Taming the Beast
Chapter 24 (Caroline)

"Young man! Who are you and what are you doing with my player?!" Coach called when she noticed him.

"I'm taking her to the nurse," he said over his shoulder as he continued walking. I groaned softly as I let my head rest on his shoulder. True to his word, he took my all the way to the nurse. The nurse took a look at me and motioned for Keegan to put me on the cot that was almost to Keegan's waist. I curled up on my side as the tears continued to leak out of my eyes. Keegan ran the back of his thumb along my cheek as he brushed away a tear before he stood and told the nurse what happened. Mariana must have told him. The nurse had me sit on the edge of the cot and sit up. My legs dangled over the edge. My eyes shot nervously to Keegan. He didn't know about my scars, and I didn't want him to. I didn't want him to pity me, and I didn't want to explain how I got the scars. The nurse left to get some ice. My ace wrap suddenly felt tight and restricting. I wanted to take it off, but Keegan was sitting right here.

"It's okay, Caroline. I know about the scars," he said softly. My eyes widened. How could he possibly know?

"Did Mariana tell you?" I asked. He shook his head as he stepped forward and lifted my shirt gently. I froze as he slowly unwrapped my ace bandage.

"No," he answered as his fingers brushed along my biggest and deepest scar gently. The movements made me shiver. I watched as his hand retreated and he put my shirt down. "I saw them when I brought you home from the party Friday. I put your pajamas on you. I didn't see anything. I was careful to do it in a way that wouldn't expose you, but... I caught a glimpse of them. I looked," he admitted. I was waiting on him to ask how I got the scars but he never did. He stayed quiet as his hands dropped back at his sides.

"Why are you still here?" I blurted, not being about to take the silence anymore. His hand came up and rested on my cheek as his eyes met mine.

"I told you... I care about you. You think it was because of what you looked like? I care about you, Caroline, as a person, not a body. And this is all my fault anyway. I should have told Natasha to leave you alone sooner. I didn't think she would do this. I'm going to make this right," he explained.

"How," I said hoarsely. "You two clearly have history and she obviously has something on you. It's not that easy. You can't just tell her to stop and she'll stop," I said. Keegan cracked a smile before he chuckled softly. I glared at him. "What the hell are you laughing about?" I yelled at him. He shook his head.

"She will. She has to," he tried to explain. I just looked at him confused. He wasn't making any sense. The nurse came in and handed me a bag of ice and some painkillers. I gratefully took them and pressed the ice against my stomach. I winced at first but then sighed at the cooling relief. After twenty minutes of blissful silence, the nurse came in and took the ice bag from me.

"That should feel better. How is that?" she asked. I stretched my arms up gently before I nodded to her. I left the nurse's office with Keegan on my heels.

"I can't believe you knew about this monstrosity on my stomach and you didn't pity me or ask how I got it," I said.

"It's none of my business," he answered.

"It's disgusting," I muttered more to myself than him. He stopped and pulled me back into his chest like he had me in the guest room two days ago. His hand ran over my numb stomach and his fingers lightly traced my scar over my tight shirt like he already had my body memorized. I gasped and tried to push his hand away but he stopped me before he continued tracing my scars. I tensed. I normally didn't let people anywhere near my stomach.00000000

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