Edge (2 page)

“I will. But first take a water break.”

I needed the break as much as he did. Sure, I enjoyed getting a rise out of the guys on occasion, but I didn’t enjoy their excruciating pain. They were all so hungry to prove themselves and maybe get the chance to move up to the big league that they’d endure anything to speed their recovery.

“Hey, Dell,” a deep voice called from across the room.

“What?” I kept my focus on Lennox, who was climbing back onto my table.

“I’ve got something I need you to rub later.”

“Mmm-hmm.” I glanced over my shoulder and saw Danny Burlington rubbing his crotch. He winked at me. Gross.

“Well, what is it?” I asked.

He added his other hand and rubbed theatrically. “I need you to rub it really hard.”

“I still don’t see anything,” I said, turning back to Lennox, who snickered.

“Fuck off, Dell,” Burlington said. “My cock’s so big you’d gag on it, anyway.”

“I’d gag before it was even in my mouth.” I stepped on to my wide stool to massage Lennox’s leg. “Now get the hell out of here, I’m busy.”

I turned to watch him walk out the doorway and saw Luke Hudson standing there watching.

“Hey,” I said. “Want me to work on you before practice?”

“If you’ve got time … to help me stretch when you’re done.” He ran a hand through his dark blond hair. He was nervous. Was this his first time back on the ice since his injury?

“Sure, I’ve got time.” I rolled my cylindrical tool down Lennox’s thigh and he groaned loudly through gritted teeth.

“You fucker,” he muttered. “Sorry, Dell, I didn’t mean that.”

“Call me whatever makes you feel better,” I said. He clutched the sides of the table and squeezed his eyes shut. “Breathe, Lennox.”

“Motherfucking whore,” he said, looking remorseful immediately. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean you.”

“Just find me when you’re ready,” Luke said to me.

“I’m almost done.”

One more good hard roll over Lennox’s stiff muscles and I stepped down from my stool. He slid down from the table and grinned.

“Feels pretty good.”

“Cold bath after practice,” I said. He nodded and left the room.

Luke approached, wearing a light, form-fitted long sleeve black shirt and dark shorts. He was taller and broader than the rest of the team, other than Niko. His cocksure grin from yesterday had disappeared.

“Want to stretch all over?” I asked. He nodded silently.

“Okay, lay down on the floor on your back.” He complied, and I took one of his feet to stretch his legs.

“I haven’t even known you 24 hours, and you’ve already got me on my back,” he said. “Am I a whore?”

He was a hockey player, wasn’t he? “Probably, but not because of this.”

He groaned playfully. “What, just because I play hockey, I’m a player?”

“Statistically, yes. Unless you were married, in which case it would be 50/50.”

He leaned his head up from the floor to meet my gaze. “You checked to see if I had a ring on?”

My cheeks heated with embarrassment. “No, I already knew that. Your superstar reputation precedes you.”

“Ah.” He lowered his head back to the ground. “And what’s my reputation?”

“It’s no different than the rest of the guys in the league. Most of them, anyway.” I pressed his leg into a deep stretch, instinct telling me exactly where to stop. “Are you nervous about getting back on the ice?”

“Nervous? I don’t know, more like anxious.”

“What’s the difference?”

He laughed lightly. “You’re right. I’m nervous. Eager. Excited. But also … you know.”

“Worried?”

“Yeah.”

“Try some deep breathing. Visualize the outcome you want to achieve,” I said. “Okay, stand up.”

He got to his feet and his pale blue eyes studied me, looking amused. “Do you wear a baseball hat every day?”

“Pretty much. No one here cares what I look like.”

“Is Dell your real name?”

“What’s with all the questions?” I said, my tone more defensive than I’d intended.

He shrugged and kept his gaze on me. I took a calming breath before answering. This guy would have women after him in every city we traveled to. He was movie-star hot, with a great smile and a playful twinkle in his eye. Just the type that annoyed me most. I bonded best with the guys who were quiet and slightly awkward.

“My name’s Adella,” I said, anxious to move the subject away from myself. “Okay, let’s do some lunges.”

“You must get hit on every day. Does that get old?”

If only he knew. “I never get hit on. Tanner means what he says about fraternizing. And … well, I’m more like a sister to the guys, anyway.”

