Chapter 19

Dallas

“Feeling okay this morning?” I asked. Raising her arms over her head, Callie stretched and stumbled into the living room, wearing one of my T-shirts and showing off those gorgeous legs of hers.

“I’m exhausted. I don’t see how you’re awake right now.” She sat beside me on the couch and snuggled into my side. “What time is it anyway?”

Chuckling, I set down the Sunday newspaper and put my arm around her. “Nine.”

Groaning, she rubbed a hand over her face. “Usually, I’m up before seven. I might need some coffee.”

“There’s some in the kitchen.” She patted my leg and hurried in there. “What all do you want to do today?” I called out.

She walked back into the living room, breathing in her cup of coffee. “Well, I had planned on going house hunting at some point.” Sighing, she sat back down beside me. “Especially now that Justin pretty much knows I spent the night here. I don’t like my brothers knowing what I do. Being on my own will be better.”

“I can take you around town to look if you want.”

Her eyes lit up. “Really? You don’t mind?”

“Nope. The sooner you move out, the less chance of Justin and me getting into a brawl.” Out of respect for her, I didn’t want to start anything with him, but if he came after me, I’d have no choice but to fight back.

A sad look passed across her face. “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.” Finishing her coffee, she stood and went back to the kitchen. “Do you mind if we stop by my house so I can grab a change of clothes?” she asked, leaning against the doorframe. “You kind of ruined my jeans when you ripped them off my body last night.”

Closing my eyes, I leaned my head back on the couch. “Dammit, I’m sorry. I’ll get you a new pair.”

“No worries.” She laughed. “I have plenty more. And when we get there, you don’t have to go in.”

I snorted and looked right at her. “I’m not afraid of your brothers.”

She nodded. “I know. I’m afraid for them. I dread knowing you’ll be at away games all this week with Justin without me there. Sometimes he doesn’t have a filter.”

“It’ll be fine,” I assured her. “Whenever you’re ready to go, I’ll take you by your house.”

She walked over and kissed me. “Thank you. I’m going to put on my old clothes and then I’ll be ready.”

Once she disappeared down the hall, I pulled out my phone. It’d been vibrating all morning. I had a feeling I knew who it’d be. Sure enough, there was a voice mail from Ty, his voice sounding aggravated and annoyed.

“You know, it really upsets me when I see you going against everything I advise you to do. Imagine my surprise when I see pictures of you popping up on the Internet in a bikini at practice, and then you eating dinner with Davis’s sister. I’m warning you now, it has to stop before we get in trouble with the show. Call me back.”

The only thing I was going to do was press delete. It was my life and I would do whatever the hell I wanted with it. Callie strutted into the living room, holding her jeans up. “Ready?”

I held back a laugh, even though I was infuriated by Ty’s message. “Wonder what your brothers are going to say about that.”

She scoffed. “Nothing good. I’m going to run in and run out.”

She followed me into the kitchen and I grabbed my car keys. “After we stop at your house, want to grab some breakfast for the road?”

“Yes, I’m starved.”

We got into my car and I drove to her house. She hurried inside and I waited for Justin to barrel through the front door. Luckily, he didn’t. Callie rushed back out, dressed in another pair of jeans and a pink T-shirt that hugged her breasts just right.

“Let’s go,” she said, panting.

“Everything okay?”

She took a deep breath. “Yeah, they were still asleep. I ran in and ran out.” There was a Bojangles’ down the road so I pulled into the drive-through. We didn’t have them up north, so when I moved to the South and tried one of their chicken biscuits, I became addicted. “I have yet to try their food,” she confessed.

“You’re missing out. If I ever move back to Maine, this will be the one place I miss.”

I ordered our food and we continued down the road. “Think you’ll ever go back there?” Callie asked curiously.

It was a hard question. I’d grown to love North Carolina, but Maine was my home. “My dad wants me to take over the skate shop when I retire.”

She slapped me on the arm. “Why didn’t you tell me that last night when I asked? Do you not want to go back?”

“I do,” I admitted honestly. “I’m just not ready to quit what I am doing yet. Retiring is the last thing on my mind.” She was the only thing I could think of.

Unwrapping her chicken biscuit, she took a huge bite. “Knowing you, you’ll end up being the oldest goaltender in the league.”

I winked at her. “That’s the plan. But when the time comes, I’ll go back home.” I had a few more years before that. At least, I hoped so. We were getting close to different housing developments so I slowed down. “Where do you want me to go?”

She pointed at an upcoming neighborhood. “Try there.”

I turned down the main street of the housing development and the houses were nice but small. It made me feel bad for living in the kind of place I did. I didn’t need all the space. There was a house for sale and I pulled over so she could grab a brochure. By the look on her face, she wasn’t too excited about it. Maybe it was the bright yellow siding on the outside.

“Will you ever move back to Minnesota?” I asked.

She shook her head. “My parents aren’t there anymore. They’re busy sailing their way around New Zealand right now.”

“Must be nice. I want to travel around the world one day.”

She smiled. “Me, too. I just hate I don’t get to talk to them much when they’re at sea.”

“At least they’re enjoying life. My parents love having the skate shop. It might not bring in a ton of money at times, but they enjoy it.”

“That’s all that matters.”

“Do you enjoy nursing?”

Her face brightened. “I love it. Keeps me on my toes.”

“So you don’t get squeamish looking at blood and guts?”

She burst out laughing. “Not at all. I would’ve loved to be a surgeon, but when I finished nursing school, I went straight to work.”

“You and my sister will have a lot to talk about when she comes into town next weekend.”

“Can’t wait to meet her. Are you ready for the games this week?”

“I’m always ready,” I said with a wink. “The games against Columbus will be good, but Minnesota will give us a run for our money. You might not remember this, but there’s some bad blood between me and Marcus Price.” Before Justin joined the Strikers, I never had an issue with him. Marcus, on the other hand, was a fucking cunt, always running his mouth.

Callie burst out laughing. “That’s right. I was there watching my brother when you two fought it out last year. I think it’s one of the top most viewed hockey videos on YouTube. How do you think it’ll be this time?”

Sighing, I pulled over at another home for sale. “Don’t know. It might be bloody, that’s for sure.”

“Just be careful. Makes me wonder what my brother will do, since it’s his old teammates. They were really close.”

“We’ll see.” I had no doubt there’d be a fight. There always was when we played Minnesota.

We spent the rest of the day searching for houses and gathering as many brochures as possible before I had to take her home. I pulled up at her house and the front door was open. “If you don’t want to deal with your brothers, you can always stay at my house.”

She snorted. “You’re the one who’s going to be with Justin all week. I’ll have this place to myself.”

On my set of keys, I had an extra one to my house. “Take this,” I said, handing it to her. “Even if you don’t stay over this week, do you mind checking up on my house every other day? It’ll save me having to deal with my weird neighbor to get my mail.”

Giggling, she nodded. “I’ll be sure to check it and set it on your kitchen counter.”

Grabbing the back of her neck, I pulled her close, pressing my lips to hers. “Thanks.” She moaned into my mouth and I wanted to take her right then and there.

“Play hard this week,” she murmured. “I’ll be watching the games.”

I kissed her again. “I will. I’ll call you every day.”

Her smile was the sexiest thing I’d ever seen. “Don’t forget.” Opening the car door, she slipped out and waved before disappearing inside. There was no way in hell I could forget her.