LIGHTNING (8 page)

Brooke

After showering, I threw my hair up in a ponytail, slipped into my black workout pants, and put on my black and white sports bra. As I walked to the kitchen to get a cup of coffee, I stopped when I saw Logan standing behind the island. Just as he was about to sip his coffee, he stopped and his eyes raked over me like a salivating dog looking at a piece of raw meat.

“I didn’t think you’d be up already,” I spoke as I tried to ignore his muscular body.

“I couldn’t sleep anymore. Are you wearing that to the gym?”

“Yeah.” I reached up into the cabinet for a coffee mug. “Why? Do I look bad or something?”

“Umm. No. You look incredible. I mean, nice, good.” He was fumbling with his words and I couldn’t help but smile. “It’s just — I mean, shouldn’t you wear a shirt or something over that sports bra?”

I let out a laugh. “Oh. I am. I just haven’t put it on yet. I wanted to grab some coffee.”

It looked to me like he let out a sigh of relief.

“I’ll be ready to go soon. How about you?”

He set his coffee cup down on the counter. “Yeah. I just need to get dressed.”

Putting on my boots and my coat, I grabbed my purse and Logan and I climbed into the back of a cab. When we arrived at the gym, I could tell he was a little apprehensive.

“Don’t worry. I’m not going to hurt you.” I smiled as I had him sit down on the leg extension machine. You’re going to start with your damaged leg only.”

I set the machine to ten pounds and got down on my knees, grabbing hold of his foot.

“Slowly extend your leg,” I spoke as I helped him lift his leg. “We’re going to do ten reps to start and go from there.”

After spending about thirty minutes on the leg extension machine, I handed him his crutches and took him over to the treadmill. He spent about an hour walking at a very slow pace until he looked over at me with sweat running down his face.

“The pain is really bad, Brooke. I need to stop.”

“Okay. That’s enough for today or at least until later. Let’s go sit on the bench so I can rub down your leg.”

“Here? Can’t you wait to do that when we get home?”

“No. It has to be done while the leg is still warm. What’s the problem?” I asked as I cocked my head at him.

“It’s embarrassing. People will stare.”

“I don’t care and neither should you.”

He sighed as I helped him over to the bench. Taking out the bottle from my purse, I got down on my knees, poured the contents in my hand, and started massaging up and down his leg.

“This will help with the pain. I promise.” I smiled as I looked up at him.

As I made my way to his knee, I heard a voice from behind.

“Hey, Logan. What’s up?”

“Hey, bro.” Logan held his fist up and they fist bumped.

“So what’s going on here?”

“James, this is my physical therapist, Brooke. Brooke, this is James, one of my teammates.”

“Nice to meet you, James.” I held up my hands. “Sorry, I’m a little greasy at the moment.”

“No worries. It’s nice to meet you too, Brooke. Are you coming to the Christmas party on Friday night, Logan? The coach said he wasn’t sure.”

“Nah. I don’t think so,” Logan spoke.

“Yes. Actually, he will be there,” I interrupted.

“Brooke,” he spoke in harsh tone, “I don’t want to go.”

Looking over at James, I smiled. “Never mind him. He’ll be there.”

“Great. We all miss you, Logan. It’ll be good to have the whole team together.”

Logan looked down. “Dude, the whole team won’t be together. Have you forgotten about Tommy?”

“No. I haven’t. But you know what I mean. I better get going. It was nice to meet you, Brooke. I’ll see you on Friday, Logan.”

As he walked away, I glanced over at Logan, who was sitting there with a pissed off look on his face.

“Talk to me, Logan.”

“You had no right telling him that I’d be there. No right at all. This is my life, Brooke, and I make my own decisions. Understand?” he spoke in a low but stern voice as he picked up his crutches and hobbled away.

Following him out the door of the gym, he hobbled to the corner to catch a cab.

“Welcome to the land of the living, Logan!” I yelled from a few feet away.

****

Logan

I rolled my eyes as I climbed into the back of the cab while Brooke slid in on the other side. It wasn’t her decision whether or not I went to the Christmas party and it really pissed me off that she thought she could make my decisions for me.

“Whether you like it or not, it’s time for you to start being social again.”

“Give it a rest, Brooke. I’m not talking about this anymore. You’re here to help me rehabilitate my leg and that’s it! What I fucking want to do with my life is my business, not yours!”

Her phone rang from inside her purse. As she pulled it out, I noticed the name, Mark, appeared on her screen. She immediately hit the decline button and shoved her phone back inside. I sat there and wondered who the hell Mark was as the ride back to my apartment was silent.

