Chapter 3 #2
Truth was, Sam didn’t have enough information to go on, but Angie seemed to know what the hell she was doing.
But what if he read her wrong? What if he was applying the filter of past Angie on present-day Angie?
Back then, she always applied herself to whatever she set her mind to and hit her marks a hundred percent of the time.
She’d aced her ACTs and had a permanent spot at the top of the honor roll.
She’d even tutored him so he could pass his classes, using oddball Star Wars references that had stuck.
He could still recall her face puckered in concentration and how Brianna used to rib her about it.
That was Brianna, though. Thoughtless, self-centered, sometimes cruel.
Why had Sam fallen for her again? Oh. Because he’d been sixteen and she’d been the hottest chick in high school.
Yeah, he’d also been a shallow jock back then.
Even if he had thought about Angie that way, she had lived next door to his billet family in Minnesota, and his billet brother, who had also been his teammate, had been into her.
Angie hadn’t returned the guy’s interest, but it didn’t matter.
She’d been so off-limits she might as well have lived on another planet—which was probably why Sam had never considered her more than a friend.
As for today’s Angie, he knew nothing about her.
Despite her being on the frosty side, he had to admit she projected a no-nonsense professional vibe he could respect.
But what if that was an act and she was a terrible therapist?
Or what if she was after revenge and set him way back in his rehab?
He wouldn’t know until he was farther into PT, and by then, it would be too late to change his outcome. Good-bye, season.
His phone chimed again.
Toby: Not bad to look at, that’s for sure, but she is going to hurt you, bro.
Why Toby’s comment irritated him, Sam couldn’t say. Before he could come up with a rejoinder, another text sounded.
Toby: May as well get at it while the getting’s good. If she’s going to put the hurt on you anyway, cop a feel or three. Plenty there to grab, bro. ??
The asshole added a winking emoji.
What the actual fuck? Sam could feel his temperature rising.
Sam: Dude, not cool. My livelihood depends on this woman.
Toby: I get that. You know PTs give massages, right? See if she’ll give you a rub-and-tug. Bet you could use one.
Normally, Sam would have some kind of comical comeback, but he was momentarily at a loss for words. The comment seemed so … juvenile. Crass. Disrespectful. His teammate’s joke pissed him the hell off, though he couldn’t say why. He used his need to ice as an excuse to end the conversation.
As he was levering himself from the couch to put the gel pack back into the freezer, his phone chimed again.
“Damn it, Toby. Leave me the fuck alone,” he growled. He didn’t recognize the number, but he did recognize who sent the message, and his heart took a weird skip. What the fuck was that about?
Angie: Time’s up for this round. Do you need a reminder in two hours?
“Why not?” he said to his phone. He was already bored with the video game, and he wasn’t much of a TV guy.
Sam: I’m sure I’ll need it.
Angie: Did you ice already?
Sam: Just finished. About to put the gel pack away.
She sent him a clapping hands emoji, and he felt a ridiculous surge of pride. Seriously? “You’re a doofus,” he told himself. But hey, now he had her phone number. It might have been a work phone, but who the hell cared? It was a number.
Sam: I only did it cuz you scare me.
Angie: I doubt anything scares you, Sam. I’ll text you in 2 hours.
Actually, she was dead wrong. He was scared.
Scared he’d lose this chance to stay in the NHL.
Scared he’d never earn the money that was going to take care of his dad’s medical needs and his brother’s education.
Scared he was about to drop the brass ring right after he’d snagged it and scared it was the last ring on the ride.
So why was he looking forward to two hours from now?
“You would not believe who walked into my clinic today.”
“Let’s see. Ashton Kutcher? Justin Bieber?”
“Seriously? Those are your go-tos?”
“I was binge-watching old episodes of Punk’d the other night, and Justin Bieber because … I’ve got nothing.”
“Sam Durbin,” Angie blurted.
The silence on the other end of Angie’s phone was her signal that her cousin had keeled over. “Jenna? Are you breathing? Talk to me.”
Silence.
“Jenn, unless I hear you speak in the next two seconds, I’m dialing 9-1-1.”
“Oh my God, Ange! The real question is can you breathe?” Before Angie could answer, her cousin babbled on. “Did you give his boys a swift kick? Maim him in other interesting ways?”
“No, he was already injured. It didn’t seem right to pile on. After he recovers, though …”
“Did he get hurt playing hockey?”
“Yep.” Angie wouldn’t say more, and Jenna knew better than to ask. She was in healthcare too.
“What are the chances you’d be the one who has to PT him back to health? How did he look?”
Perfect. Yummy. Climbable. “Didn’t really pay attention. I was too focused on his injury.”
“Yeah, right,” Jenna snorted. “The truth now.”
“He looked about the same.”
“Oh no. That’s bad,” Jenna sighed. “Are you stress-baking yet?”
Angie laughed. “I thought about it, but I’m the only one here to eat it, and my girlish figure does not need the extra poundage.”
“Are you going to be able to keep your hands off him, Ange?”
“Uh, no. I’m his PT, remember?”
“Fair. So how is the new job going? You’ve been at it what, two months now?”
“Almost three. Good, I guess. We’ve had a few people go on vacation and one who quit, so I’m picking up extra hours and extra patients.” Like Sam.
“And Trevor? How’s that going?”
“It’s … weird. How do you tell a guy who helped you get your dream job that you don’t want to go out with him? I mean, I’ve tried as nicely as I can, but he’s not taking the hint. He’s been ‘stopping by’ nearly every day to see how I’m doing.”
“You guys aren’t supposed to date, though, right? I mean, same organization and all that. That’s your out.”
“Kind of, although we’re not technically under the Blizzard umbrella, but it doesn’t keep me from wielding that excuse whenever he suggests we get drinks or coffee.
He swears it’s just ‘friendly,’ and that there’s nothing wrong with grabbing a drink with a co-worker.
Except I’m ninety-nine percent sure this isn’t just about a drink.
” Angie was caught in that uncomfortable space where she was grateful and beholden to the guy but wanted to keep him at arm’s length.
If she called him on his ulterior motives, not only would she come across as egotistical, but she could set herself up as a target.
“It’s possible I’m reading his smarmy smiles all wrong. ”
“You’re not, Ange. You have good instincts when it comes to men.”
“Ha! You mean like I did six years ago when my instincts went on hiatus?”
“Yeah, well, that’s different because it was Sam, and you never could resist him.
Besides, you were only twenty. Big difference.
You’re older now and so much wiser.” Jenna paused.
“You are, aren’t you? Tell me Sam is a mistake you’ll never make again.
And if you lose your mind and even remotely contemplate walking down that rose-petal-covered road of spiky things again, I’ll be there to slap some sense into you. You feel me?”
Angie barked a laugh. “Yes, I feel you. I can feel you all the way from Arizona.”
“Good. Glad we got that cleared up.”
They talked a bit longer, and then it was time to hang up. “I miss you, Jenn. And thanks for having my back.”
If only Jenna was in Colorado instead of Arizona and could really have her back. Angie had an uneasy feeling she was going to need it.
She opened her laptop and found video of Sam on the ice with the team, of him gliding effortlessly, of him shooting the puck and dancing around defensemen, of him laying a well-placed hip check on an opponent.
His feet were fleet, a blur as they moved across the ice, his stick an extension of his arm, his ability to pivot on a dime absolutely breathtaking.
This was what she loved about hockey and what she’d always loved about going to his games. She had gotten a thrill out of watching him play the game he lived for. This was what she needed to help him get back to.
For the next hour, she watched clip after clip of Sam, telling herself she was only doing it for research. Then she headed to the kitchen and pulled out her baking supplies.