I didn’t volunteer it, but I had to admit that what my new PT had me do had caused soreness, even if it wasn’t anything crazy. It was about small movements but greater repetitions with less weight. I iced it the way she ordered me. Zara had asked how it went and if Meadow was coming back, and I said at least one more treatment. She’d smiled and hummed under her breath as she walked out.
I’d built up my second PT to be another Ladd, even after Zara said it was to be a woman. I figured I’d save myself aggravation, be a tad smart-aleck, and see how she’d take it. I was pleasantly pleased when she had a snappy comeback. She was something else to look at.
I would expect someone in her profession to be physically in shape, and she was. She was very toned, yet still had a shape to her. I found many women as firmed up as she was went too far and ended up looking like men. Meadow knew how to keep her body feminine. She was of average height, and I’d guess she was five to seven years younger than me. She had a flawless complexion, and her skin was sun-kissed. Her hair was long, straight, and a bright golden bronze blond. Much brighter than mine. Everything about her fit together, and her mouth was the thing men’s sexual thoughts on blow jobs came from. It took real strength and constant talking to myself to keep from springing a boner in my pants that would’ve done nothing to hide the condition. Another striking and unusual thing was that she had one pale green eye and one pale blue one. I knew there was a word for it, but I couldn’t recall what it was.
Since it was a workday, I didn’t expect any of my club brothers to be here or very few. Player might be, but that was due to Saylor being here. After the attack on her and her dog, Freya, a week ago, she was staying at the compound, and my brother was trying to show that he’d been an idiot. I was surprised when he took Clover to the Fallen Angel last Friday night. He’d already acted a fool once before with Saylor, and then he took a damn bunny to our bar like it was a date. I hated to say it, but that was gonna bite him in the ass.
I was waiting in the common room for Meadow to arrive. I was anxious for us to start. I was pacing when, speaking of the devil, Player entered the room. He appeared tired. I knew he was headed to get coffee from the kitchen. He half grunted as his greeting. I followed him and watched as he poured a cup of joe. He held up the pot and gestured.
“You want a cup?”
“No, I’m good. Besides, I’ll be starting my therapy session any minute now. I wouldn’t get to enjoy it. You appear dog-tired,” I told him.
His response was to barely grunt. I didn’t know if it was supposed to be a yes or no. Player got two big swallows in him before he sighed and became more verbal. “I am. I’m trying to keep Saylor from overdoing it, but she keeps trying to take care of the dog. I threatened to sic Zara on her last night if she kept doing stuff she’s not supposed to.”
“Oh yeah, and what did she say?” I asked with a grin.
“She told me in detail how she’d kick my ass if I did. How did your session with your new PT the other day go? Good?”
“It was way better than Ladd ever was.”
Before he could say anything, Meadow’s voice had me snapping around to look at her. She was frowning. “Good morning, Iceman and friend. Did I hear you right? Your former PT is a guy named Ladd. Would he happen to be Ladd Murrow?”
“Morning, and yes, it was. I guess you know him.”
“Good morning. I’m Player. I’ll let you two get into motion. I’ll see you later, Iceman.”
I threw up my hand but kept my eyes glued to her.
“I can’t believe he’s the one, although I’ve heard others complain. I didn’t ask Zara. I just knew it was someone with another agency, not mine. I swear, he’s such an egotistical ass. I hate to speak ill of a peer, but he’s terrible. Several people complain that he is on his phone almost the entire time. And if he’s interrupted or someone wants to ask a ton of questions, he gets short and angry with the patients. I’ve had patients who had him and didn’t improve and had to do PT again. I am so sorry you got stuck with him, even for a day.” The look she gave me was sincere and sweet.
“Bingo. He barely had me walking at a snail’s pace on the treadmill, and then the wall exercises were easy. I’d only do a few, and then he’d switch. None made me feel challenged,” I admitted.
“Yep, that’s Ladd. Again, I humbly apologize and ask you not to think all therapists are like him. We’re not. Now, enough procrastinating. I know you’re just doing it because you’re afraid of what I’ll throw at you today. You should be,” was her comeback, and she did it with a smirk. At least she had a personality. That was one mark in her favor right there.
“Do your worst, Grass.”
“Grass? Is that all you can come up with? Pfft, I heard better in the second grade. Get to work, Ice Cream.” That made me grin.
While I did my routine, she and I kept up banter, but she also switched things up so I didn’t get bored. I was sweating and feeling challenged. Like the last time, she spent the last ten minutes massaging my muscles. I wore jeans today, hoping they would help keep any boners hidden. It was strategic on my part, assuming she affected me at all, like the first time. Well, I could say without a doubt she affected me. As weird as it sounded, I was disappointed to see the session end.
“Okay, this is when you tell me if I should plan to come back next week or if you’re sticking to your five treatments and done agreement?” she asked. Her eyebrows hiked up. Just to mess with her because I wanted to see what she’d do, I shrugged as I answered.
“Well, I mean, anyone would be an improvement over Ladd. If that’s what you want to hear, then there you go. If you’re asking if you’re worth me doing more of this, I’ll have to think about it.”
I was trying to get her to lose her cool. Although she’d have a comeback to my remarks, I hadn’t ruffled her. Something kept pushing me to do it. I wanted to see her less-than-professional, even pissed side. I had no clue why. Instead of upsetting her, she sat there watching me without saying a word. She appeared calm. The silence stretched until I was the one to break it.
“Alright, I might be willing to continue. What did you have in mind? Still three days a week at this same time?”
