Roxi hummed in a way that didn’t make me feel particularly confident. She seemed to sense that, too, because a sympathetic smile appeared on her lips. “It’s just that you’re... well, Lace, you’re very romantic,” she pointed out. I could hardly object to that. I loved romance. It was hard to imagine getting on with someone romantically without that.
“Alright, well, has he texted you?” she asked. “Or are you going to text him? You’re not going to call him, are you? I know that might seem romantic, but it’s just weird and most people don’t like it.”
I pouted. I much preferred calling to texting. Reading words on a screen was so much less personal than hearing someone’s voice. Obviously, I used text to arrange things with friends, but I preferred not to use them for real conversations if I could help it.
“We only exchanged numbers earlier today,” I said. “He hasn’t texted me yet.” I wondered whether Will would. He had taken my number, but that didn’t necessarily mean that he would do anything with it. “I’ll probably leave it a few days, then suggest that we do something to keep his mind off recovering,” I answered. “Does that sound alright?”
“Sure.” Roxi nodded. “But just...” she started and then stopped. I could tell that whatever Roxi was about to say wasn’t something she thought I’d want to hear. “If he’s not into romance, maybe he’s not into romance,” she told me. “You can’t force someone to be romantic.”
I obviously knew that! I just... okay, so I had said that maybe he just hadn’t been romanced the right way. It seemed weird to me to think of someone genuinely not being into romance.
“I’m not going to force him to do anything,” I promised. “I just want to get to know him better.” Any romancing that I was going to do would come later. After Will had given me some sign that he was into it. I didn’t go around romancing people that I wasn’t dating.
I smiled, giving Roxi’s hand a squeeze across the table. I knew she was only looking out for me. She didn’t want me to get hurt, and I didn’t want that either. “I will be careful,” I promised. “And I’ll keep you updated.”
That seemed to satisfy her. We spent the rest of the night catching up, discussing different ways I could exercise Vega, and planning where in the world Roxi wanted to go for her next vacation.
I hardly thought about Will at all. Not until I got home, saw Vega and burst into a fit of giggles remembering how big Teddy was going to get. I would give Will a few days, just as I’d promised Roxi, then text to ask for an update.
Chapter Five
Will
Every day that went by made me more and more aware that I hadn’t messaged Lacey. I wanted to, I knew that but... I also didn’t. Lacey made me want things that I was sure I had never wanted before. It seemed so ridiculous to feel that way about someone I’d met three times.
Yet, nothing I did seemed to distract me. Maybe if I’d been allowed to skate. But just sitting in the stands and watching the guys practise wasn’t a good distraction. Ryan and his awkward drama with the new nutritionist kept me somewhat on edge. Admittedly, El actually seemed pretty nice.
She’d set me up with some recipes, praising me for being pretty good with my diet. It was easy to keep on track when all I ate for dinner every evening was chicken. I had many different ways to cook it, but it was still always chicken.
Teddy continued to grow at rapid speed. Barely a week later, he needed a new dog bed. What he also needed was something that stopped him from going into the kitchen. After some Googling, I figured that I needed a little gate.
That was how I ended up at a hardware store on Saturday morning. Or well. That was how I ended up at a hardware store again on a Saturday morning. The first gate I had tried to instal had gotten bent within half an hour and then Teddy had just ripped it straight out of the frame.
I wanted to blame him, I did. But the reality was that my DIY skills truly were that bad.
So now I needed a stronger gate and the skill to instal it. At least one of those I could purchase pretty easily. That was, until I got stuck trying to pick out a drill. Why were there so many different drills?
“How am I meant to pick?” I muttered.
“Well, what kind of DIY do you need to do?”
I turned my head sharply to the left. Lacey was standing there, a basket hooked over her arm containing a bunch of things I could only guess at the purpose of.
