by Toni Aleo
But she felt nothing for Liam.
And everything for Jordie.
Jordie watched as Jim poked and prodded at his knee, his brow up in his hairline as he bent it one way and then another. “You feel good?” he asked and Jordie nodded.
“Great.”
“Good, it looks great, and you’ve been really dedicated these last six weeks.”
Jordie smiled. “Ready to go home,” was his answer, and Jim nodded as he slowly laid his leg down.
“Good, ’cause I have paperwork saying you are released from me,” he said, reaching for a stack of papers and handing them to Jordie. “You look good, son, hoping that it stays that way. You’ve done very well. I’m proud of you; you’re a completely different person than the one I met nine months ago.”
Yeah, he was sober and healthy.
That could definitely change a person.
“I feel great. Ready to hit the ice with my boys back home,” Jordie said, hopping off the table without even a cringe. He really did feel brand-spanking-new.
“Just stay clean, Jordie, and healthy. If it hurts, nurse it. Don’t try to hide it because you want to keep playing.”
“Gotcha,” Jordie agreed with a nod. “Won’t happen.”
“And stay away from the bottle.”
He didn’t hesitate. “Will do.”
Jim held his gaze for a little longer and then nodded. “I believe in you, son. Now, believe in yourself.”
He then turned and left the room with no other words. Jordie and Jim didn’t always get along, mostly because Jordie was a selfish, drunken bastard—Jim’s words, of course. But the last two weeks had been good. They were clicking and had developed a certain kind of respect between them. He would miss the old coot, but he was ready to go home.
Heading outside to go back to his cabin he had rented for his belongings, he called Karson first. He needed to call to get an airline ticket, but his excitement had to be shared with his best buddy.
“Hey, bro, what’s up?” Karson asked, breathing hard into the phone.
Jordie grinned, almost bouncing as he made his way to the car. “Guess what?”
“What?”
“Been cleared! Coming home!”
“No shit! That’s awesome, bro!”
“I know,” he said, letting out a long breath. “Longer than I wanted, but I’m excited to get home, start training with you guys.”
“For sure, just in time too. Camp starts Monday. Must have been meant to be. Get clean and healthy; come home right in time to show off.”
“I know,” he said, getting in and starting the car he had rented. “Praying I can keep up. I’ve only been on the ice for the last two weeks.”
And oh, how perfect it had been. Jordie couldn’t help himself, he’d found himself face first in the ice, just to smell it. He’d wanted to immerse himself in it, become one with it. He had missed it so much. He’d stayed out for hours, skating and just playing around. While guitar playing had helped with not wanting to drink, when he was on the ice, alcohol was nowhere in his mind. It was only him, the ice, his stick, and the puck. It was perfect.
He was home.
“You’ll be fine. No worries at all.”
“Hope so,” he said, turning onto the highway to get out to his place. “So you are still cool with me staying with you guys till we know my fate?”
Karson laughed. “Don’t be so dramatic. Elli lifted the suspension, you aren’t going anywhere.”
“But I haven’t signed anything, so you never know,” he said, his heart sinking a bit. He hadn’t heard from Elli since he went into rehab—only a text saying to call her once he was released, which was something he needed to do. The only reason he knew that his suspension had been lifted was because his agent had sent him an email saying so. Everything was still up in the air though; he went up for free agency in October. Would he be let go, or would she sign him? He wasn’t sure, but he had to keep his nose clean, that was for sure.
“Yeah, yeah, she’ll sign you. She loves you, but yeah, you’re good. Are you flying in tonight?” he asked. He then huffed before yelling, “Damn it, Dad, that was my foot!”
“What are you doing?”
Karl hollered something unintelligible and Karson huffed out another breath. “My parents are selling their house so they can move to Nashville to be close to us and Mena Jane. So I’m up here doing some home improvements to meet the demands on the offer sheet.”
“Oh, so you aren’t even home?”
“No, but Lacey and Mena Jane are. Are you flying in tonight?”
“Yeah, I was going to, but I can wait.”
“No, go. I won’t be back till Sunday and neither will Kacey. BJ sent her to a trainers’ convention down in Chattanooga.”
“Kacey? Trainers? Huh?”
“Oh, did I not tell you? Kacey got a job with the trainers. She’s our work-out trainer now. She won’t travel with the team, which is good ’cause Lacey can’t be alone right now. But that’s why you going home tonight would be ideal because Kacey just left today.”
Kacey worked for the Assassins now? She was his trainer? Ha. That was gonna be awesome….once he got her to forgive him.
Unable to say that, his next concern was Lacey. “What’s wrong with Lacey? Why can’t she be alone?”
“She’s got a touch of postpartum depression, and she is deathly scared that Mena Jane is gonna get breast cancer or die or something. I really didn’t want to leave them, but she was scared to put Mena Jane on a plane with sick people.”
“Oh shit, dude,” Jordie said, worried about her. He had known about her being nervous, but he didn’t know she had basically lost her shit.
“Yeah, as much as I wanted kids, I sorta wish, for her sake, we would have waited a bit longer. She isn’t handling everything well.”
“I’ll talk to her. She has a soft spot for me,” he said and Karson laughed.
