Page 21 of Ice King

If she had any idea I was a shifter I’d be surprised. There were still millions of humans who either chose not to believe we existed or didn’t care. I had a feeling she’d simply not been paying attention to the news. “Didn’t the coach tell you my bite was worse than my bark?” My laugh didn’t cause the reaction I was hoping for.

“Well, I might not understand nor am I qualified to even comment, but that’s never stopped me before. You appear tobe good at what you do, but it’s like you’re angry with the world. Maybe you’re right in that the nickname suits you. You’re treating that stick thing you carry as a weapon and not a tool. A lot of baseball players say a bat is an extension of them, becoming a part of their anatomy. I don’t see that in how you play. It’s like you’re waiting for some asshole to slam you into a wall so you can come alive.”

Ordinarily when someone criticized me, especially a person who called my twig a stick thing, I’d been livid. But she was being genuine, something not a single sports agent, coach, or even my own father had told me.

She returned her full concentration to my body, manipulating my shoulder and to my shock, I didn’t feel the same pain as I had before. “You really think so?”

“I know what you’re going to say, Mr. Kendrick. That I should keep my nose out of a business I have no place being in. Right? Well, sometimes it takes someone standing on the outside to notice what everyone else refuses to. You’re fighting some demon inside of you and until you figure out why, you’re not going to advance. Not because you aren’t good at what you do, but because your mind is keeping you from succeeding. This injury wasn’t your fault. But if you hadn’t been trying to start a fight all night long with that other player, maybe he wouldn’t have felt the need to get even.”

Wow. Now I was getting angry.

Yet I’d be damned if she wasn’t right.

Coach Stryker hadn’t even said that to me up to this point.

“Let me guess. You think I should sleep with my hockey stick?”

I could sense her shrugging even though I couldn’t see her doing so. “If that’s what it takes, although I doubt that will work in and of itself.”

Little Miss Know-it-all.

“Yeah, well, you don’t know what you’re talking about. Hockey is a rough sport and everybody knows it. You just admitted you’re nothing but a massage therapist. Stick to what you’re good at.”

She instantly tensed, her breathing hitched. While she didn’t stop rubbing, I sensed she’d shut the door she’d cracked open for me.

Christ. Why was I being such an asshole with her?

A full five minutes ticked by and she was determined to ignore me.

“You just moved here. Huh?” I threw out the question.

“Yep.”

“Where did you come from?”

Her tension was evident by the change in the pressure in her fingers. My keen hearing also captured a shift in her breathing. “Far away.”

In feeling her disinterest with me, I became antsier, longing to learn more about her. She continued the massage, working out the kinks on almost every muscle. I closed my eyes, finally starting to relax when I sensed it was all over. She moved to the sink, turning on the water.

“You’re all finished. We’ll do this again tomorrow. I’m assuming you’ve already had ice therapy. You can use heat for the aches, and I suspect your shoulder will act better after the lightmanipulation. Try not to use it tonight. Don’t lift any heavy weights. Don’t go out dancing.”

She wasn’t interested in looking at me.

I shifted into a sitting position, careful to position the towel over my boner.

“We call it a twig.”

My comment barely registered any acknowledgment. “What’s that?”

“A hockey stick. I’m hoping to get a big time sponsor this year. You know, for the stick. At least one.” Why was I jabbering on about hockey shit with her?

“That’s nice.”

Nice. She had no idea what obtaining sponsorships could mean to a player or a team. Sure, being in the AHL meant the sponsorship was usually regional, but I’d been approached by a national firm.Suck it up, Wolfman. She doesn’t care.The truth was I had my doubts about the reason I’d been contacted in the first place. There were some dubious people out there eager to exploit shifters, turning them into little more than circus animals.

That wasn’t going to be me.

“Look, I’m sorry about what I said to you, Georgia. That wasn’t fair. But honestly, hockey is a violent sport. I just… I have a lot going on in my mind. Maybe I allowed my frustration to get the better of me. Maybe I could make it up to you. What do you say we grab a drink? I’m allowed to have alcohol. Right? I know a cute little place not too far from here. It’s on the way back to North Bend.”