Page 73 of A Vegas Crush Collection #2

mean left hook

Tyler

“Cracked you good,” the team doctor says. “What’d you do to piss off ole Georgie?”

I shrug, not willing to admit I slept with “ole Georgie’s” virgin baby sister. I look at my watch, grimacing because I’ve now missed the team meeting. “Is it broken?”

“Yes, sir,” he says. “Ice it twenty minutes on, twenty minutes off. Take some Ibuprofen. Doesn’t look like it needs to be realigned.”

“Well, that’s some good news.” I sound more sarcastic than I mean to be.

“It is,” he says. “Means you won’t have Coach Brown on your ass for missing more ice time. Any pain elsewhere? See stars when it happened?”

“No. I mean, it hurt like a bitch but Kolochev isn’t that strong. I guess it snapped my head back a bit. Some neck and shoulder pain, but nothing I can’t manage.”

“Welp. Go see PT just to be safe. Have them give you an ice pack.”

I stand and he claps me on the back as he shoves me out the door. Next stop physical therapy, where Pam is the only one not busy working on someone at the moment.

“Why so glum, chum?” she asks as I sulk over to her table.

“Why the broken nose, you mean? Oh, that would be thanks to your husband.”

She snorts. “What on earth?”

“I…” I can’t help the grimace. “I need you to loosen up my shoulders and neck.”

“Hmm. Well, okay. No need to be cryptic and sullen.”

“You’d be sullen, too, if Georg just hit you in the nose.”

“I’d be in divorce court if Georg hit me in the nose,” she says. Then she purses her lips to one side. “Well, except for that one time, when we were trying a Christian Grey kind of thing with ropes and he accidentally knocked me in the nose with his elbow.”

“La la la la la,” I sing. “TMI, Pam. No need for the overshare. He does have a mean left hook, though.”

“Well, it takes a lot to get him angry enough to throw a punch. So you either slept with his sister or you slept with his other sister. Those are my guesses. So, which one was it, Locksey?”

“Zoya.”

Pam cuffs me on the back of the head.

“Ow!” I yelp, rubbing my head. “This is abuse.”

“You idiot. The baby? Zoya is the baby of that family, dumbass. Barely an adult. Yep, that’ll do it.”

“See, that’s the thing. She’s not a baby, and she is an adult. Like…she’s almost twenty. And I care about her. A lot.”

“Really? When you say you care about her, can you actually think of reasons why? Like, non-body-part reasons?”

“She’s sweet. Smart. She’s easy to talk to. I trust her. She’s like a humor ninja. She’s amazing with kids. She knows when to ask for help and how to say thank you. She makes me feel…calmer, somehow. She doesn’t judge me or my past. She doesn’t care that I play hockey. How’s that for reasons?”

Pam looks surprised but covers it quickly, telling me to lie down on my stomach. She works at the knots in my back and neck quietly for a few minutes. It’s me that can’t keep my mouth shut.

“I know she needs time, you know? She’s young.

Not a baby, but young, and she has goals.

She takes school seriously. I never did and I don’t want her thinking she should throw it all away for anything or anyone.

I don’t want her to feel trapped, you know?

I want her to be happy, and her friendship means a lot to me.

I feel so comfortable with her. I don’t wanna lose that. ”

Pam pats me on the back and has me sit up so she can do some arm stretches. “Sounds like you might really have feelings for her,” she finally says.

“I do. I really do. And, you know, she was a virgin when we…”

Pam’s eyebrows shoot up into her hairline. “Really?”

I give her one nod. “She came to tell me we couldn’t. She didn’t want to hurt Irina. But...I don’t know, I think we both knew something was there for a while and…it just happened.”

“And it was more for you? Than just a quick lay? Sorry, I know that’s personal.”

“It’s a fair question. And yes.” I pause.

How do I express that for the first time ever, I wanted to take my time?

Wanted to make it good for her. More than good.

How do I say that it felt like home, being with her…

the first home I’ve felt in a long time…

ever? “It was everything I’ve never had before, Pam.

Something I never want to lose.” But due to your husband, I have no clue what will happen next.

And the radio silence from Zoya hasn’t helped. “I need to know she’s okay.”

We’re quiet for a moment, then I bust out laughing. “Wow, I sound whipped. Holy shit.”

“You sound like you’re in love.”

I open my mouth to argue but find I can’t do it, so I snap it back shut.

“Given my loyalty lies with my husband, I think I’ll pause it there about Zoya. I don’t know what’s going to happen now, Tyler, but it probably won’t be good.”

“Yeah, fuck I know that.” But I have no idea what I can do to change this.

Pam changes the subject, God love her. “How are the kids?”

I groan a little. “They’re good kids. Doin’ real well, yeah? You know they haven’t asked about her, not once? It’s insane.”

“It’s sad, that’s what it is,” Pam mutters. “Will they have to go back?”

“If she agrees to go to treatment and comes out clean, she can get them back. I’m planning to bring her out here for a one-year program. Maybe set them all up with a place here after that, so I can keep a closer eye.”

“That’s a reasonable and admirable plan, Tyler, but what if rehab fails? What if things just go back to the way they were?”

“I don’t know. I’ll cross each bridge as I come to it, I guess.

I need a long-term solution but it’s not clear to me yet what it is.

What is clear however, while I do love my siblings, I was in no way qualified to do this, and in no way ready to be their parental guardian.

And I travel too much to be of any use. They spend more time with the nanny than they do with me. It’s nuts. You know what I mean?”

“I think you’re doing the best you can, and that your best is a far cry better than what they had before. You’re doing a good thing, here.”

I hop off the table and salute her. “Thanks for listening.”

She nods and I head out, down the hall, grabbing the elevator up to the coaches’ suite. When I walk in, black eyes blooming, tape on my nose, Coach rolls his eyes at me.

“What the fuck, Lockhardt?”

“Sorry, Coach, I—”

“That was rhetorical. Look, shit happens, but we are two home games away from the playoffs. We’re in contention here and every damn body is watching every move. I need you there and one hundred percent in the game, so where is your head?”

“I’m committed, Coach. We’ve all worked too damn hard to let this season slip away. I promise, I’ve got my shit together. I’m here for it.”

He nods. “Good. Now get out of here.”