Marrying the quarterback

Chapter Eight

I tagged along with Maxwell for his physiotherapy, doing my part as a caring wife and a cop. As per the arrangements with the lieutenant, we have to keep our relationship discreet until we have built a strong enough case with evidence of us hiding our relationship from the media. Bringing our “marriage” to light right after Maxwell’s shooting would bring suspicion and being the biggest player in Ohio makes it also a bit tricky, and too many witnesses who can confirm we didn’t exist which can sink the case.

Each time the physio would work on his shoulder muscle, Maxwell would give a painful groan showing a true reflection of the discomfort he was carrying around. I was familiar with the procedure of healing from excruciating pain and hearing from everyone to take it slow while all I wanted to do was get out of here.

“How are you feeling?” I asked, helping him pull his shirt over his head when he hissed at the sudden movement of his shoulder.

“Not as I should,” He grumbled, emphasizing his frustration. “I hope the person whoever pulled a gun on me is aware of the pain he caused me and I am not talking about my shoulder,”

He sat back down on the chair with a loud, exaggerated sigh and I felt bad for him.

“I’ve had injuries before but none of them included this much physical therapy,” He stated.

“The bullet penetrated a ligament and it’s going to take time for it to regrow,” I reminded him what the doctor and physio explained to him.

“I’m out of the game for four to six weeks. I put my whole life on the line, paid attention to my body and took care of it when was hurt and tired.” He explained. “One person comes along and takes it all away from me,”

“Maybe that was the plan all along. They were jealous of you and took you out so that someone else can get your spot,”

“Their plan worked to put me through torture and take the one thing away from me that I care about,” He grumbled.

“Only if you let them,” I noted, gathering his belongings and pulling out the car keys from my pocket.

“I am not giving up if that is what you are presuming,” He remarked, pushing to his feet.

I felt a welcoming and exciting shudder run up my spine when he entered my personal space to take his belongings from me. I would be dumb if I admit he wasn’t the most handsome man I’ve been around with. Not even the men in my erotica novels could temp me the way he had a hold over me.

I just didn’t want to be another girl he throws in his bed and have his time with me only to throw me out like trash the next day.

He wasn’t the only one struggling to find love. I had my fair share of relationship disappointments.

I shot Maxwell a concerned look when he made a hissing sound. “What’s wrong?”

He shook his head. “Moved too fast,” He grumbled, scowling at the car door. I bit the inside of my cheek to conceal a smile at how adorable he was.

“Why do I have to wear this stupid thing?” He growled at the shoulder sling as I went to open the door for him, taking the bags from him and holding the door for him.

“Until they removed that surgical plaster from your shoulder,” I pointed out.

At least he didn’t have to go for surgery or else his recovery would have been longer than eight weeks.

“I don’t have time to be patient, I need to get out on the field,” His voice was fueled by bitterness.

“You do realize you sound like a whiny old man with wet pants, right?” I teased him.

He didn’t look amused with me.

“Look, you are not going to believe this but I know the feeling of patiently sitting behind a desk while I wait for my healing to clear up,” I began, wanting to share with him that everyone suffers.

“Burgess,” He sighs with a shake of his head. “I’m not a cop, the coaches ain’t gonna wait for me and hand my spot back,”

“If you haven’t noticed, I am a girl in law enforcement. Men look at me like I am a joke and I don’t sleep my way to the top. I also had to go through hassles to get my badge. Other cops took it as an expected sign for me to get hurt because I am a girl,” I got shot during my time as a marine and twice shot as a cop working on the street, signing parking tickets.

“You’ve got the best medical help in Ohio, and your road to recovery at least has a positive number. Law enforcement’s health insurance doesn’t cover everything, so you should be grateful that you are taken care of.” I shut his door and went over to the driver's side catching someone snapping a picture of me.

“Here we go,” I slipped my shades on, and looked at the sky aware that this was my last day of freedom.

I got in beside Maxwell and pulled out my phone to alert the lieutenant of the media reporter.

“What’s wrong?” Maxwell asked, watchful of my movements.

“We’ve got eyes on us and I am pretty sure news of our marriage is going to hit the internet in less than a minute,” I answered, placing my phone away and slipping the keys into the ignition.

“Who did you alert?” He asked, slipping on his shades when we passed the reporter.

“My lieutenant and partner,” I answered.

“What are they going to do? Use their fancy technology to stop them from loading the pictures to the internet?”

“No, we are going to use our CI at the reporting agency to get in front of it,” I explained.

“You always have your backs covered, huh?” He asked.

I nodded. “The way I see it, it’s always better to make friends than enemies,”