Page 43 of Dump and Chase

“I’m looking forward to work. Thanks again for mentioning the job.”

“I’m glad you’re happy.”

I made my coffee and pulled my mason jar of oats out of the fridge. “Any news on Brandi?”

“Other than an email from her lawyer to initiate the title transfer of the house?”

I bit back a laugh. I had to give Brandi credit for not wasting time. She seemed to know exactly how to get what she wanted. I could learn something from her. “She moves fast. Have you tried talking to her?”

He poured himself a cup of coffee. “We aren’t getting back together. I think demanding the title to the house pretty much decides that.”

The irony.

I sat at the island with my breakfast, scrolling through the news on my phone. Ethan sipped his protein shake and looked at the newspaper.

“What do you know about Brandon Warde?” I asked.

Ethan sneered for a second. “I know he’s a pain in the ass and I hope he gets traded.”

A ringing endorsement.

“I’m sure you know he’s rehabbing with the Ravens.”

Ethan huffed. “That’s because Coach Anthony doesn’t want him around. And he disagrees with everything Nate, our athletic trainer, recommends. He’s a shithead.”

I’d done my homework. Last season he’d been promoted to the first line a few times when Ethan had been slumping. There had to be a bit of a rivalry there.

“I’m working with him starting today, and he seems okay. We had a consult on Saturday, and after some back and forth, we came to an understanding.”

Ethan smiled and nodded. “You put him in his place?”

“I think so. He brought me peanut butter cups.”

Maybe I shouldn’t have mentioned that. I hadn’t said it to antagonize Ethan, but his eyes darkened and his jaw tensed. “Don’t expect the good times to last.”

I finished up breakfast and headed to the rink. I had about an hour before Brandon was due, so I went over my plan. Based on what his therapist and doctor had sent, Brandon was making good progress and was on schedule for a December return to the ice. Just as I’d thought. I had a list of the exercises he was doing, and I’d map out what the next steps were once I saw him in action.

I wasn’t the least bit surprised to see him in the gym right at 9 a.m. He had on a Kodiaks T-shirt, which wasn’t going to ingratiate him to anyone. I vowed not to check out his ass in his black shorts.

“Hi,” I said, as he worked on some stretches. “Before we begin, I’d like to get you on the table and do a physical examination.”

He nodded and followed me to the trainers’ room. I asked him to hop up on the table and lie on his back so I could check out his damaged left leg as well as his right leg. I found with these kinds of injuries, the uninjured leg ended up compensating for the injured one.

“Anything else I should take a look at while I’ve got you here?” I asked.

“I feel fine otherwise.”

That told me to check everything. I started with his neck, where he had a lot of tension, and when I pressed down on certain pressure points it jarred him. I made a note of that. I moved to his injured knee and asked him to do different stretching positions to get a feel for his limitations. He did surprisingly well. I tested the knee’s strength, and it was better than expected as well.

Next, I moved to the uninjured leg. Every muscle was tighter than normal, and as I worked on them, he occasionally winced.

“Tight, right?” I asked.

“Yeah. I guess I didn’t notice.”

“Your right leg is compensating for your left. I’m going to work on it for a bit to try to relieve the pressure. Then I’m going to work on your neck too. Before I do that, I’m going to get you to turn over and see how your back is doing.”

I examined his back and was happy to see no major issues. When I got to his hamstrings, I found they were tight as well. A recipe for an injury if he pushed himself too hard.

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