Page 15 of Cheap Shot
“Shell my Belle, I promise I will clean everything to your exact specifications under your watchful eyes. I’ll even do the dishes.” Stacey leans over and inhales deeply, humming softly under her breath.
“I need to get my dream job more often if it will make you willingly do the dishes.” I put the lid on and turn the burner down to a simmer. “Wait, you can’t put them in the dishwasher. I want them all washed by hand. And dried—not air dried—with a towel and put away.”
“I know how you feel about dishwashers. No dishwasher or air drying. God forbid any of the dishes have streaks.” She rolls her eyes at me before turning her attention back to her phone. “Favorite PJ pants have been acquired. I even paid for expedited shipping, so they’ll be here by Friday.”
“I could get used to this.”
“Don’t. This is a one-night-only thing.” Stacey giggles, hopping off the counter as she reaches for the lid of the soup.
I smack her hand away and shake my head. “One night? Does that mean I can ask you to clean and disinfect the bathroom, too?”
“Don’t push it, Michele. Cleaning is your thing, not mine. Besides, you'll only follow behind me and redo it yourself.”
“True, but it’s nice not to have to scrub the grout with a toothbrush.”
“You scrub the grout? With a toothbrush?”
The look on her face is beyond comical, but I put her out of her misery. “No, I don’t. I can be neurotic about cleaning, but I’m not that bad.”
“So my toothbrush is safe to remain in the bathroom?”
“OMG, Stacey, are you nuts? If I used a toothbrush to clean anything in the bathroom, which I don’t, I wouldn’t use yours. There are over seven hundred different species of bacteria that have been identified in the human mouth.”
“The horror.” Stacey giggles, throwing her hands up in mock surrender. “You never told me how the shift went today?”
“OMG, you’ll never believe what happened to me.”
Not only did I get my dream job without help from my father, but I had a total hottie ask me out. The only thing that could’ve made any of this better is if I had actually told him yes. Maybe I’ll see him around again before I start working at the arena. I can guarantee this time if he asks me out, I’ll say yes.
ChapterFive
Cole
“How was therapy today, honey?” Momma asks as I come strolling through the door.
Yeah, not only are all my NHL dreams potentially going up in a puff of smoke, but I’m back in the last place I ever wanted to be: my childhood home.
When something happened to me in the past, the team trainer was there, or if it was something alarming, the hospital would call Remy. He would fuss over me for a few days and then go back to wherever he lives, leaving me to take care of myself. But when I woke up from my shoulder surgery, I expected to see Remy, with plans on how to get started on my recovery. Remy was there all right, but he wasn’t alone. My entire family, even Cooper, was there waiting to make sure I was okay.
Having a hospital room full of people was definitely a shock to my system. Everyone, and even some fresh faces, was there, waiting to ask me how I was feeling and to give good wishes for a speedy recovery. There were so many people at my bedside, the doctor had to push his way through all the bodies to check out my incision and all that jazz. Momma hovered by the doctor, hanging on every word he said. She and Cooper took turns asking for clarification if they didn’t understand something the doctor said. It’s strange having someone else there for me to ask questions and take notes, especially with one of those people being my brother.
“It was uneventful. The therapist gave me some new exercises to get started on.”
New therapist indeed. I did everything but pay the man at the desk to get an appointment with Michele later this week, but it was harder than expected. Michele seems to be beloved by all her patients, and she has a seriously packed schedule. Her next available appointment isn’t for months. Great for her, but sucks for me. I managed to change my appointment in two weeks for the same time frame that Michele is working. This time, I’ll seal the deal.
“That’s a good sign, isn’t it? You’ll be back to giving your brothers a hard time on the ice in no time.”
I lean down, planting a kiss on Momma’s cheek before heading into the kitchen. Momma still thinks there’s hope of fixing my relationship with my two older brothers. Cooper and Beau have always been closer to each other than Kyle and me. Not only are they closer in age, but Beau makes the perfect practice buddy for Cooper, being a goalie and all. Beau does everything, and I mean everything, Cooper says. He went to college like Cooper told him to, joined the Timberwolves like Cooper told him to… Hell, I’m not sure he has ever had an original thought of his own in his entire life. Kyle isn’t much different, although he went to college somewhere in the Midwest instead of staying in the state like Cooper wanted. There’s hope for him yet.
“Cooper and Beau will be just fine without me. Who knows if I’ll even have a team to play on when and if I get better?”
This is the first time I’ve spoken those words into the universe since my surgery. If I were having this conversation with Momma a week or even a few days ago, I probably never would have. But with the ominous phone call from Remy earlier today and discovering I was sold off like a piece of cattle to the highest bidder, my outlook on my career isn’t as optimistic as it once was.
“Talk like that won’t be tolerated in this house, young man.” Momma swats my forearm softly. Her eyes narrow in my direction, anger written clear as day across her face. “You’ll be back on the ice in no time.”
“Yes, ma’am.” I force a smile before motioning toward the back of the house. “I’m going to grab a shower and then call Remy. Apparently, he has some news about my contract.”
Momma slides her round tortoise-shell glasses onto the top of her head, pushing back her shoulder-length wavy, dirty blonde hair with strands of silver running through it back from her face. “Just listen to what he has to say, Cole. It might not be what you want to hear, but Remy always has your best interest at heart.”
