Page 11 of Damien
Seeing it’s my brother Davis, I quickly answer it. Now that he’s doing his internship at Oregon Health and Science University, he’s always busy. I swear we may live closer now than we have since living with our parents but getting him to take a break is almost considered a miracle.
I can’t help but smile into the phone. “What’s up, man?”
“Just checking. Are you gonna be around this weekend? Dani wants to come down and visit the two of us but apparently, I’m the one who’s better at returning her call. What the hell have you been up to? You know it’s bad when she’s calling me.”
Yeah, he’s right. He’s lucky that he even looks at his phone for personal calls.
“Shit. She called yesterday morning when I’d just gotten to the job site after the accident, and I completely forgot to call her back.”
“Wait… everything okay?” Davis asks with concern.
Shaking my head at the sheer luck of it, I sigh. “Yeah, a crew member fell down some stairs. It was a gnarly break, but the doctors say it was clean and should heal within a month or so. They were able to reset it without surgery. Though I’d want some serious drugs if I were him.”
“But you weren’t hurt?” he clarifies.
“No… I hadn’t made it to the site. It was just a fluke accident.” Thank God, it hadn’t been more than that.
“Did Dani say when she was coming?” I ask, changing the subject because there’s no need to jinx anything by talking about it further.
“She just said she’s meeting someone about her books here in Portland. Since you live so close now, she requests our presence for dinner. Apparently, she and Luke are only coming down for the day.”
“Wow… requests… huh… maybe they’re finally going to set a date and tie the knot.”
Davis laughs out a huff into the phone. “I doubt it. Between his schedule with the team and everyone being in their business, I’m sure it’ll be a paparazzi nightmare attempting to plan something like that. Hell, Luke still gets flack for showing up at her book signings. Who knew an NFL coach supporting his best-selling girlfriend would be such a draw? I’ll stay out of the limelight—thank you very much. His abs still circulate the Internet from time to time, according to one of the interns I work with. She was devastated that he’s been taken off the market.”
“Wow, I thought the hype would die down by now. It’s been over two years since those women mistook him as a cover model for one of Dani’s books. I get the hype—him being the youngest head coach in the league, but you’d think with the winning records the Rainier Renegades have undertaken since that debacle, his abs would no longer be a hot topic.”
“Did you just hear yourself?” Davis asks. “I love Dani and will support her any way I can, but I don’t think I would subject myself to those women at the book conventions she attends. I’d be running for the hills if they tried their antics with me.”
“You just can’t accept the fact you’re a pretty boy, can you?” I tease. Davis has always had women interested in him, but he’s been too busy to notice. He’s laser focused on being an ER surgeon. “God knows what would happen if those women found out he had brains to go with the brawn.”
“Oh, shut it,” he spits out. “Listen, I’ve gotta run. I just got a call. Call Dani and work out the details, then text me the when and where.”
“Sounds good,” I offer, knowing his time is limited. “See you soon.”
I hear something in the background, and the phone goes dead. I admire the hell out of my baby brother and am so happy he’s off saving lives, one incident at a time.
Knowing my conversation with Dani won’t be short, I remove one more section of the cupboard before calling it quits. I take a quick shower, then settle into a comfortable chair before pulling her number up on my phone.
Of course, I’m greeted with, “What the hell took you so long?” by my loving sister.
Yep, I knew it. She’ll give me shit for ignoring her. It’s something I never do, but she wouldn’t be my big sister if she didn’t at least pretend to be offended.
I quickly apologize and explain my mishap yesterday, and all is forgiven. She catches me up on her adventures with Luke in the off season, and we make plans for next weekend. By the time we get off the phone, I’m exhausted and glad I’d crawled into bed before our conversation ended. Morning comes early, and I’m looking forward to setting things straight with Vanessa tomorrow.
When I rollover to glance at my alarm, I bolt out of bed.
“Holy shit! It’s after seven!”
I have to be in a meeting in less than thirty minutes. Thank God, I’d taken a shower last night because that’s out of the question now.
I rush to my closet and grab the first button-down shirt I touch. Then I grab a pair of dark jeans and practically fall over as I jump into them with both feet as I make my way to the bathroom. Within a few minutes, I’m rushing out the door, on my way to the job site.
So much for seeing Vanessa this morning.
Fuck, I was looking forward to seeing her.
Just as I park my truck in front of the job shack, another thought hits me.Maybe I’ll be able to take an early lunch and catch her before her shift ends.
