Overtime

by Toni Aleo

  Where was she anyway?

  “Good, come on then, boys,” Shea said, smacking his hands together. “Let’s get in there. Oh, but first! Let’s welcome the rookies,” he added, and everyone turned to see where nine guys and a girl stood.

  Whoa, wait, a girl?

  Shea rambled off names, not that Jordie was listening until he got to her. Baylor Moore. The girl Elli drafted this past summer. Usually, they sent the newbies down to the farm team, so that said something about Baylor. That Elli believed she could hang with the big boys. Jordie was actually excited to see this go down. A lot of the guys looked at her sideways, but that didn’t keep Baylor from standing proudly under all the scrutinizing gazes. At that moment, Jordie decided he liked her.

  “Everyone ready?” he heard Kacey call, but he couldn’t see her through the sea of big hockey players. Even the chick was tall and strong.

  “Okay, let’s get in the training room. Kacey has some torture to inflict,” Shea called, and everyone nervously chuckled as they started for the training room while Kacey laughed.

  “Only enough to make you puke,” she said as everyone gathered around her, and she was all smiles. Well, that was, until she looked at him. Her eyes held something between disgust and hatred and maybe a little desire, but he didn’t care. He drank her in with no reservations at all. Karson was used to him checking out his sister; he may not like it, but Jordie did it anyway. She was wearing those naughty shorts and, man, they did something to Jordie’s equilibrium.

  When she bent over to demonstrate a station of dead lifts, he took notice that she was lifting over a hundred pounds…and then the fact that she really did have a great ass. Watching her, he let out a long breath, trying to rein back in his desire, but then noticed that a lot of the guys were staring at her the way he did. Soon his chest was puffed out and his scowl was deep as he glared at each of the single guys. A few of them noticed and quickly looked away, but one, Liam Kelly, who Jordie was sure was gay, was staring extra hard.

  What the fuck?

  He decided he needed to have a talk with Kelly, put him in his place, but soon Kacey was releasing them, breaking them up in pairs for each workout. He was put on the dead-lift station with Shea, and like the boss that Shea was, he added some weight to the bar and dead-lifted with ease. When it was Jordie’s turn, he went to the bar, scooped it up and then shrugged.

  He could do this.

  But when he went to lift it, it wasn’t budging.

  Or maybe not.

  He blamed this on the fact that he’d just started lifting again two weeks ago. Before that, he was doing laundry and cooking and trying to stay sober. He ran a lot, but there had been no lifting going on.

  “It’s fine, Thomas, take some off,” Shea said, helping him remove the weights, but then Kacey stopped by the two of them.

  “What are you doing? That’s only two hundred and five. You can lift that with one hand,” she snapped and Jordie looked up at her.

  “Not anymore, took some time off,” he said offhandedly, dropping it down to the weight she lifted.

  “Are you kidding me? That’s pathetic,” she sneered and Shea glared over at her.

  “Hey now, no need for that,” he said, but Jordie stopped him.

  “Maybe so,” he agreed, because it was pathetic. It should have never happened, but he hadn’t been strong enough to say no to the bottle. Not that he was going share that with Kacey in a room full of his team.

  She took a step toward him, her brown eyes burning into his as her mouth dripped with venom. “No ‘maybe so’ about it. Maybe if you weren’t fucking everything with tits and drinking yourself stupid, you’d be ready for this season. I hope you’re ready to work, because my job is to get you ready, and I don’t fail at anything I put my mind to. Oh, well, except you. I failed at you, huh?” she said in a low whisper and Jordie just held her gaze. He could feel Shea bursting at the seams, but there was no way he was breaking their intense stare-down.

  “I am ready,” he said calmly, even though his heart was jackhammering against his chest. “And you didn’t fail me, Kacey. It’s the other way around.”

  Her eyes narrowed and she shook her head. “Whatever.”

  She walked away but then paused, looking back at him. “I know you can do one-fifty. Do that at least.”

  He nodded. “10-4, boss.”

  She gave him a snide look and walked away, shaking her head, and he was pretty sure she was two seconds from blowing her top. Shea stole his attention though when he asked, “What the hell is her problem?”