Once we got inside, I went straight to my bedroom and lay down on the bed. Maybe I shouldn’t have snapped at Brooke the way I did, but she had no right. Closing my eyes, I fell asleep. When I awoke, I looked at my clock. I had been asleep for three hours. My leg was aching something fierce. Grabbing my crutches from the floor, I hobbled out to the living area and didn’t see Brooke. Checking in the kitchen, I saw that she wasn’t there either, so I hobbled down the hall to her room. The door was open, but she wasn’t in there. Great. Where the hell did she go?

Taking a seat on the couch and turning on the TV, I looked at my phone and thought about how I didn’t even have her phone number. How the hell could I not have her number? As I lay down and flipped through the channels, the door opened and Brooke walked in.

“Where were you?” I asked.

“Out.” She set her purse down on the table.

Suddenly, a man appeared behind her. “Where do you want it, miss?” he asked.

She stood in the middle of the room with her finger on her chin. Walking over to the area where I had two chairs and a small table, she picked the chairs up one at a time and put them in one of the guestrooms.

“You can put it here, but make sure it’s facing the TV.”

“What’s going on?” I asked.

As I heard more voices from behind, I turned my head and saw two men carrying in a large treadmill and setting it down where the chairs once sat.

“Thank you.” Brooke smiled as she handed the man some cash.

“Thank you, Miss Alexander.” He nodded as he left.

“I asked you a question,” I spoke.

“I’m sorry. What question was that?” she said in a sarcastic sort of way.

“I asked where you were. And why is there a treadmill in my living room?”

“I was out and it’s for you to use.”

“You went out and bought that?”

“No. I rented it. I figured it would be better to start off with this and then use the other equipment at the gym when we need it. With the treadmill being here, it’ll be easier to get on it multiple times during the day and work that leg.”

“Oh.”

“I’m going to go to my room for a while and then we’ll get you back on the treadmill for a bit. Isn’t your team playing tonight?”

“Yeah. They are.”

“Good. You can watch the game while you’re on the treadmill.”

She walked down the hall and went into her room. I continued to flip through the channels as I sat there and kept glancing down the hall, hoping she’d come back out and sit with me. After a while, I heard her phone ring. It sounded like it was coming from the foyer. Grabbing my crutches, I hobbled over and picked up her phone off the table. That was when I noticed that guy named Mark, whose call she ignored earlier, was calling again. Making my way to her room, I lightly knocked on the door.

“Come in.”

“Hey, your phone was ringing. You left it on the table in the foyer.”

“Thanks,” she spoke as she got up from the bed and took it from me.

“Who’s Mark?” I asked.

She looked at me, and for a second, she stood there frozen. “Is that who called?”

“Yeah.”

“He’s just a friend from back home.”

“Well, I’m going to make myself a sandwich. Do you want one?”

“No thanks. I’m not hungry.”

“Okay. Let me know if you change your mind.” I turned around and left her room.

Something was bothering her. I had a feeling she was still angry with me for yelling at her the way I did, but it also seemed like her mood changed even more after the first time Mark called her.

Brooke

I pressed the voicemail button and brought my phone up to my ear.

“Brooke, come on, darling. Answer my calls. I wish you would have told me you were leaving town. I miss you like crazy. Please call me back so we can talk.”

After deleting his message, I threw my phone on the bed. Just hearing his voice made me sick to my stomach. I lay down on my side with my hands tucked underneath the pillow and thought about Logan. I was becoming too personally involved with him. He was right. I was hired to help him rehabilitate his leg and nothing else. After lying down for about an hour, I got up and went into the kitchen for something to eat. As I passed by the couch, Logan looked at me.

“Hey. How are you?”

“I’m good.” I gave a small smile.

Walking into the kitchen, I opened the refrigerator and scanned it for something to eat.

“Are you hungry?” He hobbled over to me.

“A little.”

“It’s almost dinner time. I was thinking maybe we could order Chinese. That’s if you like Chinese food.”

“Sounds good. I haven’t had it in a while.”

“There’s a menu in the drawer over there. Tell me what you want and I’ll order it.”

I pulled the drawer open and took out the menu.

“Any suggestions?” I asked.

“The sweet and sour chicken is really good,” he replied.

“Sweet and sour chicken it is, then.”

“The game starts in five minutes. Are you going to come watch it?” he asked as he called in the food order.

