Parental Guidance (Ice Knights #1)(29)
Cole pulled a face and didn’t respond to Caleb’s valid point—shocker. He shut his eyes again, and they settled into a comfortable silence as other teammates walked through on their way to a post-camp massage or other recovery option.
“You coming to Blackburn’s for Xbox and pre–road trip eats tonight?” Phillips asked after about five minutes of silence, which might be a world record for him.
Zach Blackburn was the team captain and complete asshole who’d downgraded to occasional asshole after falling for Fallon Hartigan. Watching that happen in real time had been hilarious because there was none more ill-equipped for that to happen than Blackburn.
“Where else would I be?” Caleb asked as he got out of the tub.
“Getting it on with your teeny tiny redhead.”
The middle finger salute he gave the forward went unnoticed because Phillips had his eyes closed. Caleb had enough shit on his plate without that. Watching his parents’ marriage fall apart had shown him how much work staying together was, and he had to invest all his energy into hockey. Half-assing it was not how he did things. There’d be time for relationships after he unlaced his skates for the last time. Anyway, he and Zara had agreed to the rules—the number one being no relationship. He might play by instinct on the ice, but off it, he followed the rules, whether it was a diet plan the team nutritionist put together or using his turn signal every time he switched lanes.
“It’s not like that,” he said. “Neither of us wants to be dating.”
Phillips smirked. “And yet you are.”
“Only a few more times.”
Three dates to be exact, and then he was done and his life could get back to normal, knowing that he’d fixed the fuckup of his viral video, helped keep Petrov on the team, and maybe earned back a chance at being assistant captain. It was all he wanted, but for some reason—maybe the come down after a hard practice? Yeah, that had to be the reason—it didn’t feel like enough.
…
Just another exciting Friday night at home with her dog, watching TV in her softest pj’s and trying to ignore the fact that work was only a few steps away and she could totally finish up painting Agatha Christie’s face before she crashed out for the night. If only she hadn’t promised Gemma and her dad that she would take the night off. To no one’s surprise, Anchovy was loving it. He was curled up on the couch with her while the TV showed two detectives trying to track down who murdered a super-rich couple while searching for the dead couple’s daughter’s stalker.
She was scrolling through Insta when she got a text message alert that made her drop her phone as soon as she read the name Caleb Stuckey. Damn it. Her screen was already cracked—she couldn’t afford to have it go completely just because her means-nothing Bramble partner made her all nervous and champagne fizzy all of a sudden.
Caleb: What are you doing?
She shoved the box of Chicken In A Biskit crackers off to the other side of the couch.
Zara: Watching Law and Order.
CALEB: Ugh. That show is always the same.
Which was its total brilliance. Law & Order didn’t come home and tell you it had to figure out how to cover the utility bill because the ponies didn’t cross the finish line in the order expected. Law & Order did what it said it would do. It investigated the crimes and prosecuted the criminals. Every. Time.
Zara: I hate surprises, remember?
Caleb: You need to allow a little unusual into your life.
Zara: I guess that’s why I temporarily have you. ;)
Oh God. Why had she used the winky face? What was wrong with her?
Caleb: Cable or streaming?
Zara: Who has cable?
Well, probably him, since he made professional athlete bank and lived a lifestyle totally opposite of hers where he didn’t worry about things like cable versus streaming.
Caleb: Okay, episode number.
Zara: Episode 12. Season 11. I just started. Why?
Her phone started buzzing with a notification that Caleb Stuckey wanted to FaceTime. This was so very not part of their agreement. She lingered over the decline button for a second, but Anchovy bumped her elbow and she ended up tapping accept. Really, that was what happened and she’d testify to it in court.
His face took up the whole screen, giving her an up-close-and-personal view she didn’t normally get because of the more than a foot height difference between them. Seeing him shouldn’t make her straighten up from being slouched against the couch pillows and smooth back the hair that had fallen out of her just-lounging-around-the-apartment topknot.
He rubbed his stubble-covered jaw and grinned at her. “Hey there.”
“This isn’t part of our agreement.” And she was grumpy about it because she believed in following the rules, not because she was happily flustered at seeing him.
“True,” he said, nodding. “But it’s not against the rules, either. We never said no contact outside of the official dates. You left a loophole.”
Okay, he had her there. Really she should have thought of that, but there was no going back to fix it.
What did she do with her phone? Holding it up close to her face was… OMG, she couldn’t stop staring at herself in the little box because there just might be—okay there was—Chicken In A Biskit cracker crumbs on her lips. A good dog would have told her. Anchovy had things to answer for, never mind that he couldn’t speak.