Chapter 5
CHAPTER FIVE
XANDER
She’s staring like something might jump out and bite her, and I have to push my hands in my pockets so I don’t do something stupid like pull her against me and make her feel safe.
What the fuck is wrong with me? Suddenly, I’m offering to let someone talk about their feelings and I have the urge to hug them?
I don’t do that.
I certainly don’t talk about my feelings, and I only hug my family. This whole protective thing I have going on where Ivy’s concerned is weird.
And maybe it’s because I witnessed her own mother treat her like garbage, and I have a soft spot for the redhead, but it’s still odd for me.
Just like what she’s staring at is out of the ordinary.
“Xander?”
I clear my throat. “It’s a desk, Red. Figured you’d like to sit there to make your notes and stuff rather than sit on the floor.”
She turns to stare up at me, blinking those big blue eyes.
Turns out, I’m a sucker for those eyes and the freckles across her nose.
The freckles do something to me.
Maybe the head injury has totally changed my entire personality.
“You bought me a desk.”
“Yes.”
“Yesterday?”
“I made some calls.” I frown and walk over to take her bag from her, then set it on the desk that I arranged by the windows.
Ivy likes the view.
Jesus, what the fuck is going on with me?
“Um, thanks,” she murmurs and walks over to join me, setting her water bottle down. “That was nice of you.”
“You’re welcome. Does that mean that you won’t try to kill me today?”
She smirks and glances up at me with the humor back in her eyes, and it almost knocks me on my ass.
“Hell no. Come on, we have work to do.”
Turns out, I’m the only one with work to do, and she orders me around like a fucking drill sergeant.
But I don’t complain because my knee finally feels pretty decent. It doesn’t feel like it wants to give out on me, and for the next couple of hours, we work it pretty hard.
“You’re doing well. Next week, I want to get you on skates.”
My heart stutters.
“Next week?”
“Let me be clear,” she says, her voice stern. “Not to play or scrimmage. I want you to just glide on the ice, gently. I want you to only do the bare minimum, but it’ll help with some muscle memory.”
“I think there’s a rink in Bitterroot Valley.”
“There is,” she confirms. “We’ll have a field trip day.”
I grin and drink some more water, watching as she types away on her computer, sitting at the desk, looking like she belongs here.
Fuck me. This is going too far.
Luckily, the doorbell rings, and I leave Ivy to do her work as I go to answer the door. When I pull it open, Ava’s standing there, her eyes glassy, that lower lip quivering, and I immediately shift into big-brother mode.
“Who do I have to kill, cupcake?”
She huffs out a breath and pushes inside, storming past me.
“Aves?”
“I’m okay,” she says as she takes a deep breath, and I know that’s a crock of shit. She’s not okay. But this is my baby sister, and she has to build up to it. “Is Ivy still here? I see her truck outside.”
“We were just finishing up,” I reply. “Get something to drink and settle in, and I’ll wrap things up with Ivy.”
She nods, and I return to the gym, where Ivy is just packing her computer away.
“I’ll be here in the morning,” she says. “And I promise not to be late.”
“We can plan on later in the day, if that works better so you can rest.”
“No. We agreed to mornings.”
Pain in the ass.
“Ivy—”
“I have to be at the bar in the afternoon,” she says, interrupting me, and I can’t help the scowl that moves over my face. “It’s fine.”
I don’t believe her. I don’t think it’s fine at all, but it’s none of my business, and my sister needs me.
“In the morning, then,” I reply as we walk down the hall to the front door. “Have a good day, Red.”
She wrinkles her nose. “You always called me that in high school.”
I freeze. I did? I don’t remember that, and it fucking pisses me off. I want to remember what a teenage Ivy looked like, but when I try to find it in my mind, it’s simply not there.
“It fits you,” I reply.
“The hair.”
“The blush.”
She blinks, and that pretty blush moves up her chest and into her cheeks, and fuck if it isn’t adorable.
“This is just the day for me to be embarrassed,” she mutters.
“No way. I like it. It’s sexy. Don’t work too hard, Red.”
She nods and hops up into her truck, and I return to my sister, who’s sitting in the corner of the couch in the living room, no drink, just curled up looking sad.
And I fucking hate that.
“What’s going on?”
She shakes her head and takes a deep breath. “Chad wants to postpone the wedding again.”
“I thought you weren’t getting married until February.”
“That was the plan.” She nibbles her lip and stares outside.
“That still gives you plenty of time.”
“I told him the same thing. Honestly, I told him if he doesn’t want to get married to just say so, and we can call the whole thing off.
