by Kat Mizera
He reached for her hand, holding it between both of his. “I panicked because Sergei and Dani were coming, and I didn’t know how I would handle everyone thinking we were a couple. I never meant to hurt you. Forgive me for being an immature, selfish prick?”
“Always.” She smiled at him but something in her gut shifted painfully. She was so full of shit and wondered if he could tell, if he knew she was head-over-heels in love with him.
She had to be careful. Becoming friends again was dangerous to her emotional state of mind, but without expressing her feelings for him, it made no sense that she wouldn’t want to bury the hatchet, so to speak.
Fuck. She was too loopy for anything this serious and gave in to the urge to rest her eyes. She’d revisit this when she wasn’t so drugged up.
The next time she opened her eyes, Aaron was eating something that made her empty stomach growl with longing.
“What is that?” she murmured.
“Want a bite?” He held out what looked like a chicken sandwich of some kind and she opened her mouth without really thinking about it.
“Mmm.” She chewed happily. “Can I have more?”
He hesitated. “I don’t know if you’re supposed to eat regular food yet?”
She shrugged. “I don’t get all queasy from anesthesia. I can eat and I’m not under any restrictions.”
“Sure, then finish it.” He grabbed a few napkins and put them across her lap as she adjusted the bed so she was sitting up more.
“Thanks.” She finished what was left of his sandwich in no time flat, amazed at how hungry she was. “That was so good. Sorry I stole your lunch.”
He grinned. “No worries. I can get more. You look like you’re feeling better.”
“Yes, much.” She wiped her mouth. “So, tell me what happened at the clinic? My memory is kind of foggy.”
“Well, Merlin is temporarily living at my apartment.”
Her eyes widened. “You took Merlin? You have to be careful. A macaw can bite right down to the bone and—”
“We seem to be getting along just fine, but I’m careful. I don’t mess with him too much and he tells me to go fuck myself regularly.”
She snickered. “He has a terrible mouth.”
“He woke me up singing the same two lines from ‘You Are My Sunshine’ this morning.”
“He also sings ‘Singing in the Rain,’ which should be delightful at five in the morning.”
“Thanks. I hope Dr. Harjo can find him another home soon. I can’t take care of a bird like that with my travel schedule.”
She nodded. “Yeah, macaws can’t be left for weeks at a time. And boarding him would be stressful. I mean, if I wasn’t hurt, I could help, but it looks like I’m going to be out of commission from everything for a while.”
“It’ll be okay,” he said gently. “We’re going to figure this out.”
“There’s nothing you can do,” she responded sadly. “You have hockey and I may have to go home.”
“Home? To Minneapolis?” He was shaking his head. “No way, Sara. You have a life here.”
“I might be leaving next year anyway.”
“But you need your job with Dr. Harjo to potentially help get into vet school.”
“But if I can’t work, I can’t make money, and without money, I can’t even save up to go to school. And that’s if I get in.”
“Okay, cranky-pants, let’s not be all negative. You’re going to be fine.”
“I can’t drive, so how can I work? I have a cast and will be on crutches, which isn’t something you can just fix. They count on me to take care of Niko, and in my current condition, I can’t even drive him to school.”
“We’ll figure it out,” he said. “Really.”
“It’s not your problem.”
“Hey, hey!” Hailey knocked on the door and stuck her head in. “You up for a visitor?”
“Hi.” Sara smiled over at her, curious about what was in her hand. “What’s that?”
“This is your hospital survival kit!” Hailey grinned and opened the box. “First, your laptop and charger.”
“Aw, that’s awesome. Thank you.”
“That’s just the beginning.” Hailey pulled out a bottle. “Dry shampoo for your hair, so it doesn’t get all tangled.”
“That’s a relief.” They laughed.
“Those protein bars you like, because I know you and hospital food is going to get on your nerves.”
“Yay!”
“The throw blanket from your room in case you get cold and no one wants to get you something warm enough.”
