Chapter 31 Parker
PARKER
“This is even more depressing than the last place, and that’s really saying something,” I muse as Casey, Freya and I stand in the living room of yet another awful apartment.
We’ve seen three this afternoon, and they’ve gotten increasingly worse.
I swear that the damp scent has permeated my skin already.
“We’re not looking at the rest of it. I refuse to allow either of you to live in any of the places we’ve seen today,” Casey states before marching toward the beaten-up front door. “Let’s go and get day drunk.”
Freya and I look at each other before racing after her.
Cocktails are essential at this point.
It’s been a week since the incident in Linc’s room, and I’m doing my best to put it behind me and focus on my future.
Things between us have been…awkward and strained.
If he hasn’t already left for the arena before I emerge from my room, then he’s in his room or his home gym. If he’s back when I get home at night, I mumble some kind of excuse and hide in my bedroom.
The only time we properly spend together is when he’s in the trainers’ room.
Thankfully, his groin has healed up nicely and I was able to remove his name from the injury report that next morning.
It’s meant fewer one-on-one sessions, which is a relief.
I’m not sure I could cope with another hour like we had the morning after the night before.
It was awkward as hell. The air between us was charged, and there were many questions we wanted to ask, but as the session came to an end, everything went unsaid.
It still does now, and I’m happy to leave it that way.
He said more than enough that night. I don’t need to hear anything else.
It’ll only make it all worse. The memories are more than enough.
He took to the ice on his first game back with vigor, and as well as ensuring Handsy had another shutout game, he added two goals to our score, helping us win the game three to zero.
Our winning streak has continued since, increasing our lead and clinching a playoff spot almost inevitable at this point.
The guys are on fire. They’re healthy, and everything is looking fantastic.
I wish I could say the same for Rett and the Bandits, but they’re still struggling, and Rett is getting increasingly frustrated.
With each day that passes, I love my job even more. The guys on my treatment list are incredible; they treat me with respect, they listen, and they embrace everything I throw at them.
When we’re at the arena, Brooke and I almost always meet for lunch, whether that’s in the on-site restaurant or heading out to get a breather. Our friendship is growing, and I couldn’t be more grateful to have another fierce woman in my corner.
“I’m destined to live with my parents for the rest of my life now, aren’t I?” Freya complains after we’ve had a round of strawberry daiquiris delivered to our table at a bar a little down from the building we just ran from.
“Absolutely not,” Casey assures her.
She groans and takes a large sip of her drink.
Freya grew up in the house next door to Casey.
She used to babysit for Casey, and me, if I was hanging out, when we were younger.
She moved to Las Vegas after graduating from college and worked in a cocktail bar for a while before falling head over heels in love with a musician.
He swept her off her feet and she followed him everywhere—until a couple of months ago, when he decided that he was done with her and she was forced to return home with a broken heart.
She’s been back at her parents’ ever since, trying to figure out what to do with her life now.
I feel for her. She gave up everything to be with that asshole and he just discarded her like a piece of trash. It’s just more proof that men can’t be trusted. And apparently, it’s not just professional athletes who are happy to rip out our hearts and stomp on them until they’re unrecognizable.
Freya continues talking about job interviews she’s had, all of which have been a bust. The problem seems to be that she doesn’t have a direction. She’s lost at sea without a map, and I fear that until she figures out which way she wants to go, nothing is going to change.
My cell buzzes on the table, and my eyes drop to find a Tinder notification.
“I thought you’d sworn off men,” Casey pipes up.
I confessed to her about my failed attempt to meet Henry last week and told her I was done.
While I might have been happy to tell her about ditching my hookup at the last minute, I kept what happened back at the apartment to myself. No one needs to know about that. Hell, I wish I didn’t.
Every time I allow myself to remember, I get all hot and this fluttery feeling starts up in my stomach. The same thing happens when I see him. But much like everything else I don’t want to think about, I keep trying to shove it all into a box and close the lid.
I did it all those years ago; I should be able to do it again, right?
“I have. But it’s fun seeing all the disappointments I’m not going to waste my time on.”
Picking up my cell, I open the app and stare at the profile picture of the guy I’ve been matched with.
“He’s hot,” Freya says, leaning over the table to look.
“If you’re interested, I’m sure I can hook you up.”
“Absolutely not,” she states. “I’m with you. Happy to window shop, but I’m not buying anything. Hell, I’m not even trying anything on.”
“I’d love to try something on,” I complain, slumping in my seat.
“So go and do it. Women can have one-night stands too,” Freya says innocently.
