Chapter 30 Parker
PARKER
“No,” I groan. “Go away.”
But no matter how much I complain, my cell keeps ringing.
Rolling onto my side, I blindly reach toward my nightstand and grab it.
I hold it in front of my face and crack one eye to see who it is.
I groan again when I find my big brother’s smug face filling the screen. And it only gets worse when I notice the time.
“This had better be an emergency,” I mutter sleepily the second I accept the call and press my cell to my ear.
“Ah, good morning to you too. I do love hearing my little sister’s happy voice first thing.”
“Morning? It’s practically still nighttime.”
He tsks on the other end. “The Vipers are letting you off early if they don’t already have you at the arena trying to fix up their wannabes.”
“Hey now, one of those wannabes is your best f-friend,” I stutter as a memory of the night before slams into me.
Fuck. I almost let Linc kiss me.
“Is everything okay?” he asks, sounding more concerned than I’d like him to.
The world thinks they know my big brother.
They all think he’s this powerful ice hockey player with serious anger issues.
But that is far from the truth. Underneath all the bravado is nothing but a teddy bear.
He loves with all his heart and cares so much more than he allows people to see.
I see, though. Even if he was a jerk when we were growing up, I never doubted his love for me.
We might argue and bicker, but we’re a team, and we always have been.
We spent years training together, trying to make the other a better player, and when I decided to go down the trainer route, he did everything he could to help me.
We’re not as close as we once were now that he’s playing in Seattle, but we try to catch up every week, and we do our best to squeeze in visits.
But with me now following the Vipers around the country on road games, it’s exponentially harder to make that happen.
At least we’ll have games against each other to look forward to.
Bandits and Vipers games are always fun with Rett and Linc going head-to-head with each other. The fans eat that shit up, and it always makes for an electric game.
They’ve already had a couple of matchups this season, but we have more to look forward to.
Shuffling, so I’m sitting against the headboard, I comb my fingers through my messy hair. I didn’t do anything with it after getting caught in the rain last night; I can only imagine what a disaster it is after tossing and turning all night.
“Yeah,” I force out. “Everything is fine, why?”
A beat of silence passes, and I panic that Linc has already told him I’m here.
My heart rate picks up and my lips part to say something when he beats me to it.
“Don’t fucking lie to me, PK.”
I swallow thickly and stare down at the sheets covering my legs, wishing that I could sink under them and put an end to all of this.
“Mom called me, asked me if I knew about your apartment,” Rett continues.
“I’m sorry,” I squeak.
“Why the fuck didn’t you call me?” he asks. The hurt in his voice makes my chest ache.
I fucking hate disappointing Rett. He’s always been my number-one supporter.
“You’ve got enough going on right now; you didn’t need my drama.”
“Fuck that, Parker. Your fucking home burned down. You could have been inside and—”
“But I wasn’t,” I quickly interrupt.
It’s something I’ve refused to allow myself to think about.
It’s bad enough knowing that my neighbors were at home and had to escape.
I’m just grateful that I had plans that meant I was away from it all.
I’m also really fucking grateful for Linc.
If I had taken that Uber home, what would I have done?
I know for a fact that I wouldn’t be here right now. Which, let’s be honest, probably wouldn’t be a bad thing.
It sure would have been better for my sanity.
“I’ve probably lost all my stuff, but I’ll get over that. It’s just stuff.”
“I know,” he says sadly. “But it still sucks, and you still should have called me.”
“I’m sorry. I was trying to be independent and—”
“You were too ashamed to confess about your insurance?”
“Goddamn it. Can’t Mom and Dad keep any secrets?” I curse.
“They’re worried about you. I am too.”
“I’m fine. I promise. I’m…” I look around the room, debating whether to tell Rett the truth or not.
No. It’s better for him not to know.
“I’m staying with a colleague. A friend,” I add quickly, which is possibly a lie. I have no idea what Linc and I are after last night. Colleagues might be more accurate now.
“Do you need anything? I can wire you money. I can organize a lease—”
“No, Rett. Thank you. I really appreciate the offer, but I’m really okay. I have some savings, and I’m just going to replace things as I need them.”
Pain lashes at my insides as I think of some of the sentimental things I’m probably never going to see again. But what I said before is true. It’s just stuff. I’m okay. Everyone who was in the building got out safely. That’s what really matters.
“I wish you weren’t so stubborn,” he mutters down the line.
“Nah, it would be boring if I was,” I tease. “Someone has got to keep you on your toes.”
“Have you met my coach?” he deadpans.
Yeah, I have. And for some reason, he fucking hates Rett. He loves what he can achieve on the ice, of course. But personality-wise, they clash big time.
“Ah, you love him.”
“He’s the reason I’m calling you so early. He’s dragging us in early for extra conditioning sessions.”
“Well, looking at your performance recently, I can understand why,” I deadpan.
“Hey now, we can’t all be top of the league.”
A proud smile pulls at my lips. “You never know, maybe one day you’ll land yourself a spot on a winning team.”
“Harsh, PK. Harsh. Listen, I gotta run before Coach has me doing even more fucking drills.”
I chuckle.
“Call me if you need anything.”
“I won’t, but thanks.”
“Pain in the ass,” he mutters.
“Love you, bro,” I tease.
“Love you too. Be good.”
He hangs up before I get a chance to point out that he’s the one who needs that warning.
Letting my cell drop to the bed, I sink back into the warm sheets and close my eyes.
I regret it the second I do because all I can see is Linc looming over me last night, his eyes darting between mine and my mouth.
