Page 55 of Cheap Shot

“Fuck!” Luke slammed his hand down on the counter.

“I hear you. This isn’t where we’d like to be right now. But hey, that’s not to say they couldn’t sign you for another year after that if they still need you and you’re performing well enough.”

“It’s a gamble though.”

“It is. And I know you want stability.”

“Yeah, I fucking do.”

“But don’t forget, there are desperate GMs who’d lovenothingmorethan to scoop you up and get you on their team so they can make a serious Cup run. We can make them pay for it, if that’s what you want.”

Luke sighed. The problem was what hewantedwasn’t an option. Gavin wasn’t willing to sign him to a two-year deal no matter what AAV he asked for.

Mac continued. “Bye week is coming up soon. Maybe take that time to think about things. Decide which you want more. Is it to stay in Boston and retire a little earlier? Or is it to go somewhere else for a longer term?”

“Yeah, I’ll think about it.”

Anger and frustration built up in Luke, threatening to explode out. But he trusted that Mac was doing his best for him, so he tamped it down long enough to thank his agent and say goodbye before he hung up and ripped the earbuds out of his ears.

He pushed off the counter and paced his kitchen, muttering to himself about asshole owners and GMs. He realized his food was still sitting out so he unloaded bags, stuffing the food in the cupboards and refrigerator hard enough that he broke two eggs in the carton.

He cleaned that up, the annoyance only adding to his bad mood.

After, he slammed the refrigerator door and a ceramic magnet popped off, falling to the kitchen floor and breaking. With an oath, he left it where it was and walked into the living room area.

As he passed the basement door, he debated if he should go down and work out. Maybe take some of his frustrations out on a punching bag. But, no, he had a game tonight, and he had to becareful not to overdo it. He’d done that a few times and learned to regret it.

Maybe something physical that was a little less taxing then.

When Luke had moved into the house, it had been in pretty rough shape. It was the only reason he’d been able to afford a detached single-family home in South Boston, even on his salary.

He’d worked on it in the summers, going room by room, ripping them down to the studs, then putting them back together. He’d finished most of it except for one small room on the first floor. It had been a den at one point. Then had been turned into a home office.

He still wasn’t sure what he’d do with it long-term, but he should at least get it finished.

Now, he pushed open the doors and stood in the doorway with a frown, considering his options.

He was in a mood to take a sledgehammer to the shelves, but they were solid wood so it would be stupid to remove them until he was sure about what he’d do with them. Plus, even if hedidwant them gone, with the game tonight he needed to be careful.

He looked around.Hmm. He did have mudding to do on one wall where he’d ripped out the narrow door that led to the backyard and replaced it with French doors. The drywall around it had needed replacing after.

He’d done that bit, then taped the seams but he’d gotten too busy with the season to get much work done on actually finishing it. In his opinion, mudding and sanding was the single worst job in home renovation but today, it would fit his needs.

Some hands-on work to get him out of his head without exhausting himself physically.

Luke changed into ratty clothes and went down to the basement, praying his joint compound hadn’t hardened in the bucket. It still looked good though, so he grabbed that and his supplies.

Thankfully, there were already canvas drop cloths down, so he scooped up some drywall mud with his taping knife and slapped it on the first wall seam. It took patience and focus to get it smoothed out, and the first seam wasn’t his best because it had been a while since he’d done this and he was still feeling agitated as hell.

But eventually it did some of what he needed, the repetitive physical labor cooling his frustration from a hard boil to something closer to a simmer.

Luke got into the groove after a while, slapping mud on, then smoothing it out, working it into the joint.

When he was done with all the seams on the wall around the doors, he examined his work.

It wasn’t his best, that was for damn sure. He was going to have a helluva lot of sanding to do. But a look at the time told him he needed to get his pre-game nap in soon, so that was a problem for another day.

He cleaned up his tools and grabbed his phone, then went upstairs.