Page 52 of Not A Chance

“It’s just a cold. No big deal.” I aimed for a reassuring tone.

The last thing I wanted Theo to do was feel obligated to help me. God, just the idea of being a burden to him made me nauseous.

Distracted by that mortifying thought, I stumbled on an uneven part of the sidewalk.

“Whoa, there. You are not fine. Jesus. Let me help you. Here.” He put his arm around my waist to steady me.

A small, hairless bundle was placed into my hands before Theo caught me off guard by scooping me up in his arms.

I jolted with the intent to tell him to put me down, but he cut me off before I could get the words out.

“Relax, Rocky. I don’t want to cop an elbow in the face this time,” he said and chuckled.

He was referring to the time he caught me falling out of the tree in their backyard. Excuse me for being a child and moving my limbs while I freaked out.

“Oh, trust me, I have photographic evidence in the form of a rep division hockey card of the black eye you gave me before you calmed down. I had to lie to the team to save face. I told them I’d got it in a game of street hockey.” His voice was warm with affection at the memory.

Shit. I’d spoken out loud. Defeated either by the cold or embarrassment, I let my head fall to the side so it rested against the thick fabric of his jacket. It would take too much energy to resist.

His amusement quickly turned to surprise. “It’s too fucking coldto be out here in a hoodie and, Jesus, your pajamas.”

“Had to take Giz out,” I muttered.

“You could have let me know. I could have done that. You should be resting. When you said we couldn’t see each other last night, I thought you were blowing me off.” His tone held both relief and a hint of disgruntlement.

I’d told him I had a virus and didn’t want to get him sick so he couldn’t play. The coaches and medical team took the players’ health very seriously. He could get pulled.

That thought had me stiffening. “Theo,” I choked on another cough. “You shouldn’t be touching me. I can’t make you sick.”

I’d seen how seriously all the guys took their practices, routines, and rituals. There was no room for error, let alone putting themselves in a position to be off the ice sick with a virus.

He just hummed in reply.

“Where are your keys?” Theo shifted the majority of my body weight into one of his arms, trying to find keys that weren’t there, bringing his hand around my knees. He dug around into the front pocket of my hoodie until he found the small key chain I carried.

Once he got us inside, he moved straight for my bedroom. He deposited me on the bed with Giz still in my arms. Theo pulled the covers up to my waist and left the room.

“Okay, baby.” He let out a breath, not mentioning anything more about my lack of proper cold-weather attire. “You two get cozy here. I’m going to get these dishes out of your way and see if you have anything to eat. We need to get you better.”

Theo swept Gizmo from my arms, kissed her head gently, and popped her onto my bed with a gentleness that had a pressure growing in my chest at the sight. I couldn’t blame the feeling on my cough.

“Theo, seriously. I’ll be fine. You need to get out of here. You can’tafford to get sick.” I was torn between truly not wanting him to get sick but totally relieved at the thought of someone taking care of me for once.

He waved away my weak protest as if we weren’t talking about playing professional hockey for millions of dollars a year.

Theo channeled his inner Mary Poppins as he began to pick up the random shit I’d left around my room and bedside tables. He’d started gathering up my dirty water glasses and took the bag full of tissues out of my waste bin. Turning around to look over at where I sat in my bed, still in shock that this was happening, and gave me a mischievous grin.

“Don’t worry. If I get sick, I’ll just blame it on Andrews.” He sniggered at his own joke.

“Theo!” I tried to muster another glare. It must have been a feeble attempt, as Theo just laughed it off.

“I’m kidding.” He gave me a wink.

I concluded that it wouldn’t hurt to let him clean up the dishes and throw out the garbage.

I let my body lean back into my pillows, careful not to jostle the bed too much and disturb a sleeping Gizmo.

I’d just close my eyes for a minute. Then I’d remind Theo he should go.

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