“Good morning to you too,” Penny said, skipping down the steps of her building toward him.
He waved, too busy finishing his grizzly-like yawn. “Your happy place wouldn’t happen to consist of some very fluffy pillows would it?”
“Unfortunately, no. It can come with coffee if you need a pick-me-up.”
He finally looked at her, his gaze falling from her face to the snug purple shorts she’d worn to jog with him. His lips curved up. “No. I’m awake now.”
She grinned and grabbed his hand. “Good. Let’s go.”
Penny led Callen to roof of her apartment building, unlocking the door. She held it open and motioned him on. “Welcome to my happy place.”
Callen walked out onto the roof, the garden a bright green jungle compared to the concrete paradise that surround everything else. “Oh, wow.”
Penny stepped in front of him, walking through the long rows of plants. “This way.”
She brought him around to her favorite spot under the arch that now bloomed beautifully. Callen reached over and touched each of the flowers, making his way toward her, until finally he came to the pot of white daisies. He glanced over his shoulder at her. “Well, at least now I know where you get them.”
He came to her, his hand going directly to her hair and then her face. “Why the garden? Why is this your happy place?”
She’d never told anyone why. She would tell him, though. “Sit down.”
They took a seat under the arch where they could see nothing but the green life surrounding them. “My grandmother had a garden at our home in Kansas. I helped her every single day of my childhood. We spent hours digging in the dirt, watering the plants, and moving them in and out of the greenhouse. During those hours, we talked. It was something I needed. I had a lot of things I’d kept to myself for a very long time, and talking about them helped them go away.”
Penny turned toward him, crossing her legs to face him.
“The garden became a safe place where I could let go of the things that made me sad or angry. It’s where I come now to sit quietly and clear my mind of everything that threatens to steal my happiness. It’s where I come to remember Gran.”
His brows knotted together. “When did you lose her?”
Penny bit her lip. She hated thinking about it. “It’s been over a year now.”
Callen quickly put two and two together. “That’s when you came to New York.”
Penny nodded. “There was nothing left for me in Kansas.”
There was so much more to it than losing Gran, but she couldn’t make the confession leave her lips. Callen looked around, smiling up at the many colorful blooms that hung down over them. “I was scared to come to New York,” he said absently, reaching over to pull one of the roses to his nose.
“So was I.”
He turned back to her. “My bad game streak started when I got a reminder email that my contract was due to end at the end of the season. I knew that already, but something about reading it triggered something in my head.”
“Do you know why?”
“I love it here. Coming here was scary, but I’ve found something here that I’ve never had before. Making friends and opening up to people has always been difficult for me. Henrik, Austin, and Sam didn’t give me a choice. They took me in, and now I don’t want to leave.”
Penny pressed her lips together. “So, we just need to get you to stop worrying about leaving.”
“You make it sound so easy.”
Penny scooted up onto her knees. “We need to live in the moment.”
“We?”
“Yes. I’m going to help you, aren’t I? First we need to find you a happy place, somewhere you can go to clear your head.”
Callen leaned over to peek down at her purple shorts. “Well, if the point is to clear my head of any thoughts, this garden with you isn’t the place.”
Penny playfully slapped his shoulder. “Would you focus?”
“I am. Trust me.”
Penny laughed. “On the plan. Not me.”
Callen rolled his eyes, but smiled. “Fine. But it is true.”
“Then where? Where is the one place you can go to relax and be at peace without any distractions?”
Callen thought for a moment, his smile turning from playful to nostalgic. “The creek behind the barn at my house in Anahim. I’d go there every day to skate, and I would stay there for hours by myself.”
“My original happy place was my grandmother’s garden in Wichita. Obviously, I can’t go back there anytime I want, so I made this place. Where in Manhattan can you go that will remind you of that frozen creek?”
“It would have to be the rink. But I’ve tried that.”
“You tried to relax, or did you try to work your worries away?”