“Aw, you’re the best.”
“This was actually Dani’s idea. She’s having to pack up a bunch of stuff because it doesn’t look like they’ll be back at the house any time soon. Anyway, the last thing is…” She pulled out a Blizzard jersey. “Your jersey so you won’t feel left out during training camp.”
“And because hospital johnnies are ugly.” Sara held out her arms and Hailey hugged her.
Aaron’s phone rang and he looked down at the screen in annoyance. “Excuse me,” he said, putting the phone to his ear as he walked out of the room.
“You two make up yet?” Hailey asked.
Sara shrugged. “I mean, yeah, he said all the right things, but when it comes down to it, nothing’s changed. He freaked out after we had sex and now he’s backpedaling because I almost died in an earthquake and he’s not a bad person. He’s just not boyfriend material.”
“Well, Dani said your orthopedic surgeon is hawt!”
Sara giggled. “I don’t think I’m in the market for anyone right now since I’m hopefully leaving Anchorage to go to vet school, but he is definitely hot.”
“You’re not in the market for nice dinner dates and hot sex?”
Sara chewed her lip. “Well, I’m going to be laid up for the foreseeable future, so no, probably not.”
“All you have to do is lie on your back for sex.”
They both snickered.
“Hey!” Dani came bustling in, her arms full of packages.
“What have you been up to?” Hailey demanded. “I thought you were at the house?”
“I was, but it’s too much of a disaster, so after I packed up more of our stuff, I swung by the mall to buy presents.”
“You guys need to stop,” Sara protested weakly. “I don’t need anything.”
“Of course, you do.” Dani grinned. “First, a new nightie.” She dug out a Victoria’s Secret bag. “So you feel pretty even if you’re laid up.” It was pink and frilly and totally inappropriate for the hospital, much less for a woman who had a cast on her leg.
“When the hell am I going to wear that?” Sara demanded, though she was laughing.
“On your date with Dr. Sullivan.” Dani and Hailey cracked up.
“What date with Dr. Sullivan?” Sara asked.
“Who’s Dr. Sullivan?” Aaron asked as he joined them.
“Her orthopedic surgeon,” Hailey said. “And he’s smokin’ hot. We’re going to play matchmaker.”
“What do you think?” Dani asked, holding up the nightie. “She’ll seduce him in this, right? Would it work on you?”
Aaron looked like he’d just swallowed his tongue as he stared at them. Then he shrugged and nodded. “Sure. I mean, it’s pretty. What guy wouldn’t like to see a woman in that?”
“You guys, knock it off.” Sara shook her head. “I’m in no shape to date anyone.”
“Oh, it’s just temporary.” Dr. Sullivan walked in with a grin. “You’ll be dating again in no time.”
“Hey, Dr. Sullivan.” Sara smiled at him as she hurriedly stuffed the nightie back in the bag. “These are my friends Dani, Hailey and Aaron.”
“You play for the Blizzard, right?” Dr. Sullivan asked Aaron, shaking his hand. “The goalie?”
“Yes.” Aaron nodded politely.
“I’m a big fan.”
“Thank you.” Aaron cleared his throat. “Well, I have a par
rot to babysit, so I’m going to take off. I’ll come by later, Sara. Text if you need me.”
“Thanks for coming. See you later.”
“So, everything went well,” Dr. Sullivan said, smiling at Sara. “The break was clean so I just lined everything back up and you should be back on your feet in about two months. It’ll take longer for you to be a hundred percent again, but as far as walking and such, I’d say six to eight weeks.”
“How am I going to go eight weeks without driving?” Sara whispered. “How will I take care of Niko and the animals and—”
“What do you do, Sara?” Dr. Sullivan asked quietly.
“I’m a nanny for Dani and her husband, who both work for the Blizzard and travel. Their son goes to private school and it’s my job to get him there. I’m also a veterinary technician and I can’t do either of my jobs like this.”
