Chapter 13

Erik

“Goddamn it,” Dax howls from beside me. He picks out a long cactus spine from the back of his hand as he grumbles at Legend. “I don’t understand why you can’t hire people to do this for you.”

“I like doing it myself,” Legend returns as he uses a shovel to carefully uproot another small cactus from the bedding around his backyard pool. “And it’s not like I’m making you do this.”

This is true. The guys were trying to come up with something to do on the first of the two days in a row we had off. Legend said he was busy ripping out some existing bedding so he could plant new stuff. One thing led to another and the next thing you know, we’d decided to barbeque, drink beer, and rip out plants with him, after which we’d all chill by the pool.

I’m trying to figure out how to take out a small yucca plant whose roots seem to go about a mile deep. Legend wants to get rid of the desert themed landscape and put in more lush, green bedding. It’s shit I never think about with my own house but Legend is really into this kind of thing for some reason as a homeowner.

“Did you invite Tacker?” I ask him. I’m on rock patrol, pulling up the various rocks and stones littered around the beds.

“Yeah,” Legend replies as he manages to pop a little round cactus from the ground. He gingerly scoops it with the shovel and unloads it into the wheelbarrow we’re using to collect the extracted plants. “Said he had plans.”

“Yeah, any plans would be better than this shit,” Dax grumbles as he stares at the spiny plant he’s trying to remove.

“It’s November 5th…the anniversary of the plane crash,” Bishop says quietly from his place on the other side of Dax. He’s been cutting away at some Pampas grass.

All of us stop working and turn to look at Bishop. He just stares back at us, not really needing to say anything to explain how hard today must be for the guy.

Exactly one year ago today, Tacker was piloting a small airplane with his fiancée. He was playing for Dallas at the time and they were taking a short trip to Austin for the last fitting of his fiancée’s wedding dress. That’s right. They were due to get married just a few weeks from then.

“He talk to you about it?” I ask Bishop curiously.

No one is really close to Tacker on this team, even though he’s our captain. He’s a great leader on the ice but he’s totally withdrawn off it. If there’s one person on this team he might possibly talk to, it would be Bishop and that’s because they room together when on the road. He spends the most downtime with Tacker.

“Just told me he was going to go visit her parents back in Dallas,” he replies in a low voice.

“Poor bastard,” Legend mumbles and turns back to tackle the next cactus.

The four of us work in silence for a bit more, taking small breaks here and there to drink some beer or grumble about getting cut on something.

“Are you going out with Blue tonight?” Dax asks me.

“She’s in Chicago,” I tell him, trying to keep the slight tinge of longing from my voice. “She works charter flights part time for some extra money. She’ll be back tomorrow.”

I hate that Blue has to work a second job. She doesn’t do it often but we’re going to be home in Phoenix for almost a week and she couldn’t pass up the money. She’s getting five hundred dollars just for an overnight trip and less than seven hours of actual flight time. It’s a lot of money to Blue whereas I’d drop five hundred dollars on a new pair of shoes if the fancy struck me.

Of course I get why she does it, but I’m already hating that it interferes with my time with her. We got back from Dallas at about one A.M. this morning and poor Blue had to get right back on a plane again at eight. I wanted nothing more than to bring her home with me from the airport, but she needed some sleep and to get packed. We’re going to go out tomorrow night, though, and I’ll have to be satisfied with that.

“So is this thing serious with Blue?” Bishop asks. It’s not a question Legend or Dax would ask, because they can’t really see past the fact that Blue is a gorgeous woman who I’ve been lusting after. But Bishop has recently fallen hard for Brooke, so I get he’d be more curious about this sort of thing.

Before I can answer, though, Dax is doing it for me. “Hell yeah, it’s serious. You see the way he moons over her on the plane?”

“Or smiles like a big fool every time he sees her,” Legend adds on.

“He’s besotted.”

“Pussy-whipped.”

“Hey,” I cut in with a warning. “I am not that quite yet.”

All the men stop and turn to me with raised eyebrows.

“Wait a minute,” Legend says. “You haven’t tapped that yet? What the fuck, dude? I had Valerie come to my room in Houston just to give you the opportunity.”

I’m at a crossroads. Ordinarily, I would not hesitate to tell all about the dirty details with my bros. Had it been an anonymous one-night stand, I’d be telling them all about the amazing blow job I got that night.

But this is Blue and I just inherently sense that those things should remain personal to us. I have no past experience upon which to call for the right answer, so I go with my gut. “None of your fucking business.”

“Whoa,” Legend says with a laugh. “You really are totally head over heels for this girl, aren’t you?”

I don’t answer him right away because he already knows I am. But I do decide to give up something so they understand just how important Blue is becoming to me.

“Blue and I met about five years ago,” I tell them.

“What?” Dax asks, his eyebrows knitting over confusion-filled eyes.

“I don’t remember much of it but let’s just say I was a douche to her.”

“That’s why she was so pissy with you in the beginning,” Bishop reasons out loud.

“Partly,” I admit. “But also because I was hitting on her and she just wasn’t interested. She’s pretty focused on her brother.”

“And she’s giving you a second chance,” Legend unnecessarily points out. “So you better not fuck it up.”

“I won’t,” I say confidently. This thing with Blue is going to go the distance. I just know it.

“If you do fuck it up, I’ve got first crack at her,” Dax says with a salacious grin. I don’t think twice before grabbing the spine of a small cactus and whipping the entire thing at Dax. It hits him in the forearm, several of the spines sinking into his skin.

He yelps and then curses as he attempts to shake it free. “You fucking asshole.”

“Talk about Blue again, and you’ll get worse,” I warn him.

Legend and Bishop just howl with laughter as Dax gingerly pulls the little spine-covered plant from his arm and chucks it into the wheelbarrow.

