Page 61 of Game Changer

She’s not going to care so much about that, he thought as he touched his tender face.The broken nose was worth the win. Not to mention wiping that smug grin off that douchebag’s face.

When he joined her in the bar she seemed disgruntled. He suspected it was precisely because he’d been drawn into the fight. He knew from their online chats that she worried about him getting his face broken, or worse. From the moment they started chatting she’d voiced concern. She cared. It was one of the things he loved about her, how much she cared about everyone in her circle. It had touched him how much she’d worried about him getting banged up during games, even from an early stage in their relationship.

“Hey,” he leaned over to kiss her cheek.

“Hey,” she replied.

“Sorry.” He knew he sounded kind of deflated.

“What for?”

“Dropping my gloves. But that guy, he just–”

She cut him off, “Pissed you off, I know.” She sighed and turned to face him. “He pushed your buttons,” she finished as she took him by the chin to get a better look at his face.

She doesn’t look horrified, so I mustn’t look totally grotesque. She’s clearly not freaked out by blood, either – probably a good attribute for a hockey girlfriend to have. Ange couldn’t stand the sight of blood.He shivered at the memory of her chastising him for ‘ruining’ his hockey shirt with blood – despite the fact he did his own laundry.

‘Couldn’t you have been more careful, Arthur?’ she’d ask.

‘I’m sorry I couldn’t control the blood spatter. Also, please don’t call me that, you know I hate it.’

She’d called him Arthur for the entire time they were together, despite his vehement protests. She insisted that Ange and Age sounded stupid together. She hadn’t been entirely wrong, not because theysoundedstupid together, but because they just didn’t belong together at all.

“Oh Pim!” she sighed, disrupting the thoughts of his ex. “He got you good,” she fawned over him. Tracing her finger around his bruise, she kissed him gently.

“Not as good as I got him.” He winced as he put his arms around her to pull her in tight.

“How is it?” she asked, indicating his shoulder.

“Fine,” he lied.

Can we work on the knee-jerk lying thing? Seriously. She knows you’re lying on this one. Just knock it off.

“Urgent care in the morning?” She obviously could tell he was putting on a brave face.

He nodded.

“Want to go now?”

He shook his head.

“You sure? They won’t give you a shot in the morning if you’ve been drinking tonight, AJ.”

It’s kinda adorable that she’s so worried and protective of me. I can’t remember the last time I had someone care so much. A real mother hen. Urgent care probably wouldn’t give me a shot anyway, they would only refer me to a specialist. And our in-house trainer could just give me a shot if I asked, but she doesn’t need to know that right now.

“No, it’s ok, honest. I’m not drinking. Plus, we’re playing tonight. I gotta get on stage.”

“When did this happen?” she asked, sounding surprised.

“About ten minutes ago. The band canceled, so we said we’d fill in.”

“AJaaaaaaaaaay! But your shoul–”

“I’ll catch you after, promise!” he said, kissing her quickly and making his way to the stage.

Fix your pants. The entire bar doesn’t need to see the effect she has on you.

The set he’d picked for tonight was an upbeat one. He’d scattered a few of his new songs in there as well, but hadn’t quite nailed down the lyrics on the song he’d been writing for Lisa. He was getting frustrated at himself, so he’d moved on to other, easier songs. As he sang, he tried to keep a non-creepy eye on Lisa from the stage. He knew he had a shit-eating grin on his face, but he couldn’t help it. He was in his happy place, doing something that he loved, with someone he loved supporting him.

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