Chapter 37

“You were fighting? Are you still racing? Or was this a crash? What is this?” My head is full of confusion and fear, suddenly devastated by his mess, but Dane shrugs his arm out of my grip. Acting like this is no big deal, and I’m overreacting.

“Go to bed. This has nothing to do with you.” Dane pushes my shoulder to make me step back and turns on his heel to go back to making himself a coffee. He isn’t being overly angry or dismissive, but it sounds like he’s been through hell. He has that wall of ‘leave me alone’ up that I know so well from him.

“Yes, it does. Look at you…. tell me what happened.” I grab at his waist in a semi-hug to turn him again, not leaving this without answers, and then recoil as he flinches and groans at my touch before slumping forward onto the counter. He shields the right side of his ribs and waist with a flat palm and dissolves into heavy breathing. It’s so obvious that I just hurt him without barely touching him.

“Don’t okay.” The words are