“I’m going to swing into your appointment with Finn shortly,” Dr. Anders said, when Sophia stopped into her office a few minutes before Finn was scheduled to arrive Monday afternoon.
“Sure. Anything wrong?” Sophia asked. She’d been nervous for this appointment since he’d tweaked his ankle during their hike this past weekend. The walk back to the parking lot had been slow and painfully quiet. She understood his brusque response, but she also didn’t appreciate getting snapped at when she was just trying to help.
Not to mention she felt slightly guilty. Maybe if she hadn’t teased him or kissed him, he would’ve been paying better attention to where he was putting his feet. And then that reiterated the fact that she was kissing a patient, which lead to professional guilt.
Stop it.
She focused back on her boss, who was looking at her quizzically. Shit. Had she asked Sophia a question?
“Sorry. Thinking about something my last patient asked me right before we finished up,” she said, focusing on her boss and not the man who would be walking into the office within minutes.
“Since Finn has been cleared to get back on the ice, I wanted to see how he was feeling. Your reports look great, and I know Dr. Jonas was pleased with Finn’s progress and our timing. Which is great, by the way. Our relationship with the team is very important so I’m pleased with how you are working with Finn,” Dr. Anders said.
Don’t panic. Don’t panic. Oh god, she had to stop kissing him. Please let his ankle be fine.
“Sure. I know he’s happy to get his skates back on.” Wow. Who’s calm voice was that?
“I bet. I’ll swing by in about ten minutes.”
“Great.” Sophia wondered how false her smile looked as she left Dr. Anders’ office.
“He’s already in room three,” one of the interns said as Sophia headed in that direction.
“Thanks Josh,” she said, before stopping in front of the door and taking in a deep breath. She knocked quickly, and at hearing the muffled enter, she walked into the room.
“Hello, Sophia,” he said as soon as the door shut behind her. His voice did things to her stomach, fluttering, warming things. Dammit.
“Hi,” she said, then set her tablet on the counter. “How’s the ankle today?”
“It’s fine.” He moved toward her, and she stiffened.
“I wanted to apologize again. I was an ass this weekend, and I’m sorry for snapping at you.” He reached out, trailing his thumb over her palm, but she pulled free.
“Finn. We can’t. And I get it,” she said, shifting away from him. “So, your ankle.”
“It did swell up like you said, but the swelling is almost gone, and I’m walking around fine. Please don’t push me away because of how I acted. It was a gut reaction, and I’m sorry.”
“I know. And it’s not that. Dr. Anders is coming in to check on you in a few minutes.”
He grinned. “Got it.”
He hopped up on the exam table and stretched out his legs. She would not focus on his thighs. Why were they so big and inviting? Not that thighs were typically inviting.
“What are you thinking about?” he asked, his finger tracing along her warm cheeks, when she stepped within reach.
“Stop it,” she said, batting his hand away. “She’ll be here any minute.” She tried to will away her flush. She did not want to explain that to her boss.
“It’s going to be fine. The swelling is basically gone, and I feel great.”
“What swelling?” Dr. Anders’ voice cut through. Hell, Sophia hadn’t even heard the woman knock. She turned as her boss walked over to the exam table and pushed down Finn’s sock, pressing against his ankle.
“Uh, I had a small accident this weekend. Just a slip during a hike. Swelled up a little, but I think I’m still good to get on the ice tomorrow,” he said.
“Days before you are strapping your skates on, and you injured yourself hiking? Not the smartest of ideas,” Dr. Anders said.
“Probably not, but the swelling is basically gone, and I feel great,” he said. Sophia met his eyes, reading the nerves in the bright blue depths. Sophia was grateful that he hadn’t told her boss that he’d been hiking with her this past weekend.
“Sophia, I want you to run Finn through all of his standard exercises and we’ll see if the swelling comes back, or if he’s in pain.” Then she stared straight at Finn. “And you better be honest.”
“I will.”
“As long as he’s not in any pain, and the swelling is gone, I think he can get back on the ice later this week,” she said, and Sophia didn’t miss Finn’s sigh of relief.
“Thanks Dr. Anders,” Finn said before she left the room.
“You’re so lucky you didn’t really injure yourself again,” Sophia said as soon as the door shut behind her boss.
“You know it’s your fault I tweaked it again.”
“What? How is that possible?”
“I was trying to kiss you, and you pulled away.”
“Seriously? You cannot blame this on me. We shouldn’t be kissing anyway,” she muttered, then she let out a gasp as he spun to sit sideways on the exam table and pulled her between his legs.
“Yes. We should,” he said, leaning down to kiss her. She sank into his arms on instinct.
Bolts of desire shot through her, and she couldn’t get close enough to him. His tongue traced the seam of her lips, darting in as she gasped, tangling with her tongue. He should not taste this good, and she shouldn’t think about how much she wanted to climb onto the exam table with him.
“Finn, we have to stop,” she said, breaking free of the kiss and stepping out of his arms.
“Have dinner with me, and I’ll stop kissing you.”
“No. Now, we are going to work on plyometric exercises in the workout room today,” she said, grabbing her tablet and acting as professional as possible. She saw him smirk.
