Page 80 of Rookie's Redemption
"What next step?"
Blake and Connor exchange one of those looks that suggests they know something I don't. Both these assholes have recently got their shit together. Maybe I should be listening more closely.
"Come on, Scott," Blake says. "You've been together, what, two weeksofficially? But you've been pining after this girl for nearly ten years, right? You really going to take your time working up to asking her to marry you?"
Marriage.There it is again, that word that should terrify me but somehow doesn't.
"I'm not..." I pause, because the truth is I am thinking about it. More than thinking about it. "It's complicated."
"No, it's not," Connor says simply. "You love her. She loves you. You're both adults with careers and life experience. What's complicated about that?"
You only get one chance to make up for lost time.
"The house," I admit finally. "I need to get the house finished. I need to prove I can build something permanent before I ask her to share it with me."
Blake nods approvingly. "Now you're talking sense. Get the house done, get your shit together, then put a ring on that woman before she realizes she can do better."
"Thanks for the confidence boost," I mutter, but I'm already making mental lists of everything that needs to be finished, everything I need to fix.
Six days on the road gives me plenty of time to think, to plan, to figure out how to turn my construction zone into the home Mia deserves.
Hell, maybe I'll even give that big scary fucker, Bear, a call.
He'd help… right?
Chapter Nineteen
MIa
Three days into Ryder's road trip, and I'm discovering that being a hockey girlfriend is a special kind of torture.
The morning routine at the shelter feels wrong without his surprise coffee deliveries. Instead of finding him leaning against the front desk with that boyish grin and two steaming cups from Chapter & Grind, I'm greeted by the usual chorus of barking and the low hum of contractors.
"Morning, Miss Harper!" Bear calls from where he's installing the last of the new kennel doors. The man's voice could probably shake snow off the mountains, but somehow every animal in the place seems to adore him.
Zeus is currently sitting at Bear's feet like a devoted disciple, tail wagging as he watches the big man work.
"Morning, Bear. How are those water dispensers coming along?"
"Should have them all connected by lunch," he rumbles, then grins down at Zeus. "Your boy here's been supervising. Haven't you, buddy?"
Zeus barks once, as if confirming his vital role in the construction process.
I'm checking on the puppies—now fat, healthy, and ready for adoption next week—when the front door chimes.
"Special delivery!" Emma's voice rings out, and I look up to see her balancing a tray of coffee cups and what appears to be half a bakery's worth of pastries.
"Emma? What are you doing here?" I ask, straightening up from the puppy pen where all four little guys are wrestling over a rope toy.
"Bringing you sustenance and making sure you haven't gone completely feral without your boyfriend around to… um…civilizeyou." She sets the tray down on the front desk, nearly knocking over my stack of adoption applications. "Also, Logan bet me twenty bucks that you'd be wearing Ryder's clothes by day three."
I glance down at myself. The green Icehawks hoodie I'm swimming in is definitely not mine.
"Damn. He knows us too well," I mutter, accepting the coffee gratefully.
Emma grins. "Pay up, buttercup. I'll take my winnings in the form of you admitting you miss him desperately."
"I don't miss him desperately," I protest, but even I can hear how unconvincing that sounds. "I miss him... reasonably. A normal, healthy amount."
