Page 115 of Cheap Shot

That’s fucking awesome. I’m happy for you.Sebastian couldn’t stop smiling for his friend.

Yeah, it’ll be good. It’s been a long time coming, huh?

Yeah, it really has.

A wash of guilt went through Sebastian.Fuck. Maybe Brie had a point. Sebastianwasfucking the guy who’d injured his friend. And maybe he wasn’t as good at compartmentalizing shit as he wanted to believe.

I really thought I might never be able to play again,Nicky sent a moment later, which only made Sebastian’s guilt deepen.

I know. Feels good to be wrong though, I bet.

Ha, yeah.

Sebastian typed out,I’m looking forward to seeing you play Boston in a few weeks. You fucking timed that well, dude.

Yeah I did. We’re gonna crush you guys.

Oh, fuck that,Sebastian said.I may live in the city now, but my loyalties are still to the New York Rockets. I haven’t jumped ship and become a Harriers fan. Ride or die Rockets, baby.

Yeah, I hear you’ve been giving Crawford hell. Chirping him every fucking game.

Someone’s got to.

You’re a good friend, Seb. Means a lot.

The guilt multiplied as Sebastian typed out,It’s nothing. But hey, we should hang out when you’re in town if you have time.

I’d love that. Gotta run though. Practice.

Unlike Boston, New York had been spared the worst of the snow.

Good luck with the press conference and the first game back! I’ll watch it for sure.

Thanks! I’ll let you know about meeting up for dinner or something when I’m in town once it gets closer.

Sounds great.

Sebastian set his phone down and sighed.

Yeah, things were starting to feel a whole lot more complicated than he would like.

The snow this morning was bad enough that practice had been cancelled.

Luke shoveled the sidewalk in front of his place, the heavy snow providing a nice workout. He did the neighbor’s too. She was an older lady who shot disapproving looks at his tattoos and when he fired up his bike in nicer weather.

But she was also a die-hard Harriers’ fan and well, he didn’t want to see an old lady collapse with a heart attack on the sidewalk, no matter how much of a sourpuss she was.

So he scraped the sidewalk, stripping off layers of clothing as he went because even if he went out bundled up, he always sweated through them by the time he got his body moving.

He even dusted some snow off the little library.

He never used it to borrow books, but when the contractor working on his house a few years ago had jokingly asked if he’d wanted it painted and re-roofed to match the house, he’d shrugged and said, “Why not?”

People stopped by often, taking out books and adding them in, and it always made him laugh as he wondered if any of them were Harriers fans and what they’d think if they knew it belonged to him.

Sometimes he even picked up books at the airport to toss in there.

Tanner had shot him a funny look on the last road trip when he’d spotted Luke with one. It had a girly-looking shocking pink cover and had been described as a “beach read”. Whatever that fucking meant.