  Jordie looked over and scoffed. “I fucked that girl over. I deserve everything she throws at me.”

  “Are you sure? I can get her fired. I’m sleeping with the boss, and she loves you probably as much as she loves the kids,” he reminded him and Jordie smiled.

  “I know, and yeah, I’m sure,” he decided, bending down to get the bar. He didn’t think he could do it at first. But to his surprise, he was able to pull it up and hold it before lowering it down and then back up for the recommended ten reps. As the weights hit the ground, he looked over at Shea. “I’m gonna win her back, and if I get her fired, that might throw a wrench in my plans,” he said with a wink, but Shea didn’t smile. He made a face, crossing his arms. “What? What’s that face?”

  He looked around and then glanced back at Jordie. “You know she’s dating Kelly, right?”

  Jordie moved closer because surely he had heard his captain wrong. “Excuse me?”

  “Yeah, they’ve been dating for a while now,” he added and the world closed in.

  No. Fucking. Way.

  Jordie’s heart jumped in his throat as he gasped, “Gay Liam Kelly?”

  Shea scoffed. “Obviously he isn’t gay since he’s screwing her.”

  Jordie felt as if he had been hit as he whipped his head to where she was standing with Kelly. He watched as Kelly reached out, smacking her butt playfully, and everything went red. Pulling in a deep breath through his nose, Jordie’s shoulders went back and his chest puffed out as he turned to find Karson. Surely, Karson wouldn’t allow this to happen!

  When he found Karson, he walked toward him, but Jordie’s eyes never left them as they flirted back and forth. It was way more one-sided on Kelly’s part, but Kacey was flirting too. He also didn’t miss the way she kept looking back, probably hoping that he was watching. It was such a chick move, but he couldn’t blame her. If she had done to whim what he had to her, then he would be pulling all the moves to show her he had moved on. But he knew damn well it wasn’t going to work.

  Kelly was a damn pussy.

  Kacey needed a man who had some rough edges. Someone who could make her laugh and feel beautiful. And also fuck her like a dream. That dude. No. Seeing them together actually made Jordie want to puke. They just didn’t go. He was too light, she was too dark, plus she could probably lift him over her head while eating a can of spinach. Liam Kelly was not the man for his girl.

  For the simple reason she was his girl.

  Obviously.

  Karson glanced up at him from where he was bench-pressing and gave him a look. “What?”

  “You’re allowing your sister to date Kelly?” he snapped, and really, it was surprising. Karson didn’t let anyone date his sister without throwing a fit, and since Jordie hadn’t heard anything until now about Kacey being with that pussy, he knew that Karson was cool with it.

  Karson scoffed. “She’s a grown-ass woman—”

  “Nope, try again,” he said, knowing good and well that that was a lie. Karson was the extremely scary, overprotective big brother. God help Mena Jane when she wanted to start dating. Jordie and Karson would constantly be cleaning guns.

  Laughing, Karson shrugged. “He’s a good guy. He would be good for her.”

  “Um, no. He’s a fucking pussy,” he snapped, and Karson laughed along with Lucas.

  “Yeah, he is,” Lucas agreed and Jordie pointed at him.

  “See!”

  “
Yeah, but he won’t hurt her,” Karson said then as Lucas took the bar. “She needs a rebound guy. Apparently she’s been hitting some duds in the dating pool. Last guy fucked her up, but this dude can show her how she should be treated and then she’ll move on. It won’t last, believe me.”

  Jordie’s face twisted. “That is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. That dude is a douchecanoe and you know it. He says ‘excuse me’ when he passes the other team on the ice. He’s a girl!”

  “Hey!” Baylor said and Jordie grinned.

  “My bad,” he said quickly. “He’s a fucking big mountain of rubber dicks!”

  They all laughed, but Jordie didn’t find this funny. “So what, Jordie, want me to go break them up?” Karson asked.

  “Yes,” he said simply. “She deserves someone better.”

  “Like you?” Lucas laughed and Karson’s eyes cut to him.

  “Um, no. Jordie knows better,” he explained, and it was like a bag of rocks dropped into the pit of Jordie’s gut.

