She limped my way, her skates in her hands. “One of the assholes out on t
he rink pushed off the wall, straight into me, and I twisted my ankle as I fell.”
“Little shit,” I muttered as I crouched to take a look at her ankle. I had not even one ounce of an idea as to what I was looking for, but it didn’t appear to be swelling, so I figured that was a good thing.
“You can still walk on it?” Hyde asked.
Bree nodded. “Yeah, but it hurts really bad.”
He shifted to sit on the edge of his seat so he was closer to her. After taking a good look at her ankle, he said, “It doesn’t look crooked or swollen. Is it numb at all?”
She pressed on her ankle in a few spots. “No.”
He stood. “Good. I’ll get you some ice. Wait here.”
As we watched him go, Bree said, “He’s hot, Roe. Do you know him or did you just meet him here?”
I stopped drooling over his ass and turned to face her. This checking-out-guys side to her was new. Well, at least the sharing it with me was new. Her mother would have had a fit if she knew Bree was checking out a man old enough to be her father, but I figured it was a natural progression in a girl’s life. I didn’t want her to feel like she couldn’t talk to me about guys, so I ran with it. “I’ve met him a few times now, but I don’t really know him. And yeah, he’s hot as sin, but definitely not my type.”
She hit me with a look of shock. “You’re kidding, right? Like, why is he not your type? What doesn’t he have that you’re looking for?”
“Bree, baby, he’s the bad boy your mama will warn you about when you get a little older. Bad boys are okay to fool around with, but you don’t date them.”
“So all your life you’ve dated the good guys? Is that working for you?”
I narrowed my eyes at her. “When did you become so sassy?” Honestly, I loved her sass, just not when it was directed at me.
A smile spread across her face. “Just pointing out something you may want to consider. You know, kinda like you do all the time for me.”
I returned her smile. “Smartass,” I muttered. “And while I haven’t met the man of my dreams yet, I’m not sure a guy like Hyde would fit that bill.”
Her smile morphed into a smug grin. “Don’t judge a book by its cover, Roe.”
I poked my tongue at her. “Shut up, missy. And stop throwing all the shit at me that your mother and I have been throwing at you all your life. That’s good advice, but sometimes you just need to ignore it.”
She laughed, but her laughter quickly died as she gripped her leg. “God, this hurts. I want to go back out there and run into that kid who ran into me. He should be hurting too.”
Hyde returned with ice, and positioned Bree’s leg up on the chair. He placed the ice on her ankle and said, “You’ll probably wanna get her one of those compression bandages and keep her foot elevated.”
“And see the doctor, I’m guessing.” My first aid knowledge was going to need a major brush up if I was ever blessed with children.
“Yeah,” he agreed. I loved that he didn’t make fun of the fact I had zero awareness of how to treat this. He was just like bam, bam, bam, do this, do that, and all will be good. Hyde seemed like a take-charge kinda guy, and that right there made me like him more.
Bree glanced up at Hyde with a look of appreciation. “Thank you for all your help.”
“No worries.” He grabbed a spare seat from the table behind us and sat. “It’s a good sign that it’s not swelling. I’d say it’s a minor sprain only.”
“God, I hope so. I do not want to have to get a boot or anything like that,” Bree said. At my smile, she pulled a face and added, “Those things are not hot, Roe. No guy is gonna check me out while I’m wearing a boot.”
I held up my hands in defence. “Point taken, but I’m not sure I agree with you. I think you could milk a boot for a long time. Guys like to help pretty girls.”
Hyde seemed amused by our conversation, but he didn’t get involved. And a moment later when his daughter came off the rink, he left us to help her.
I watched him with her for a few minutes. He had to be one of the most attentive fathers I’d ever come across. Where some dads would be itching to get out of here, Hyde seemed intent on taking his time with his daughter. It was like he savoured every minute. I guessed that was perhaps because she lived in another city and he maybe didn’t get much time with her. Whatever it was, I loved it. And bloody hell if that didn’t annoy me a little. I didn’t need any more reasons to like him.
Chapter 14
Hyde