Page 107 of Cheap Shot

“Mr. Luke! Mr. Luke!” Harper called out, moving toward them as quickly as she could. “You came to the rescue like Mommy said you would!”

Luke shrugged off his jacket and handed it to Sebastian. “Hey, there, kiddo. And of course I came. I heard you and your mom needed a little help.”

“You’re thebest!” She threw her arms around his legs, and he smiled down at her, patting the top of her curly hair.

The best? Nah. But it’s nice to hear someone say so.

Luke held out his arms to see if she wanted to be picked up and when she nodded, he hefted her up onto his hip. “Did the water get you? Are you okay?”

“Yeah. But everything is amess.” She sounded more excited than upset about this and he smiled.

“It’s okay, we’ll get everything straightened out. I promise.”

“Thank you for doing this,” Brie said and he glanced up to see her hovering nearby, an uneasy expression on her face. “You didn’t have to?—”

“I don’t have to do much of anything beyond play hockey,” he said with a shrug. “But I’m here and I want to help. Show me where the leak is.”

He had to put Harper down to carry the tools.

He’d had no idea what he might need so he’d brought a pipe cutter, adjustable wrenches, pipe wrench, kneepads, gloves, hole saw, goggles, buckets, and threader set, along with a variety of plumbing friendly tapes, caulks, and adhesives.

He’d probably have to run to the store to get some pipes and fittings at some point, but this should cover most of what he’d need. He had a feeling Brie would probably insist on paying for the supplies, so this way he could keep the costs down.

The bathroom was upstairs, on the second floor and above the kitchen, so it took nearly a dozen trips up and down the steps to ascertain exactly where the damage had taken place and how Luke was going to tackle the problem. Harper was underfoot the whole time, excited to see him and trying to “help.”

Luke didn’t know who the jackass was who’d added a second sink to the upstairs bathroom, but they clearly hadn’t known what they were doing. They’d installed it along an exterior wall and had done a shoddy job tying it into the existing plumbing.

He’d been tempted to ask Brie if it was her asshole ex who’d done the terrible work, but he didn’t want her to feel any worse.

As it was, she kept staring at him with guilty, watering eyes.

Crawford really wished they would both clear out.

He wasn’t about to say that to either of them, especially in their own house, but apparently Sebastian figured it out because he finally got Brie to start gathering up a mound of towels she’d used to mop up the water in the bathroom and kitchen and put them in a hamper to be washed as soon as the water was back on.

And after Luke almost tripped on Harper on the narrow old stairs and clocked her with one of his heavy tools, Sebastian plunked Harper down at the table with some crayons and coloring books.

“You can keep talking,” Luke told her as he tore down a section of wet sheetrock to haul out to the curb in heavy duty garbage bags.

And Harper did, telling him about her physical therapy and something about a pet bunny. He wasn’t sure if it was a real rabbit she’d met somewhere or something from a book or kids’show but he nodded and ‘mm-hmmed’ while he worked in the kitchen.

“Gotta head to the home improvement store,” he said eventually as they all stood staring at the ruined space. “You want to come with me, Sebastian?”

“Uhh, sure,” he said, his gaze darting between Brie and Harper. “I can do that.”

On the drive there, they were both silent, letting the music on the radio fill the car.

After Crawford parked and reached for the door handle to get out and go into the store, Sebastian didn’t move. “I just realized I should probably stay in here. Wouldn’t want someone to see us together and …”

Crawford started the car again so Sebastian wouldn’t freeze, then got out. He leaned down to glare at Sebastian. “Don’t fuck up my radio while I’m gone.”

Sebastian grinned and flipped him off. “I make no promises.”

Crawford was pretty familiar with the store, so it didn’t take him too long to gather what he needed but he did get stopped in the plumbing aisle by a fan asking for an autograph.

He didn’t get asked a lot when he went out, mostly people tended to give him a wide berth, but it did happen sometimes.

He’d also been mistaken for a local metal singer once, which he’d found pretty funny.