Page 16 of The Grinder

Then again, everything seemed easy with this woman.

“Hockey players think they’re funny.”

“Aren’t they?”

“Not most of them.”

“Then I guess you’re not like most of them.”

He slid her a glance. “You think I’m funny?”

Her smile made his cock twitch in anticipation. “I think you’re avoiding telling me how you got the nickname.”

He laughed. “I got it in college. One of the guys on my team was a farm boy from Pennsylvania, and after a game he told me how I reminded him of this chicken he had that never shut up. The other players started calling me Chickie and it stuck.”

“Did you play in high school, too?”

“My dad says I grabbed a stick when I was about four and never let go. It’s been my life ever since.”

“How long do you plan to play?”

He shrugged, not yet ready to admit his defeat aloud. “Not sure. When I’m done, I’ll figure out what to do with the rest of my life. I have a degree in sports management. The plan is to work with kids when I get out, but beyond that, I don’t really know. I’ve been too focused on playing for the past twenty years.”

Her eyes widened. “Twenty years? You’ve been playing since you were eight?”

The shock in her voice kind of surprised him. “Well, more than that really, but yeah.”

“Do you really love the game that much?”

“Yeah.” Something his ex had accused him of more than once. That he’d loved the game more than he loved her. It’d stung at the time…mostly because she’d been right. He’d been selfish. “You have to or what’s the point?”

After a short pause, she said, “You’re absolutely right.”

“Could you say that again so I can record it and play it for my mom? I swear, no matter what I do, she thinks it’s wrong. So, did you and your sister have a good time tonight? She was welcome to come with us tonight, you know.”

She laughed quietly and nodded. “I know but she, ah, had plans come up. But we did enjoy the game. I can’t believe how physical it is. How are you still able to walk? I saw you get hit really hard a few times.”

Shrugging, he automatically rolled his shoulder, happy there was no pain. “You get used to it. Besides, I knew I had a date to look forward to and I wasn’t missing it because of a few bumps and bruises.”

He slid her a glance and caught her smiling again.

“You’re kind of a flirt, aren’t you?”

“Just kind of?”

She laughed, as he’d hoped she would, and shook her head. “Okay, definitely a flirt.”

“Thank you. Would hate to think I was half-assing something.”

She was still laughing when he parked at the sidewalk in front of the address she’d given him.

“Is this yours?”

It looked so…suburban. He almost expected two-point-five kids to run out, screaming, “Mommy!”

“Mm-hmm. Technically, it belongs to my parents, but when they moved to Florida a few years ago, they asked my sister and me if we wanted to stay here. It was a no-brainer. My parents took out a second mortgage, bought a condo in Florida, and now my sister and I pay that mortgage and live here and my parents have their place in the sun and everyone’s happy.”

“You are way more adult than me.”

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