“Three days would still be my recommendation, with you doing light workouts two other days a week on your own. If Monday, Wednesday, and Friday work for you, we’ll stick to them. As for the time, you tell me. I can keep coming in early or stop by after seeing my last patient at the office.”
“Does it work better for you and your home life to come in the morning? I don’t want your irate significant other coming after me,” I joked. I wasn’t afraid if it did happen. I asked because I was trying to determine whether she was involved.
“My family understands I may work odd hours. They’re used to it. If you don’t have a preference, why don’t we try after work and see how that goes? We can set a time like six p.m., or if you’re flexible, I can call when I’m done with the last patient at the office and come then.”
I was disappointed she didn’t answer my question about a significant other, but her chances of being single were slim. The lack of a ring didn’t mean anything. I scrambled to answer her.
“Call after you see your last patient. That way, you might get home earlier. I figure you have things to do in the evening.”
“I always have something to do, whether morning or night, but it gets done. Now that we have that settled, I have to go so I can make it to the office on time, and you need to ice your arm and chest. I’ll see you next week. Have a good weekend,” she said.
“You, too. Drive safe.”
I walked her upstairs. I had to get ice from the kitchen anyway. I insisted on walking her out to her car. As she drove away, I slowly turned and went back inside. Meadow intrigued me. That could be dangerous.
???
I sat in the common room, watching most of the club laugh and have a good time. It was Friday night, and we wanted to wind down from the week. It was still early, so the kids and all the old ladies were with us.
I looked around the room. It was incredible how it looked these days. With so many families added, the place screamed Christmas, especially here, where we spent most of our time. There was not only a huge tree decorated in one corner, but there were colored lights, garlands, bows, and more all over the place. If you went into the kitchen, there was always something in there that one or more ladies had baked and left for everyone to enjoy. Tonight, they’d made a large pot of hot chocolate on the stove to go with the baked goodies. Plus, they had whipped cream and marshmallows. I wasn’t too manly to pass up hot cocoa.
I laughed at Easton and Belle trying to outplay each other at cards. It didn’t matter which game it was. Both kids were cutthroat. As someone who played against Easton numerous times, I knew he took it seriously, and he was skilled, not just at the kid games. Poker was his game. I told Tank that if he ever needed money to pay for his son’s college, he should let East go on a poker circuit when he was older.
I was taking a sip of my chocolate after eating a bite of cookie when Zara came over. She plopped down next to me on the couch. Demon was with her. He sat on its arm with his hand on her back. I noticed that with my brothers. They liked, or maybe they needed to have contact with their women frequently, no matter how casual.
“If you’re coming to steal my hot chocolate or cookies, I will bite you,” I warned her.
She laughed. “I’d like to see you try it. But you’ll be happy to know that’s not why I’m here. I wanted to ask how it went with Meadow. I didn’t get a chance to talk to her today or you.”
I took another bite and chewed slowly as I stared at her.
“I swear, you’re ten years old. If you want to be treated that way, you’ve been warned,” she said a moment before she reached over, snatched my cookie away, and stuffed it in her mouth. She smiled the whole time she chewed.
“Hey! Demon, can’t you control her? She’s a menace,” I grumbled.
“Her nickname is Hellion. What didn’t you get from that? As for controlling her, you fight your own battles with her.” He chuckled.
I pretended to mourn my cookie by staring at my hand with a tiny piece left in it. I saw her hand moving toward me from the corner of my eye. In a flash, I shoved the morsel in my mouth. She was the one complaining this time.
Demon shook his head. “I swear, Hellion. If Alex acted that way, we’d put him in a time-out.”
“Our sweet boy would never deny his mommy his cookie. He’s kind and loving like me.” She fought hard not to laugh. I snorted, which earned me a glare.
“Alright, let’s get professional. This is Zara, your doctor asking, not Zara, your sister and friend.”
I sobered up. “Alright, since you put it that way. We decided to do another week and see. I admit, she did way more than Ladd the Sloth. If his fingers hadn’t been constantly tapping on his phone or he wasn’t smiling at it, I would’ve thought he was dead. She’s made the workouts unboring and somewhat challenging. I do get sore and sweat. We’re doing the same days. The only change is that she’ll come here to see me after her last patient at the office. I tried to find out which would be the least disruptive to her home life, but she said her family knows she has to do things like this sometimes.”
I put that in there because I thought Zara might know about her home life and would tell me. I was let down when her answer shed no light. “I’m sure her family is used to her hours. Most medical families are. I’m glad you’re sticking with her. She does wonders for her patients. In my opinion, she’s the best PT I know. And that’s saying something when you consider the ones who have been doing this way longer than her.”
“Why didn’t I get her from the beginning?”
“Her supervisor told me that she wasn’t taking any more cases. When I called to check after you kicked Ladd to the curb, I spoke to the director, not her direct supervisor. He set up a meeting, and when we talked, she said she was never asked to do it. I got the impression that she and her supervisor don’t see eye to eye. I was happy she said yes, so I kept my nose out of it.”
“Well, she knows Ladd and doesn’t seem to care for him much. I’m glad you asked again. Thank you, Z. I owe you.”
She patted my arm and smiled. “You’re welcome. If you want to repay me, do what she says, and don’t run her off. She’ll have you back to full strength and everything in no time.”
“I’ll do what she says.”
They stayed and chatted briefly before excusing themselves to take Alex home. It was getting late, and families were leaving, which meant the bunnies and hang arounds from the local area would be showing up any time. Instead of waiting, I went to my room not long after the families left. I wasn’t in the mood for company of any kind tonight.