“Never would have thought that would happen. She used to hate you.”
“I grow on people.”
Karson scoffed. “Sure, you do.”
Jordie laughed and then paused before asking the question that had been burning in his soul since Karson brought her up. “So Kacey is living at your place too?”
“Yeah, until Ma and Dad get in. Then she is moving in with them, unless she gets her own place or whatever. We are praying that Lacey gets better before the season starts because, if she doesn’t, then Kacey will stay until she does.”
Oh. Wow. He had all the intentions in the world of finding Kacey and talking to her, but he thought he’d have some time before that. Now he was being thrown in a house with her, and he wasn’t sure if he should be excited or learn to sleep with one eye open. He hadn’t done her right and fully expected her to lose her shit on him. After all that though, he planned on schmoozing her back into his life. He missed her, more than he could describe, and he truly believed that it was she and Mena Jane who helped him get his shit together and make it through rehab. He had not only done it for himself, but he’d done it for them.
His girls.
“Is it really that bad?”
“Yeah, man, she won’t go on antidepressants because she doesn’t think she needs them. I was worried to say something ’cause it will hurt her feelings and she’ll start crying. I think that’s all she does, hold Mena and cry. It’s driving me insane. She’s got me all kinds of nervous and fucked up, but knowing you are going home and staying with her will ease some of my concerns.”
“For sure. Shit, dude, I’m sorry I haven’t been around to be there.”
“No biggie. You’re here now, and she’ll be excited to know you’re coming home healthy.”
“Yeah,” he said with a nod before pulling up into his drive. “And there is space? ’Cause I can get a hotel when you come back.”
“Of course. It’s a huge house. It will be fine. No worries.”
“Okay, cool, bro. So I’ll see you Sunday?”
“Yeah, call me if y
ou think Lacey needs me. According to her, she is fine. I’m not gonna call her and tell her you are coming. Just show up and tell me what you find.”
“Will do. Thanks again, bro.”
“Anything for you, Jordie,” he said and then he hung up. Jordie let his phone rest in his lap and sucked in a deep breath. He felt like shit for not being there for Karson and Lacey. He had always known that the cancer that had taken a lot more than just her breasts weighed heavy on Lacey, but he’d assumed having their sweet girl would help with that. Knowing it hadn’t really hurt him, and he was ready to get home in the hopes that he could somehow help Lacey out. They didn’t start out as friends, but she was his sister now and he loved her.
He would help fix this.
Picking his phone back up, he called for an airline ticket and then rushed inside to pack, since the first flight out was in two hours. Once he was packed, he loaded the car up and headed for the airport. He figured he had put off calling Elli for long enough and fished his phone out of his pocket before finding her number and calling.
She answered on the fourth ring, her thick Southern drawl full of happiness as she said, “Hey!”
Oh, thank God, she was happy. Maybe she didn’t recognize the number though?
Cautiously, he said, “Hey, Elli. It’s Jordie. How are you?”
“I’m good, and I know who it is! But sorry, jeez, I’m out of breath! I was chasing the twins outside. How are you?”
Jordie grinned. That was another reason he was excited to get home; he missed the Adler clan. “Good, I got released today. Flying out in a little over two hours.”
“Oh my goodness! Yay! I’m so happy! How do you feel?”
“Wonderful. Ready to hit the ice and be with my team.”
“We are ready to have you home. I’m so glad that you got cleared. Jim feels good about everything? How about Portia?”
“Yeah, he’s good. And Portia is finding me a therapy group in Nashville and also referred me to a therapist for my weeklies,” he said, still not too keen on the idea of furthering his therapy. But Portia was very adamant about it, and he figured whatever made her release him, he’d do. He wanted to be home. He was ready to be home.
“Awesome. Oh my God, Jordie, you sound so damn good. I can’t wait to see you and squeeze you,” she squealed, and Jordie blushed as he smiled.
“I can’t either,” he admitted.
“Come to dinner next weekend?”
“I’ll be there.”
“Good,” she decided. “Okay, so text me when your plane lands, and I’ll see you Monday morning before y’all start training. Did you hear that Karson’s sister is the new trainer? I heard she’s been kicking our boys’ asses over the summer.”
Jordie’s heart went dead in his chest as he sucked in a deep breath. He would be spending a lot of time with her in the future, and he prayed that it would continue out of the club gym too. But he had some big-time fixing to do. Getting Kacey to trust him again wouldn’t be easy. Swallowing, he nodded. “I did hear that.”
“Yeah, Shea says she has the hands of a god, and I wanted to be jealous of her for that. But I’m pretty sure she could kill me with those god-like hands, so I just threatened to kill Shea if he left me with his clan of children. Told him he had to at least take the twins.”
Jordie scoffed. “Elli, Shea isn’t going anywhere without you.”
“I know,” she said with a sweet giggle. “Gotta keep him on his toes though. And it doesn’t help that Kacey is just gorgeous with the body of a damn goddess.”
Jordie closed his eyes for a brief second, the vision of her beautifully naked body covering his filling his mind before he let out a long breath. “Again, Shea won’t leave you.”