Casey turns to look at me, but I don’t return her attention.
“I know. Trust me, I’ve had my fair share. I just…I don’t know. It’s not as appealing as it once was.”
“I guess when you can get a battery-operated dick to do the job just as well, what’s the point?”
“Oh no,” Casey pipes up. “I know neither of you wants to hear this, but the right man blows any toy out of the water.”
“Really?” I groan. “Are you really going to rub it in our noses like that?”
Casey shrugs. “I’m just saying. It’s worth kissing a few frogs to find Prince Charming.”
I can’t help but giggle.
“What?” Casey asks.
“I’m sorry. It’s just…the image of Kodie as Prince Charming that popped into my head. Please, can you buy him a crown and get him to wear it to work one day?”
Casey rolls her eyes. “As if he’d ever play along with something like that.”
“Bet he would if you asked. He’d stop the world spinning if you wanted him to.”
She gets this faraway look as she thinks about him.
“Ugh, you’re so lovesick. It’s disgusting.”
“Jealousy isn’t a good look on you, Donnelly.”
“I just want the regular orgasms. I’m not interested in the rest.”
“Shame. It’s fun.”
The conversation turns to the Vipers’ upcoming games. We’ve got a travel day tomorrow and then two home games at the end of this week.
I knew going into this role that it was going to be full on, but I don’t think I fully comprehended just how exhausting it was all going to be.
Worth it, though. So worth it.
Watching the guys excel and knowing that I had a hand in it...it blows my mind.
I’m so fucking proud of myself, I could cry every time I step up to the ice and watch them.
“Is it everything you hoped it would be?” Freya asks, dragging me from my thoughts.
“Mostly, yeah. I love being at the arena and around the guys.”
“All of them?” Casey teases.
“Most of them,” I quip back. “They’re awesome. They’ve formed this little family. They look after each other, pick each other up when one is struggling. It’s…it’s a privilege getting to experience it.”
“You’re more than that now. You’re a part of it. They’d go to war for you, too, from what I’m hearing,” Casey explains.
“And what are you hearing?”
“That they love you. Those who aren’t on your list are pissed that they’re stuck with Dillion.”
I can’t help but laugh. “What?”
“Keep this between us, but Dillion is an asshole.”
“That’s not a secret. The guys don’t like him either. Is he giving you a hard time?”
“Nothing I can’t handle,” I muse. I expected some kickback from starting this role, and if Dillion Mitchell is the worst I have to deal with, then I’ll take that.
“Proud of you, P,” Casey says, lifting her almost-empty glass in the air for a toast. “To badass women who don’t take shit from any man.”
We spend over an hour catching each other up on our lives and laughing until our stomachs hurt.
When Casey announces that she needs to get back, we all call cars and head outside.
The sun has begun to descend, and it casts a beautiful golden light over the city I love so much.
As much as I want to travel and experience a bit of the world, I have no doubt that I’ll always end up back here. LA is where my heart lies, and it always will.
With a nice buzz from the cocktails, I confirm Linc’s address with my Uber driver and sit back and relax.
I’m feeling lighter after my afternoon. I love the guys, but there is nothing like setting the world to rights with my girls.
I make a note to try to organize a night out with Brooke and Leah, too, when we have a few days at home, and then climb out of the car once we get to Linc’s building.
The car disappears the second I close the door, leaving me standing on the sidewalk and gazing up at the impressive building.
I’ve barely seen him this week; he’s been keeping his distance as much as I have. He probably won’t even be up there, instead using his night off to enjoy a bunny or two.
Something bitter bubbles up within me. But as fast as I try to shove it down, images of what he might be doing with someone else continue to pop up.
There might not have been any evidence of him hooking up with a woman since I moved in, but I know Linc better than that.
He’ll have just been doing it discreetly.
I should be grateful that he’s being considerate and not banging his headboard against the wall we share every night.
But I’m not sure I am. Maybe evidence of him putting that night behind him is what I need to be able to do the same.
My cell pings as I wait for the elevator, and when I pull it free, I find another Tinder match.
The guy is more my type than the previous one, which immediately makes me uninterested. My type of men might be hot, but previous experience has taught me that they’re only goal in life is to fuck and break hearts.
No, thank you very much.
I swipe right as I step into the elevator and close the app down as fast.
Any hopes I’d had of Linc being out and me having a quiet evening to myself are squashed long before the elevator doors open, because I can hear them already.
And when I step out, the shouting and laughing only get louder.
As I walk toward the living room to see what’s going on, my eyes almost bug out of my head.
“What on Earth…”