Page 50 of Hutch (Minnesota Raptors #2)

“Not what you were expecting?” Lucy leans through the seat and flips on the radio.

She does this in my car too. I think she does it to annoy people, but she denied that when I asked her.

She said she hates the silence as much as I now love it.

Then again, she was home alone a lot with her mom in the military and her dad working long hours.

Her parents aren’t divorced, but they don’t live together most of the time.

Her dad wanted to raise Lucy in West Virginia where he and her mom were raised and her mother agreed it wouldn’t be good for her to be shipped from base to base.

“No. It’s actually an easier pace than what we do on the college team.” Collin reaches through the seat and flips the radio off which earns him a glare from Lucy, to which he replies, “Daisy likes the quiet.”

She frowns and looks at me. “Really?”

I nod. “It makes me feel safer to be able to hear what’s coming.”

Hutch looks shocked I admitted that, but I’m used to telling Lucy everything.

She breathes in and out loudly. It’s not a sigh, but you can read a lot of emotion into it.

“Well, I’d planned to go out to a club or something while I’m here, but I will be content with a hockey game and going somewhere after the game.”

I feel bad. She wanted to go party and the thought of going to a club where its loud gives me hives.

“Maybe Collin can take you?” I suggest. “He loves parties in general so I’m guessing he likes to go clubbing too.”

“Sure, I’ll take you out to some of the nicer places. I can get into a lot without standing in line.”

“Perks of being a well-known hockey player?”

He nods. “I take full advantage.”

“I bet you do.”

He smiles slyly, but before he can say anything, Hutch pulls into the restaurant parking lot.

The place is small and the building is in one of the older brick buildings in town and very quaint looking.

We all pile out after Hutch parks and go inside.

It’s busy, but then I expected that since it had such good reviews online.

“Jonathan Hutchinson?”

We turn to see the waiter staring at us, his eyes wide.

“And Collin Mendoza?” the waiter whispers.

Hutch turns on his fake smile. “Hey man. It’s just Hutch.”

The poor guy nods. “You two just signed with the Raptors. They were talking about it on the news.”

“We signed on Friday and started work on Monday.”

“Are you two playing in tonight’s game?”

“We’ll be there, not sure if we’ll get time on the ice or not since we’re new.”

“You will. They’d be stupid not to put you two in. I’m a big fan of both of you.”

“Thanks, man.” Collin gives him the same social media smile Hutch has on. “Do you have a free table or do you know how long we’ll need to wait for one?”

“Yeah, yeah. One second. Let me check.” He hurries over to the hostess and says something. She looks up and her face flushes. Yup. She’s star struck.

The girl smoothes her hair out, gathers a few menus, and comes over to us. “Hello. I’m Kylie. If you’ll follow me, I’ll take you to your table.” She turns and makes sure her hips sway suggestively.

The boys snicker when Lucy and I both roll our eyes.

She seats us and hands over menus, making sure to tell the guys if there is anything they need, anything at all, just to ask her. Uh huh.

“What kind of shit is this?” Collin mutters when he looks at the menu.

“It’s food you can eat on your diet,” I tell him.

“What the fuck is lentils?”

“It’s what you eat in place of grains.”

“Grains…like bread? I can have bread can’t I?” Horror creeps into his voice at the realization of what plant based actually means. “They want to take my bread from me?”

“No,” I assure him. “You can have bread in moderation. I did some research and they’d rather you eat whole grains, but I would never willingly do that to you no matter how angry I am.”

“Thank God,” Hutch mutters.

“I don’t think I’d survive if we were on a plant based diet.” Lucy puts the menu down. “I love my burgers and pizza too much.”

“Pizza?” Collin’s voice turns emphatically sad. “I can’t have pizza?”

“Yes, you can. Veggie pizza is best.”

“Veggie pizza.” He says it slowly as if that will make it better.

Lucy looks at me and I can tell she’s having a hard time not laughing, but laughter in this moment is not the thing to do and she understands that. Poor man is devastated.

She turns her attention to my boyfriend instead.

Boyfriend. It’s weird to even think it let alone say it.

“So why did you go through her phone? Didn’t trust her or something?” Her tone is nonchalant, but that’s when she’s at her most dangerous. Its why so many underestimate her.

“Not at all.”

“Then why?”

“Asswipe got served with a restraining order and started blowing up her phone. I wanted to see what he was saying before she did so I could keep her away from it if possible. My goal was to protect her. To be honest, as much as it pissed her off, in the same situation, I’d do it again.

She did not need to hear or read the vile things he said to her.