“Can’t keep your hands off of me when we’re in a room alone?”
“I swear, this cocky side of you is annoying,” she grumbled.
“You bring it out in me.”
“Let’s see how you’re feeling after a few rounds on the Bosu ball,” she said, holding the door open for him.
He brushed every inch of himself that he could against her body as he walked through the door, and she held back her shudder.
Bastard.
***
An hour later, Sophia swung by Dr. Anders’ office to go over her notes. Finn had left ten minutes ago and her next appointment wasn’t for another thirty minutes. He hadn’t attempted to kiss her again. Most likely due to him cursing her for all the balancing and jumping exercises she had him do. His box jump was almost as high as what he used to do before he’d broken his ankle. He’d been ridiculously proud of that, and it’d been adorable.
It’d taken every ounce of her battered willpower not to kiss him in that moment, but they’d been in the workout room and not alone.
“Did you want to talk about Finn?” Sophia asked, taking the empty seat in Dr. Anders’ office.
“Yes. How did it go?”
“Great. We worked on his balance today and he’s ready to skate this week. There was no residual pain from his hiking mishap and his ankle isn’t swollen.”
“I’m sure he was happy to hear that. And he’s lucky he didn’t do too much damage on the weekend. What was he thinking? So close, and he goes hiking?” Dr. Anders shook her head.
“Yes, I’m surprised he’d chance his ankle so close to his skating date.” Sophia kept her face calm, answering her boss’ questions, while her insides jumped around. Hopefully her face didn’t show her guilt.
“Let’s hope he doesn’t try doing anything like that again. At least until he’s fully healed and done with PT. Stubborn man,” Dr. Anders said.
“Yep. Stubborn.”
And adorable. But definitely stubborn.
Finn pulled open the doors to the Strikers’ practice facility and headed straight for the ice Friday morning. He wasn’t due on the ice for another forty minutes, and he’d get to his gear eventually. He walked down the bench and took everything in. The ice was perfect, no skates had marred the smooth surface yet, and he couldn’t wait to cut through that perfection on his own blades. The air was crisp, with the lingering smells of hockey players. It was his favorite smell. A smell he’d known for as long as he could remember.
“You going to stand there smelling the ice or actually put on some skates?” Beady called out, moving toward Finn.
Finn turned to grin at the man. “Just give me a minute.”
“You’re wasting time, kid,” he grumbled, then patted Finn on the shoulder. “But I get it. Tore my MCL five years into my career. I still remember that first day back on the ice.”
Finn gave the man a look of shock.
“Yes, I have a heart, you bastard. Now lace up.”
Finn chuckled. “Nice to know it’s there.”
“Keep it up, recovery or not, and you’ll be skating suicide drills all morning. Gotta test your speed and ankle strength somehow.”
“I’m going, I’m going,” Finn said, heading to the locker room to change. He may be recovered, but even the healthiest guy balked at endless suicide drills.
He tossed his bag on the bench and grabbed his skates that one of the equipment managers had left in his stall. He quickly changed and leaned back in his stall, taking in the room he hadn’t been in for months. He was finally back. He looked over his shoulder, to his name in the placard above his head. This is what he’d worked so hard for this summer. Yes, the room was currently empty, but in a few weeks, it would be filled with his teammates, and he was going to be ready to take the ice for training camp with them. Taking a quick swig of water, he set the bottle down, finished lacing up his skates, and stood up.
He wobbled as he stood, but gathered his bearings and headed back to the ice.
“You ready?” Seibs, one of the Strikers’ assistant coaches asked as he patted Finn on the shoulder.
“Definitely,” Finn replied, his voice filled with confidence that he wasn’t sure was completely accurate. But his ankle felt great, and he was ready.
“Good. How about we do a few laps? Just to get your feet under you,” Beady said, leaning his arm on the top of his hockey stick.
Finn did a lap at a decent but slow clip, and his ankle didn’t wobble. He wasn’t cutting his turns tight enough, but he was still testing his flexibility. It was one thing to push his balance on the Bosu ball during PT, but it was very different to push himself in his first minutes on the ice. He wasn’t an idiot.
“Looking slow, Finn,” Beady called out.
He picked up the pace with his next few laps, his turns tightening each time, the cool air brisk against his cheeks. He wished Sophia was in the stands watching him. Encouraging him. He’d never cared about someone who wasn’t family supporting him in the stands. He bit back his smile as he took the next lap.
“What are you grinning about? Your speed needs work, and you’re already sweating,” Beady called out.
They didn’t call the man a joy killer for nothing.
“Just happy to be here,” Finn said, coming to a stop next to his coaches.
“They fix your personality at the PT office, too?” Seibs said, with a chuckle.
“Yeah, where’s the grump? This happy guy is freaking me out,” Beady taunted.
“How’s it feel?” Seibs asked.
“A little tight and I’m wobbling a bit, but not bad,” he said, happy that his ankle wasn’t throbbing from the handful of laps he’d just completed. His balance wasn’t what it’d been before his injury, but it wasn’t awful. His stamina needed work. He hated being winded after that last lap around the rink.
