Page 30 of Keeping it Real

“Love you, too, Dad.”

The house was quiet when Alek stepped into the mudroom.Not surprising, Hattie’s crate was empty.The dog never left Finn’s side, shadowing him around the house as if she were the kid’s personal security detail.No doubt the dog was asleep inches from Finn.

Hattie always seemed to be keeping a wary eye on Alek, as if she knew he was only tolerating her.He was embarrassed to think the dog thought that about him, but he’d never been around that many dogs.Probably because when he and his sister were five, Alicia was bitten by a dog Alek had dared her to approach.Guilt mixed with trepidation had him keeping his distance from all canines as a kid.

He’d gotten over it as he got older, but by then, he wasn’t around enough to own one.Hattie seemed to be the perfect dog to have as a long-term houseguest, though.She waited at the threshold of the kitchen until she was given permission to enter.As far as he could tell, she stayed off the furniture—with the exception of Finn’s bed.And she was relatively quiet, only barking when she and Finn were chasing each other around the backyard.

He entered the kitchen and stopped short.The vision of Sheridan bending over, placing a tray into the oven, had his breath hitching.

“Perfect timing.”She closed the oven door and set the timer before wiping her palms on the baggy sweatpants she’d changed into.She’d also scrubbed her face clean and pulled her hair up into a ponytail.He was surprised at how disappointed he was that she’d taken off his jersey.

When he had looked up into the stands and saw her all decked out in his number, he’d felt such a rush of pride.She looked good among the other WAGs.Damn good.He’d unconsciously homed in on her lush, berry-red lips and imagined what they might do to him?—

“I’m sure you’re hungry.”She pulled the protein shake he’d made earlier from the fridge.“If I remember correctly, your go-to snack after a game was turkey avocado toast, right?”

In college, he and Jamie ate like castaways who’d recently returned home from months stranded without food rather than a hockey game where they’d played their hearts out for sixty minutes.But then, their bodies had still been growing.Nowadays, he grabbed some electrolytes and fruit before leaving the stadium.Once he arrived home, he settled for some baked sweet potato fries and a protein shake for dessert.He’d planned it all out before he left for the arena this afternoon.

“I doubt mine will be as good as the ones you guys used to make in the ancient toaster oven in your dorm, but at least we won’t have the smell of burning mac and cheese to contend with.”

Alek couldn’t help but laugh.Jamie nearly set the dorm on fire on a weekly basis, trying to make those stupid cups of mac and cheese.

Sheridan shoved a straw into the shake and placed it and a glass of ice water on the table she’d already set for one.“Have a seat.The toast will be ready in two more minutes.”

She was making him a post-game meal?Oh, hell no.

“You don’t have to cook for me, Sheridan.I’m not Jamie.”It was an ugly dig, but Sheridan in his kitchen cooking for him felt too personal.Too intimate.He was already finding it difficult enough to keep her in the little sister zone.

She sighed.“Don’t read anything into this other than a simple gesture of kindness.Roommate to roommate.Now sit and drink.Your body needs to recoup the ten pounds of fluid you lost during the game.”

It was no use arguing, he realized.If Sheridan was upright and breathing, she was doing something for someone else.Alek shrugged out of his suit jacket and dropped down into the chair.He guzzled the water to cool off the parts of him that were still fantasizing about her in his jersey.

“Is Finn asleep?”

“Mm.”She smiled as she wrapped the remaining avocado slices in plastic wrap, sealed them in an airtight container, and placed them in the fridge.“He zonked out midway through giving Hattie the play-by-play from the first period.To hear him tell it, it was the best night of his life.A twelve out of ten.”

“What about you?Did you have fun?”He couldn’t explain why her answer was so important to him.

“Sure.Everyone was beyond nice to Finn.”

The woman was the queen of deflecting everything away from her.“Were they nice to you?”

She pulled the avocado toast from the oven and sprinkled some chopped tomatoes on top before transferring it to a plate.“You know they were.”She set the plate in front of him.“Eat before it gets cold.”

His stomach growled its approval.Sheridan loaded the dishwasher as he devoured the first piece, then the second.

“Thank you,” he said.“That was delicious.But I didn’t invite you here to cook and clean for me.I have a cleaning lady who comes in twice a week.And I’ve been cooking for myself for years.”

She scoffed as she wiped the countertops.“If you expect me to sit around like a guest for the next seven months, you’re out of your mind.”

“Nine months.We’re going all the way this year.”

That earned him a smile.It smacked him squarely in the solar plexus so hard it nearly stole his breath.Late-night conversations with Sheridan were going to have to be taboo.They conjured up too many fantasies.If he was going to survive her living with him, he needed to escape upstairs and take a dunk in his cold plunge tub.

Instead, he did something stupid.He used his foot to shove the chair beside him away from the table.“Will you please sit?You’re making me feel guilty.”

Sighing, she picked up her water and sat in the chair he’d offered.“You should already know this about me.I like to keep busy.I get bored otherwise.”

“You don’t say?”he teased.“It’s a good thing you’ve got a job to go to.I wouldn’t want to come home to find you’ve rearranged all the closets.When do you start at the hospital, by the way?”

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