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"Oh, the usual. If you hurt her, I'll kill you."
I nodded but chuckled. "That's not the line."
He shook his head. "Yeah, yeah, that's not how we normally say it. But it's not like you will beat yourself up if you hurt her. If needed, I'll find some muscle, or I can do it. Remember, I did defend your ass last year when you got the concussion."
I smirked. “Not really. Something about getting checked in the head that set everything into motion.”
Although, I did remember him giving it to the other guy. I just liked giving him some shit, and it was too easy.
Chapter 16
Spencer
Driving into the shelter's parking lot, I saw a bunch of kids playing in the lawn. I just cursed big time. I forgot that today's shelter was one of the few that I visited that actually let the mothers bring their kids with them, and I always liked to bring the kids backpacks filled with school supplies and toys.
I punched in Natalie's number.
After two rings, she picked up. Before she could speak, I said, "I fucked up."
"No, you didn't," she said in that sweet voice. We both knew that she was being too kind. Yet, that's why I loved Natalie. "I put all the kids’ backpacks and the mini sticks in my car before you got home."
I released a sigh of relief. She'd saved my ass yet once again.
Like the awesome PA that she was—which meant she was basically a mind reader. "I'm pulling in behind you. You got nothing to worry about."
I chuckled. It felt good to know she knew what I was actually missing. I wanted to mess with her a little. "What would you have done if I said that I forgot everything?"
"Called you out for lying." Bringing out her giggle. Damn, it made me hard when I heard that. But I adored that she would call me out and didn't have a problem being sassy with me.
I threw my SUV into the park, and I waited for her.
I'd been waiting four long days since our double date. Sadly, she'd been so damn busy trying to make sure all the fellas were ready for the week-long road trip and dealing with some social media stuff for some of her other clients.
I didn't truly fuck things up with her by being hesitant about labeling us since she wasn’t ghosting me.
She finally pulled up beside me. I hopped out of the car and hauled out my dolly. I always gave a shit ton of supplies to the women's shelter, which meant investing in a hand truck in order to carry all the food, clothing and other things that I would bring.
As I stacked boxes, a little boy came up to me and said, "Mr. Suzuki, can I get one of your special backpacks?"
I smiled and knelt by the little guy.
As much as I wanted to give him one right then, I'd gotten in trouble in the past with the shelter's administrators for giving things away too soon. Besides, the bags were actually in Nat's car.
"Not right now." I pointed towards Natalie, "See that pretty lady over there? She's got them, but we got to bring everything inside first. Do you want to help to make it go by a little quicker?"
"Sure," the little boy said with a smile. "I'm Eric."
I grabbed one of the smaller boxes out of the trunk and passed it to him. "Nice to meet you, Eric."
Hearing the click of the camera, I flinched. I forgot that the Legacy PR was going to shadow and take photos today.
It was all part of Operation Repair My Image. Which was still bullshit that I needed to worry about that while playing hockey and doing everything with my charity.
"Make sure you don't take any photos of the people living here at the shelter. This is only of myself, Spence and the administration staff," Natalie called out from her car.
I was grateful for that reminder. It was crucial for us to protect the identities of everyone at the shelter. These women were getting away from a violent home, and God knew how many exes would love to seek them out.
Plus, it meant that if I wanted to avoid the camera, I could just buddy up with my new friend Eric.
