WARD
‘You’re doing good,’ Shelley assured when Ward had finished another round of sit-ups. ‘Really good.’
She released his ankles and he gave her a nod, wiping off his sweaty face and neck with the towel lying on the floor beside him.
‘Thanks,’ he said, meaning it.
‘Wow. That might be the nicest tone you’ve ever used on me. What’s the occasion?’
He got to his feet, wincing a little as he stood. He’d drunk about a gallon of water after leaving the park earlier but, hurt pride aside, was feeling a hell of a lot better after his latest embarrassing encounter with Hannah.
Though crappy about the way he’d handled it. But for some reason he turned into the worst version of himself when around her. And that was not a good sign, because Ward knew it meant that deep down he really did give a shit about what she thought of him. So straight into self-destruct mode he went.
Now, chastened by some long overdue self-reflection, he looked at Shelley. ‘I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate what you’re doing for me. I know there are times over the last couple of weeks when you probably wanted to just walk away, but I’m glad you didn’t.’
She shrugged. ‘Johnny said that you were worth it. I’ll admit I wasn’t sure at first, but I’ve changed my mind.’
‘What else did Johnny tell you about me?’
‘He said that you had your heart stepped on right before you got injured and that you were probably in a fragile place – and that you’d hate being in that place and that would make you into a mean and ornery jerk but that wasn’t who you were. And that if you felt threatened, you’d probably try to hit on me and I had his permission to kick you in the nuts if you did.’ She chuckled and then glanced at the litter tray. ‘But when a so-called big tough guy like you brought home Pretzel, it told me everything I needed to know.’
Despite Shelley’s dubious assessment of him overall, Ward had to smile.
The rescue had settled in even better than expected, even though he didn’t even know where she was right now. Hank had told him that since she was a stray, in order to settle in to his place she would also need the opportunity to roam outside to fully establish her new territory. She wandered off a lot – where to he had no idea – and just came back when she felt like it, or mostly when she wanted to be fed. Pretzel lived by her own rules and that was fine by him.
His phone chimed then, and when he flipped it open, he saw it was a text from a Panthers teammate with an accompanying link.
Hey man. You OK?
Frowning, he looked at Shelley. ‘Can I borrow your phone? Something I need to check online.’
He didn’t know what was going on, but he had a bad feeling. Had he been fired from the team and nobody’d told him yet, maybe?
‘Of course.’ She handed the device to him.
Forwarding the message to her number, Ward duly clicked on the link to find an unflattering image of himself on some online gossip site. Beneath the headline ‘McKenzie Back In His Favourite Position’ was a still of him splayed head-first on the ground in the park earlier.
‘Goddamit …’
‘Everything OK?’ Shelley asked, concerned.
‘No. No, it’s not,’ he growled, deleting the message and handing her back the phone. ‘Hey look, you can see yourself out, right?’ Ward stormed past her and into the bedroom. ‘I need to make a call.’
Hannah answered on the second ring.
‘I was just about to—’
‘You’re supposed to be working on rehabilitating my reputation? Well, I’m not the brightest guy in the world but I’ve got a feeling that pictures of me flat out on the ground like some wasted loser might not be quite the image we’re going for here.’
‘Before you say another word, your agent already called about this. I could have told him the truth but I didn’t think that would serve you well, so I sort of fudged as to whether you had been drinking. The fact that those photos are out there has nothing to do withmyjob, Ward. But maybe everything to do with the fact that you showed up drunk in the park.’
She had a valid point, he knew, so inhaling a deep lungful of air just like Shelley taught him, he forced himself to take a few mental steps back. Trying again not to be an ass to someone he liked.
‘Yeah, OK – I’ll admit that I probably shouldn’t have had that second shot before I left, but I was in kind of a bad place and … ’
‘Seems to me like you’re always in a bad place, Ward,’ Hannahinterjected in a tone that brooked no nonsense. ‘And you don’t need to be.’
‘What do you mean?’