“Sure, and as soon as you’re finished eating, you need to get on the treadmill.”

We sat on the couch, ate dinner, and watched the game. I could see Logan getting upset each time the other team scored a goal. The game was three to one with the Oilers taking the lead.

“What the fuck kind of play was that?!” he yelled as he grabbed each side of his head. “Did you see that?!”

“I did. Come on, angry man, it’s time to get on the treadmill.”

He sighed as he got up from the couch and hobbled over to it. As I took the crutches from him, he carefully climbed on while I set it on a low speed. The Rangers ended up losing four to one, which pissed Logan off even more.

“My leg fucking hurts,” he spoke in a stern tone as he climbed off and made his way to the couch.

As I grabbed the amber-colored bottle from the table, my phone rang. When I looked over at it, I quickly hit the decline button and Logan glared at me.

“Why the hell don’t you just block him if you don’t want him calling you?”

“I thought I did.” I sighed.

As I began to massage his leg, his eyes never left me.

“Who is he?”

“I already told you. He’s someone I know from California.”

“There you go again with the vague answers. Obviously, it upsets you when he calls. Is he a boyfriend or something?”

“He was a mistake. Leave it at that.” I tightened my grip around his leg.

“Ouch, Brooke. That hurts.”

“You haven’t even begun to experience pain yet, so get used to it,” I snapped at him.

“Listen, just because your ‘mistake’ keeps calling, you don’t have to take it out on me.”

I let go of his leg and stood up. “You’re right. I’m sorry. That’s all for tonight. I’m going to bed. See you in the morning.” I grabbed my phone and the bottle off the table and went to my room.

****

Logan

I didn’t sleep at all last night. The one thing that prevented me from sleeping was a woman named Brooke Alexander. It bothered me that she was upset over this Mark guy and I wanted to know who he was. Grabbing my crutches, I went into the kitchen to find her standing over the stove cooking eggs.

“Morning,” I spoke as I entered the kitchen.

“Morning. I’m making eggs. Would you like some?” she asked as she took down a cup, poured some coffee into it, and then handed it to me.

“Sure. Thank you.”

Her mouth gave way to a very small smile before turning around and tending to the eggs.

“How did you sleep last night?” she asked.

“Terrible.”

“How come? Was your leg bothering you?”

I didn’t dare tell her that I was up all night thinking about her. “Yeah. It was bothering me, but I dealt with it.”

“Good. Not good that it was bothering you, but good that you could deal with it.”

“So am I getting on the treadmill after breakfast?” I asked as she set down a plate of eggs in front of me.

“Nope. We’re hitting the gym first. You can walk on the treadmill later.”

I watched her as she reached up into the cabinet and her shirt slightly lifted, revealing her taut, tanned skin. Her being upset last night wasn’t the only thing I was thinking about. No matter what I did, I couldn’t get the image of fucking her out of my mind.

“Something wrong?” she asked as she caught me staring at her.

“Umm. No. I was just thinking about the press conference tonight. You are going with me, right?”

“I didn’t plan on it. You’re a big boy. You can go by yourself.” She smiled.

“But I want you there.”

“You don’t need me there, Logan. It’s not like I’ll be working on your leg.”

I sighed. She was still pissed at me for what I said to her yesterday at the gym.

“You may be my physical therapist, but you’re also my friend, Brooke.”

“Am I really? Are we friends, Logan? Because from what you said yesterday, I thought being friends was off the table.”

I finished my eggs and pushed the plate away. “I’m sorry for yelling at you the way I did. It’s just I’m in control of my life and I make my own decisions. I always have and I always will. You make the decisions regarding the rehabilitation of my leg. But regardless, I consider you my friend, and as a friend, I would like you there for support.”

Narrowing her eye at me, she bit down on her bottom lip. A lip that I so badly wanted to lick.

“Fine. I’ll go as your friend for support.”

“Thanks.” I smiled as I got up from the table. “I think I’ll take you to dinner afterwards as a thank you.”

“To a restaurant?” she asked with a hint of sarcasm.

“Yes. To a restaurant.”

As I went to my room to change, I couldn’t stop thinking about how Christmas was in a few days and I really needed to get Brooke something. What do you get a girl you barely know? Flowers are lame for a gift. Jewelry is too personal. I could get her a collection of bubble baths since I knew she loved to take them. Nah, that was stupid.
Shit.
I racked my brain over it as I got dressed and suddenly, something came to mind. I silently smiled at the idea. She’d love it.