“I know it seems like forever right now, but time is going to pass quickly while you’re healing, and you’ll start physical therapy soon.”
“Is it possible for me to do that with her?” Dani asked. “I’m the assistant trainer for the Blizzard and if I could take her to work with me…”
Sara tuned them out as they talked about rehab and different strengthening exercises. Everyone was trying to help, and she appreciated it, but she didn’t know how she was going to get through the next couple of months. It was scary and overwhelming and now it looked like she wasn’t going to have a place to live either. If Dani and Sergei were going to be staying with Kane and Hailey, along with their combined three children and Hailey’s nanny, there would be no room for her. Where the hell was she going to go and what was she supposed to do?
7
Training camp picked up again the following day, and Aaron got to the arena ready to think about nothing but hockey. Between the earthquake, Sara’s injuries, and Merlin, he’d been stressed and distracted. Hockey usually settled him, no matter what was going on, but today he was finding it hard to concentrate because he didn’t know if Merlin would be okay by himself for so many hours and Sara was freaking out about everything. He felt bad for her, but there wasn’t much he could do. Almost everyone close to her worked for the Blizzard and with the season starting, their schedules were busy.
“Hey.” Jake skated up to him as they warmed up. “How’s it going? Sara doing okay?”
“Aside from freaking out, yeah, she’s okay.”
“I imagine it’s pretty scary to be out of commission like that when you’re so far away from family.”
“Yeah.” Aaron nodded.
“You okay?”
“Joyce has been calling.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake, Aaron. Why are you taking her calls?”
“Because I loved her once. Because we were married. Because I feel bad even though what she did wasn’t my fault.”
“She tried to kill one of your friends because she was jealous. She’s a nutjob.”
“I know. But she got badly beaten yesterday and is in the hospital.”
“Please tell me you’re not going to visit her.”
“No.” Aaron shook his head.
“But you sent money.”
“Yeah.”
“Are you sure she’s really in the hospital?”
“Yeah, I called over to the prison, talked to the warden.”
“Aaron, why are you engaging?”
“I spent a long time with her.”
“You’re divorced for a reason.”
“I know.”
“You can do what you want, but I’m not sure where your head’s at. I mean, you have this great girl, right here and available, who’s crazy about you, and I think you’re crazy about her too. What are you waiting for?”
“I don’t know.” Aaron met his friend’s eyes almost guiltily. “I really don’t fucking know.” He skated off in the other direction, wondering what was wrong with him.
Luckily, Laurel worked their asses off and he didn’t have time to think about anything else until he was on his way home. He was tired and hungry, but now he was torn between going to visit Sara and checking on Merlin. Sara had suggested leaving the TV on for him, so he had, but he didn’t know if that was enough. Deciding to err on the side of caution, he headed home, walking in and tossing down his bag.
“Hey, Merlin.”
“Go fuck yourself.”
“I know, you’re mad at me. But how about a carrot?” He opened the cage and let the big bird climb out. Sara had also said to let Merlin come to him. Sure enough, the bird crawled on top of the cage, looked around and then flew to Aaron, landing on his shoulder while simultaneously smacking him in the face with one of his wings.
Too tired to make dinner, he ordered Chinese and dug out some treats for Merlin while settling onto the couch. It had felt good to be on the ice today, skating with his teammates and the rookies, but he was tired. The last few days had been a lot more stressful than usual and he hoped things would settle down soon.
He decided to FaceTime Sara, so she could say hello to Merlin.
“Hey.” She answered right away.
“Someone wants to say hello,” Aaron said. “Do you see Sara, Merlin? Say hi to Sara.”
“Pretty bird! Pretty bird!” Merlin started bouncing on his shoulder happily.
“There’s my good boy,” Sara cooed. “Are you behaving for Aaron? You be a good boy, okay? Aaron has to work all day.”
“Tweet tweet.”
“You’re such a sweet boy.” She smiled before directing her attention back to Aaron. “How was camp today?”
