Foreplayer (Rookie Rebels #4) - Kate Meader Page 0,100
will tell you again. You have my blood and marrow and spirit, so I take some responsibility for your best attributes.”
“Of course.”
He grinned. “But mostly, I marvel at what a wonderful person you have become. Do not let anyone dim your fire, pchyolka. Do not accept second best for anything.”
Pchyolka. Little bee, a term of endearment he used when they had first met. Her heart liquefied in her chest. Vadim might be the most dramatic person she knew, but he was rarely sentimental.
Memories assailed her. A sterile room, the stink of disinfectant, another lifetime.
Her mother walked into her hospital room, looking more troubled than usual. “Mia, this is Vadim—”
“Petrov. I know.” Drawing on strength she didn’t know she had, Mia pushed herself upright in the bed. She couldn’t believe her mother had managed to persuade Vadim Petrov, one of her favorite hockey players, to visit her. “I love how you play. I want to play exactly like you.”
Vadim Petrov’s lips twitched. But then his Arctic-blue eyes flashed with a deep emotion Mia would never have expected from a stranger.
Her mother stepped forward and took her hand. “Vadim is here because …” She shot a worried look at him, but Vadim wasn’t paying attention to her. He was staring at Mia as if he had seen a ghost.
“Mia, I am your brother.”
She must be as high as a giraffe’s ass from the drug cocktail the docs had her on. She could have sworn that Vadim Petrov, power forward with the Quebec Royals, one of her idols, had said he was her brother like some twisted parody of Darth Vader giving Luke a coronary. He must mean in spirit, supporting her while she fought this horrible life-sapping disease. Some kind of Make-a-Wish thing.
“Uh, I appreciate that,” she said.
Back in the present, she looked into the eyes of that same man and marveled at how her life had turned out.
“I have the best brother, the best sisters-in-law, the best doggo … second-best has never come into it.” By staying in Chicago she would likely see Cal on the regular and risk a delay of her healing. But she had been brave before. She hoped that eventually they could return to the foundation that had strengthened each day since Levi Hunt’s wedding: their friendship.
“Yet, you thought that pizdoon, Tommy, would be a good option.”
“I thought anyone who wasn’t a dill-hole hockey player would be a good option. I was trying to come up with the opposite.”
“You were looking for a champion, and while I am here and will always be that for you, you have someone else on your side.” He waited a theatrical beat, and said, “Cal.”
How was she supposed to get over him if Vadim kept bringing him up? “You said he was a man-ho.”
“I said he likes women. This is not the same thing. But mostly, I believe he needs someone who is in his corner. I have not been a good friend to him.”
Cal had been in her corner from the beginning. A man who snuck out of his hotel to drive two hours to see a women’s hockey practice game when he should be preparing for his next outing on pro ice was pretty special. A man who made you mac and cheese, let you control the Netflix queue, and gave hell to the person who hurt you—perhaps this was a man trying to tell her something.
“He bought me tampons.”
Her brother frowned. “How sweet.”
It was. “You know he still talks to Bethany? They share custody of their dog.”
“That thing is still alive?” Not clear if he meant Cal’s ex or the puppy.
She wondered if Cal had discussed her in depth with her brother. About to enquire further, she was distracted by her phone buzzing.
Her brother took that as his cue to stand and stretch. “I will start dinner. Pizza okay?”
“Pizza would be great.”
She checked her phone, to find a message from Tara. Did you sort things out with Cal?
Nothing to sort out. We’re just friends.
Sure you are. I really thought he’d go for it, but I’m beyond knowing what men think anymore. Or maybe he hasn’t seen it.
What the hell was she talking about? Before she had a chance to respond, another message came in.
From Cal. Her heart soared.
It’s official. ITD.
A couple of seconds later: That means I’m the Dick.
She looked over her shoulder through the large picture window. Vadim and Isobel were in the kitchen, kissing in between chopping veggies for the pizza. Out on the patio, Gordie