Chapter 6 #2
“This is my kitchen,” I pointed out, moving past her to get a glass of water. “And it’s five fifteen. You’re never up this early.”
“Couldn’t sleep,” she muttered, focusing intently on the coffee maker. “Too many...thoughts.”
“About?”
She shot me a look. “Don’t play dumb, Stone. It doesn’t suit you.”
“So we’re back to Stone now?” I leaned against the counter, deliberately invading her space just a little. “Not ‘auditory chocolate’?”
“I have a meeting at seven,” she said, ignoring my question. “Dr. Barnes wants to discuss my research parameters after our call was...interrupted.”
“Sorry about that,” I said, not feeling sorry at all.
Kate finally looked at me properly, those green eyes assessing me. “No, you’re not.”
I shrugged. “Not really.”
Unexpectedly, she laughed.
Christ.
My body responded immediately to her laugh, and given my lack of a shirt and the thin material of my sweatpants, there was no hiding it.
Kate’s eyes drifted downward, then quickly back up. “Oh,” she breathed.
“Yeah. Oh.” I didn’t move away or try to hide my reaction. “Problem, Dr. Ellis?”
She bit her lower lip, and it took every ounce of self-control not to close the distance between us.
“Not a problem,” she said finally.
Kate’s phone alarm blared, breaking the moment. She jumped back as if burned.
“I have to get ready,” she said quickly, pouring her coffee into a travel mug and sloshing some over the side in her haste. “I should...yeah.”
She practically ran from the kitchen, leaving me half-hard and thoroughly confused about what the hell we were doing.
By the time I returned from physical therapy that afternoon, I’d come to a decision. Kate and I needed to establish some clear boundaries if we were going to survive living together. The texting had been one thing—anonymous, safe, with no real-world consequences.
But now? We need to clear the air.
I headed straight for the arena after therapy, earlier than necessary for the team meeting. The rink had always been my peace space—the one place where everything made sense.
I was in the locker room reviewing game footage on my tablet when Coach Martinez found me.
“Callahan,” he grunted, dropping onto the bench beside me. “Early as usual.”
I nodded in acknowledgment, pausing the video.
“How’s the knee?”
“Getting there,” I said, the standard response I gave everyone.
“Team needs you back, Stone. Management’s breathing down my neck about a timeline.”
I clenched my jaw. “Physical therapist says four weeks minimum.”
“We don’t have four weeks. Playoffs are looking shaky with Johnson out too.”
“I’m aware.” I kept my voice neutral, but irritation flared hot beneath my skin. “Rushing back won’t help if I blow out the knee completely.”
Coach sighed, rubbing his face. “I know. Just...keep me updated. Real updates, not the bullshit you feed the media.”
“Yes, sir.”
After he left, I sat in the empty locker room, frustration building. Four months of my life lost to this injury already. My career, my identity, hanging in the balance of millimeters of healing tissue.
And now Kate. The one good distraction I’d found had just become infinitely more complicated.
By the time the team meeting started, the rest of the guys had trickled in. Dennis dropped into the seat next to me, as he always did.
“You look like shit, Stone,” he greeted me cheerfully.
“Thanks.”
“Knee bothering you?”
I shook my head. “It’s fine.”
Dennis raised an eyebrow. “Then what’s with the extra scowl? You’re at level nine today. Usual morning scowl is only a six, maybe seven.”
The meeting began before I could answer, with Coach going over our upcoming road trip and strategy adjustments. I tried to focus, taking mechanical notes out of habit, but my mind kept drifting to Kate—the way her eyes had darkened when she’d noticed my body’s response to her this morning.
The more I wanted to change my mind, the more it diverted to her.
“Earth to Stone,” Dennis elbowed me as the guys started to disperse. “Meeting’s over. You didn’t hear a word, did you?”
“I heard enough,” I muttered.
Dennis studied me with uncharacteristic seriousness. “Okay, what’s going on? And don’t say ‘nothing’ because I’ve known you too long for that bullshit.”
I hesitated, then decided what the hell. “Found out something interesting about my new roommate yesterday.”
“The science chick? My cousin’s friend?” Dennis perked up immediately. “Don’t tell me you hooked up already. I had at least two weeks in the pool.”
“There’s a pool?”
“Focus, Stone. Did you or did you not finally get laid after your year-long drought?”