She grinned, like she enjoyed having surprised me. “Hey, Will,” she greeted. “I was hoping I might run into you at the park again. I didn’t think I would see you here.” It did seem like a big coincidence. This wasn’t even the hardware store closest to my house. I’d had to drive out to a big one that would supply the kind of gate that I needed.
“But seriously,” Lacey continued. “Do you just need a good drill in general, or is there something specific that you’re looking for?”
My first instinct was to apologize to Lacey for not texting her. I felt bad about it. She was... fuck. Even now, with her hair brushed back in a loose ponytail and wearing a plain t-shirt with some jeans, Lacey looked great. I could feel my heart skipping a beat. And that was precisely why I couldn’t text her.
“Oh, um, hi,” I said. I had to physically stop myself from shaking my head at how stupid I sounded. And that was before I’d even answered Lacey’s question.
“I need to instal a gate to stop Teddy from going in the kitchen but... Well, I tried to instal one this morning already and he just ripped it out of the wall.” Which, yeah, was probably because I did a terrible job at installing it.
Lacey’s brow furrowed in concern. “That doesn’t sound great,” she offered, sympathetically. “I was going to text to ask how he was doing, but I had this great idea for work and I spent way too much time this week trying to get it perfect.”
I didn’t know whether her indirectly apologizing for not texting me made me feel better or worse. I was simultaneously glad that she’d wanted to and relieved that she hadn’t. The mixture of emotions made me feel like a jerk.
“Are you trying to drill the gate into a tiled wall?” Lacey asked. “If so, you want something that has good control at low speeds. But if you’re drilling into plaster, you can get away with something with fewer speed options.”
Okay, well, I knew that there weren’t tiles. So that was a good start, right? Though, from the way I frowned, I was sure that Lacey could tell I had no fucking idea what I was doing. Best try to distract her before she could ask me more about that.
“Do you do a lot of DIY?” I asked. None of the things Lacey had told me were to do with DIY, but I was pretty aware of the fact that there was a lot I didn’t know about her. A voice somewhere in my head reminded me how that could’ve been different if I’d actually texted her.
She smiled. “I guess that depends what you consider ‘a lot’. I don’t remodel my living room every season according to what’s fashionable.” I looked blankly at her. Was that a thing? She laughed, the sound making my heart leap all over again. “Yeah, some people do that,” she assured.
“I just… sometimes, I see things that could be improved. Any house needs maintenance.” That was probably true. If something in my house was broken, I tended to just pay someone to fix it. It would never have occurred to me to try doing it myself.
Perhaps sensing my surprise, Lacey carried on. “My mom taught me basic DIY before I left for college. She said landlords take advantage of students who don’t know their rights. She wanted me to be able to fix little things that went wrong.”
“That’s very smart of her.” I nodded. I couldn’t say my mom or dad had felt the need to teach me how to fix anything. They had very much been of the opinion that if I played hockey well enough I wouldn’t need to know anything else. And, in a way, I wondered if that was true.
I probably could pay someone to come instal a dog gate for me, but it felt a little bit like a cop-out.
“So, um, do you know about drills, then? I tried to put the previous one in with jus
t screwing it into the wall, but...” I gave a small shrug, wincing when it sent a spark of pain through my shoulder. It didn’t happen a lot now, which was why I kept forgetting to be careful.
Instantly, Lacey’s hand was on my arm. Just as it had before, her touch sent sparks of electricity over my skin. “Are you okay?” she asked, not pulling her hand back until I had nodded. She pursed her lips, glancing from the display of drills to my shoulder and back.
“I don’t think you should be using power tools right now,” she said, almost gently. “The vibrations can’t be very good for healing, and you can’t screw in a gate one-handed.” I hadn’t even considered that. But she was probably right, something vibrating the bones in my shoulder was bound to be trouble.
Lacey turned her attention back to the drills. “Do you want me to come do it?” she asked brightly. “I know enough about drills to instal a gate, I’m sure.”
The offer surprised me. I was used to getting someone in to do any fixing or whatever, but it was never women. Usually, it was men who were very impressed with all my hockey stuff. And I paid them. I somehow doubted that Lacey would take my money.