“Good,” Aaron said. “Worked our asses off, so I’ll sleep well tonight. I was going to come by but I was worried about Merlin. He was alone for ten hours.”
“I’m okay. I’m glad you went home to him. Make sure you play with him for a little while.”
“How do you play with him? I mean, he mostly eats, shits and cusses at me.”
She laughed. “You need to get him some toys. I’ll send you a few links and you can order them.”
“Okay.”
They talked for a few more minutes and then disconnected. “Well, it’s just you and me, big guy. What do you want to do?”
“Go fuck yourself!”
“That’s probably about right.” Aaron scratched the bird’s head and then let him attack the cardboard roll from his paper towels for a while. That seemed to be the end of playtime as Merlin began preening himself, so Aaron put him on top of his cage and went back to the living room to turn on the TV. He wasn’t a football or basketball fan, so he settled for a baseball game, his mind wandering after a few minutes.
His phone buzzed, indicating a text, and he glanced down.
ADDY: Hey! I wanted to check on you.
Oh, goody. The train full of his exes was barreling out of the station lately. He’d briefly dated Jake’s ex-wife, Adrianna, and she’d been just another mistake in a long line of them. Convincing himself he was in love with his buddy’s girl had been dumb, but even a decade after college, he’d jumped at the chance to be with her. It wasn’t one of his prouder moments and had ended in yet another disaster. He wasn’t sure why he was willing to get into relationships with the wrong women but held back when it came to the right ones. Like Sara.
Fuck, he needed to get that night in the car out of his head. It had just been so hot. Like, out of this world, better than any other sex ever, hot. She was hot. Maybe not in the traditional sense, because she had more of a girl-next-door look, but she was stunning to him. Tall and athletic, with wavy brown hair and those freckles across her nose… He got hard just thinking about them. Which was weird. Right?
He turned off the TV, forgetting all about Addy and wondering what to do. He was going to have to jerk off because he was so horny he couldn’t stand it. He hadn’t been with anyone else since that night, four long months of celibacy, which was rare for him. Especially over the summer when he didn’t have hockey to distract him. He hadn’t had Sara this summer either, which had sucked.
Maybe porn would help. Opening his laptop, he went to his favorite site and searched for over-the-top and raunchy, hoping to get all thoughts of Sara out of his mind. Maybe a blonde, since Sara was a brunette, with massive tits and—he sighed. He didn’t want to get turned on by a woman like that. He wanted Sara. How had this happened? They’d only been together once, but it had been enough to show him how good things would be between them.
His phone rang, and he frowned when he saw Sergei’s name on the screen. “Hey, man.”
“Hey.”
“What’s going on?”
“You mean aside from the fact that your old house needs tens of thousands of dollars in repairs from the earthquake?”
“Seriously?”
“The foundation is cracked. The ceiling bowed in the kitchen. The deck is completely gone. The gas line is fucked up—in short, we’re not going to be able to live there for at least a month, probably longer, and I need your help.”
“Of course. Anything.” He felt terrible because he’d sold Sergei the house. They’d had inspections and such, but apparently, they hadn’t been looking for potential damage from an earthquake.
Sergei paused. “It would mean a lot to me if Sara could move in with you while we’re getting the house fixed up.”
Aaron froze.
“I know it’s a lot to ask, but we’re moving in with Kane and Hailey and it’s a full house between them, the three of us, and Amy. Jake and Whitney have damage to their house, too, so they’re going to stay with Gage and Laurel. Gage has plenty of room, but Sara can’t navigate those stairs right now, so it would be easier overall for her to stay with you.”
It was probably a terrible idea, but Aaron didn’t hesitate. “Of course. Anything you need. Anything she needs.”
“You sure you two are going to be able to cohabitate in peace?”
“I got suckered into fostering this damn macaw she loves, so it’ll be perfect. She’ll have a place to stay while your house gets fixed up, and she can handle Merlin.”
