Page 77 of Forever Wild
She stares at me with a blank expression until I smile, then she bursts out laughing. I should probably feel a little offended that she thinks my job isn’t as cool as others, but I’m too focused on how good it feels to see her smile and hear her laugh.
I should tell her to go to sleep, but I’m enjoying this too much. I could lie here, talking and staring at her forever.
Everly reaches out with a hand and runs a finger down the sleeve of tattoos on my right arm. “Is it finished?”
“I have one spot left.” I turn my arm so she can see the area on the inside of my bicep.
“What’s going there?”
“I don’t know yet. I’m waiting for inspiration.”
She grins, then yawns again.
“You should get some sleep,” I say reluctantly. “Me too. Brian will be by early.”
She smirks. “How’s that going?”
“Good,” I admit. “Now that he’s not hitting on you.”
“I can’t believe you fired him.”
“I didn’t like the way he looked at you.”
“How’d he look at me?”
“Like he wanted what was mine.”
“Yours, huh?”
Fuck. She’s not mine, at least not in the way that sounded. She’s mine for a short period of time. Once summer is over, she’ll leave, and I’ll go back to my usual routine. Dating when it works in my schedule and focusing on hockey the rest of the time.
I thread my fingers through her hair and draw her closer to me, dropping a kiss on her forehead before I pull back. She’s got me wrapped so tightly around her finger. I like being in control, of myself and my relationships, but Everly seems to thrive on upending that control.
I keep waiting for her to realize that maybe this isn’t a good idea, but so far all I’ve done is convince myself that maybe it is.
Two days pass while Everly fights off a fever. She stays at my house and we binge-watch TV and talk into the late hours of the night whileI feed her medicine and make sure she drinks lots of fluids. I put off training with Brian all weekend to look after her, but Monday I decide it’s time to get back to it, now that Everly’s feeling better.
She left, much to my dismay, to do her house-sitting rounds, and it feels weird being away from her for this long.
I’m just finishing up with physical therapy when my phone rings. I lean over to silence the call, but then have second thoughts when I see it’s Tyler. A dozen questions race through my mind. Why is he calling? Is Everly okay? Does he know about us?
I admit I’ve done a stellar job of pushing Tyler out of my mind while spending time with his little sister.
“I gotta take this,” I tell Brian. “Thanks for today. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Yeah. No problem.” He starts to pack up his equipment and I hit accept on the call.
Forcing some calm into my tone, I say, “Hey. What’s up?”
“Not too much.” He doesn’t sound angry so that’s reassuring. “How’s the knee?”
“Pretty good. I’m just finishing up PT for the day. Doctor thinks I’ll be ready in time for camp.”
“That’s great news.” The excitement in his voice matches mine. I still have a long way to go, but I’m getting there. I won’t stop until I’m back better than ever.
“Yeah,” I say. “It is. How’s vacation with the family?”
“Good. Charlotte loves the beach. She and Piper are out there now actually. They’re in their element.”
