Wild Heart (Viper's Heart Duet Book 2) (14 page)

“’Cause you don’t play football.” He let out a quick laugh. “Anyway, I was convinced that Douglas was my good luck charm, so the next morning he was on the bench again and I gave him ten bucks. He was so thankful, and now it’s become our thing. Douglas is my karma bank. I feel better helping him.”

“So you drive this way every morning and give that dude ten dollars.”

“Pretty much.” Andy nodded. “Unless he’s not here.”

“Huh,” I said, looking back out the window as we pulled into the rink parking lot. “You’re either the nicest human alive or completely fucking insane. I haven’t decided which yet.”

Andy let out a hearty laugh that filled the whole car. “Trust me, I’m neither. I do it to counter all the horrible things I think about my ex-wife during the day.”

The next hour flew by and my head spun with all of the medical terms and instructions thrown my way. Dr. Jennings asked Dr. Newell, the orthopedic surgeon, to come over and be there for our meeting, and I felt like my brain was the ball in their match of medical tennis. My surgery was scheduled for two days later and that’s all I cared about. I just wanted to get it over with so I could get back on the ice as soon as possible.

“Did you understand a fucking word of that?” I asked Andy as we walked to his car.

“For the most part. Why? You didn’t?”

“Hell no. I’m gonna need the condensed, dumb man’s version from you.”

He kicked at a rock in the parking lot and laughed. “Why didn’t you ask them to explain it again, bonehead?”

“I don’t know. It was overwhelming.”

We got to his car and both sat down, but he didn’t move to start the engine. “Here’s what I know for sure. Surgery is Friday morning, really fucking early so you’re going to have to let Michelle handle that one. I’m out. But I do expect a call when it’s over and you’re done . . . and maybe a video if you’re acting like an idiot from all the drugs.”

“You want a video?” I challenged. “I’ll give you a video, all right. One that has people calling you for a statement all weekend long.”

He pressed his lips together and shook his head. “Unfortunately, that wouldn’t be the first time I’ve had to deal with the media on your behalf, so scratch that. No video. But seriously, your recovery could take up to nine months if you don’t take your physical therapy seriously and do everything you’re supposed to do, got it?”

“Nine months? That’s the whole season. Fuck that!”

“Then you have to be diligent. No blowing off appointments and do all the exercises at home that you’re supposed to.”

“Yes, Dad,” I said sarcastically.

He rolled his eyes as he started the car. “So are you going to finish filling me in on this Kat situation?”

I totally forgot we hadn’t finished talking about that. “It’s not really a situation. Well, maybe it is? I don’t know. I just want her gone and I don’t know how to make that happen.”

“So she’s Gam’s nurse. Does Gam know your history with her?”

“No.”

“Does Michelle know your history?”

“Hell
no.”

“Were there . . . any . . . feelings when you saw her?” he asked carefully.

“
Fuck
no!”

“Okay, good. So basically you have no idea what the hell you’re doing?”

“Basically.”

“Good luck with that one, buddy. My only advice would be to not screw anything up that risks your relationship with Michelle.” He glanced at me out of the corner of his eye for just a quick second. “That girl is good for you. You need her.”

I turned and glanced out the window, unsure if he was talking to me, or warning me.

It had been exactly five days since Viper got hurt and they were five of the longest days of my life. I completely understood why he was grumpy and frustrated with what had happened, but I wasn’t expecting him to take it out on me like he was. I was looking forward to putting his surgery behind us and hoping that once it was done, he would bounce back to normal.

Surprisingly, the morning of his surgery he was unusually peppy.

He stood at the bathroom mirror and I walked up behind him and wrapped my arms around his waist, resting my head against his back. “Are you nervous?”

“Not really,” he said. “I’m more hungry than anything. Not eating and drinking after midnight is fucking torture.”

I smiled to myself. “I think they do that so you don’t get sick.”

“Well, great. They don’t have to worry about me getting sick, but they might have to worry about me scarfing down one of the nurses on the way into the operating room.”

I giggled and let go of him, moving over to my sink to brush my teeth and put on a little mascara.

As I leaned forward and opened my eye wide, dabbing my lashes with the black wand, Viper stared at me in the mirror. “You don’t need that shit, ya know.”

I straightened up and blinked my eye a couple times, frowning at him. “Huh?”

“That.” He motioned toward my mascara. “You don’t need it. You don’t need any of it.”

“I totally do. My eyelashes look like a newborn’s.” I squinted into the mirror and inspected my stubby, thin little eyelashes.

“No way. I agree that a lot of women look better with makeup on, but not you.” He shook his head. “You’re perfect and you don’t even realize it.”

