Love You in All Your Forms

"Motherfucking hell!" Claire hollered as she skipped across her studio, freshly injured foot in the air. She hopped onto the counter and hauled her foot into the sink and let water soak it. The hot tool she had been attempting to use sizzled on the concrete floor. "I am never going to use you again." She snapped at the inanimate object.

Right about that time there was a quick knock on her door. "Shit," Claire mumbled, slid off the counter and hobbled towards the door. She opened it to reveal a tall, muscular man with an easy-going expression about him. "Um, hi. I'm helping a friend move in upstairs and..we heard you. I just want to check and make sure you're ok." The stranger said. "Oh," Claire blushed. "I'm fine. I just dropped something on my foot and it hurt like a bit-booger."

The mystery person looked down and Claire's swollen foot. "Let me take a look at that, it looks pretty bad." For some reason, and Claire didn't know why, she trusted him. "Ok." Claire wobbled back into the studio, towards the counter she had previously occupied. She was beginning to try and hop back on, when the arms of the "friend of the dude upstairs" looped around Claire's waist and sat her on the counter. As he began to examine her foot, he asked "What's your name?" Claire chuckled. "Claire. And you?" He smiled up at her, "Dominic."

"So are you a doctor or something?" Claire asked as Dominic wrapped her foot with an ice pack he had found in the small freezer Claire owned, the tape from upstairs. He snorted. "I would never be smart enough for that." "Then what do you do?" Claire asked. "I'm a hockey player, for the Rangers." Dominic looked up at her, smiling softly. "Oh! Wait? Dominic Moore?" Claire said, quickly remembering a Dominic from the games she's been to. "Yeah. You've been?" Claire nodded. "I don't have season tickets or anything, but I've been to quite a few games. I grew up with the sport." