Page 36 of Cheap Shot
“I may just have to meet her. Anyone who can scare someone more than my dad is someone worth knowing.”
“Hang around this place enough and you’re bound to run into her.”
“Stop flirting with my baby girl, Hendrix,” Dad grumbles, dropping into his chair and reaching for his phone a second time.
“Stop it, Daddy. Every male who is nice to me isn’t flirting.”
“Your daughter’s right, Coach. Just want to make sure she gets to her car safely. There are some very unruly hockey players in the locker room. I don’t want to fear for her safety.”
Dad seems to think about this for a few moments before nodding his head in confirmation and motioning toward his office door. “Make sure my daughter gets to her car safely. If one hair is harmed on her head, you’ll be skating laps until your wedding day.”
“Got it, Coach.” Copper gives him a mock salute before motioning for me to head out in front of him.
“I’ll see you on Sunday.” I wave at Daddy over my shoulder, turning to follow Cooper out of his office.
“See you Sunday, pumpkin. Don’t be late,” he scolds as I walk out the door.
Telling Daddy about my new job was the easy part. The next step is braving family dinner. Wish me luck because I’m going to need it.
ChapterNine
Cole
“Stop freaking out, Hendrix,” Remy groans into the phone as I pull into the player parking lot near the arena.
“I’m not freaking out. I just want to make sure the ink is dry on the paper before I set foot inside this place,” I grumble, throwing the rental SUV into park and leaning my head back on the seat.
Today is supposed to be my first day as the newest member of the Portland Timberwolves, and I fucking hate it. Remy made it perfectly clear that I had no other choice. Either risk never getting back on the ice, injury or not, or take the offer from the Timberwolves. I’d like to think that my playing would be good enough to get me on any team, even as a free agent in a few seasons, but I run the risk of the Wolverines telling the world my little secret, and that’s one thing that can’t happen.
“The last thing I need is to have moved my entire life back into my childhood bedroom, only to be told to get the fuck out of the locker room.”
Coach Mercer has a thing or two to say about me being added to the roster this season, and none of them are good. Remy told me I was overreacting, but Coach Mercer is not one to sugarcoat things. He made it perfectly clear his feelings about me being onhisteam when he called me with the information about training camp. One false move and I’m gone. If I cause any type of ruckus inhislocker room, I’m gone. If I givehisgolden boys a hard time, I’m gone. He never actually said the last one, but it was implied.
He also reminded me I was only being given this chance because of my brother’s oh so innocent request to the team owner. Although I still have no idea how he managed to get said favor in the first place or why he called it in to get me on the team.
“I’m more worried about the fact that your entire life can fit into a small ten by ten bedroom.” Remy chuckles, but I don’t find him the least bit humorous.
I didn’t have much that was actually mine in the luxurious condo I had in Boise. The future was all there when I bought the place, but beside some clothes and a photo of me and my father, I didn’t give a crap about anything else.
“Hockey is my life, Remy. Everything else is expendable.”
Images of Michele, with one L, not two, flash through my mind, catching me by surprise. Calling her beautiful is an understatement. She is Aphrodite in the flesh. Her flawless golden brown skin and soulful brown eyes have been on my mind since the moment we met. Sure, hockey was my life, but I might have someone running a close second. I don’t get it. I’m a man with a libido. I’ve been with women when the need arose, but never anything like this. Being a professional athlete has its perks, after all, but relationships have never been my thing.
Michele has consumed my mind, but what is it about her? What makes her so special that I suddenly turn into a simpering fool? This is a distraction that Ido notneed right now, not that I even know where to find her. I’ve tried everything but breaking into the therapy center to find out anything I can about Michele—her phone number, address, work schedule—anything to give me a clue on how to find her again, but it seems the woman of my dreams is nothing but a fantasy. Too bad she isn’t Cinderella and left her shoe for me to find her again. Jesus, I’m in freaking trouble.
Besides, the last thing I should be doing is navigating a new relationship. Everything I do from now on will be under a microscope. The press and coach will look for any excuse to send me packing, not to mention I doubt Michele would want to be in the spotlight. These are not the best conditions to start a relationship, and there is no way anything between Michele and me could be a fling. I feel entirely too much for her already. I can’t imagine what would happen if we spent any amount of time together.
The best thing for me to do is keep my nose clean, both figuratively and realistically, until the buzz around my trade dies down. Once I’m back on the ice, I won’t have time for anything or anyone besides hockey. It’s the way it’s always been and the way it will always be until I’m six feet under.
“Dear God in heaven. You Hendrix boys are a piece of work. Maybe you’ll come home and find a nice lady to fall in love with like Cooper,” Remy groans teasingly.
“I’m nothing like Cooper,” I growl, my entire body lighting with rage. “I wish that you and everyone else would stop comparing me to him.”
“Yeah. Yeah, I know. Cooper is the Antichrist. Yada yada.”
“You have no fucking idea what you are talking about, Remy. If you only—” I begin, but snap my mouth shut. I inhale deeply through my nose, trying desperately to calm down. The last thing I need to do is head into the locker room, itching for a fight.
“You know this is getting old, right? He’s your big brother and basically saved you from never playing hockey again.”
