Game Winner (Penalty Kill 3)

The best retort I can come up with is, “I’m not moping.”

“Well, at least you’re acknowledging that you are pissing everyone off.” When I don’t respond, she rests her chin on my shoulder and keeps going, her tone much nicer this time. “Did you ever stop to acknowledge that Victor and I had to watch you crash into the boards? We had to hold our breath, waiting for you to get up, and then wait to find out how you were doing. You weren’t the only one who went through it. It was terrifying for us too.”

Point for Smarty. That never crossed my mind and that acknowledgment chips at some of my anger. I turn my head to look at her. “I’m sorry, Presley. Do you still love me?”

“Eh.” She shrugs her shoulders, trying not to smile. “I guess.”

“Are you really going to take care of me?”

This time she does smile because she knows she’s essentially won. “I’m not going to wait on you hand and foot, but I promise to make you feel better. I have one condition though.”

“What’s that?” I ask.

“You have to tell me what’s going on, and you absolutely have to stop being a jerk.” She smiles.

“Deal.”

Presley pulls me back down, so she can cuddle with me. Once she’s comfortable, she says, “Okay, I’m ready. Spill your guts.”

So I tell her that I’m out until I lose the headaches and sleeping problems and then I’ll be able to ease back into the game. The more I talk, the deeper she frowns. She was clueless about most of what I’m telling her because I didn’t say anything before. But then I make her get dressed before the guys get back. A few days away from here could do me good, I think.

“I’ll follow you, okay?” I ask as we stand outside between our cars.

“Okay.”

“I love you.” I lean down and give her a kiss.

“I love you too.”

Chapter Eleven

Presley

I wake up and carefully get out of bed. I’m going to class, but I want Levi to rest. I felt him toss and turn all night. Each time I would rub his back or his temples, it seemed to help with the headaches.

After class, I bring a pizza home for Levi. I know that he needs to leave in a couple of days to be reevaluated, but I’m going to get him better. He feels a little better that the coaches from the AHL called him and are looking for a speedy return. However, he stills feels like he blew his only chance in the NHL. I know that’s not true, but he isn’t listening to that.

“Levi, I’m home,” I call out coming into the apartment. “I brought pizza.”

“Hell yeah,” I turn to see Trevor rubbing his hands together, grabbing the box from my hand.

“Trevor, what the hell are you doing here?” I’m taken aback that he’s here.

“We are playing Xbox,” Levi says, sitting the controller down and following us to the kitchen table.

“Making sure we keep up his eye-hand coordination.” Trevor grabs a slice as I hand them both a bottle of water.

“When did an Xbox get here?” I don’t own any gaming consoles, and I know Levi’s isn’t here.

“I brought mine over,” Trevor informs me. “We’re going to go work out here in a little bit.”

I look over at Levi. “Are you supposed to be doing that?”

He shrugs. “I’m going too.”

I shake my head at him. He’s so damn stubborn. He’s going to rush this and be in worse condition than before. Trevor asks me about class, and I go in detail about how hard this semester is going to be for me. However, I’m glad that it’s halfway over. I just need to keep up with extra work that I’m doing, so I don’t fall behind.

Between Levi and Trevor, they devour the pizzas. I’m lucky I get a piece. When we all are done, I gather the plates and begin to clean up.