Who was this chick? All I remember Coach telling me was that she was a damn good physical therapist, but she obviouslyknew who I was, and I was clearly in the middle of something I really didn’t want to be in the middle of. But I did want my leg sorted out as soon as humanly possible and I’d been ordered to work with her.
“I don’t know, but I’m doing as I’m told, because general rule of the club is that you don’t piss Coach off. He wants me to have therapy with you, so can you do it or not? Because I kind of need you to be able to fit me in.”
She laughed again. “Yes, I can.”
My relief was palpable. “Okay, cool. Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.” I could hear a rustle of papers. “How long has it been since your accident? Six weeks?”
“Seven.”
“And you have a second surgery coming up, right? For your ACL?”
It always freaked me out when people knew stuff about me before I told them. And if I hadn’t been given her number by Coach, I’d have stuck her in the creepy stalker box, and there’d been more than a few of those over the years. But this conversation was already going nowhere near how I expected it, and I kind of liked it. I liked that she wasn’t trying to kiss my ass.
“Yes. It’s in a couple of days.”
“Okay, good, let’s start right after that then.” I heard another rustle of papers. “I can fit you in at ten a.m. on January ninth. I tend to do home visits, so can you text your address to this number?”
“Sure.” I had the impression she was about to hang up without saying goodbye and jumped in before she could. “Hang on, what’s your name? I don’t have it.”
She laughed again. “I assumed he would have told you. It’s Nora.”
“Okay, thanks, Nora. See you in a few days.”
I was right; she hung up without another word. I was still staring at my phone, trying to figure out if I’d ever had a weirder conversation when it rang again. I answered, almost expecting it to be her, but it wasn’t.
“Hey, dude, where are you? Are you still at the club?” Huck’s voice boomed over the loudspeaker.
“No, I just got home. I left after PT. Why?”
“Wanted to see what you’re wearing tonight.”
A loud snort escaped before I could stop it. “No chance. You know the rule. Drew and I don’t discuss our costumes with anyone. You get the big reveal when everyone else does.”
I could almost picture him rolling his eyes. But it’s how it had always been. Even Jas and Coop never saw them until we were in them, and this year would be no different. Although there would be a sneak peek for a small group before we all arrived at the official party. As Samson had arrived earlier than expected, Freddie and Cooper weren’t coming, so we were having a pre-party party at their place beforehand. I also wasn’t allowed any alcohol because of my knee surgery in two days, but I didn’t care as Molly would also be attending tonight, which meant I legitimately got to spend an extended period of time with her without feeling like we were sneaking around and lying to our friends.
“One day, dude. One day I’ll get it.”
“Don’t hold your breath.”
He chuckled. “We’ll see. Okay catch you at the party, yeah?”
“Yeah, we’ll get there about nine-ish I think.”
“Cool.”
I hung up and checked the time. I had twenty minutes to get in the shower before Drew turned up for our ritual of getting ready together, and headed upstairs, taking advantage of a crutch and pain free day before my knee got sliced up and I hadto hobble around for another few months. Because it was really fucking tedious.
“Clevs! You here?”
Drew’s voice grew louder as I stepped out of the shower, wrapping a towel around myself.
“Yeah.”
He walked into the bathroom, giving me a hug, not caring I was still soaking wet. I hadn’t seen him since before Christmas because he’d stayed on the west coast with Emerson’s family after they’d finished their games, and only flown back yesterday.
He looked at me, giving me a professional level once over. “You look good. You’re standing on it alright. How’s it feeling?”
