25. Abnormal Rosie
Chapter twenty-five
Abnormal Rosie
Callum Morris, NPHL Network Analyst:"Ouch, Jeff. I think we can agree that Midwest swing sure brought the Titans back down to earth. After opening the season on a tear, Blackwater dropped two of three against quality Central opponents, exposing an offense that looked unusually flat. Carter Reynolds continues to produce, but I’m hearing whispers that the Titans captain isn't at one hundred percent. The Titans are still on top, but it’s one to watch.
After all, you and I know that good teams are measured by how they respond after a difficult week, not whether they have one. "
“This is some fucking bullshit.” Carter leans forward to look at the screen, replaying the same hit we’ve watched a dozen times. “That should’ve been a sin bin.”
“Time to take a break.” He doesn’t argue when I peel the remote from his hands. “Save it for Remy to go over with you.”
Two losses in three nights isn’t a stat any of us are used to.
The power plays went cold, passes died halfway up the ice, and every single mistake seemed to find its way directly into our net.
He sighs, dropping his head into his hands and scrubbing it. “I was a fucking mess.”
“Everyone has an off game,” I try, but it doesn’t sound right. Because Carter doesn’t have off games. Especially not two in a row. “Martin’s pushing you too hard.”
His passes were a fraction too late. Against Minnesota, he’d hesitated twice, favoring his left side long enough for the defense to close him down.
“Rosie’s right.” Jonas sets a beer down in front of Carter and flops down beside me, shoving his feet up onto the table. “It was an off run, Cart. We’re still in good shape.”
“But we won’t stay in good shape unless we maintain it,” Liam says tersely. Carter grunts in agreement.
“I don’t think that’s helping.” I try not to look at how closely Lauren is curled into Liam’s side. His arm is around her shoulders, fingers toying with her hair.
Welcome the fuck home.
Being on the road made it so much easier to avoid them. Liam looks my way, and I drop my eyes. But my pulse jumps. Beside me, Jonas chuckles. “Jumpy much?”
Jumpy is one way to describe it. Liam’s silent assessment makes my skin prickle uncomfortably. I rub my hands against my jeans. “Does anyone want dinner? I can get leftovers from the freezer.”
I have a list as long as my arm of shit to get done. The post-trip washing pile is already staring me down from the corner of the kitchen. Grocery order is on tomorrow’s list.
“I’ll help you,” Lauren offers.
She moves to stand, but Liam presses into her shoulder. “No. Let Ro do it.”
I pull a face as I head into the kitchen. That’s about as much resistance as I can muster.
“I want to help.” Lauren’s low words make all of us still. My head pops out of the fridge like a jack-in-the-box. She looks around. Even Carter is watching, and she flushes uncomfortably. “I’d like to be more involved in the household. I’ve been here a while now. It feels weird not to help.”
“Of course,” Liam says smoothly. “You don’t have to feel like a guest. Rosie?”
But I’m already moving, my fingers twisting as I step away from the counters.
“Hey,” Carter says sharply. “At least ask her first.”
Liam raises his eyebrows in response, and I summon a shrug. “Fine with me.”
“Why don’t you go and sit down?” Lauren gestures towards the alphas on the couch as she approaches me. “I noticed… well, you didn’t get much time with the pack while we were away.”
A nice way of saying that I spent every night in my room alone, while Carter holed himself up with management for crisis talks and Liam and Jonas played Pass the Lauren like it was their new favorite secret party game.
It didn’t escape my notice that every room I had was at least four doors away from theirs.
Strangely, I don’t feel much anger. Or hurt.
I don’t feel much at all, really. Little flashes, here and there. Knives that slide beneath the shield that Liam’s nailing into my skin three times a day. Even now, he’s studying me, looking for a sign that I’m due my next dose of Rosie-silencing.
I count backward in my head, turning to look at the clock. He hasn’t been to me since first thing this morning, and we’ve had a four-hour flight and a few hours either side on top.
But I don’t feel any sign of his grip on my body loosening. I’d even reacted to his request to hand over control of my kitchen—my space—like it was nothing.
That’s possibly something I should be worried about.
Lauren is still talking, and I force myself to pay attention at Liam’s glare. “It just doesn’t seem fair. I’m happy to do dinner tonight. Maybe we could look at… I don’t know. A cooking rota?”
She turns to look over her shoulder. “Or someone else could offer.”
Jonas is the only one close enough to hear the faint bite in her words. He places his hand over his chest, looking mournful. “I regret that apart from on the ice, I am very much just a pretty face.”
