"Thank you."
"You're welcome." she huffed off, throwing her blonde hair behind her shoulder, knowing it wasn’t going to happen.
"So it's your turn to be the victim." I rubbed my hands together with glee as I stepped into the room.
My heart raced at the thought of being alone with Trip again. Stupid heart.
"What are we working on today?" Trip asked in a clipped tone.
My steps faltered at his tone. "I wanted to do the same treatment we did yesterday, add more reps in the weight room."
Trip nodded and took off his shirt without a word. My hands had a slight tremor to them when I placed the electro-stem pads on his shoulder. I waited for a smart-ass remark and was disappointed when Trip kept his mouth in a firm line.
"All righty then."
“So how do you feel about the scrimage game on Saturday?” I asked, wondering if I was imagining his cold attitude.
“Fine. I feel like we have a shot at winning. It will help gauge how the team will do during the real games.”
I nodded, waiting to see if he was going to add more or at least interject some personality. His answer reminded me of how he’d talk to the press after a bad win.
“Are you ready to do weights?”
Trip nodded and pulled his shirt back on, stalking toward the workout room.
“Do you think you’ll be able to drive your car home, or do we need to switch again?”
“I have a ride.”
I rolled my eyes and concentrated on putting his shoulder through its therapy. If he didn’t want to talk then I wasn’t going to force him.
I blew out a short breath when I climbed into my car, happy the session was over. As soon as I dismissed Trip from his appointment he put away the weights and flew out of the room. The whole PT session was emotionally draining and I was ready to go home.
The back of my head slammed against the headrest. As I watched Trip climb in a car with a beautiful blonde woman I wanted to scream and cry at the same time.
Was she his girlfriend? Was that why he was so distant during his session? Why was I overanalyzing this so much? We had one session before today. He owed me nothing.
"Aunt Kenna, I think Mommy is crazy."
I snorted and patted the couch where oddly enough I was trying not to act as crazy as Renee was. Since Norah had come to me and not Renee I guessed I was doing a somewhat more convincing job.
"She's not crazy. She's nervous because Brian will be here soon."
My heartbeat picked up. I paid close attention to make sure there wasn't a flutter.
Heart palpitations could be serious.
"Do you think he will be my daddy?"
Her innocent little squishy face gazed at me and I faltered on my answer. Renee and I begged my parents for advice and validation in the beginning of Norah's life. We were getting better at the everyday mundane things, but every once in a while Norah would stump one of us and we’d wish for my parents.
This was one of those times.
Reaching over, I pulled her on my lap and kissed the top of her head, breathing in her hair. Finding Renee hunched over the toilet was the greatest thing to happened to me. Not only did I find a best friend, I got Norah.
There was going to be a day when Renee would find someone and we wouldn’t be the three amigos anymore. Renee giving Brian this sliver of a chance showed me changes were eventually going to happen. With that in mind, I squeezed Norah before turning her so we were face to face when I answered her.
"Squish, I'm not sure how this is going to turn out. The only thing I can tell you for certain is you never truly know what's going to happen. Your mom has been having so much fun raising you she didn't want to waste time on anyone."