I don’t want to feel like I’m trapping him or begging him to marry me.
He proposed to me, not the other way around.
I’m not pregnant or anything. We don’t even live together, so there’s nothing holding him to me. ”
“What did he say to that?”
And when can I plant my fist in his face?
“He always rushes to assure me that he does want to get married, but timing is tough and blah blah blah. Excuses.”
“Aves, you’re not a doormat. You’re one of the most outspoken, confident, kick-ass people I know. I can’t believe you’re letting this jackass treat you like this. Kick him to the fucking curb and get on with your life.”
She blows out a gusty breath and tips her head back against the couch.
“I know that everyone thinks I’m crazy and that all of this is weird for me.”
“It is weird.”
“Yeah, well.”
“Do you really love him that much?”
She pauses, and that’s all I have to know.
“Ava—”
“I do love him.”
“Then why did you just stutter over the L-word?”
She laughs and then dissolves into a coughing fit because she choked on her own spit.
“I didn’t. I do love him, or I wouldn’t have agreed to marry him. He’s just not a romantic guy, and I don’t need a ton of romance. It’s unrealistic to expect hearts and flowers and kittens all the time.”
“You don’t have even one kitten.”
She reaches over to smack my arm. “Shut up. You know what I mean. He’s a good person.”
“That’s the only reason he’s still breathing on his own.”
Ava rolls her eyes. “You brothers might talk a big game, but it’s not like you’re going to beat him up or kill him.”
My smile is humorless. “Says you.”
“Yeah, yeah. I’m just frustrated, and I didn’t want to go home to wallow by myself.”
“You can come wallow here all you want.”
She takes my hand in hers and links our fingers. “I’m glad you’re home for a while. I hate that you got hurt, but I’m glad you’re here.”
“Me too. Tell me you’re not going to marry that moron.”
“I didn’t come here for this. And I’m going to get my way. February. I don’t want to wait longer than that, and I’m going to put my foot down.”
“Great. Put it down on his balls.”
She snorts. “I mean, one day I’d like children, so—”
“Christ, I don’t want to think about you and Chad having sex.”
“I mean, I could have sex with—”
“No one. You can have sex with no one. You and Harper are as pure as the driven snow.”
“Sure, if that snow is on the side of the highway, and maybe a little yellow.”
I glare at her. “I’m going to gag.”
“Not because of that. Jesus, you’re gross. Now I’m gonna gag.”
“Are you staying for dinner? Cassie filled the fridge with healthy meals.”
Ava wrinkles her nose. “Then no. I want carbs and sugar. And alcohol. Lots of it.”
“Fine, we can go out.”
“Won’t you get into trouble for cheating on your diet?”
With a laugh, I push off the couch and pull her with me. “By who exactly? I can have a cheat day. Carbs aren’t the devil.”
“They are for me. They stick to my ass.”
“We’re not talking about your ass.”
With Ava full of pasta and bread from Ciao, the Italian restaurant in Bitterroot Valley, and tucked safely in her house, I’ve just pulled into my garage when my phone pings with a text.
Cooper: What are you doing?
I walk into the house and grab an ice pack and water from the fridge, then cross to the living room and sit down.
Me: Just had dinner with my sister. What are you doing?
Cooper: I’m listening to Brit complain because she can’t cook for you on Wednesdays anymore.
Me: Aww. You miss me. How sweet.
Cooper: Fuck you, I didn’t say that.
I shake my head.
Me: Why don’t you guys come to Montana for a few days of vacation?
Cooper: We could do that. Brit’s been working her ass off. It would be good for her.
My best friend is so fucking head over heels in love with his wife that it almost makes my teeth ache from the sweetness. But I get it. Britney’s great. They’ve been married since our rookie season, and she loves to feed me.
Me: Just send me your flight info.
Cooper: She’ll be excited. Thanks, man.
I prop my leg up and drape the ice over my knee. It’s tender, but that’s to be expected after the exercise that Ivy’s putting me through every day.
Speaking of the pretty redhead, I pull up her contact and type out a text.
Me: So, who’s your favorite player again?
The bubbles bounce on the screen, and I sip my water, waiting.
Red: Who is this?
With a grin, I type my response.
Me: Come on. You can tell me.
Red: Will Montgomery.
I bark out a laugh.
Me: 1. That’s football. 2. He’s been retired for a while.
Red: I said what I said.
I like her.
And I hate that she’s busting her ass in that bar at night.
Me: Are you at Lucky’s?
Red: Goodnight, Xander.