Dear Roomie (Rookie Rebels #5) - Kate Meader Page 0,53
regimen. Who was he kidding? Living with Kennedy was torture and he had only himself to blame.
“Heard your brother’s on IR, so the clash of the century will be postponed until next time.”
“Yeah, my father canceled his trip.” Shit, he hadn’t meant to say that. That was exactly the kind of thing Foreman would use.
“Oh yeah?”
“He likes to see us push each other.” Like a Roman emperor viewing the gladiators. It wasn’t as much fun with only one of them against strangers. “He doesn’t travel much anymore. It has to be worth his while.”
Foreman sipped from his beer, remained silent. But he looked like he wanted to weigh in so Reid elected to do something he would normally not do: ask a question.
“Have you met Henri?”
“He did a brief coaching stint at the Royals.” The Royals was based in Montreal, Foreman’s previous outfit before he joined the Rebels. “Not a great one for positive encouragement, to be honest.”
“He likes things a certain way so coaching within the regulations of the league was never going to work for him.”
“Means he can devote all his time to you and your brother.” Foreman took another drag of his beer. “What does he think of you trying things out at center?”
Reid hadn’t told him. It had only been a week since Coach Calhoun suggested it and they were still playing around with the idea in practice. Reid had felt good out there, like he had a renewed sense of purpose that didn’t have anything to do with what Henri wanted.
When he didn’t comment, Foreman gave a slight eyebrow raise to indicate he understood. Mr. Sensitivity.
“More pressure on you now that you’re in the same city as Durand Junior, I imagine.”
“Not because of Henri.”
“Oh, yeah, who needs a taskmaster like that when you’ve got yourself wielding the whip?”
“Something wrong with pushing myself hard?”
Foreman shook his head. “Nah, as long as you don’t overdo it. You have enough to contend with. Not sure adding an attractive woman you can’t bang to the mix is a good strategy.”
“She’s not that attractive.”
“Fuck yeah, she is.” Theo walked in, put the brownies down on the counter, and started yanking open drawers. “We’re talking about Kennedy, I assume?”
“No,” Reid said at the same time Cal said, “Yes.”
Kershaw removed a steak knife from a block and eyed Reid. “So how does that work?”
“How does what work?”
“Are you turning the thermostat down?”
Reid exchanged a puzzled glance with Foreman, who elected to take another sip of his beer and leave Reid to ponder the hard questions.
“What the fuck are you talking about, Kershaw?”
“The best way to ensure you don’t have a half-dressed woman running around your living area, tempting you into a sexual frenzy, is to turn the thermostat down a couple of degrees, keep the place chilly, and then she has to layer up. Simple!” He snapped his fingers.
Foreman gestured toward Kershaw with his beer bottle and spoke to Reid. “There’s a certain method to that madness.”
Jorgenson came in. “What have I missed? Wait, there are brownies?”
“We’re talking about Kennedy,” Theo said as he handed a square of Kennedy’s brownie to Erik. No plate or anything. Heathens. “Specifically about how to keep Reid out of her panties.”
“Oh, good. That means you and she are not …” Erik trailed off as he stuffed his face with a big slab of brownie. Some of the crumbs fell to the floor, making Reid itchy.
“Sounds like she’s a free agent, Jorgenson,” Tate Kaminski said, the latest entrant to this annoying conversation, “so go for it.”
Erik nodded while he chewed. “That’s what I thought. I texted her this week to ask her about getting a goat.”
“A goat?” Reid spluttered. Better that than do what he really wanted: punch Jorgenson in the throat. As for Kaminski with his free agent observation? Number two on Reid’s throat-punching list.
“I figure she’d have some advice about animals. Women really dig baby goats—it’s big on social media—so I’m wondering if that would be better than a dog. Then I could get Kennedy in to look after it.”
“She’s taken,” Reid bit out. When Cal gave him a weird look, he added, “She has a full-time job with my dog.”
“She already texted back that she wasn’t sure a goat was a good idea because you can’t keep them in an apartment. But she said she’d meet me for coffee to talk about it. She wants to go to her old place of work with a hot hockey player to show them she’s doing just