  Biting the inside of his lip, he knew he did know better, but Jordie rarely followed the rules. He was a rebel and proud of it. He may have cleaned up his act, but this was one thing he couldn’t budge on. He sure as hell didn’t like lying to his best friend, but like he said, Karson didn’t mess around when it came to Kacey. She was his first baby, and Jordie knew his limits. If only he could warm Karson up to the idea. Get him to see that he could be the good guy that Kacey deserved. It wouldn’t be easy, but he would succeed.

  Because loving and being with Kacey was the one rule of Karson’s he made a vow to break the day he left rehab, and he planned to break that rule daily.

  No matter who the hell she thought she was going to date.

  Because she was his.

  And that was final.

  Jordie was surprised he could move.

  Shea wasn’t kidding when he said Kacey was going to inflict pain. She had basically killed them, then add in the hour of ice time, and it was easy to say that Jordie’s legs were Jell-O. He’d never felt better. It was what he lived for and, man, he loved it. Despite mean mugging Kelly through most of the workout, and maybe slamming him into the boards, he enjoyed his day. Loved it.

  But the whole Kacey dating Kelly thing set his teeth on edge. That was probably why he went so hard. Not only was he trying to impress her but he was trying to bottle his hatred and anger toward Kelly. He wished he had been warned. He’d never expected her to stay single—she was a catch, he knew that—but at least knowing she was with someone else would have been nice. Finding out the way he had really fucking sucked. He looked like a dumbass in front of Shea and he didn’t like that. He did have his pride, but he knew he had to put all that in the past. It was done, she was with some other prick, and it was time to get his girl back.

  And he would win.

  As he drove toward Billy Ray’s Barbershop, he got out his phone and called Lacey. He couldn’t believe she hadn’t told him. Shouldn’t that have been something worth mentioning to him?

  She answered on the second ring, Mena Jane in the background cooing and probably being adorable.

  “Hey, what’s up?” Lacey asked. Happily, he might note.

  “Oh, nothing much, just the fact that you never told me Kacey was dating someone,” he said as calmly as he could, but it had been bothering him since Karson confirmed it. The sick part of him, the hopeful part, kind of wished that she would never find anyone. That she would wait for him. But the realistic part of him knew that was selfish and unfair. She needed to be happy, and maybe if he were honest with himself, maybe he was too late. She could have moved on, and if so, who was he to mess with her happiness? She seemed pretty chummy with puss-face, and if that was who she wanted to be with, maybe he should leave her be.

  But why did thinking that make his face scrunch up and his heart drop?

  “Oh, about that,” she said in a very apologetic way. “I’m pretty darn sure it won’t last.”

  “Didn’t think you should tell me about it?”

  “Well, you see… What had happened was, you were so gung ho and, like, honest and stuff that I thought, why should I derail you? I really don’t think it will last between them. I don’t think she is into him. I think she is using him to get over you.”

  He made a face as he pulled into the parking spot he always parked in. It was the front space, right in front of the window that said “Billy Ray’s Barbershop.” He had been coming here since he’d first come to Nashville. It was his spot and Billy Ray was known for classy beard care. It also had a very retro feel. There was even a barber’s pole, which Jordie thought was supercool.

  Turning the truck off, he leaned back in his seat, looking at the roof of the car.

  “Not helping, Lacey,” he moaned.

  “Well, it’s true, and honestly, they aren’t made for each other.”

  “I know this, you know this, but she wants it to work. I saw them together.”

  “And? They aren’t cute together. At first I thought so, but the more I watch them together, it doesn’t feel right.”

  “But it might feel right to her,” he said sadly, twisting his beard around his finger. “Maybe I should just let her go? She’s obviously let me go.”

  It wasn’t as if he had even really done anything to let his feelings be known. For all she knew, he just wanted friendship. Or sex probably, since that’s how they started. Yeah, he had messed with her, said he was sorry. But that didn’t say I love you. It was just the way he was. He was always apologizing for something, and Lord knew he loved messing with her. But he hadn’t been honest with her and he was unsure when he could be. Should he do it now, knowing about Kelly? Or should he wait it out? One thing was for sure, he knew he couldn’t rush into this. He had to get her to believe in him again—in them—before he admitted to loving her.