I turn back to my work when loud music starts blaring from the backyard next door. It takes me a moment to recognize it but I grimace as the opening bars of Cindi Lauper’s “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” fills the air.

Legend growls and his jaw locks tight as he looks across his yard into the next. There’s a variety of shrubs and trees separating the lots but I can see someone through the branches moving around on the other side—presumably the hot little neighbor of his I saw on Halloween night.

To my shock, she starts singing loudly right along with the song.

“Christ, that woman is batshit crazy,” Legend says with a frown. He turns around and starts jabbing his shovel into the ground with vigor.

“The flamingo lady,” I tease as I can make out her form on the other side. I can see her short dark hair and that she’s wearing a pair of white shorts that ride up pretty high. It’s hot today and she’s dancing around her yard with a water hose, soaking various pots full of flowers that she has about.

“She’s the worst neighbor in the world,” Legend grumbles as he takes a moment to look over at her. She moves deeper into the yard to where the shrubs dividing the lots are thinner. Dax gives a low whistle of appreciation when we see she’s wearing a skimpy bathing-suit top.

One of the perks of November in Phoenix.

“Dude,” Dax says in a low voice. “She’s fucking hot.”

“She’s crazy,” Legend insists as he turns away again. “Have you seen the front of her house? It looks like fucking Disney World with all the yard ornaments she has. And she plays stupid music really loud. And any time I dare to complain to her, she plants plastic flamingos along my driveway.”

“Maybe you should try being nicer,” Bishop suggests.

“Yeah, take her out to a nice dinner and ask sweetly,” I add on with an evil grin.

“Bring her home and give her lots of orgasms,” Dax offers. “She’ll do whatever you ask.”

“I’ve filed an official complaint with the homeowner’s association,” Legend clips out.

“That’ll show her,” Dax mutters under his breath.

“What does she do for a living?” I ask Legend, more than a bit curious about the quirky neighbor who has managed to rile up what is otherwise a pretty laid-back and amiable guy. Legend likes and gets along with everyone.

“No fucking clue and don’t care to know,” he growls and turns once more to glare at her.

Well, that’s just a little too vehement in my opinion. He’s protesting interest in her just a little too loudly.

The woman is still dancing around the yard and now singing at the top of her lungs, wiggling her hips and shaking her ass. She skips and twirls in between pots of plants and we all just watch her in fascination.

She whirls toward a pot that sits right along the border of the two properties, holds the garden hose over it and gives it a good dousing while she sings, Oh girls just wanna have fun.

Before she turns to dance away to the next plant, her eyes sweep across Legend’s yard where they catch us gawking at her. She doesn’t even have a moment’s embarrassment and shoots us all a cheeky grin. “Well, hello boys. Sorry if I disturbed you.”

“Of course, you didn’t,” I call back to her as I stand up from the ground and rip my gloves off. I walk over to the edge of the yard and hold my hand out to her. “I’m Erik Dalhbeck.”

She gives my hand a hearty shake while water continues to pour all over her yard. She nods at me with recognition. “Premiere defenseman and elite enforcer for the Vengeance. Big fan. Nice to meet you.”

“You’re a hockey fan,” I say with surprise.

“Yup,” is all she says before dropping her hose and walking past me toward the other guys. I consider walking over to the spigot and turning it off for her but then change my mind. I don’t want to miss any possible confrontation with Legend.

The woman walks up to Dax and shakes his hand, calling him by name. “You’re Dax Monahan.”

She turns to Bishop and does the same. “And you’re Bishop Scott.”

“And you are?” he asks her in return.

She slaps her palm to her forehead. “Gosh, I’m a ditz. Sorry. My name’s Pepper. I live next door.”

“I saw you putting pink flamingos out on Halloween night,” I say as my eyes dart over to Legend who is glaring at his ostentatious neighbor.

“Just trying to loosen Legend up,” she snorts and throws a thumb at him. “But sadly, that seems to be a failing mission.”

“You could start by getting rid of all that gaudy trash in your front yard,” Legend sneers.

Pepper doesn’t seem to take offense. “Sorry. I like it.”

Legend’s face turns beet red and I wonder if he might stroke out. I’ve never seen him this angry before and it fascinates me. I turn back to Pepper. “So what do you do for a living?”

“I’m an author,” she says with grin. “I write and illustrate children’s books. You heard of The Grand Adventures of Penelope and Bert?”

“I have,” Dax says with awe. “I read them to my niece and nephew. You wrote those? They’re always on the bestseller lists.”

“That’s me,” she says with a wink.

“They’re hilarious,” Dax tells her. “And the drawings are fantastic.”

He then mimes what must be a well-known part of the book by tucking his arms in and shaking his butt. Waddle, waddle, peck, peck, all day long.

He then turns to Legend and says with probably a little too much enthusiasm, “Hey, Legend…you have a bona fide, famous author living next door to you.”

Legend’s gaze cuts over to Pepper but there’s nothing but contempt in his expression. She merely lifts her chin and stares back at him blandly.

“And yet I could give two fucks,” Legend says as he glares at her. He then throws his shovel to the ground and heads across the patio, around the pool, and into his house.

“I feel like I should apologize for his rudeness,” Bishop tells Pepper as she stares at Legend’s back door.

She turns to look at Bishop and just shrugs. “He’ll get used to me.”

Pepper is totally hot, and quirky enough that if Blue weren’t in the picture, I’d totally make a play for her. But somehow I seriously doubt all that sexiness and charm is going to have an effect on Legend.

We chitchat with Pepper for a bit more, and Dax succeeds in getting her number. They make loose plans to get together sometime and then she saunters back into her yard where Mötley Crüe’s “Girls, Girls, Girls” starts playing.