“Let’s run skating drills for the rest of today and focus on getting your legs back under you. Do a few laps with the stick,” Beady said, handing Finn a hockey stick. “It’ll help with balance.”
Finn grabbed the stick and started another lap. His balance was better since it felt weird to skate without the piece of lumber in his hand. Maybe he should’ve used the hockey stick when he’d tried balancing on the Bosu ball at the PT office.
And now he was thinking about Sophia again. About wanting to be done with PT, but already missing their appointments. But if he wasn’t a patient anymore, she’d have no excuse to say no to his dinner invite. The last few attempts to get her to go out with him had been sad.
“Hey, how many laps are you doing?” Beady called out, cutting through Finn’s thoughts of Sophia. He skated to a stop in front of the guy and pushed Sophia from his mind. He had work to do on the ice today and that had to be his sole focus.
“Just testing the legs. You’re right. My balance is much better holding onto this,” he said.
“Of course it is. You’re a hockey player. Hell, you should’ve been holding that thing while you were at your PT appointments,” Beady said. “Now, let’s try a few quick stops. Really test that ankle.”
Finn skated across the ice, stopping right before he hit the side boards near the benches. He put all his weight on his bad ankle, ignoring the subtle throb, then ramped up and skated to the other side. The ache was dull, and it wasn’t painful, so he kept going back and forth, Beady calling out when to stop each time.
His blade hit a rough patch of ice and he flailed before he could right himself, landing on his hip. “Shit,” he barked out, pushing himself back to standing.
“Hurt?” Beady asked.
“Nope. Just hit a cut-up spot on the ice, but the ankle is fine.”
“You sure about that?” Beady eyed him.
“Throbs a little, but not bad,” Finn said.
“Good. Keep going,” Beady ordered, and Finn picked up the pace.
Beady and Seibs ran him through a brutal workout, but his turns were tighter and his balance was improving. He was dripping with sweat when they were done with him, and he couldn’t wait to get home and really shower. The workout was just what he needed, and all he wanted to do was hunt down Sophia and celebrate. Monday’s appointment couldn’t come soon enough.
***
Two hours later, after a quick meeting with Bugsy and Dr. Jonas, and a shower both at the rink and at home, Finn finally sat down on his couch with Bash and flipped on the Cooking Channel. The clean living show he enjoyed was just starting, and he was always looking for new recipes to try. He had his date with Molly tomorrow night and had no idea what to make.
His phone buzzed across the coffee table, and he grabbed it, swiping it on when Grace’s name flashed on the screen.
“Is everything okay?” he asked.
“Why wouldn’t it be?”
“Because you’re calling me in the middle of the day, and I wasn’t expecting to talk to you until my dinner date with Molly tomorrow,” he said.
“Can’t a sister call her big brother to chat?”
“I’m sure that happens in some families.”
“Very funny,” she muttered.
“What’s going on? Everyone okay? Mom? Molly?” He hadn’t spoken to his mother in at least a week—no, more than that. Shit. This happened the last time his father showed up. He should call her. No. What he really needed to do was head up to Calgary and have a face-to-face conversation with his parents.
“Yeah. Molly’s fine.”
“And Mom?” He noticed her pause.
“She and our father got in a fight in front of Molly. He accused her of not loving and trusting him because he didn’t come home one night.”
“For fuck’s sake,” Finn barked out. “Why won’t she kick him out? And in front of Molly.”
“I know.”
“When did this happen?”
“Last week. And don’t yell at me. I’m telling you now, in case Molly tells you tomorrow night.”
“Grace, that shouldn’t be the only reason you’re telling me this.” Dammit, he was frustrated with the entire situation. And he was irritated that his father still hadn’t reached out to him with his demands. What the hell was the man waiting for? It kept Finn on edge, and he hated it.
“I know that, but what are you going to do? You’re still rehabbing, and you are not coming up here until that is done. How is your ankle, anyway?”
“Don’t change the subject. And my PT is almost done. I was back on the ice today.”
“Oh Eric, that’s so great. You’ll be back in time for the season, right?”
“That’s the plan. But…”
“No. You are going to stay put, and I’m just going to limit Molly’s time with Mom until he leaves. He has to leave. I mean, I’m sure he’s going to leave at some point.” She sounded nervous and concerned, and he hated that he was over a thousand miles away.
“I’m coming up there.”
“No, you aren’t. Maybe Molly and I will visit you.”
“I’m not going to let that asshole drive you and Mom apart,” he gritted out. “But you are always welcome here. I’d like to have dinner in person with my favorite girl. How was she after seeing them?”
“She doesn’t understand what’s going on, and he’s her only grandfather, so she wants to spend time with him.”
“Training camp is just under a month away, and I’m almost down to one PT session a week, so I’m coming up there in two weeks. I’d like to come now.”
“No. But if you have the time, without canceling any of your appointments, then we would love to see you.”
“Don’t tell Mom I’m coming.” He didn’t want his father to have any warning of his visit. They were going to have a conversation that was long overdue.