Callen’s eyes narrowed. “How do you know that?”
Penny grinned. “I’ve been where you are, Callen. I tried running away from my problems, working them away, but it never helped.”
“So, you want to do what? Go to the rink and skate while I tell you all my secrets?”
Penny grabbed his hands. “Pretty much. Are you up for it?”
“Okay. Under one condition.”
Penny tensed. What would he want? Hopefully he didn’t want her to spill any of her secrets. She couldn’t do that. She would take them to the grave now if it meant keeping Callen. “What?”
He leaned over, his voice barely a whisper in her ear. “Keep the shorts on.”
Chapter Eleven
CALLEN’S SKATING LESSON
The practice facility was open for skating. There were two rinks, one of which opened to the public for free skating. Callen talked to the guy at the desk and got him to let them use the smaller, players-only rink they used for skills practice. Callen set his skates down on the bench and started taking off his shoes. Penny stood at the wall, staring out at the empty rink. She’d changed out of her torturous, purple shorts in preparation for the chill. The dark jeans had a tear maybe an inch beneath her ass on the left leg, along with a variety of other places that revealed enough skin to make him want to forget about this happy place. He could find another one. Maybe in his bed with her. Those jeans on his floor.
She turned around, her arms spread out across the wall behind her. She smiled like she could read his mind. “I want to watch you skate.”
He tugged on one of the laces. “You’ve seen me skate.”
“Not like this. Up close. You without all the equipment on.”
He raised a brow. Maybe she could read his mind. Or maybe they wanted the same thing. He hoped so. “Go tell Anthony your size so he can get you some skates.”
Penny glanced around nervously, wringing her finger in the hem of her coat. “I can’t skate. I thought you knew that.”
Callen stood. “Everyone can skate. You just haven’t tried.”
Her eyes were wide with a hint of fear. “I think you might be giving me too much credit. There are no frozen ponds in Kansas. At least none you’d want to step out on.”
“We’ll see.” He nodded back toward the entrance. “Go get some skates.”
She disappeared around the corner, and he took the opportunity to go out on the ice. It was smooth. Nothing like the choppy ice of the creek where he spent his childhood. Still, he took his time. He didn’t push himself like he did that day he ended up with an IV in his arm. He glided across the ice, letting his momentum push him wherever it wanted to go. He closed his eyes, remembering the thick tree line that shadowed the bank of the creek. The snow that constantly lingered along the branches and hid the grass. There wasn’t a day he couldn’t see his breath. The whistle of the wind the only sound for miles.
A different sound caught his attention. A better sound. Penny stood at the entrance to the rink, skates on, completely terrified. She’d tripped and fallen into the wall. “Wait for me,” he yelled to her, skating to the entrance. “Here, take my hand, sweetie.”
Penny glanced up, her expression flash
ing from frightened to surprised. Yeah, he’d called her sweetie, and she obviously noticed. He couldn’t take it back it now. And he wouldn’t. She grabbed his hand.
“Callen…I’m a little nervous.”
“I won’t let you fall.”
“Too late.”
She meant the wall. She fell against the wall trying to stand in the skates. She didn’t mean fall for him.
Right?
“Come on.” He touched the end of her hair, tugging it lightly. “Follow me.”
He’d fallen for her, though. When? He had no idea. It had been an innocent crush the last he remembered. It blurred together now. The first day he saw her—bright eyed and smiling across the counter at him. Now her gaze was directed down at her feet, her lips tight as she concentrated on every single minute movement. He didn’t know when it happened, but it did. “Eyes on me.” He guided her closer to him.
So blue. He could see the hint of fear in them, and he wondered if she saw it in his own. “Do you trust me?”
She let out a nervous laugh, glancing around at the ice. “Do I have a choice at this point?”
He grinned and started skating backward, holding onto her waist. The movement was quick. It sent them gliding across the ice to the middle of the rink. Penny jerked in a breath, her hands clamping around his biceps. Exactly the reaction he’d hoped for. He pulled her even closer. “I’ve got you.”