“Fucking hell,” I mutter, opening my eyes and staring at the ceiling.
I’m achingly aware that I could accept help from Mom and Dad, or Rett, get myself a place and get the hell away from Linc. But…I don’t want to.
I don’t want to be bailed out because I screwed up. I want to figure this out on my own, even if it means I have to dance around Linc for the foreseeable future.
As I lie there staring at nothing, images I don’t need on a constant loop in my head, the sun begins to rise, making the edges of the curtains glow, and not long later, the sound of someone moving around floats through the air.
If I were being a grown-up about it, I’d roll out of bed and go and talk to him. But the thought of facing him after how close we were last night makes me want to vomit.
So instead of dealing with my issues head-on, I continue to lie in bed and pray that he leaves before my alarm goes off and I need to step out of the safety of my bedroom.
Luck is on my side today.
By the time I needed to leave for the arena for my first session, Linc had shut himself in his home gym and I was able to slip out unnoticed.
I wanted to believe that he was hiding from me too, but this is Linc we’re talking about.
He hasn’t hidden from a single thing in his entire life.
I meet a few people I recognize as I walk toward the trainers’ room, all of whom greet me with a smile, giving me some hope that my luck today might continue.
That all comes to an end when I push our office door open and I find Dillion Mitchell standing right there with a scowl on his face.
“Watch it,” he snaps, as if I could see through the wooden door to know he was there.
“Sorry,” I mutter, moving to the side so I’m not in his way.
Why I do it, I don’t know. I have just as much right to be standing in this office as he does.
My chin drops, but it’s too late; he’s already gone. Plus, there are other voices in the training room I just walked through to get in here, and the last thing I want to do is make a scene.
Instead, I silently fume as I put my things in my drawer and wake up my iPad to check over today’s schedule.
As I stare at the first name on the list, I’m taken back to last night, when I stumbled into the penthouse looking like a bedraggled cat.
I trust Linc, and despite not knowing the rest of the team as well, I trust his judgment. If he says the guys can keep my secret, then I trust that they will.
I’m distracted reading an article about new research in muscle recovery when there’s a rap on the door that scares the shit out of me.
“Shit. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,” Cole Hansley says with regret in his features as I fight to catch my breath.
“It’s okay. For someone so huge, you’d think I’d have heard you coming.”
He chuckles as he leans his shoulder against the doorframe.
“You ready, Donnelly?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be, Hansley,” I counter, hopping to my feet, ready to get to work.
But as I step closer to him, he doesn’t move like I was expecting him to.
Instead, he ducks his head and whispers, “We meant what we said last night. Where you’re currently sleeping is none of our business.
We respect you, Parker. More than that, we trust you, and we want to prove that you can do the same with us. ”
As I stare into his dark green eyes, my own begin to sting with emotion.
Holy shit. Do not cry in front of a player.
“T-thank you, Cole. I really appreciate that.”
He smiles softly at me.
“We hang out at Linc’s place often, but if you ever don’t want us there, all you have to do is say.”
“I don’t want to intrude on Linc’s life any more than I already am. I’ll be out of there as fast as possible so he can go back to entertaining bunnies every night of the week.”
Cole’s brow wrinkles and his lips part as if he’s about to say something, but he thinks better of it.
Instead, he pushes back to his full height, which, even without skates, is ridiculous at six foot four. I have to tip my head all the way back just to keep eye contact with him.
“He’s a good guy,” Cole finally says. “You’re lucky to have him in your corner.”
“I know. He might drive me crazy, but deep down, he’s got a heart of gold.”
Cole smiles at me again before spinning around and marching toward the empty trainer’s table. On the other side of the room, Mitchell is working with Isaac Hammond, our second-line goalie.
“So, what are we focusing on today? Where are you feeling it?”
“Hips,” Cole says with a wince. “It’s always the fucking hips.”
I spend just over an hour working with Cole, but as our time together starts coming to an end, dread begins to drip through my veins. The next person on my table is going to be Linc.
I’m not ready to see him, let alone have to touch him.
“You okay?” Cole asks as we finish up.
I hate that he can read something on my face.
“Yeah, I haven’t been sleeping great. The last week has been a lot.”
“I can imagine,” he says as he swings his legs over the side of the table. “Don’t put pressure on yourself to feel okay. New home, new job, putting up with us assholes. It’s a lot.”
I smile at him, grateful for his words and support. “Thank you.”
“Anytime. I’m much better with advice than the others.”
“I won’t mention you said that.”
“Probably best not to.” He laughs.
I turn my back to the room as I type up some notes, listening as Cole sorts himself out and Mitchell slips into the office.
“Are you going to be okay?” Cole asks, and I startle when I realize he’s closer than I was expecting.
“Yeah, of course. Why?” I spin around, confused by the question, but the second my eyes land on the man standing in the doorway, it clicks.
I might not have said anything to Cole, but it seems he might be a little more perceptive than I was expecting.
“Oh,” I breathe as Linc’s eyes hold mine.
My heart pounds and my hands begin to tremble.
But I refuse to cower to any man, even one I’d happily crawl to if the situation were different, so I straighten my spine and plaster a smile on my face.
“We’re all done here. I’ll see you tomorrow?” I say to Cole as I grab the antibacterial spray and begin wiping down the table.
“You got it.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Cole step up to Linc. He murmurs something I can’t hear before he walks away, leaving us alone.
“On the table. Let’s get you cleared for tomorrow’s game.”