Page 8

Chapter 8

Zeke

T wo weeks after that conversation with Piper in a hotel lobby, we still hadn’t talked about anything personal. We’d gone through the literal motions of our sessions, sticking mostly to pleasantries and hockey-related things. It was as if both of us realized we’d gotten too personal that night and were trying to backpedal. Or maybe that was just me.

I was still grappling with how I’d told her about the fears that haunted me when it came to retiring. I hadn’t voiced any of them out loud before, and it had felt both therapeutic and embarrassing. I had expected her to think I was being a baby about the whole thing, like, Boohoo, your successful NHL career is coming to an end. Not that I would have blamed her—I was sure most people would think that. It was part of the reason I hadn’t said anything to anyone. That and I wasn’t close enough to anyone else to tell them something like that.

Which made it all the more interesting why I had opened up to Piper. I’d even told her about how I had no home or family. Thankfully, she hadn’t asked any follow up questions. Though I had felt safe in talking to her that night, I struggled feeling that same safety now.

My thumb hovered over her number, which I’d pulled up on my phone. I didn’t want to text her. She didn’t even know I had her phone number. I’d had to reach out to Coach to get it. But sitting on my couch with my left leg extended, there was no denying that my knee was swollen.

I’d tweaked it last night during the game and downplayed how badly I’d been hurt. I had hoped that a good night’s sleep would be all I needed. And when I’d been younger, that strategy had worked. But today, I’d woken up to pain and a swollen knee—definitely not better.

Today there was no practice, and no one would be at the arena, including Piper. I debated contacting her about my knee, but I wanted to make sure I’d be able to play hockey as soon as possible.

My thumb finally tapped on her number, and I wrote out a text.

Zeke

Hi, Piper, this is Zeke. Sorry to bother you on your day off. I might have injured my knee more than I originally thought last night. It’s slightly swollen. Any tips on a quick recovery?

I pushed send, feeling both nervous and excited.

Having Piper’s number in my phone, even if it was for medical emergencies, had a happy feeling strumming through me. The idea of being able to text her whenever I wanted seemed dangerous but so very alluring. Knowing I could talk to her at any given moment would be a temptation I hadn’t thought would be there but was feeling all the same.

Piper

Swelling is never a good sign. How much pain are you in?

Of course, she was all business. I’d been crazy to think our texting would be any different.

Zeke

Um, the pain is fairly mild.

Piper

Fairly mild? That description is a first for me. I’m assuming you want to pretend your injury isn’t as bad as it is. On a scale of 1-10, what’s your pain level?

I smiled. She was good at reading me. Even through text.

Zeke

Or maybe I’m just really tough, and ‘fairly mild’ is a perfect description.

4

Piper

Okay, tough guy, a 4 is something we might be able to work through.

We?

Piper

Just in case, I don’t want you driving right now. I’ll come to you. What’s your address?

She was making a house call? I’d figured she would tell me to put some ice on it and elevate it. It never even crossed my mind that she would come over to my place. The image of her in my apartment did funny things to my body, and I wasn’t sure her coming over here was a good idea.

Zeke

It’s my left knee, so driving should be fine. I can meet you at the arena.

Piper

No. I don’t want to risk you tweaking it until I know what we’re dealing with.

Okay, so I guessed she was coming over.

I typed out my address and sent it to her.

Piper

Be there in about ten minutes. Just stay off your knee until I get there.

Zeke

Yes, Ma’am.

Piper

It’s good that you’re getting used to taking orders from me.

There wasn’t an emoji that could showcase the mischievous glint I knew was in her eyes when she typed that. And I couldn’t decide if it was a good thing or bad thing that I was getting to know her so well.

Zeke

I like a woman who takes charge.

I wasn’t sure how she was going to take my text, so her quick reply surprised me.

Piper

And I like a man who listens.

I pictured her giving me a look that was equally challenging and haughty. Which only had me smiling and spurring me on.

My fingers flew across the screen before I had time to think about my response.

Zeke

I’m pretty sure you could get me to do anything.

Now that the text was sent, I closed my eyes in regret. That was definitely flirty. Possibly too flirty. Probably too truthful as well. Piper was turning out to be the kind of woman that I had a hard time saying no to. In more ways than just her physical therapy orders.

A full minute passed with no response.

Shoot . I’d taken things too far. And now she was coming over here. That wasn’t going to be awkward at all. I ran my hand through my hair, tugging on the ends as I thought of my own recklessness.

When my phone buzzed, I jumped. Shaking my head, I tapped on my screen.

Piper

That’s good to know. Although that kind of power could go to a woman’s head.

Okay, so maybe my text had gone over better than I’d thought.

Zeke

Be gentle with me.

Piper

I can’t make any promises.

It didn’t seem like we were talking about physical therapy anymore, but maybe she thought we were. Either way, I figured it was better to let this conversation die before I did something I regretted.

I sent her the code to get into my apartment so I could remain in my spot on the couch.

While I waited for Piper to arrive I spent my time scrolling on social media, watching a few hockey reels, some humorous, some instructional. Once I was bored with that, I typed in Piper Fallon in the search bar, wondering if she had an account I could stalk…I mean, look up.

Her picture came up easily, and I clicked on it, grateful her account wasn’t private. It was mostly pictures of her and her sister—eating pizza, biking along the Mississippi River, posing in several photos at the Minnesota State Fair, on the beach at Lake Phalen…wow. I was not expecting to see Piper in a bikini, but I definitely wasn’t upset about it. She looked amazing in the bright pink swimsuit. She wore a big smile as her hair was blown back by the wind, her skin looking sunkissed, accentuating her curves?—

“Zeke?” Piper called out.

