Page 90 of Date with a Devil
“So that’s it?” Dane asked.
“That’s it for now, yes. I’ll send these x-rays over to your team doctors along with my report. But you’re free to go.”
The doctor rushed out the door, and they were alone again, but neither of them stood to leave. They stayed behind to process the news.
“No hockey for six weeks,” Austen said. “So does that mean they can’t trade you?”
“Yup. They’ll have to put me on the injured reserve.”
“That’s good, right? That’s what you wanted?”
“I won’t lie, I’m disappointed. I’m a hockey player. I want to play hockey. I hate missing time—it’s why I drink that garlic stuff.” He smiled at her. “But hey. It means we’ve got a little more time together. And I’m good with that.”
She rested her head on his shoulder. “So you really like me, huh?”
“Sure do.”
“Why?”
“Because I do. You’re not like other girls.”
“How do you mean?”
“It was obvious when we met—you don’t worship the ground I walk on. Like I told you earlier, it gets boring to be treated like that all the time, you know? I guess I’ve been looking for a challenge all along—but I didn’t even know it until I met you.”
Austen clung to his bicep with both hands. “Aw. Dane. That’s sort of sweet.”
“And hey, I’ve definitely never met another girl who nearly got me tradedandput on the injured reserve, all within twenty-four hours.”
She smacked his meaty bicep. “Jerk! You’re going to hold that over my head forever, aren’t you?”
“I mean, how can Inot?” he teased. “Hey, has anybody seen your post on Twitter yet?”
She handed over her phone. “Take a look for yourself.”
Dane scrolled through the earliest replies to her tweet.
“um you guys look kinda cute together wtf wtf I’m so confusedddd”
“Why are you so close to him? Why does he look so happy about having his hand broken? So many questions.”
“Yeah Austen why are you even with him after that trainwreck of a date? We need answers.”
“GUYS!!!!!!!!! IF HES INJURED THE DEVILS CANT TRADE HIM!!!!!!!”
“Good, I’m glad. I don’t care what anybody says, I’m still a DeHardt fan. I hope we don’t ever trade him. He’s our only productive player right now, he’s the leader of that team, and we’d be worse off without him. End of story.”
“hockey twitter is shitting itself right now thanks to this tweet Austen LOL”
The replies went on and on, but Dane got the idea.
“Looks promising,” he said, “but what do we do now?”
“I’ll post the x-rays and give an update, if that’s okay with you.”
“Definitely.”
“And then we’ll let ’em stew for a day or so, while I figure out what to do next.”