I needed the gate fixed as soon as possible. Teddy was getting big enough to steal things off the sides of kitchen counters. I didn’t want that to become a thing.
“Are you sure?” I asked. “I don’t want to take up your time. You must be here for a reason,” I added, looking at Lacey’s basket. “Screwing reasons?” Her basket was full of screws - and other stuff I didn’t recognize - but my eyes widened when I realized what I’d just said. “You know what I mean.”
She gave a delighted giggle, her cheeks flushing that delicate pink color that I was starting to recognize. I wondered how many other people could make her laugh and blush at the same time. I wanted to be the only one.
But that was a dangerous thought to be having. “I’m going to put up some new bookshelves in the hall,” she explained. “But it’s not urgent. I can come help with your gate first.”
It seemed like such a genuine offer. This wasn’t Lacey trying to spend time with me. I got the sense that she both really wanted to help and would actually be able to. “So what kind of wall are we dealing with?” she asked. “Tiles, or plaster?”
“Oh, um, plaster. If you’re sure?” I checked and Lacey nodded. Her smile was infectious, making it hard not to smile back. “Do you want me to drive or just follow me in your car? That’s probably easier.”
And it meant that Lacey could leave if she wanted to. I wasn’t planning to make her feel uncomfortable, but I assumed she’d prefer to have the option rather than relying on me to drive her back.
“Sure. That way you don’t have to drive me back to my car when we’re done,” Lacey agreed. She spent a few minutes looking at the different drills on offer, talking to me about ‘keyless chucks’ and ‘reversible direction’. I had to pretend to follow even half of what she was saying.
Her confidence was sexy, in a way I wouldn’t have assumed a woman talking about power tools would be. If Lacey knew her familiarity with construction terms was unusual, she didn’t show it.
Eventually, we got everything that Lacey said we would need. “So where do you live?” Lacey asked, “in case we get separated or something.”
“I’ll text you the address,” I offered since that seemed the easiest. “Let me get those for you,” I added, reaching for Lacey’s basket. “It’s the least I can do to thank you for your help.” And a few screws and whatever else she was buying was hardly going to break the bank for me.
I didn’t let Lacey object. Once I’d paid, I sent her my address. It did feel a bit weird that that was the first thing I was actually texting her. “I’m parked over there, if you pull up, I’ll lead the way,” I told Lacey. “It’s not far.”
Less than ten minutes later, I was pulling into my drive. It was definitely big enough to park more than two cars. The house itself was also huge. When I’d signed my first five-year contract with the Pumas, I had wanted to make Salt Lake City my home. So I’d bought a massive house.
Why I hadn’t thought of getting a dog before now, I had no idea. The house felt so much less empty now that Teddy was there.
Speaking of which, Teddy was already barking, excited that I was back. And he didn’t even know that Lacey was there, too!
“Teddy will probably pout that Vega’s not here,” I told Lacey once she’d gotten out of her car. Getting the shopping bags out of mine, I led her up to the front door. “He might pounce,” I warned.
“Maybe I’d better hide behind you for protection,” she teased, taking half a step so that at least my arm and the shopping were shielding her from view. “Especially as I imagine he’s ginormous now.”
I pushed the door open, only for Teddy’s head to fill the gap I had made. He rubbed happily against my leg in greeting, then gave an excited bark when he realized I wasn’t alone.
“Oh my god, he sounds so much bigger,” Lacey noted, pushing past me and going to her knees so she could ruffle the fur on Teddy’s shoulders. “Such a big boy, now, aren’t you?” she asked. Teddy gave a delighted ‘woof’.
“It’s only been a week,” I said before realizing that it also pointed out how after a whole week I still hadn’t gotten in touch with Lacey. If she thought about that, it didn’t seem to show.