A flash of discomfort passed over his face. “You okay?” I asked. “Did you go too far with the lunge?”

He returned to a standing position and folded his hands behind his head. His biceps were massive for a hockey player. A body like his was the result of a devoted weight training regimen. But at his level of play, that didn’t surprise me.

“I need to go zone out before I hit the ice,” he said. “Thanks for your help.”

“It’ll feel good to get out there,” I said, hoping to calm his nerves. “Just take it slow. Ease yourself back in. Your body knows what to do – you just need to let your mind relax and remember.”

He nodded, but his expression was still uncertain. It looked like he was about to say something else when Tony Moretti, another player, walked in and glanced between the two of us.

“You guys done?”

“Yeah, I’m leaving,” Luke said, walking out of the room.

“Can you look at my hand?” Tony asked, holding it out toward me. “It’s really sore.”

I furrowed my brow as I examined it. “Are you switching hands when you jerk off, or is this one doing all the work?”

“It takes two hands to hold on to my sausage, baby.” Moretti winked and I laughed.

“Please.” I shook my head. “Sit down and I’ll have a look.”

“Bigshot wasn’t hitting on you, was he?” Moretti was a wiry New Jersey native with a protective nature.

“Nope.”

“Good. You let me know if he does.”

“I’m pretty sure I’m not his type. My boobs are too small and my IQ is too high.”

“You deserve somebody who’s gonna treat you right, D.” He met my eyes as I palpated his knuckles and fingers. “Ah! That fucking hurts.”

“Sorry.”

“Hey, what about our doc? He’s got a thing for you. Why don’t you go out with him?”

“Landis?” My voice rose with surprise. “He doesn’t have a thing for me.”

“Yeah, he does. Go out with him. You belong with a doctor type.”

I snort-laughed. “I belong with Kyler. I’ve got no interest in a boyfriend.”

“Whatever you say.”

I released his hand and he gingerly sat it on his knee. “I say we need to ice your hand.”

Why did people always assume I wanted a man in my life? I’d gotten my fill with my ex. My life was just right; I had Ky, my work and Sadie for adult conversation. Men just complicated things. I met my entire quota for dealing with men’s crap through my dad. And then some.

Luke

The easy glide of my skate blades over the ice settled my nerves. I knew this like nothing else. Hockey had been my life since my dad taught me to skate when I was four. Maybe I’d be a little rusty at first, but my game was embedded in me unconsciously. I’d shot the puck tens of thousands of times – I couldn’t forget how to do it if I tried.

A few laps around the rink was the catharsis I needed. The past two months had fucking sucked. Being laid up and worried about the future was bad enough, but having no one around who understood had made me into a caged animal. Daily phone calls from my dad asking when I’d be back on the ice had only intensified my worry. His concern wasn’t for his son, but for his paycheck.

I was the opposite. Sure, the money was nice, but it was mostly sitting in the bank. Besides the money wired to Dad every month, I only had my own living expenses. If the knee injury had ended my career, I would’ve been okay, but I wouldn’t have been able to support Dad anymore.

For me, it was all about the game. The adrenaline rush of moving up and down the ice; the high that only a win brought on; the faint taste of blood after a good fight.

A blow of Coach Welch’s whistle brought me out of my train of thought. I was white-shirted today – no one could make contact with me during the practice – but I didn’t even give a shit. I was on the ice with a stick in my hand. All was right with my world again.

Dell had taped my knee before practice, and it felt good. I was a little slower than usual, but that wasn’t a surprise.

I hooked my stick around the puck and passed it, loving the fluid familiarity of being in formation. The hours of physical therapy had kept me in good shape. This rehab assignment was my last stop before everything would be like it was before that asshole John London knocked me down with a cheap knee to knee hit.

The next time we played his team, his ass was mine. I’d fantasized so many times about slashing him with my stick before throwing it down and kicking his ass.

Welch made eye contact with me and I nodded slightly. He was asking if I was good. Hell yeah, I was good. I was great. Tomorrow night’s game was my ticket to getting called back up to my team. It was so close I could taste it, and that was even better than the tang of blood after a fight.

Dell

As soon as I closed the front door, I heard the thump of Kyler’s feet hitting the floor as he slid down from a stool at the kitchen island.