Her knees shook, so he wrapped his arm all the way around her. His lips grazed the top of her cheek. “You don’t have to be so nervous.”
Her hand left his arm, her fingers pressing against his chest. She played with one of the buttons on his shirt then looked up at him. “Yes, I do.”
His gaze dropped down to her lips. It would be easy to kiss her. Simple and perfect. He imagined it a lot lately. It was a constant vision in his dreams. He touched the corner of her mouth with his fingertips. The back of his skate dropped into a divot on the ice. His balance wavered. He could have corrected himself, but Penny instantly lost her balance, and it was too late. They both hit the ice. She went down first on her back. “Ow.”
Callen fell face first on top of her. “Shit.”
Penny’s knee went straight into his crotch. He rolled off her and turned onto his stomach. She grabbed his arm. “Oh, my gosh. Are you okay?”
Callen cupped himself because he didn’t know what else to do to try to stop the searing pain in his groin. “Man down. Definitely a man down.”
Penny crawled up to her knees, her hands greedily wrapped around his arm. “I’m so sorry.”
“Not your fault.” He tried to catch his breath as the pain refused to ease. “I’m the one who fell.”
He tried to push himself up, but decided to give it another minute. Penny touched his knee. “Baby—”
Those eyes were on him. On his lips. Her fingers went to his stomach. She parted her lips to speak, but he beat her to it. Suddenly the pain didn’t feel as bad anymore. “Did you just call me…baby?”
Her gaze fell to the ice as a bashful smile spread across her lips. The door to the rink clang shut, and they both glanced up. Penny gasped. “Aren’t those your friends?”
It was Sam and Drew. Sam worked out with Drew on his off days. The benefits of having a boyfriend in the NHL. Drew spotted them first and immediately pointed them out to Sam. Callen quickly jumped up on his skates, his groin still screaming at him. He helped Penny up and skated her over to the wall where she grabbed onto the side. “Hey, guys,” Callen said, trying to sound friendly and not at all conspicuous.
They would know Penny wasn’t some relaxation therapist. They knew him too well to believe such lies. But he knew them well enough, especially Sam, to know they wouldn’t call him out on it in front of her. Sam set his skates down on the bench. “Hey. What are you guys doing here?”
Penny looked at him, and he shrugged. “Getting my mind off the game for a while. You?”
Sam grinned. “The same.”
Drew, who had jerked on his skates in a rush, stood and smiled at Penny. “You look scared. Is this your first time?”
Penny held onto the wall as if it was a life preserver. “That obvious, huh?”
Drew came out onto the ice and skated around Callen to Penny. He took her hand, but Penny continued her death grip on the wall. “C’mon, I promise I’m a better teacher than this guy. I teach kids to skate for a living, and I train that cute guy over there.”
Penny didn’t look convinced. She glanced at Callen. He wanted to say no. He wanted to be the one to teach her, but Drew was right. He had no idea what he was doing. “He is pretty good. He taught Magnolia to skate in a week.”
“And at no time during her lessons did she end up on her ass,” Drew added, chuckling at the sight of the ice still stuck to Penny’s backside.
Penny finally released her hold on the wall. “Okay.”
Drew took her hands and skated backward then he smiled at Callen. “I’ll return her safely to you in a few minutes.”
Callen turned around and watched as Drew took Penny to the middle of the ice. She already looked more balanced and less scared than she’d been with him. Sam nudged his elbow. “Well, don’t you look jealous.”
Callen whipped around and glared at him. “I’m not jealous of your boyfriend.”
Sam leaned down on the rail. “Are skating dates something you normally do with your relaxation therapist?”
Callen pressed his lips together. “It’s not a date. It’s part of the process. She wanted to know where I felt most at home. The rink is that place for me.”
