SWNOVELS Off-Ice Collision: Chapter 21
Sitting at my desk in the back room, I kick my feet up and lean back in the chair. My mind wanders back to London. I never want to see her wearing anything but my t-shirts and her panties ever again. The way she’s worked her way under my skin… I’m not sure if I want to force her out or let her stay.
The bell from the door to the shop dings, alerting me that someone has walked in. I had a busy morning with different customers and had just gotten a small break. Stillwater Lake is a popular place, so we’re never short of people coming in here for business.
“I’ll be right with you,” I call out, my voice gruff as I kick my feet off the desk and back onto the floor. The impact of my left heel hitting the hard surface sends a shock up to my knee. A groan falls from my lips and I double over, clutching the sides of my leg.
“Fuck,” I mutter to myself, inhaling and exhaling deeply as I attempt to will away the pain. It takes less than a minute before it’s subsiding to just an annoying discomfort instead of a burning sensation.
Abandoning the desk, I walk out to the shop and find two kids walking over to the counter holding hands. They look to be only eighteen or nineteen. The guy has an athletic build with ink-black hair. The girl beside him is almost a foot shorter and she has long stick-straight hair, almost the same color as his but a few shades lighter.
“What can I do for the two of you?”
The girl stares at me with her bright blue eyes. I notice a small tube-looking thing sticking out of the center of her throat. I’ve seen one before, but only when my mother took me to visit my dying grandfather in the hospital. He had to have a tracheostomy tube placed to help keep his airway open after he had a stroke.
My grandfather was attached to a ventilator that helped him breathe. This girl isn’t. I stare at the girl for a moment, a little perplexed by the fact that she’s walking around like there’s nothing wrong. There’s something truly inspiring about her and I feel a little at ease with my fucked-up leg.
“I called yesterday evening about renting a boat for a few hours. It should be under Oliver Hart.”
Directing my attention to the computer, I click the mouse and scroll through the boat rentals. Mr. Martin must have been here to take his call. I find Oliver’s name in the system. “Yep. It’s right here and I see you already prepaid for the rental. We can just add the gas payment afterward.” I look back and forth between the two of them. “I just need your ID to scan it and for you to fill out some paperwork before I can let you take it out.”
“Perfect,” Oliver responds as he reaches into his back pocket and pulls out his wallet. He lets the girl’s hand go as he fetches his ID. The girl remains silent, her eyes bright and curious as she watches her boyfriend fill out the paperwork and hands it back to me.
“All right,” I tell them, tossing the paperwork onto the other side of the counter. “I’ll take you out to the boat and get you set up.”
Walking around the counter, my leg gives me some trouble and I don’t bother to attempt to hide my limp. Normally, I try to make it seem as subtle as possible, but I don’t feel the need to conceal it. There’s something freeing about feeling like you aren’t going to be judged. London makes me feel that way.
The two of them follow me outside and they’re lost in conversation as I lead them down to the docks. My knee is a little more unstable on the gravel that we walk on, but I’ve learned how to compensate with my other leg. The girl falls in step beside me.
“Where’d your friend go?” I ask her as I glance down at her and then look behind her. I don’t see Oliver anywhere and I’m a little confused as to where he disappeared to.
“He went to get our things from the car,” she tells me, and I nod. I don’t miss the look of curiosity in her eyes as I pull my gaze from hers and keep moving across the gravel. “What’s your name?”
“Vaughn.”
“Are you from here, Vaughn?” she asks, attempting to make small talk. I can tell that she feels a little uncomfortable being with a stranger instead of her boyfriend. There’s something more to her than what meets the eye, though. We have something in common. We both have a disability.
“Yes and no,” I shrug. “My hometown is a couple hours away, but my parents have a house here on the lake and own the shop.”
“That’s pretty cool,” she says with a smile on her face as we step onto the dock. I find the boat they’re renting and we begin to walk in the direction of it. “Oliver and I live about forty-five minutes away, although I’ve never actually been here before.”
I stare at the girl in front of me for a moment. It would be rude to ask any questions about her medical issues, but I can’t help but feel curious. She has something entirely different than I do, but we can both relate. I’m sure she expected me to judge her in some way—people have a way of doing that when they see someone or something different.
“It’s like a slice of heaven here. I hope you enjoy your time out on the boat.”
I leave her on the dock as I walk out to the boat and start the engine. Slowly easing it away from its spot, I take it around to the area that will be easier for the two of them to get on. The girl is still standing there, watching me as I hop off and tie one of the ropes to the dock.
“I hate to ask this…” Her voice trails off and she pauses for a moment as she nervously shifts her weight on her feet. “If there happened to be an emergency, how long does it usually take for responders to get here?”