I glared at him. “No. And it wasn’t a year.”
“Eleven months,” Dennis corrected. “We keep track of these things. Team morale depends on you not being so fucking uptight.”
“Remind me why we’re friends?”
He grinned. “My charming personality. Now spill. What about the hot scientist?”
I sighed, lowering my voice even though we were alone. “Remember those texts I was getting? The wrong number that turned into...whatever.”
Dennis nodded eagerly. “Ah, yes you mentioned it. Wait what was the name, Desert Survivor. The mysterious woman who made Stone Callahan actually look at his phone without scowling.”
“It’s her.” I waited for his reaction.
It took exactly three seconds for Dennis to process, then he burst into laughter so loud it echoed through the empty room.
“Holy shit,” he wheezed. “Are you serious? The woman you’ve been sexting for weeks is living in your condo? That’s—” He wiped actual tears from his eyes. “That’s the best thing I’ve ever heard.”
“Glad you’re amused,” I said dryly.
“How did you find out? Wait, did she send you a dirty text while you were in the same room? Please tell me that’s what happened.”
I shook my head. “She gave me her number. I recognized it when I went to save it.”
“Fucking poetry,” Dennis declared. “This is fate, my friend. The universe threw you a perfect centering pass.”
“It’s not fate. It’s a statistical anomaly.”
“Now you sound like her.” He nudged me with his elbow. “So? What happened when you figured it out?”
I shrugged. “We talked about it.”
“Talked? That’s it?” Dennis looked deeply disappointed. “Stone, my man, when the universe hands you this kind of cosmic gift, you don’t talk about it.”
“It’s complicated. We barely know each other.”
“Bullshit. You’ve been texting for what, almost a month? That’s like a year in modern dating time.”
I couldn’t help the small smile that tugged at my lips. “She’s nothing like I expected.”
“Good different or bad different?”
I thought about Kate’s chaotic energy, her brilliant mind, the way she could switch from nervous rambling to razor-sharp wit in seconds.
“Good different,” I admitted. “But she’s also a complete disaster. You should see what she’s done to my apartment. There are Post-its everywhere. She labels my protein powder with weird facts about muscle cell regeneration.”
Dennis studied me for a moment, then broke into a slow grin. “Holy shit. You really like her.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“You didn’t have to. I’ve known you since juniors, Stone. I’ve seen you with women. You don’t talk about them like this.”
I stood up, uncomfortable with how easily he’d read me. “I need to get to PT.”
“Wait, wait,” Dennis caught my arm. “I should probably tell you something. About the sublet situation.”
I raised an eyebrow.
“I may have...orchestrated it. A little bit.”
“What do you mean?”
Dennis at least had the grace to look sheepish. He rubbed the back of his neck, avoiding my gaze. “Look, man, you’ve been...different since the injury. Quiet. Isolated. Even when you show up, it feels like you’re somewhere else entirely. I thought maybe having someone around would help.”
I folded my arms, still staring at him, waiting.
Dennis sighed. “Honestly, I figured you’d find out the truth pretty quickly and tell her to leave.
But then you didn’t. Every time I saw you, you seemed.
..better. Less bitter, more yourself again.
” He paused, glancing up at me. “I meant well, Stone. I just didn’t expect the universe to throw in all that texting nonsense. That part was all you two.”
“So you listed my apartment without telling me?” I asked incredulously.
“I knew you’d never go for it if I asked straight out,” he admitted.
“So yeah, I made up the thing about my cousin’s friend needing housing, thinking you’d be less suspicious about it.
Kate seemed nice, professional, totally harmless—a scientist, for god’s sake.
Exactly your type of roommate. At worst, I thought you’d get annoyed and send her packing. ”
Despite myself, I felt my irritation fading into something softer, almost appreciative. Dennis had crossed a line, sure, but underneath his meddling was genuine care.
“Don’t be mad,” Dennis said. “Look how well it turned out! The universe approved my plan and added its own special twist.”
I shook my head, fighting a reluctant grin. “You’re still an ass.”
He grinned, relieved. “Yeah, but I’m your ass. And you’re welcome.”
“I should make you move her into your place,” I muttered.
“Ah, but you won’t,” he said confidently. “Because you like having her there.”
I didn’t confirm or deny it, which Dennis correctly interpreted as admission as I headed home.