I gave the phone to her attorney so she could show he was already violating the order. ”

Lucy’s entire demeanor shifts. Her smile, her real smile, comes out to play. It leaves Collin stun locked.

“You pass,” she says and then looks at me. “I approve. We can keep him.”

“We?” Hutch asks.

“Daisy and I are a package deal. You take us together or you leave us together. Either way, I’m good with you.”

“Hutch and Collin are a package deal too.”

Lucy looks at him. “I guess I’ll learn to deal.”

Collin’s eyes narrow, but the waiter who’d spoken with us comes over to take our orders and get us drinks.

“Does that happen a lot?” Lucy nods toward the retreating waiter. “People just know you and go a little fan girl or fan boy.”

“I grew up here and it’s a hockey town. Everyone knows the hockey players.” Hutch yawns. “Some days you’re not up for it, but then you remember how important your fans are to you and you give them a hundred and ten percent because they deserve that for supporting you through everything.”

Joe never thought like that. He didn’t care about the fans’ feelings.

According to him, he deserved to be hero worshiped, which I always thought was a bad way to look at his fame.

Hutch appreciates the people who support him because he understands without them, all his talent would be for nothing. He’s humble and Joe was not.

“The more you talk, the more I like you.”

“You don’t like me?” Collin pouted.

“All you’ve done is try to be a player and slyly hit on me. That does nothing for me. When you start acting like yourself, then I might change my mind.”

Collin blinks. “I have not hit on you.”

“Not in so many words, but I know your type.”

“My type…”

She nods and Collin frowns.

“So about tonight,” I say before they can get into the fight I see brewing. I don’t want anyone fighting while Lucy’s here. “What time is the game?”

“Eight.”

“Do you think your coach will let you be out late since you have a game tomorrow?”

Lucy shrugs. “I’ll call and explain it to him. If he says no, I’ll just sneak out.”

“I don’t want you to get in trouble…”

She laughs. “He’s not benching me. I score more than anyone else on the team.”

I’m not so sure about that. No matter how good you are, if you piss off your coach, he might eat a loss just to teach you a lesson.

That’s how the coaching team was back in high school, but maybe college coaches are different.

I’m not sure. Either way, I don’t want her doing anything that might cost her in the long run.

Hutch nudges me, sensing my unease. “It’s fine if the two of you want to go do something else. I don’t want her getting in trouble while she’s here. If they come back to play, I want her coach to trust her enough to let her come out again.”

It’s his first game with the Raptors. I know how nervous he is. “No, it’s fine. We’ll come and if she needs to get back early, we can always leave early.”

It’s not long before our food arrives and while neither Hutch nor Collin look to thrilled to be eating a lot of vegetables, the food is honestly good.

I’ve never eaten lentils before either, but the lentil soup here is divine.

I am going to have to try and recreate it just to eat myself.

The boys can eat it or not, but I love it.

I do notice Collin is a lot quieter than he was. Did Lucy’s comments hurt his feelings? She’s loud and says things before she thinks them through a lot of the time. I’ll have to talk to him later about her. She has no filter and that can be a little abrasive to people who aren’t used to her.

Once we eat, Hutch takes us all back to the house because they need to get a nap in before the game. I don’t mind as I get to spend time with Lucy.

I wave as they drive off and Lucy and I go inside to talk and catch up before the big game. I’m not a big hockey person, but I know how big of a deal this is for Hutch. He’s been here for me so I’ll be there for him. Fair’s fair, right?

“Uh…Daisy?”

I lock the door and turn to where Lucy is standing a few feet from the door.

“Yeah?”

“You have a package here.”

I go over to where she’s standing and look down at the small table where we drop things off as we come into the house. The box has no return address. Picking it up, I shake it and it rattles. What is it?

“Did you order something?”

“Nope.”

Going into the kitchen, I find a knife and open the box.

It takes a minute for my brain to catch up with what I’m seeing.

Inside is a doll with red hair, one of those cheap imitation barbie dolls.

It’s been mutilated and covered in a red substance that might or might not be blood.

A note is pinned to the inside of the box with one word written on it—Bitch.

“Uh, let’s call Hutch back.”

“No. Tonight is too important for him. If he gets to play, this will be on his mind and he won’t play well. I’ll call the cops, not that I expect them to do anything, but my lawyer said to report everything.”

This has to be Joe, but how to prove that?

I’m not nearly as upset as I thought I’d be if he did something. Not that I’m not upset. I can feel my body trembling at the thought of what that doll means, but it’s not as bad as the other day. I’m either getting used to the constant fear, or I’m learning to lean on Hutch.

Sighing, I dig my phone out of my purse, calling my lawyer first and then the police.

So much for an afternoon of catching up with Lucy.