Drew stood next to Penny, holding her hand, showing her how to properly bend her knees and use her skate to push off. He kept her steady and let her try it. She propelled herself forward, keeping her balance. She skated free of Drew’s hold for about five feet before he grabbed her again. She spun around, smiling triumphantly at him. “I did it,” she yelled, waving her hands in the air.
Sam laughed next to him. “Not a date, my ass.”
Callen kept his features straight, crossing his arms over his chest, but then he grinned. “That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.”
Sam tapped his fingers along the top of the wall, watching as Drew let Penny skate down the ice. Her laughter echoed as she let go of Drew’s hand and skated ten feet to the wall by herself. “We’ll see about that.”
Callen didn’t know what he meant by that, but in that moment, he didn’t care. Penny was there with him, having fun with his friends. It was his happy place, and for the first time in a long time, the tension in his shoulders was gone, and the thoughts that cycled through his mind were set on pause. He’d tell them eventually, but right now…he wanted this for a little longer.
Chapter Twelve
CALLEN’S NEW MOVES
Callen put in a solid effort at practice, sticking with Henrik to get in a few extra shot drills. Practice at the Staples Center in Los Angeles was no different than in Tarrytown, except maybe the weather outside. After practice, they all cleaned up and went out for dinner as a team. Henrik was on one of his team bonding kicks again. Callen didn’t mind it. He enjoyed hanging out with the guys on the road. If things didn’t turn around for him, this might be the last road trip he went on with his friends.
After dinner, he went back to his hotel room. Normally, he bunked with Sam on the road, but teammate bonding week meant roommate switch up. Henrik stood at the mirror in his room, straightening his tie. Callen threw himself on the bed and leaned back into the mountain of pillows. “Where are you going, Bigshot?”
Henrik glanced over his shoulder. “I have an interview with ESPN.”
“Fancy.”
Henrik snorted. “What are you doing tonight?”
Callen snuggled a little deeper into his pillows and grabbed the remote to turn on the television. “You’re looking at it.”
Henrik turned around and grabbed his suit jacket off the back of the chair. “You’re not going to call your relaxation therapist?”
/> He made sure to use very snarky finger quotes around the title. Callen must have made a face, because Henrik laughed. “You know Sam told us about your little skating adventure yesterday, right?”
Callen kept his eyes on the television. “Going to the rink was part of the process. I told him that, and I’ll tell you that.”
“Have you ever noticed how red his ears get when he lies?”
Callen sat up in the bed to see Austin standing in the doorway that connected their rooms. Austin sprinted toward his bed and took a flying nose dive, landing his gigantic frame straight on top of Callen’s unsuspecting spleen. “Shit, Blakie.” Callen groaned and tried to push Austin off him. “Are you trying to put me on the injured list?”
“Maybe.” Austin rolled off, but his glare was as menacing as ever. “If you don’t stop bullshitting us with this therapist crap. That girl is a waitress.”
Callen’s head popped up. “How do you know that?”
“Because I remember her. When I saw her at the bridal salon the other day, I knew she looked familiar, and then it came to me. The braids. The flowers in her hair. She waited on me at that little Bistro place down by your apartment.”
Callen twisted his lips together as Henrik sat on the edge of the bed. “You like this girl.”
Callen didn’t say anything. Austin gave him some friendly encouragement with a pillow upside the head. “Just say it, Cali. We’re your best friends. You’re not admitting to murder, for Christ’s sake.”
Callen threw the pillow back at Austin. “Fine. She isn’t my relaxation therapist. She’s a waitress at the Midtown Bistro, and I like her.”
Henrik grinned, pleased. “So, what’s the deal? You two dating? Sleeping together?”
Again, Callen didn’t answer, so Henrik continued. “Are you playing Barbies and knitting sweaters together?”
Callen rolled his eyes. “We’ve just been hanging out.”
The Girl With Daisies (Midtown Brotherhood #3) Page 10