Her boyfriend is close now, carrying a few bags with him as he steps onto the dock. He’s wearing nothing but the biggest smile and it’s reserved for only her as his eyes meet hers. I raise an eyebrow, noticing how many things he has with him. One of the bags has a tag that has a place for the patient’s name. I note the dark black cursive handwriting that says Luna.
“Are the two of you planning on moving onto the boat?” I ask, my voice flat and not an ounce of humor in it. It isn’t my strong suit anymore, even though there had once been a time that I actually was funny.
“These are all of her medical supplies,” Oliver offers, his voice quiet as he glances over at the girl. I instantly feel regret for trying to make a joke and epically failing at it. “It wouldn’t be smart of us to not bring them.”
“Of course,” I nod, lips terse. I want to kick myself in the ass for saying anything. “Sorry, that was insensitive of me.” I stop for a moment, my eyes flashing to Luna’s. Her boyfriend is loading her bags onto the boat and I drop my face closer to hers, so she can only hear me. “Usually takes EMS about five to ten minutes to get here.”
I fall silent for a moment as she stares at me. “What about ALS?” Her question makes my heart sink. Advanced life support.
If she’s asking about something like that, just for taking a boat out for a ride, her condition must be serious. Life-threatening. My jaw clenches and my throat bobs as I swallow roughly over the lump in my throat. “About the same amount of time.”
“Thanks,” Luna nods, offering me a small smile to lighten the mood. “Can’t be too prepared, right?”
A harsh laugh escapes me before I have the chance to stop it. “I wish I would have been more prepared. Wouldn’t have had a knee injury that ruined my entire hockey career.”
I instantly regret offering that type of information up to a stranger. She has undoubtedly noticed the way that I limp. I don’t know what compelled me to say it, but now she has a little bit of insight into why I move around the way that I do. It doesn’t concern her—hell, I’ll probably never see the two of them ever again.
For some reason, I just feel like I can share this without being judged. If there’s anyone else who should be pissed off at the entire world, it’s Luna. I know nothing about her so it’s literally all assumption, but you don’t ask about EMS and ALS if you don’t have some serious health concerns.
Seeing that Oliver appears to know what he’s doing with the boat, I leave the two of them to it and turn away. I begin to limp my way back off the dock and across the gravel driveway area.
“Vaughn, we need to talk,” Maverick greets me at the door when I get back to the shop. He doesn’t look happy to see me and he leans against the railing with his arms crossed. I don’t make a move to go inside the shop. If he wants to talk to me, he can do it right here.
“What’s up?” I ask him. It’s not every day he goes out of his way to come see me, so something is going on.
“I know that you and London have been spending some time together…” Here we go. “Stay away from her, bro. We both know you’re not in a good place right now, and I don’t want you dragging her down with you.”
My eyebrows tug together and I take a hobbled step toward him. “No.”
Maverick narrows his eyes at me. “What do you mean no?”
“No, I won’t stay away from her.” I stare at him, challenging him with my eyes. “You’re right, I haven’t been in a good place. But your sister makes me want to be better.”
“There’s a difference between someone making you want to be better and actually fucking doing it,” he snaps at me. His gaze is hard and cold. “You can’t rely on someone else to be your source of happiness. You have to find that and come to peace with shit yourself.”
“Are you my therapist now? Who are you to be giving anyone advice?”
“It’s not advice,” he practically snarls at me, and I know I’ve struck a nerve. “She’s my sister and it’s my duty to protect her.”
“I think you should probably worry about yourself first, Mav. London can take care of herself.”
Maverick steps into my space. “If you hurt her, I’ll sink you to the bottom of this fucking lake.”
“And I would let you,” I admit, shrugging. “But that’s not going to happen.”
Maverick takes a step back and purses his lips. “Yeah, we’ll see.”
He doesn’t say another word as he spins on his heel and heads back to the private dock before hopping on his Jet Ski. I had a feeling this would eventually be coming, but Maverick doesn’t scare me. The only thing he really cares about is drowning his own feelings.
He’s a fucking fool if he thinks I have any intention of ever hurting London.
The rest of the day passes by and it’s been a strange one. My mind keeps drifting between Maverick’s warning and the young couple who was in earlier during the day.
I’ve spent a lot of time being angry, letting life pass me by as I just watched everyone around me continue on. I’m sure Luna has spent a great deal of time watching other people living their lives around her, but that didn’t stop her and Oliver today.
He brought her here to take her out on a boat. She made it clear she had never been to Stillwater Lake before, so I don’t think it’s too far-fetched to assume that she’s never been on a boat before either. I don’t know anything about the severity of her condition, but process of elimination tells me it probably isn’t a good prognosis.
And here she is, going about life with a smile on her face. Living it the way she wants to. Just like London has been trying to get me to do. Oliver reminded me a lot of her. Strong and steady, like an anchor that keeps a boat from drifting out to sea during the darkest storms.
London Hayes is my anchor…
As long as I don’t fray the rope that holds us together.