“Mom!” he cried, running to me. He’d grown into a five-year-old way too fast, and I hoped he wouldn’t outgrow his exuberance over me getting home anytime soon.

“Hey, how was school?” I squeezed him into a hug and we walked into the kitchen.

“Fine. We’re making spaghetti.” He gave me a gap-toothed grin and headed back to his stool, where he was arranging three sets of silverware and wrapping them into paper napkins.

“Hey,” my roommate Sadie said, glancing up from a steaming pot of water on the stove.

“How was your day?” I asked.

She shrugged and wrinkled her nose. “I got assigned to write a story about glaciers. How do I make glaciers interesting?”

“If anyone can do it, you can.”

Sadie had been my closest friend since our sophomore year of college. Now she was a freelance magazine writer, and she worked her travel schedule around mine to help with Kyler. I always told her I owed her more favors than I could count, but she swore she enjoyed it. And Kyler loved her.

“You need to call your dad,” Sadie said, arching her brows seriously. “Like now.”

I rolled my eyes and grabbed a soda from the fridge. “He’s left me three voicemails already. Thank God he doesn’t text.”

“He’s called me
four
times,” she said. “And every time I thought it was that guy I met at the airport until I saw your dad’s number on my screen. Call him back so I can stop getting my hopes up.”

I wrapped an arm around her shoulder and watched her stir the pasta. “He’ll call, sweetie. He didn’t ask for your number so he could
not
use it.”

“Please.” She glared at me. “He’s a man, Dell. They were made to confound us.”

“Don’t I know it.” I sighed deeply. “I’m surrounded by them all day.”

Kyler looked at me expectantly and I couldn’t help smiling. The sandy brown hair that looked just like his father’s was getting shaggy around the ears.

“You’ll be a good man, Ky,” I said, leaning my elbows on the island so we were at eye level.

“Don’t ever ask for a woman’s number and then not call her,” Sadie said from the stove.

“I won’t,” he promised. “Mom, Colby asked me today if I have two moms. You’re my only mom, right?”

“Two moms?” I asked, trying not to laugh. “Why would he say that?”

“Because sometimes you pick me up from school and sometimes Aunt Sadie does. He asked if she was my babysitter and I said she lives with us.”

“Oh. Well, I’m your only mom, honey. I wish Aunt Sadie was our family, but she’s not. And I’m not …. with anyone, and I don’t intend to be, but if I was, I like men.”

“Okay.” Kyler shrugged. “I thought maybe since I don’t really have a dad, maybe Aunt Sadie could be like my dad.”

“Hey,” Sadie turned and her dark ponytail swung through the air. “I told you I’m getting my mustache waxed Thursday, mister.”

Kyler giggled and I was grateful for the chance to think about what he’d said before responding.

“Ky, you do have a dad. He just lives far away and can’t get here a lot to see you because of work. But he’s very proud of you and he loves you. Do you want to call him?”

He gave me a solemn look. “So, you like men, but not dad? Because we could move where he is, and then—”

My heart tugged so hard I actually felt it. This, right here, was the result of my stubborn nature. My son was hurting. Why hadn’t I married my ex when he’d asked? I knew the answer – it was because I didn’t love him. But I loved Kyler, and he was missing out on so much time with his dad.

“Honey, your dad and I both love you to the moon and back,” I said, stroking his hair. “But we don’t love each other the way people should to get married.”

“Okay,” he said. “When is dinner gonna be ready?”

Was that it? I was bracing for a conversation that would fill me with enough guilt to break out the wine later.

Sadie extended her hand toward me and rolled her eyes. I saw her name for my dad, ‘Papa Price’, on her buzzing cell phone screen. “Five,” she said dramatically. “Five crushed hopes today. Answer the phone, Dell.”

“You sound like the Count on Sesame Street,” Kyler observed. “That’s five — five crushed hopes, ah-ah.”

I smiled and slid the screen to answer the call. “Hey, Dad.”

“Adella. Why in the hell do I practically have to send out a search party to reach you?”

“I was working, Dad. What’s up?”

“I heard that shitty excuse for a coach my grandson has is telling the kids it makes no difference if anyone scores. What a crock of shit that is.”

I took a deep breath and walked in to my bedroom to continue the conversation away from Kyler. “Dad, he’s five. It doesn’t matter.”