"With the hit, he scores!" Kendall exclaimed as he hit the round rubber ball beyond Carlos standing in the goal.
"Hey!" Carlos exclaimed. "I wasn't ready."
A month after Carlos and Alexa got married, she was back on the set of a movie. It had been said many times before but she only acted as a front for her spying gig.
"3-1, Team Jendall!" Kendall ignored Carlos's whine. "Even with Jo on my team I'm still beating you."
"I heard that," Jo said.
Kendall skated back to his fiancée. The four of them, Kendall, Jo, Carlos, and Logan, were in the lot of Palm Woods playing a familiar game of street hockey. Well, it was familiar for everyone but Jo who was taking the place of James since he was—
"Hey!" James greeted them as he walked up with Lucy waddling beside him. Yes, she waddled now and if you made fun of her she'd let you have it.
"James is back!" Kendall exclaimed. "I mean—"
James and Lucy had a doctor's appointment that morning, the usual checkup.
"It's okay. I know when I'm not wanted." Jo dropped her hockey stick. "Besides, I have to get ready for filming anyway."
Jo, herself, was also in a movie, but not the same one as Lucy.
"You up for it James?"
"I'm always up for kicking. Your. Ass."
"Oh, really."
"Yeah."
Kendall skated up to James. "Yeah," he repeated his face inches from James's. "Let's take it to the ice."
Logan and Carlos cheered.
.O.
"All right. Since I went to a doctor's appointment and my baby's doing just fine and on schedule, I'll let you have Carlos," James said as he faced off with Kendall at their favorite ice rink. He winked up at Lucy who sat in the stands watching. Watching? She would rather be anywhere but here. Watching the guys play hockey wasn't exactly tops on her list of fun things to do.
"Don't do me any favors."
Kendall dropped the hockey puck between them. After clicking sticks James and Kendall fought over that puck. Kendall won and knocked it back to Carlos who stood near the goal. Kendall skated forward with Carlos slowly following. When he went to pass the puck back to Kendall James came over and stole it. Skating backward as fast as he can he almost made it to the net when James launched the puck and it sailed over their heads.
"Oops."
James and Carlos raced behind the net to be the first to get the puck. Kendall flew over to join in the fracas. Before he could get there James gained control of the puck and sent it flying across the ice to Logan.
Kendall turned and skated toward Logan. If he could get to the puck he could get it in the goal. Logan was not the best goalie. But, before he could get there Logan sent it back to James.
"Oh, so now we're playing 'Keep Away from Kendall'," Kendall joked.
"That's right," James laughed
After a few swipes Kendall finally gained control of the puck and pushed it past Logan into the net.
"Goal!" He shouted. Carlos skated over to him and gave him a high five.
"In your face!" Carlos stuck his tongue out at James and Logan.
"Just the beginning," James reminded. "That was too easy. You're not going to have it so easy this time."
Turned out James was wrong. In just thirty minutes Team Kenlos had 5 points and Team Jargan had just 1.
"We've been way too easy on you," James said.
"Hey, no…" Logan began to protest. "Yeah, we've been too easy."
Kendall laughed.
After a face-off, Kendall passed the puck back to Carlos. Carlos skated around the goal and passed the puck up front to Kendall. Instead of going directly to Kendall it went to the right. Both Logan and James skated towards it causing Kendall to skate faster. Logan and James skated faster. In the blink of an eye the three of them collided with each other landing in a heap with Kendall on the bottom.
Snap!
James and Logan scrambled to get off Kendall. Kendall, however, just lay on the ice.
"I—" he groaned.
"Buddy?" Carlos skated over to them with a scared look on his face.
Kendall turned over and threw up on the ice.
"I am so sorry!" James exclaimed.
"All right. Calm down," Logan said. He knelt beside Kendall, the other side from the vomit. "Don't move."
"OK," Kendall grunted. His face had turned pale and there were beads of sweat on his forehead even though they were in the cold climate of the ice rink. "I think my ankle is broken."
"It's beginning to swell." Logan scooted over to Kendall's feet and began untying the skate on his left foot. "How bad does it hurt?"
"Numb," Kendall replied. He placed a hand on his forehead.
"Just lay there," Logan commanded. "James," he turned to the one standing closest to him. "Call 911."
"We don't need 911," Kendall grunted.
"You do have to go to the ER," Logan said.
"It's not…it's not…that big of an emergency. We can go in the mobile," Kendall replied meaning the BTR mobile.
"Are you sure you can walk? Wait, no you can't. You just broke your ankle. We call 911 and they'll bring in a stretcher. Ken, it's easier that way."
"James, you can…"
"Let's help him to his feet," James said.
Logan took the other skate off Kendall. Carlos went to one side and James went to the other. Together they hoisted Kendall to his feet and helped him limp off the ice and onto a bench.
"Is he okay?" Lucy asked. It had pretty much taken her all that time to get up and walk down the steps to the bottom of the bleachers.
"Broken ankle," James said. "You go sit down."
"Do you need me to call 911?" She asked.
"No, Logan can drive," Kendall said.
James rolled his eyes at Lucy. She smiled.
"Carlos, go get our stuff and James and I will help Kendall to the car."
It took about fifteen minutes or so, but finally, they made it to the car. Logan drove. James took the front passenger seat and Kendall sat in the back with his leg sprawled over Carlos and Lucy.
.O.
"Broken. Definitely broken," Kendall said when Jo entered Apartment 2J that evening. He sat on the orange couch with his left leg propped up on the coffee table.
"Are you okay?" She asked, sitting down and rubbing his shoulder.
"I'll be fine. Hockey injury." Kendall laid his head on Jo's shoulder. She moved her hand from his shoulder and ran it through his hair.
"You'll be okay for the wedding, right?"
"Doctor said I should get a walking cast in six weeks and then another month or two…so, yeah…I'll be ready by next summer."
"Yeah, I meant to talk to you about that. We're not getting married next summer."
Kendall sat up straight.
"I got a call last night that Van Landingham has an opening in October. So I took it."
Rusher-Driver: Thank you.
Carlos in the finals on Dancing With the Stars. Watch the finale Monday and Tuesday!
