Page 47 of Penalty Box
I opened my eyes, and she was still right there, gazing at me. Or maybe I was the one gazing. Couldn’t tell. Her eyes dropped from mine to assess the mess of purple and red spreading down my side. I didn’t need to look to know how bad it was.
“You should have told someone about this.”
“It’s fine,” I grimaced through her prodding and poking. “It’s pretty much cleared up. Fixed itself.”
“Like your shoulder?” My bravado deflated and Cass smiled faintly. “You suck at pretending you’re fine. For future reference.”
I grabbed her hand, and it was as though that simple touch sent a jolt of electricity surging through us both. She froze.
“Talking about a future with me already?” I asked.
“Or whatever hapless fool finds herself as your after-hours nurse,” she said without hesitation.
I watched her get the ice pack like she did last time, going through the motions. I swallowed the inexplicable lump that pushed up in my throat. Cass was always so guarded, protected by this wall with barbs for edges, that to see this kind of tenderness in her eyes,feelit in her touch… it was almost too much.
“I thought you’d say no to my platonic request,” I said then, my voice low.
Her attention didn’t waver, hands moving with self-assured confidence. “I was going to.”
Honest. No apology in it. That was a glimpse of the Cass I knew, and my lips twitched into a careful smile.
“Why didn’t you?”
She let out a long, drawn out breath, thinking for a moment. “I remembered what it felt like… Watching you take that hit, and not being able to do anything. I was ready to run onto the ice in my day shoes and pluck you from that fight myself.”
Laughing hurt, and I groaned my way through it until the feeling passed. I could just imagine her, in all her diminutive form, forcing her way through the burly refs and opposing players to come rescue me.
“My knight in shining armor,” I said, gaze lingering a little too long on the way her teeth sank into her bottom lip. The memory of what she tasted like was still too sharp and real.
I tore my eyes away.
“Does that make you my queen?” There was a playful gleam in her eyes when she looked at me, her hands still applying steady, careful pressure.
There was nothing casual in the way she moved after that. Every touch was deliberate. She set the towel on the table beside me, took the ice pack, and pressed it gently to the worst of the bruising. My jaw clenched, but I didn’t pull away.
“So, you met Hallie,” I said, just to pierce the silence with something other than what I really wanted to say. That thing wasn’t allowed. “How did that even happen?”
Her brows lifted. “She wandered into the workshop when I was busy with the lift valve. Said she got lost trying to find the locker room.”
“Go figure,” I chuckled. “Probably hoping to catch a glimpse of the guys in something less than their uniform.”
“I don’t know,” Cass said, easy and light. It was clear she and my sister had hit it off. “It looked like she didn’t really care where she ended up. At that age, I was always up for whatever adventure was in the cards.”
“And now?”
There was a pause, and she looked at me pointedly. “We’re talking about your sister. And she’s great. Reminds me a lot of you.”
She pursed her lips, like she was holding something back. I knew the feeling. The air was thick with all the things we were stopping ourselves from saying.
“Well, she’s nosy and stubborn,” I said. “Recipe for trouble.”
“Nosy, stubborn, andawesome,” Cass corrected firmly. “You’re lucky.”
Of all the things I thought she’d say, that wasn’t it.
“I’m an only child,” she continued, dabbing at a cut near my temple. “I always wanted to know what it would feel like to have a sibling. It’s like a built-in best friend for life. Someone who getsit. Someone to talk to without having to explain the whole world first.”
I didn’t answer. I wasn’t sure what to say if I did.
