Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 101758 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 509(@200wpm)___ 407(@250wpm)___ 339(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101758 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 509(@200wpm)___ 407(@250wpm)___ 339(@300wpm)
“You’re completely fine,” he replies. “Maybe I can keep distracting you from putting me through more wall sits today.”
“Sorry, hockey star, you’ll do the wall sits. It’s good for strength in the joint.”
His eyes bounce down to my T-shirt and then back up to my own gaze.
“Did you just call me hockey star?”
“That’s what you are.”
I turn, ignoring his smug smile, and head for the gym.
“And am I your favorite hockey star?” he asks from right behind me. He’s walking so close, I can almost feel the heat from his body.
“I’m not telling you that,” I reply as I push the door open and step inside. It’s cold in here today. My nipples pucker from the chill in the air.
Or maybe that’s from Xander standing so close to me.
When I glance to the corner of the room, I pause.
“What’s that?”
CHAPTER FIVE
XANDER
She’s staring like something might jump out and bite her, and I have to push my hands in my pockets so I don’t do something stupid like pull her against me and make her feel safe.
What the fuck is wrong with me? Suddenly, I’m offering to let someone talk about their feelings and I have the urge to hug them?
I don’t do that.
I certainly don’t talk about my feelings, and I only hug my family. This whole protective thing I have going on where Ivy’s concerned is weird.
And maybe it’s because I witnessed her own mother treat her like garbage, and I have a soft spot for the redhead, but it’s still odd for me.
Just like what she’s staring at is out of the ordinary.
“Xander?”
I clear my throat. “It’s a desk, Red. Figured you’d like to sit there to make your notes and stuff rather than sit on the floor.”
She turns to stare up at me, blinking those big blue eyes.
Turns out, I’m a sucker for those eyes and the freckles across her nose.
The freckles do something to me.
Maybe the head injury has totally changed my entire personality.
“You bought me a desk.”
“Yes.”
“Yesterday?”
“I made some calls.” I frown and walk over to take her bag from her, then set it on the desk that I arranged by the windows.
Ivy likes the view.
Jesus, what the fuck is going on with me?
“Um, thanks,” she murmurs and walks over to join me, setting her water bottle down. “That was nice of you.”
“You’re welcome. Does that mean that you won’t try to kill me today?”
She smirks and glances up at me with the humor back in her eyes, and it almost knocks me on my ass.
“Hell no. Come on, we have work to do.”
Turns out, I’m the only one with work to do, and she orders me around like a fucking drill sergeant.
But I don’t complain because my knee finally feels pretty decent. It doesn’t feel like it wants to give out on me, and for the next couple of hours, we work it pretty hard.
“You’re doing well. Next week, I want to get you on skates.”
My heart stutters.
“Next week?”
“Let me be clear,” she says, her voice stern. “Not to play or scrimmage. I want you to just glide on the ice, gently. I want you to only do the bare minimum, but it’ll help with some muscle memory.”
“I think there’s a rink in Bitterroot Valley.”
“There is,” she confirms. “We’ll have a field trip day.”
I grin and drink some more water, watching as she types away on her computer, sitting at the desk, looking like she belongs here.
Fuck me. This is going too far.
Luckily, the doorbell rings, and I leave Ivy to do her work as I go to answer the door. When I pull it open, Ava’s standing there, her eyes glassy, that lower lip quivering, and I immediately shift into big-brother mode.
“Who do I have to kill, cupcake?”
She huffs out a breath and pushes inside, storming past me.
“Aves?”
“I’m okay,” she says as she takes a deep breath, and I know that’s a crock of shit. She’s not okay. But this is my baby sister, and she has to build up to it. “Is Ivy still here? I see her truck outside.”
“We were just finishing up,” I reply. “Get something to drink and settle in, and I’ll wrap things up with Ivy.”
She nods, and I return to the gym, where Ivy is just packing her computer away.
“I’ll be here in the morning,” she says. “And I promise not to be late.”
“We can plan on later in the day, if that works better so you can rest.”
“No. We agreed to mornings.”
Pain in the ass.
“Ivy—”
“I have to be at the bar in the afternoon,” she says, interrupting me, and I can’t help the scowl that moves over my face. “It’s fine.”
I don’t believe her. I don’t think it’s fine at all, but it’s none of my business, and my sister needs me.
“In the morning, then,” I reply as we walk down the hall to the front door. “Have a good day, Red.”