Page 43 of Delayed Penalty

Busted.

“Not my fault you are ungodly pretty in the morning. Like who the hell wakes up like that?” I mutter.

Finally standing up, I stretch my arms out while Luna prances all around me. At least one of us is excited I’m up. I’m just worried if I don’t get up I’ll stay there all day, plus, if I don’t feed the little nugget, I’ll end up sick again.

“Hold on, Luna girl. Let me find a sweatshirt and make some coffee and then we’ll go.” The thought of coffee sends my stomach spinning and I immediately regret my decision to get up so quickly.

“Fuck me,” I groan as I race toward the bathroom, the feeling of my mouth sweating a sure promise I’m about to toss my cookies. Luna hurries in behind me, staying with me the entire time as she lies at my feet as I throw up.

“This is bullshit, Luna girl,” I groan, leaning back against the tub, my arm up against my forehead as I feel another wave of nausea creeping in.

“I thought you were starting to feel better?” Harris asks a look of concern as he passes me a few crackers and water.

“So, did I. That lasted all of like two days. Just enough to give me a false sense of hope,” I say.

Luna whimpers at my feet, pushing her nose at my hand, her neediness in full force, and I pet her, unable to ignore her cuteness.

“I think I need some food. That usually helps at this point. Carbs, specifically.”

“Here, I’ll grab you a pair of sweats and then we’ll walk Luna across the street and grab a coffee and some bagels—Trevor says that’s all Ellie has been wanting lately. Besides, I think that’ll probably be the easiest place to take Luna to do her business.”

“Sold. Lead the way.”

“Besides the obvious, how are you?”he asks, and I know he isn’t referring to me throwing up.

“I mean, I’ve been better. More stressed than usual with all the unknowns in my life right now, but I think I’m going to be okay.”

Harris looks around quietly as we sit on the bench, Luna staying right in between Harris and me while she watches the other dogs run around and play. Whether she’s protecting us or herself I’m not quite sure.

There’s two black labs playing fetch with another couple, who keep throwing a neon tennis ball that Luna keeps watching, her ears perking up with excitement every time she sees it. It’s adorable.

You know,” Harris says, his eyes watching the dogs as he speaks. I follow suit and look down and watch Luna, listening intently as he talks. “Last night… I wasn’t just giving you a load of shit. About any of it. I was dead serious. Hell, I still am.”

I glance up at him, his eyes fixed on me and even with all my insecurities around trust, I know for a fact that Harris isn’t lyingto me. I truly believe he wants to help me. I can tell he thinks I’m worthy of happiness and for good things to happen for me, but after Peter did such a good job of making me feel like I didn’t deserve love, it’s hard for me to understand why he wants to do these things for me.

“Well, I mean, there’s a couple of reasons. The first one is that I care about you. I think it’s absolutely pointless for you to have to struggle and be stressed out just because your douchebag ex-fiancé sucks. Especially when I’m fully capable of helping you. Not only that but I want to help you. Plus… there’s the little fact that you’re carrying my baby right now, so insurance and everything will be necessary. Which I mean, I might as well just put you on my insurance…”

“What’s the last reason?”

“Why do you think there’s another reason?” he asks.

“You said there were a couple of reasons, and I’m not sure, but the way you’re twiddling with your fingers and not making eye contact right now, it just doesn’t seem like you’re quite done with whatever it was you were saying.”

He looks back down at his hands, looking uncomfortable. Reaching across the bench, I grab his hand, squeezing it to remind him he’s not alone in this. I mean, even if we are both alone right now, we can be alone together.

That has to count for something, right?

“Remember yesterday how Peter mentioned me fighting?”

“Yeah…” I say anxiously. I’m well aware of what Peter can do when he’s involved with something—I’m praying that’s not the case with Harris.

“Well, when I first got signed on with the Cyclones, I had a rough year when it came to fighting. Peter must’ve found out from his dad that I was put on probation for the first couple of years. Basically, I was given an ultimatum. Get my shit togetheror they were either sending me down to the AHL, or they were going to trade me.”

“That’s awful,” I say, this is the first time I’m hearing about this. I always knew there’s fighting in hockey, I’ve seen plenty of games—especially of his back in college. But I didn’t know him to have a fighting problem. “But why would Peter care? I mean, not to be rude or anything, but what did he benefit from that? He had me. But also, that was like six years ago, what does that have to do with now?”

“Do you remember the night at the bar when you threw the dart and it hit that guy?”

“You mean, when it hit his stupid Boston Bandits foam finger and he acted like a baby? Yeah I remember,” I tell him, rolling my eyes at the memory. He was such a wimp.

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