Page 34 of In Your Wildest Dreams
He stands and cuffs me on my good shoulder. “Soon. I promise.”
I thank him, stop by to let Shane know next week’s schedule is the same for my physical therapy, and then head to the locker room. My teammates are just finishing up their morning skate.
Leo spots me first. His eyes are wide and hopeful, but when I shake my head, he lets his mouth fall into a straight line. “Sorry, man.”
“Still not cleared?” Tyler asks as he tosses his gloves in the cubby above his locker.
“Another week sitting on my ass.” I plop down in my stall and let my head fall back against the locker. “This fucking sucks.”
“Ah, cheer up, buddy,” Johnny Maverick calls. “I think I met the perfect girl for you.”
Well, that has my attention. But I’m skeptical. “You met my perfect girl?”
An image of Bridget pops into my head. It’s been more than two weeks since I gave her my number and I haven’t heard from her. That’s probably my sign to move on, as much as I don’t want to.
“Yep.” He runs a tattooed hand through his dark hair. Maybe I need some new ink. I’ve been wanting to get something on my forearm or maybe across the top of my hand.
“Who is she?” Leo asks. Like a good friend, he squares off with Mav to make sure he’s not trying to set me up with some weird rando.
“She’s Dakota’s doula,” he says, mentioning his wife. They’re expecting their first baby.
“I’m sorry, a what?” I ask, even more skeptical.
“It’s like a doctor who delivers babies,” Mav says.
“That’s an obstetrician or midwife,” Leo clarifies. “A doula is more like a coach. They give emotional support during the pregnancy.”
“Yeah, that sounds right.” Mav snaps his fingers and points at Leo. “Pregnancy coach. She sends Dakota these really supportive texts about listening to her body and eating nutritious food, which pisses Kota off, but I swear Harmony is magic because my wife does everything she says.”
“Scarlett and I met with one of those when she was figuring out her birth plan, but they mostly just asked her how she was feeling and talked about her fears and shit.”
The guys continue going back and forth. Even Declan pipes in at some point. What in the world is happening?
“Can we get back to me? Not that I don’t want to hear about your wives shooting out babies and all that.”
Mav laughs good-naturedly. “She’s cool, pretty, single, and she’s coming to Wild’s after the game tonight. You’re welcome.”
Jack walks into the locker room, fresh off the ice, and takes a seat next to me. “Just heard, sorry, man.”
“One more week,” I say more to myself than him. Hopefully. And because I don’t want to talk about my shoulder, I add, “And Maverick wants to set me up with his wife’s pregnancy coach.”
Jack’s brows rise, then his gaze slides over to Maverick.
“It’s a real job. She’s cool. You’ll all see tonight.”
“Wait, wait. Tonight?” Jack asks, sitting forward.
“Yeah, she’s coming to Wild’s after the game. Is Meredith coming?”
“Yeah, and she’s bringing her friend Kennedy for Ash.”
“You both set him up on the same night?” Declan covers his smile with a fist over his mouth. “Oh man, and to think I was going to skip the bar after the game tonight.”
I side-eye my buddy. “What in the hell?”
“She’s really cool,” Jack says. “She does PR for the Twins. And she doesn’t know we’re setting her up, so don’t say anything.”
“I don’t need any help picking up girls.”
