Page 2 of Charming Crosschecks

“GET OUT OF MY WAY!” The words came out in a roar, his voice raw and trembling with suppressed emotion.

“Let him go,” a soft, feminine voice interjected from behind him.Molly. Gerry froze for a fraction of a second, his spine stiffening at the sound of her voice. He saw Bouchard glance past his shoulder, his face tightening with discomfort. The pity in his eyes was unbearable.

Gerry shoved past him, his chest tight with the effort of holding back tears of rage and shame. He stormed into the locker room, slamming the door open with enough force to send it crashing against the wall.

The showers offered solace—temporary, fleeting, but solace nonetheless. Alone at last, Gerry leaned against the cold tile, his breath coming in ragged gasps. The anger was still there, simmering beneath the surface, but now it was joined by something heavier. The weight of every insult, every joke, every well-meaning comment about his body.

This was his new reality: Molly, the stunning physical therapist, was his latest hurdle. She was going to be his partner in this battle—a battle he wasn’t sure he had the strength to fight anymore.

CHAPTER 2

MOLLY

“I can do this…”Molly whispered, staring at the arena ahead of her. A new job in a new city was just as overwhelming as she imagined it would be – and for someone who was a homebody, an introvert, and enjoyed nothing better than a good book curled up in a chair on a rainy day… this was hard stepping outside of the proverbial box.

This job was the chance of a lifetime.

She wasn’t sure why they selected her out of all the candidates, but the moment the North Texas Coyotes called and asked her if she was still interested – she nearly screamed in relief and moved from Houston two days later. Goodbye swamping heat and traffic – and ‘hello’ to stifling heat and traffic.

Okay, so Dallas was much like Houston only perceptibly less muggy – if you were standing in the shade on a windy day. Both were definitely not Denver, that was for sure! The traffic didn’t bother her because she was used to it. The cost of her new apartment didn’t phase her – again – because she was used to the outrageous prices of living intown, but the team did.

The team surprised her quite a bit.

They weren’t crass or nasty, didn’t curse at her, and didn’t make lewd gestures. They didn’t go out drinking together, and there were no phone calls to pick up someone from a bar, no phone calls from jail, and seemingly good guys. She had started at her job two days ago, unknowingly observing the team from the shadows, pretending to be a janitor so she could see them moving around and in action, and was completely comfortable being ignored because it let her see them.

It was easy to see where she was needed, things that needed to be addressed, and the reason she was brought onto the team – Lafreniere, the goalie. That man was going to tear something vital with the disgraceful way he was not warming up properly and how he kept slamming down his knees on the ice.

She was supposed to give Coach Côte her assessment this afternoon before meeting the team.Apparently, each of them had issues, she mused silently and kept watching the blond man who seemed larger than life – and hiding an issue. He was favoring a weak knee and holding himself in a way that told her his back was spasming, yet he was skating on the ice like it was nothing.His pain tolerance levels must be through the roof,she mused.

Giroux had knee problems.

Batiste needed to gain some weight.

Lafreniere needed to stretch properly and land differently so he didn’t hurt himself.

Thierry needed to lose twenty pounds, stabilize his core, and strengthen his knee.

Coeur and Boucher played rough but surprised her. Both men seemed to have it together, holding themselves properly, moving smoothly, and those two were goingto be incredible if they could get over themselves. They didn’t quite fit in like the others and she could see them becoming all-stars eventually. In fact, she wasn’t sure why they were still here.

“And I’ve got to tell the coach all of this – and I’m sure he already knows it,” she muttered under her breath, getting out of her car and walking in. As she made her way down the hall full of doors, she spotted her door that simply said ‘Private’ on the placard.

Her name would be put on later this week, probably after she met the team to make sure they would be okay with a girl handling things. It was part of the reason she was looking for a spot and accepted the job, so she could get her feet in the door. She was tired of working at the sports clinic, seeing faces that couldn’t care less if she was there or not, and took one look at her asking for a guy.

At five foot two inches, she wasn’t impressing any of these six-or-seven foot athletes, until she showed them that she knew what she was doing. It only took one to admit that she was on the money… but it was finding that ‘one’ before she got the doors shut in her face.

Stepping into her office, Molly stopped and swallowed nervously. The coach was already in there – waiting.

“Hey Molly, today is the big day,” he smiled brightly. “Are you ready to meet your new family?”

“Family, huh?”

“Yep. Those are our boys from here on, and it’s our job to make sure they have no obstacles to being the best they can be.”

“About that…”

“You noticed, huh?”

“They are easy fixes,” she replied smoothly. “All it will take is a little time and elbow grease.”

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