I wait for Lauren to smile. Or laugh. Maybe a flirtatious giggle. When she does neither, a faint flush spreads across his cheekbones. “I could probably make sandwiches?”
Ha. He burns toast.
She turns back to me, but I’m sure I catch a hint of a smirk in her upturned lips. She nudges me, and I shuffle forward. “Seriously. I have this. Go and relax.”
My gaze moves from Lauren to Liam, caught against something I don’t have full control over. He holds out his hand, breaking the weird stand off my body’s currently experiencing. “C’mere.”
“I’m heading for a shower.” Carter catches me on my way, pecking my lips before grabbing his duffel and trudging for the hall.
Jonas all but leaps up. “I’ll… help Lauren.”
Leaving me alone with Liam. I swallow as I come to a stop in front of him. “Um. Where should I—”
He tugs me down onto his lap, a flicker of irritation clear. “Will you stop acting like you’re not part of this pack? For God’s sake, Ro, just be normal.”
He keeps his voice low enough that Lauren and Jonas don’t pick it up. My stomach flips uncomfortably. “I am acting normal.”
As normal as I can be. He seems to realize my meaning at the same time. “Do you need me?”
Fuck, I hate the way he asks that. As if I’m the one demanding to be put in an increasingly smaller box. When I shake my head, he reaches around me for the discarded remote and settles back in the armchair, shifting me until my legs are piled across his lap. “Relax, then.”
He clicks onto the replay of a baseball game. I try to follow the figures on the screen, but my attention keeps drifting back to where Carter disappeared. “Do you think he’s overthinking this?”
“I think he’s angry at himself.” Liam swigs from his beer. “None of us played brilliantly. Coach was right to pull us up on it. My head wasn’t in that Chicago game whatsoever.”
His tone makes it clear who he blames for that. “I said I was sorry.”
When he gives me his full attention, I lean back.
His hand spreads over my back, pushing my body closer to his as he inhales in frustration.
“See? This is what I mean. You’re part of this pack.
Stop acting like we’re looking for an excuse to push you out.
Haven’t I shown you what I’ll do to keep you here?
Isn’t it better, without you and Lauren at each other’s throats? ”
When he tucks my head into his shoulder, I follow without arguing.
I kind of prefer it this way. His voice rumbles beneath me, and I close my eyes, trying to find comfort in it.
“You really disappointed me in Chicago. It made me feel like you don’t want to be a part of this pack anymore.
It fucking hurt, Ro. I thought we were in this together. ”
“That’s not true,” I whisper. My eyes move to the hall again. “I love this pack.”
“Then start acting like it.” His hand moves up and down my arm, petting like I’m a cat and not an omega on the verge of a breakdown. “I’m not going to tell Cart what happened with those assholes. But I feel like you need more structure. You’re still too unsettled.”
It’s you. My mouth tries to form the words. But the bark is woven so heavily into my skin that I can’t even voice that much. I need you to stop this.
He sighs, his hand moving to the nape of my neck.
“My dad called before we left Minnesota. He’s traveling up after the All-Star.
I had a chat with him—not about pack stuff, but a little of what’s going on.
He knows this stuff, you know? Because of my mom and…
well, you know. He’s been through this, and they made it work. ”
“Your family is coming here?” I pull back. “To Blackwater?”
“Yeah.” He doesn’t look too pleased about it. “My dad can be a handful, but I don’t think I can avoid it. And I’d like to see my mom.”
“I’ll put the date on the board once you know. I’d like to meet them.” For once it’s nothing but honesty that flows from my mouth.
“Yeah?” He glances at me, his face softening. “I’ll tell him. Can’t get out of it once it’s on the board. It’s as good as a NPHL contract.”
The gentle teasing makes some of the numbness recede. My smile feels close to genuine. “Don’t mock my board. It works.”
“I wouldn’t dare.” He nudges the remote into my hands. “Put on one of those weird eighties movies you like. I can cope with it until dinner.”
“I think you mean cult classics.”
“Pick one before I change my mind.”
It feels… normal.
Maybe we can make this work after all. I press my lips to his cheek instinctively, and he turns, catching my lips instead. He deepens the kiss, his hand at my nape, and a soft, small noise sounds in my throat.
He pulls back at once. “What was that?”
“Nothing.” I swallow. “I’m going to go and unpack. Get ahead of the washing, you know?”
I slide from his lap before he can stop me. Passing the kitchen, I look up to see Lauren watching me. Her eyes are narrowed, but she doesn’t look angry.
More like… confused.
That makes two of us.
I can’t get out of there fast enough.
I’m not scared of him.
I’m not.