“I’ll be there for him, Kat, however I can.”
Chapter seven
Jude
The second I lift my leg up onto the couch cushion and wrap the towel-covered ice pack around my knee, I groan in relief.
Lily Chapman is a physical therapist taskmaster. She’d fit in well on a professional sports team’s roster of trainers with how hard she pushes.
Today was only our second session, and as promised, she started it with what she calls manual therapy — I call it torture. She worked on the scar tissue surrounding my knee, but she didn’t stop there. Nope, Lily the sadist continued up my leg, finding every single tense spot along my muscles. After the massage, she put me through my paces, testing my strength, range of motion and balance, and then pushing me to the outer limits of any rehab I’ve done so far.
It was surprisingly easy to be around her, even having her hands on my body. There’s a deep comfort and familiarity with Lily, unexpected, and yet not, all at the same time. I’ve known the woman most of my life, but there’s something different in our dynamic now. She’s not my little sister’s friend, she’s something else.
Adjusting the ice pack slightly, I grab my phone and open the text messages Kasey sent earlier while I was in the shower.
KASEY: Before I show you something, I need to talk to you.
KASEY: I’m guessing you’ll never pick up the phone, so text me when you can, bud.
That sounds fucking ominous. Just to prove him wrong, I hit the button to call him.
“Holy shit, Jude Donnelly is making a phone call.” His loud voice is almost drowned out by the background noise.
“Where the hell are you?” I ask, pinching the bridge of my nose. I forgot how fucking annoying it is trying to yell just to be heard when you’re out on the town.
“Hold on,” Kasey says. I can just make out the sound of him telling someone he’ll be right back, then the noise fades. “Hey. Sorry, I ducked into the manager’s office. We’re at The Rose.”
At his mention of the bar the team would frequent after practice, the knife that feels permanently lodged in my heart twists. My eyes close as I try to hide my reaction. “Cool. What’s so important that I had to call you?”
Kasey doesn’t answer right away, which only proves my initial gut instinct. Whatever he’s about to say, I’m not gonna like it.
“They announced your permanent replacement for captain today.”
My breath leaves me on a heavy exhale. Damn. I knew this day was coming; hell, it’s a surprise the team took as long as they did to choose a new captain. I suppose a part of me had hoped it was because they were waiting for me to come back, but obviously, I was wrong.
“It’s Pike.”
“That fucker?” I sneer, feeling heat rise inside of me. I got along great with everyone on the Blaze. Everyone except Tony Pike. When he was traded to our team two years ago, he brought his arrogance and bad attitude along with him. Unfortunately, he’s a damn good hockey player.
“Yeah. Trust me, the guys are not happy. There’s a few who even want to go to management and ask them to reconsider.”
“That won’t work,” I retort. “They chose him for a reason, now he’s going to have to prove himself to everybody. On the ice and off.”
“Well, about that. His off-ice activities are the other reason I needed to talk to you.”
Kasey sounds like he swallowed something disgusting.
“Look, man, I’m gonna send you a photo. And you’re not gonna like it. But as your best friend, I think it’s best you know what’s going on and what a bullet you dodged.”
Somehow, I already know what I’m about to see. And sure enough, when I open the photo Kasey sends, it’s as expected. It’s my ex, in the arms of my replacement.
“I hope they’re very happy together,” I say, sarcasm dripping from every word.
“Dude, it’s fucked-up. You’ve been gone a week and she’s jumped beds already. Trust me when I say none of us are impressed with Pike right now. He should know better. Hell, he should —”
“Kasey, it’s fine,” I interrupt. “Things weren’t serious with Shelley, anyway, and as you said, I dodged a bullet. She didn’t give a shit about me; she’s a puck bunny who wants to be a WAG. Let Pike have her. They deserve each other.”
“You’re not wrong there. So, you’re okay? Like, really okay? I didn’t just fuck with your head or anything?”
