Page 114 of Nailing Heat

“Damn, girl, you look hot tonight!” Hendrix calls as I emerge from the hallway.

“Look who’s back,” Cassie says with a grin. “Now, come on, let’s get there.”

“You look good, Amelia,” Mac says as she helps me down the stairs of the apartment. “Way to show him what he’s missing.”

Based on Mac’s comment, I thought that meant that he was going to be there. But when we reach the bar, I see August, Jase and even Danny are at our usual table. From the looks of it Dex isn’t here yet. I sigh, thinking maybe he’s on his way.

“Hey, ladies!” August calls. “There’s this new type of punch that the Backwoods is pushing tonight, so I ordered a pitcher of it. Please, drink slowly, okay? We can’t have anyone hungover for the game against the Dash,” he yells to us as we all take seats at the table.

I’m placed between August and Hendrix. It feels weird to be in between the two of them because sometimes it can be a little volatile.

August leans over and says, “It’s good to see you, Amelia. Thanks for coming out tonight.”

I look over at him and smile. “Well, they didn’t give me much of a choice,” I admit to him.

“You weren’t going to sit around and mope. No one was having that,” Cassie says as she pours each of us a drink.

“A half a glass for me, please. Remember I’m still on pain medication,” I remind her.

She giggles. “Yeah, yeah, I know. I’m happy that we got you out here.”

“It is good to see you, Amelia. How is the knee?” Jase asks.

“Well, therapy is going well. We’re working on some small things right now. But the tear isn’t healed yet. That can take a month or so. But apparently, we can’t stop working on therapy because that is so important,” I say with a roll of my eyes.

“You don’t sound so sure about that,” Danny says, grinning. I look over and notice that he’s holding hands with Mac. A pang of sadness flashes in my chest as I’m wishing that Dex was here to do that with me. Or that we hadn’t ended.

“Come on, Danny, did you really believe in PT? How did that work out for your shoulder?” I ask him, taking a sip of the red liquid that Cassie has handed me. “Holy shit, that is strong.”

“Yeah, that’s why I’m saying not too much now,” August reminds me.

“I believe that it can be helpful. For my particular injury it was not,” Danny replies.

I shake my head. “Way to walk the fine line there, Mr. Taylor,” I tease him.

He laughs. “I want you to participate in your therapy and if you don’t, I’m sure that August will have my ass.”

“And let’s not forget Dex. The team doctor would not be very happy with you either,” August adds, looking over at me to gauge my reaction.

I nod, and hope that I’m not giving too much away with my non-answer.

“August.” I hear the warning in Mac’s tone.

Thankfully, he drops it, and conversation moves on to what’s for dinner.

“I’m picking up the check for all Blaze player’s tonight, so please make sure you chose whatever you want,” August tells us.

“Thank you,” I say, leaning over and bumping August’s shoulder.

“Yeah, thanks, that’s awfully nice of you,” Mac tells him.

“Danny, I’ve got yours too. No sense in making you pay,” he tells Danny.

“I can get my own, man,” Danny assures him.

“Nope, not having it. I’ll do it,” August replies.

It’s in moments like this that I wonder if August isn’t as bad as Hendrix makes him out to be. They sure do have their share of sparring matches. But August does try and do nice things for the team.