Her voice had me jumping so much that I fumbled with the phone in my hands, and it landed with a thud on the floor. What was with me today? I wasn’t normally a jumpy person, but I shouldn’t have been too surprised since when it came to Piper, I couldn’t be sure of how I was going to act.

“In here,” I called out, trying not to sound guilty for having been looking at her profile for the last several minutes, especially that last photo.

I tried grabbing for my phone but couldn’t reach it. If I got up now, she’d see me not sitting on the couch resting my knee, and I wasn’t willing to risk her wrath, so I reached a little farther but couldn’t quite get it.

A pair of white sneakers came into view, and I glanced up to see Piper reaching down to grab my phone.

Oh, no.

My phone’s screen was still lit, still displaying a picture of her in a bikini.

I had been caught red-handed. Not only stalking her online but ogling her in a swimsuit. Great. Just great. That didn’t have creeper written all over it at all. My head fell down in defeat as I moved to sit back, not wanting to make eye contact with Piper.

The silence was killing me. I snuck a glance up at her with a guilty expression.

It was a skill of hers to have two contradictory looks on her face at once. She looked both disappointed and amused. Hopefully the amused part would help me get out of this without her thinking I was a pervert.

She held my phone in her hands and looked at me like she was waiting for me to speak first.

I raised my hands up in surrender. “It’s not what it looks like.”

She remained silent, but her brow rose.

“I mean, yes, I was looking you up online, but I wasn’t trying to look for photos of you like that .” I gestured to my phone in her hand. “I was looking at all the photos.”

Okay, that didn’t sound any better.

“Well, not all the photos,” I amended, tripping over my words. “I had just started before you got here. I was curious to know if you were on social media. I only stumbled across that photo right before you walked in.”

She let out a smile, handing me my phone. “I didn’t take you for the fumbling type. If I wasn’t your physical therapist, I’d think it was cute.”

My shoulders relaxed, glad she wasn’t upset with me.

“My account is public, so anyone can look at my pictures. Including ones of me in a swimsuit.” She knelt down by my leg, already turning her focus to my knee.

What she said was true, but for some reason I hated the idea of any guy being able to see that picture of her in a bikini. The possessive feeling going through me at the thought was new to me. I’d never been a possessive person. Not even when I’d been engaged to Anna. But the primal urge to pull her to my chest and say she was mine was potent.

Her hands softly pressed around my swollen knee, a swift reminder to why she was here and that any thoughts of her being mine were to be wiped out of my mind.

“Has the pain subsided at all?” she asked.

“Not really. It’s about the same.”

“With the level of pain and how it’s not as swollen as I was anticipating, I’m assuming it’s a grade one sprain.” Her eyes kept bouncing from my left knee to my right knee. “It should be healed within a week or two.”

That had me switching gears. No more thoughts about Piper and that sexy bikini.

My eyes widened. “A week or two? I can’t be out that long. I’ll miss two games.”

She gave me an exasperated look. “You’re lucky it’s only a grade one sprain or you’d be out a lot longer than that. You can’t play until it’s healed. Unless you want to risk being out for the rest of the season.”

I held the bridge of my nose and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly.

“I know not being able to play is not what you wanted to hear,” she said gently. “But you can’t risk playing on a sprain and possibly tearing your ACL. If you take two weeks off and continue with physical therapy, you should be ready to get back on the ice and finish out the season.”

I gritted my teeth. I didn’t like having to miss games, but two games was definitely better than missing the rest of the games in the season. I needed to just be grateful that it was a mild sprain. It could have been a lot worse. Unfortunately, that didn’t make me feel much better.

She patted my leg softly. “I can do some exercises with you today and then show you some exercises you can do on your own for tomorrow until I can see you at the arena on Monday.”

I nodded.

I didn’t exactly have a choice. My knee was sprained, and I’d have to do what was required to make sure the next time I got on the ice I was stronger than before. I was going to physical therapy the crap out of my knee.

Over the next thirty minutes, she took me through several exercises, and by the end, I was glad to be done. Except I wasn’t done with Piper. When she gathered her things to leave, I found I was scrambling to think of a reason for her to stay longer.

“Text or call me if you need anything,” she said.

I held up one finger, telling her to wait a minute. I picked up my phone.

Zeke

I need something.

I smiled up at her as I heard her phone make a beeping sound.

She pulled her phone out of her pocket and saw my text.

She gave me a deadpan look. “Very funny.”

“What?” I asked innocently. “You said I could text you if I needed anything.”

“Okay.” She crossed her arms and looked at me in amusement. “Let’s hear it. What do you need?”

“Well, my very smart and strict physical therapist wants me to rest my knee as much as possible,” I started with a straight face. “So it might be good to have someone here with me to help out.”

It was a stretch. I could hobble around fine and keep weight off my knee, but I really wanted her to stay. I shouldn’t have wanted her to stay, it wasn’t a good idea for her to stay, but with her standing in front of me in my living room, I couldn’t seem to care.

Her eyes narrowed, like she was trying to figure me out. “You want me to take care of you? I don’t think that’s in my job description.”

“I don’t think Coach Hill and Raymond would hate the idea.”

She rolled her eyes at me, but her smile proved she wasn’t really annoyed. “Fine.” She pointed at me with her famous no-nonsense look. “But only because I am willing to go above and beyond for my job and my players.”

My victory had me grinning wide. She was staying. Piper would be spending the next several hours with me. I hadn’t been this excited since I got drafted to the NHL.