Execution (Off Balance 2)

"No more talking. Your voice is giving me a headache."

I glared at him. "It's Sunday. Surely you have plans with your girlfriend."

He didn’t answer me.

"Wh

y are you doing this?"

Kova's cell phone rang. It was hooked up to his Bluetooth so the ringing echoed loudly in the small space. The caller ID popped up on his dash. Katja. He declined it immediately.

"How am I going to get to practice tomorrow since my truck is at World Cup?"

Again, he ignored me and that fired me up.

"What is your damn problem?" I yelled, but he continued to ignore me and pulled into a gas station. He picked up two bags of ice and placed them in his trunk, then drove in the direction of my condo.

"See, this is the exact scenario where I call you Captain Dickhead in my head."

He stayed quiet. His cell rang again, and again he declined it.

I huffed under my breath with a shake of my head. "You know, I should've just lied and yes'd you to death. Then we wouldn't be in this situation together." I glanced over at him. "From now on, I'll just respond with yes to every question."

"I would prefer that, but we both know you will never hold true to it."

"Ah, so he speaks again. And here I thought you forgot your English. You're not coming in."

"Too bad. I am doing my job. I got you into this…condition." He waved his hand toward me. "I will help you get out of it."

Lowering my voice, I said, "I don't want you coming up to my condo." Didn't he know by now that nothing good could come from us being alone?

Kova parked his car and turned off the ignition. "I am."

My jaw slackened. "You can't just barge into my home whenever you feel like it."

Kova sighed and ran a hand down his face. He stared ahead at the wall of trees. "Adrianna, I do not want to come inside, I have better things I could be doing with my time, but you leave me no choice. If you have a problem with it, I will call your father and let him speak with you. I am certain he will be on my side."

"You would call my dad, wouldn't you," I stated more than questioned.

"Whatever it takes. Now, can you make it out of the car?"

It wasn't long until we were upstairs and in my unit. Kova had to carry me from the car to the lobby, as I walked slower than an eighty-seven-year-old.

I sat in a daze on the toilet and watched Kova bring in the ice bags and fill the tub. He ran the cold water and I dreaded what was to come next. There was so, so much ice. He had bought the twenty pound bags instead of the smaller five pound ones. Asshole. He rambled on and on about the importance of quick and efficient muscle recovery, but I wasn't listening. It was nothing I didn't already know. Combined with his thick accent, I could barely hear him over the roar of water and ice anyway.

Kova sat back on the ledge of the tub and glanced over his shoulder. He gazed down my body like he was waiting on an answer. Fatigued, I just nodded. I had no idea what he said.

"Ready?"

I sat up taller at his edgy tone. I just wanted to go to sleep. "Ready as I'll ever be."

Reaching into the convenience store bag, he pulled out a few medicine bottles. I looked away and eyed the freezing ice water I was about to sink into, trying desperately to mentally prepare for the dreadful temperatures that were about to shock my body. But I knew no amount of manipulating myself would work for this. It just sucked big time all around.

"Here. Take these." I glanced back at Kova who had his arm stretched out and palm open with a handful of colorful pills and capsules. They looked like multivitamins and a few more of the standard amount of Motrin that I usually took. His other hand held a water bottle.

I folded my palm up and the pills tumbled into my hand. He uncapped the water and handed it to me.

"What's this one?" I pointed a pill I hadn't seen before.