“Yeah, that’s what he said. But thanks, makes her rubbing out his tight muscles a little less bothersome.”
Jordie laughed. “Good to know. Don’t worry, I’ll keep an eye on things for you,” he teased and she laughed.
“I knew I loved you for a reason,” she said warmly. “You know, now that I think about it, you two would be adorable together. She’s tall like you, built like an ox. She needs a strong, burly dude. You could so pull that off.”
“You think?” Jordie asked and his grin grew.
“Yes, I do. It’s now my sole purpose in life to get you two together. I need you to settle down.”
“You sound like a mom, Elli, and I’m too old to be your son,” he said, very careful not to add that she sounded like his mom. She didn’t, because his mom was too busy finding a new husband since hers died two months ago. The only reason he knew that was because of Facebook. She didn’t even know that Jordie was in rehab, probably didn’t care either. He hadn’t heard from her in months. He tried not to let that bother him, but it still stung. It would have been nice to have his mother fuss over him, but she never did.
“Well, I wear that title proudly, but are you telling me to butt out in a nice way?”
Jordie laughed. “No, play the matchmaker. I’m sure Kacey would love that,” he said, knowing damn well she wouldn’t.
Elli didn’t say anything for a moment and then said, “In some weird way, I feel like you have a thing for Ms. King.”
“Me? Never. That’s my best friend’s sister.”
“Which answers how you know each other,” she added and he laughed.
“Oh look, I just got to the airport. I’ll text you later.”
She laughed. “Have a safe flight, Jordie.”
“Thanks, Elli.”
As he hung up the phone, his grin was erased. Because Jordie didn’t have a thing for Kacey King. No, he was madly in love with her. And the sooner she knew that, the better.
When Jordie pulled into the driveway of Karson and Lacey’s exquisite home, he let out a sigh of relief. He was home. Their home had always been a second home of his. He and Karson had roomed together for as long as he could remember, and when Karson moved in with Lacey, there wasn’t a time that Jordie didn’t feel comfortable stopping by just to hang with them. He was always welcomed there, and when he got hurt, Lacey volunteered to care for him. Which was why he didn’t hesitate on coming in early to help her out while Karson was gone.
The house was huge. Mansion-size almost, but it fit them. It was very country chic but modern. Once Lacey got ahold of it, it became their home and very inviting. Jordie had a designated room, one that was attached to the room that Kacey would sleep in when she visited, which was probably what had led to them sleeping together. Okay, that was a lie; he wanted her from the beginning and had to have her. The easy access was key, plus neither of them was able to say no. His room was down the hall from Karson and Lacey’s, and he figured that Mena Jane would be in the big room at the end of that hall. The room had huge French doors and windows for days. It would suit a newborn just perfectly, especially since Lacey’s walk-through closet connected to it. She had been using it as her office. But he was sure that would have changed since she had opened Lacey’s Lace, her lingerie store that accommodated women who’d had mastectomies, here in Nashville.
Gathering his bags, he headed toward the house, noticing that only the living room light was on—the rest of the house dark. It was late, but it wasn’t that late, he noted as he reached the back door, using his key to get in. Once he entered, he threw his bags down as he relocked the door. When he turned though, Lacey was standing there, looking like roadkill run over twice, a baby held close to her chest and a gun pointed at him.
“Shit, Lacey!” he hollered, holding up his hands. “When did you start packing?”
“Jordie?” she asked, her gun still trained on him.
He wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. He had never seen her look so crazed—her hair was a bird’s nest, she was wearing clothes that had been thrown up on and even shit on. Her eyes were dark with tears and she just looked like a hot mess. But at the same time, this was a story for Mena Jane when she got older, for sure.
“Yeah, put the gun down, Annie, and co
me here,” he said, holding his arms out before he started for her.
She laid the gun on the counter and just started to cry, holding Mena Jane close to her chest. Swallowing past the lump in his throat, he wrapped them both up in his arms, kissing Lacey’s temple as her heart pounded against his chest.
“I thought you were a burglar,” she cried, her hand snaking around his waist as he hugged her closer. Mena Jane slept soundly, unaware that her momma had almost killed her godfather.
“Sorry I didn’t call. I flew in right after I got clearance. I think Karson forgot to call,” he said, covering for his buddy.
“Or he wanted you to make sure I wasn’t a basket case,” she said as she pulled back, and Jordie hid his grin. “Which I am not, for your information.”
They knew each other too well.
“Either way, surprise! I’m here!” he said, waving his hands in the air, but Lacey didn’t even crack a grin.
“Why does your head look like that?”
“Like what?” he asked, confused as she squinted up at him like he stunk.
“You’re usually cleaner about your beard and hair. You look like Jesus hanging from the cross, Jordie.”
He made a face, running his fingers through his beard. “So you’re saying I look angelic or like shit?”
“Like shit,” she deadpanned, and he laughed as she gathered Mena Jane in closer. “Angelic and Jordie Thomas do not go in the same sentence. You need a haircut.”
“Yeah, I’m gonna make an appointment Monday,” he said, chucking her under the chin. “You, too, look like roadkill, my darling.”
She nodded. “I feel like it,” she said on a sigh.