Instead, Lacey stayed on her knees so she could pet Teddy. It was something the dog took a lot of delight in, rubbing his nose against Lacey’s face and making her giggle. The sound went straight to my heart, making butterflies flutter low in my stomach. God, what the fuck was wrong with me?
“The kitchen’s through this way,” I said, distracting myself from feeling jealous of my own dog.
Reluctantly, Lacey stood and followed me. Her head turned from side to side as we walked. I could feel her taking in every detail. And yet, she didn’t immediately remark on how big my place was. Most people who weren’t Pumas couldn’t seem to comment on anything else.
“You get a lot of great light here,” Lacey praised, standing in the sunbeam piercing through one of the windows. She turned her face up, like she was basking in it. The light gleamed off her auburn hair, making her look even more beautiful.
She was like a work of art herself. But of course, I didn’t say that.
Moving, she ran her fingers over the holes in the wall where Teddy had ripped out the first gate. “These don’t look too big,” she observed. “That’s good. I think we can risk drilling new holes in this wall, as long as they’re higher up.”
“Yeah, that sounds good,” I nodded like I had any idea if it did or did not sound good. What sounded good was that Lacey seemed pretty confident about being able to fix the gate up for me. I wasn’t going to embarrass myself in front of her and admit how I had no fucking clue what I was doing.
Instead, I offered her a drink. “I’ve got water or... actually, it’s just water. The contents of my fridge are kind of boring.” I was good with a routine and that routine included having some pretty boring foods and drinks.
Lacey looked up from where she was unpacking my new drill. “Really?” she asked. “You only have water? That does seem kind of boring.” I wasn’t used to people questioning my hospitality. But most of my guests were other hockey players. And if I knew I was going to invite someone over, I’d go shopping for extra supplies.
“I mean, it’s fine for me for now,” Lacey hastened to explain. “But it must get pretty boring for you, always drinking the same thing?”
The ‘for now’ resounded in my mind. I didn’t let myself focus on it. Instead, I shrugged at Lacey’s question. “I don’t really think about it,” I told her honestly. “For me, food is just sustenance. I get the right amount of nutrients, they don’t have to be fancy or anything.”
I got why that sounded odd. Not everyone could or wanted to live like that. “I have some milk if you prefer that,” I offered. Milk was at least a little bit less boring than water. Probably.
Lacey declined
the milk, accepting a glass of water while she got the new gate out of its packaging and examined it for - well, I had no idea what. She narrated what she was looking at as she went along, but the terms flew way over my head.
I just hummed and hoped that I was nodding in roughly the right places. Finally, once she had everything set up and said she was ready to go, she turned to me, one hand on her hip.
“You have no idea what I’ve been talking about, have you?” she asked. “Have you ever actually drilled anything?”
I did think about lying, but in equal measure, I thought about making a sex joke. In the end, I went with neither.
“No,” I admitted. “I don’t... I have zero DIY skills. I can’t even put flatpack furniture together.” It was probably embarrassing, but I didn’t feel embarrassed. Maybe a little bit, because I needed Lacey to instal a dog gate.
Taking a sip from my water bottle, I gave a shrug - carefully this time, so I wouldn’t hurt myself. “My parents never thought it necessary to teach me any DIY.”
Lacey wrinkled her nose at that. “But… why not?” she asked. “Everyone has to at least put together flatpack furniture. It’s not as if your parents thought you were going to live in their house forever.”
It was obvious that Lacey really couldn’t imagine why anyone wouldn’t need some basic skills in DIY. Which gave me an insight into how different our upbringings had been.
“Were they, like, hippies?” Lacey asked, surprising a laugh from me. “You know, the kind of people who think mass-produced furniture has no soul, or whatever.”
Just the thought of my parents as hippies made me give a bark of surprised laughter. “God, no,” I shook my head. “Quite the opposite. They... for them, what I needed to know was hockey. That was always the priority,” I explained, shaking my head slightly. “It’s... well, I do know hockey.”
Body Checked (Salt Lake Pumas #2) Page 5