  Man, why was this so hard?

  “No, don’t. She hasn’t let you go. I know she hasn’t.”

  “Then what do I do?”

  “Pursue her! Woo her!”

  Jordie’s face twisted in confusion. “Okay, first, isn’t that wrong when she has a boyfriend?”

  “Well, yeah, it’s kinda sleazy.”

  “Which is something I’m trying not to be,” he reminded her and she made a little noise. “Been there, done that, trying something new.”

  “True, but I’m serious, I give them a week at the most. Especially after Karl and Regina come to town. He’s coming to dinner, and you know Karl hates all guys but you and Karson. She cares so much about what he thinks. She’ll drop him and, boom! You swoop in.”

  “Those drugs are working well on you,” he said dryly and she laughed.

  “Yeah, I really do see life in a different light. It’s supercool.”

  “Very true, almost like being sober, I guess,” he agreed.

  “I bet,” she giggled and Jordie grinned.

  “But okay, let’s say I wait, and I will ’cause she’s the girl you wait for. But then, please explain to me, what in the ever-loving fuck do you mean by ‘woo her’?”

  “Seriously, Jordie?”

  “No, really, I have no clue what that is.”

  “Woo her! Buy flowers and chocolates with little hearts taped to them. Like court her?”

  “Lacey, come on. We live in the twenty-first century,” he deadpanned. “Do people even woo anymore?”

  “The men who want their women do! Karson is great at wooing.” She pointed out. “I love his wooing.”

  “Because he’s a pansy-ass,” he mumbled, but before she could say anything, he laughed. “No, but really, what do I do?”

  “I don’t know, like, be romantic and shit.”

  “What’s the shit?” he asked, confused.

  Before she could answer him, Mena Jane started to cry and Lacey fumbled with the phone. “Crap, let me call you back. She just exploded shit all over me.”

  “Joys of motherhood. I’ll see you at home,” he said before they both said bye and he hung up. He
was two seconds from Googling “wooing” when he glanced at the time, noticing that he needed to get inside. It was hard to get an appointment with Billy Ray, and he didn’t accept lateness. Rushing out of the truck, Jordie made it inside with the bell ringing, just in time.

  Billy Ray looked over at him and grinned. “JT, long time, buddy.”

  Billy Ray was an older guy in his mid-sixties, but acted as if he was in his early thirties. He was bald with dark black eyebrows and a beard that went to his chest. The guys always teased him for not being able to grow hair on his head but only on his face. He didn’t care though. He rocked that beard and nothing held the guy back. He was also an Assassins’ season-ticket holder, and everyone went to Billy Ray. He was a good dude and cut hair to perfection.

  Wrapping him up in a manly hug, he squeezed Jordie tightly before they parted. “Where ya been? No calls? No flowers? Do I mean nothing to ya?”

  Jordie grinned. “Busted leg and then a stint in rehab, hence why I look like Jesus on the cross, as my buddy’s wife said,” he admitted. And unlike everyone else, Billy Ray wasn’t the least bit surprised. He didn’t laugh or give him a look of disappointment. He just nodded.

  “I always knew you’d end up there. You just had to realize you needed help.”

  “Wasn’t me. Elli made me.”

  “Or she’d make you,” he said with a grin before tapping the seat in front of him. “Ya look like hell.”

  “True, but I feel good,” Jordie said, sitting down. “But yeah, I look like hell ’cause I won’t let anyone touch me but you.”

  “So attached,” Billy teased, putting the towel around Jordie’s neck. “So ya glad you went?”

  “Very much so.”

  “Good boy, I’m proud of you,” he said, running a comb through Jordie’s hair. “So tell me everything; I have a lot of hair to cut and shape up.”

  He then went to work as Jordie told him about his leg, getting healthy, Mena Jane, and moving back home. He left out Louisiana, mainly because he was embarrassed by it. Like the amazing barber he was, Billy Ray commented on some things and just listened to others. As time passed, Jordie watched as the old Jordie soon looked back at him. The only differences were his eyes were brighter, he didn’t look like death, and he didn’t feel like it either. He was feeling like the person he wanted to be.