuck me over.

“How are you going to play tomorrow?”

“Pain is temporary. It’ll be tender tomorrow, but for a couple hours, I can push through that.” There was no other choice. I was out of options.

“You shouldn’t have to. I can’t believe you kept this from me.” He slammed his hand against the side of his head. “I can’t believe I didn’t realize.” The last part was more to himself than me.

“Me not saying anything doesn’t make it your fault. It’s not a big deal.”

He stopped and sat in the chair across from me, scooting to the edge of his seat with his palms pressed together.

“The fact that you think that…” He shook his head, his lips in a harsh line. “What the hell is your problem?”

Anger bubbled up in me. “I told you it was nothing. Once I change, I’ll get out of here.” I reached for my bag, wincing.