He spends the next ten minutes trying to explain to me how the medieval contraption works. When he asks me to give it a try, I refuse, just wanting to fix this problem as quickly as possible so I can put it behind me.
A sharp tug and a wetthunklater, Hunter holds up the culprit: a shiny blue Corvette convertible.
“Victory!” he announces, like we just won some treacherous battle. Huh. I guess in some ways we did.
I laugh, relief flooding me as I flush the toilet. “You’re a lifesaver,” I tell him, feeling extremely lucky to have a friend like him.
We take turns washing our hands and when I go to hand Hunter a towel to dry his off, he nods at the bracelets on my wrist.
“A big fan of number eight, eh?”
Instead of handing him the towel, I throw it at his face. “Don’t you need to get to the rink?”
He wipes his hands and sets it next to the sink. Ignoring my question, he grabs my arm to get a closer look at the bracelets.
“It’s cute. Next thing you know, you’ll be wearing his jersey to the game.”
The thought of wearing Niko’s name and number on my back sends a thrill through me. It’s ridiculous how just the image of wearing his jersey makes my pulse spike. I shake my head before I let the thought consume me.
I pull my arm away from him, quicker than I did earlier with Niko, and exit the bathroom. I walk to the front door, hoping he’ll get the hint.
“Sophia and I made matching bracelets earlier. It’s nothing.”
Hunter eyes me for a second, clearly seeing through my bullshit.
“Keep telling yourself that.”
I shove Hunter out of the house, feeling a little lessgrateful for him than I did ten minutes ago, and close the door.
Leaning my back against the door, I do just what Hunter told me to do. I tell myself that over and over, hoping I start to believe it.
It’s nothing. It’s nothing.It’s nothing.
“Cap Daddy is back!” Jefferson’s voice booms as I walk down the hallway toward Sadie’s office.
“Damn straight.” I can’t help the giant smile that spreads across my face. Nothing like coming back for game seven to help your team move on to the next round of playoffs. I am so fucking pumped to finally lace my skates up and hit the ice with my team.
The team doctor cleared me a couple hours ago. I’ve stuck around the rink because I know seeing Sadie at home would distract the hell out of me. I know it’s juvenile, but knowing she made a bracelet with my number on it did something to me. I immediately pictured her on top of me wearing my jersey. It’s fucking cliché and inappropriate, but damn, did it make my dick hard.
I almost skipped out on this meditation session, but as team captain I need to not only do whatever it takes to get my head on straight, but I need to set an example for the younger guys. Especially the knucklehead bouncing on his toes in front of me.
“Take it easy, Jefferson. Save some of that energy for the game tonight, yeah?”
He salutes me like I’m the captain of some ship and not of a hockey team. “Aye, aye, Cap!”
I shake my head at his shenanigans and step into Sadie’s office. I immediately notice that she and Sophia are missing. Glancing at my watch, I see it’s five minutes until the session is scheduled to start. It’s not like Sadie to be late. My stomach sinks and I immediately begin to worry, wondering if something happened at home.
I’m about to run to the locker room to grab my phone when Sophia comes running through the door. Relief washes over me. She stops in front of me and yanks on my hand, causing me to crouch down in front of her.
“Daddy! Miss Sadie fixed the toilet!”
Uh-oh.
The toilet was in perfect working order when I left today, which could only mean one thing. Sophia.
I look up to find Sadie to ask her about what happened. When I finally spot her, she’s surrounded by the guys on the team, and Jefferson is doing some ridiculous yoga pose, causing everyone, including Sadie, to laugh. God, I love her laugh.
Once she frees herself of Jefferson, she walks up to Sophia and me.