I stared in the mirror at my boyfriend—rough and tough hockey player, a body that looked like it was chiseled in stone, covered in tattoos and intimidating enough to scare the pants off of just about anyone—but when it came to me, and my kids, he was a softie. A gentle giant.
My
gentle giant.

I turned to the side and tucked my arms under his, listening to his heart beat against my ear. His arms came down around my back, squeezing me hard. This was the moment I’d been craving so desperately the last few days. Between the joke about food and the way he was acting with me, I
finally
felt like my old Viper was back. Hopefully he was sticking around for a while.

“Michelle Asher?” A nurse asked as she looked around the packed waiting room.

I jumped up. “That’s me.”

She gave me a warm smile and stepped back. “Follow me, please.”

“How is he? Is everything okay? When can I see him?” I started rambling nervously as I walked past her. I hadn’t realized how nervous I really was until that very moment.

“Everything is fine.” She put her hand on my arm. “The surgery went great. He’s in recovery now and should be back to his room in just a couple of minutes. The doctor is going to come in and talk to both of you real quick and then you’re free to go.”

My eyes widened. “That’s it?”

“Yep.” She nodded. “It was a pretty simple procedure, and there’s no need for him to stay overnight, so he’s all yours.”

“Okay.” I smiled nervously. I took a deep breath and gave myself a pep talk as I sat down in the chair in the corner.

You got this. You took care of Gam a couple weeks ago, you can take care of Viper today.

I texted Kacie, Brody, Andy, and Taylor, Mike’s sister, who was babysitting the kids for me.

He’s out of surgery and the nurse said it went well. I haven’t seen him yet, but I’ll let everyone know when I do.

A few seconds later my phone lit up like a Christmas tree.

Brody:
      
Ugh! A group text?! You’re dead to me, Michelle.

Kacie:
      
Glad everything went okay. Give him a hug for me. Brody, stop being an ass.

Andy:
      
Don’t forget to get me video of him all drugged up. One can never have too much blackmail when dealing with Lawrence Finkle.

Brody:
      
I wasn’t being an ass. Group texts SUCK! I’m glad he’s okay though. Tell him I’ll stop by tomorrow and see how he’s doing. Hey, Kacie . . . can you send one of the kids up to our bathroom with a roll of TP?

Kacie:
      
Really?

I pinched my lips to stifle a laugh.

Taylor:
      
Matthew just pooped and when he came out of the bathroom, he told me not to go in there for twenty minutes or so. He’s turning more and more into Viper every single day. Glad surgery went well. Keep me posted.

The curtain sprung open and I quickly tucked my phone away, even though it was still buzzing.

Those should be fun to read later.

The nurse gave me a quick smile before she stepped back behind Viper’s bed and wheeled him into the room. He was lying back and his eyes were closed, but he had a huge, goofy smile on his face.

“Good luck with this one,” the nurse said playfully as she shook her head.

I looked down at Viper and back up at her. “Uh-oh, what does that mean?”

She shrugged as she dropped the metal sides of his bed and checked his IV. “Nothing bad. People normally come out of sedation really groggy and a little grumpy. Not this guy. He came out cracking jokes and asking for a peanut butter and jelly, then a minute later he was asleep again. He’s a hoot.”

A big smile spread across my lips. “That’s Viper for ya.”

Her eyebrows shot up. “You call him Viper?”

“Well, not just me . . . everyone does. His team started it years ago.”

“What team?” she asked as she scribbled something on a clipboard.

“I play hockey. For the Wild,” Viper shouted, scaring the hell out of both of us. His head turned my way and his eyes caught mine, but it took him a second to realize who I was. “Hey! That’s my girlfriend!”

I let out a quick giggle as I walked over to kiss his cheek. “Hi, baby.”

He titled his head toward me, leaning into my kiss. “You smell good,” he said a I stood up, then he grabbed my hand. “Wait. Come back here. Lie down with me. Here, I’ll scoot over.”

“No, no!” I put my hand on his shoulder. “I can’t lie down with you, just don’t move.”

“Why not?” He turned back to the nurse. “She can lie down with me, right? I mean, we’re both consenting adults. And we’ve had sex before . . . a lot of sex.”

“Viper!” I squealed as the nurse laughed. “Shut up.”

“What? I’m just saying,” he exclaimed defensively.

“Okay, honey. But maybe you just don’t say for a while, okay?” I took a deep breath and exhaled through puffy cheeks.

The nurse hung the clipboard up and tilted her head to the side, giving me a sympathetic smile. “Like I said, good luck today. The doctor will be in in a minute.” She shot me a quick wink and left the room.

“How does she do that?” Viper asked.

“Do what?”

“Close just one of her eyes like that?” He stared straight ahead, blinking both of his eyes hard.