Brooke

 

I pressed the voicemail button and brought my phone up to my ear.

“Brooke, come on, darling. Answer my calls. I wish you would have told me you were leaving town. I miss you like crazy. Please call me back so we can talk.”

After deleting his message, I threw my phone on the bed. Just hearing his voice made me sick to my stomach. I lay down on my side with my hands tucked underneath the pillow and thought about Logan. I was becoming too personally involved with him. He was right. I was hired to help him rehabilitate his leg and nothing else. After lying down for about an hour, I got up and went into the kitchen for something to eat. As I passed by the couch, Logan looked at me.

“Hey. How are you?”

“I’m good.” I gave a small smile.

Walking into the kitchen, I opened the refrigerator and scanned it for something to eat.

“Are you hungry?” He hobbled over to me.

“A little.”

“It’s almost dinner time. I was thinking maybe we could order Chinese. That’s if you like Chinese food.”

“Sounds good. I haven’t had it in a while.”

“There’s a menu in the drawer over there. Tell me what you want and I’ll order it.”

I pulled the drawer open and took out the menu.

“Any suggestions?” I asked.

“The sweet and sour chicken is really good,” he replied.

“Sweet and sour chicken it is, then.”

“The game starts in five minutes. Are you going to come watch it?” he asked as he called in the food order.

“Sure, and as soon as you’re finished eating, you need to get on the treadmill.”

We sat on the couch, ate dinner, and watched the game. I could see Logan getting upset each time the other team scored a goal. The game was three to one with the Oilers taking the lead.

“What the fuck kind of play was that?!” he yelled as he grabbed each side of his head. “Did you see that?!”

“I did. Come on, angry man, it’s time to get on the treadmill.”

He sighed as he got up from the couch and hobbled over to it. As I took the crutches from him, he carefully climbed on while I set it on a low speed. The Rangers ended up losing four to one, which pissed Logan off even more.

“My leg fucking hurts,” he spoke in a stern tone as he climbed off and made his way to the couch.

As I grabbed the amber-colored bottle from the table, my phone rang. When I looked over at it, I quickly hit the decline button and Logan glared at me.

“Why the hell don’t you just block him if you don’t want him calling you?”

“I thought I did.” I sighed.

As I began to massage his leg, his eyes never left me.

“Who is he?”

“I already told you. He’s someone I know from California.”

“There you go again with the vague answers. Obviously, it upsets you when he calls. Is he a boyfriend or something?”

“He was a mistake. Leave it at that.” I tightened my grip around his leg.

“Ouch, Brooke. That hurts.”

“You haven’t even begun to experience pain yet, so get used to it,” I snapped at him.

“Listen, just because your ‘mistake’ keeps calling, you don’t have to take it out on me.”

I let go of his leg and stood up. “You’re right. I’m sorry. That’s all for tonight. I’m going to bed. See you in the morning.” I grabbed my phone and the bottle off the table and went to my room.

****

Logan

I didn’t sleep at all last night. The one thing that prevented me from sleeping was a woman named Brooke Alexander. It bothered me that she was upset over this Mark guy and I wanted to know who he was. Grabbing my crutches, I went into the kitchen to find her standing over the stove cooking eggs.

“Morning,” I spoke as I entered the kitchen.

“Morning. I’m making eggs. Would you like some?” she asked as she took down a cup, poured some coffee into it, and then handed it to me.

“Sure. Thank you.”

Her mouth gave way to a very small smile before turning around and tending to the eggs.

“How did you sleep last night?” she asked.

“Terrible.”

“How come? Was your leg bothering you?”

I didn’t dare tell her that I was up all night thinking about her. “Yeah. It was bothering me, but I dealt with it.”

“Good. Not good that it was bothering you, but good that you could deal with it.”

“So am I getting on the treadmill after breakfast?” I asked as she set down a plate of eggs in front of me.

“Nope. We’re hitting the gym first. You can walk on the treadmill later.”

I watched her as she reached up into the cabinet and her shirt slightly lifted, revealing her taut, tanned skin. Her being upset last night wasn’t the only thing I was thinking about. No matter what I did, I couldn’t get the image of fucking her out of my mind.

“Something wrong?” she asked as she caught me staring at her.

“Umm. No. I was just thinking about the press conference tonight. You are going with me, right?”

“I didn’t plan on it. You’re a big boy. You can go by yourself.” She smiled.

“But I want you there.”

“You don’t need me there, Logan. It’s not like I’ll be working on your leg.”

I sighed. She was still pissed at me for what I said to her yesterday at the gym.

“You may be my physical therapist, but you’re also my friend, Brooke.”

“Am I really? Are we friends, Logan? Because from what you said yesterday, I thought being friends was off the table.”

I finished my eggs and pushed the plate away. “I’m sorry for yelling at you the way I did. It’s just I’m in control of my life and I make my own decisions. I always have and I always will. You make the decisions regarding the rehabilitation of my leg. But regardless, I consider you my friend, and as a friend, I would like you there for support.”

Narrowing her eye at me, she bit down on her bottom lip. A lip that I so badly wanted to lick.

“Fine. I’ll go as your friend for support.”

“Thanks.” I smiled as I got up from the table. “I think I’ll take you to dinner afterwards as a thank you.”

“To a restaurant?” she asked with a hint of sarcasm.

“Yes. To a restaurant.”

As I went to my room to change, I couldn’t stop thinking about how Christmas was in a few days and I really needed to get Brooke something. What do you get a girl you barely know? Flowers are lame for a gift. Jewelry is too personal. I could get her a collection of bubble baths since I knew she loved to take them. Nah, that was stupid. Shit. I racked my brain over it as I got dressed and suddenly, something came to mind. I silently smiled at the idea. She’d love it.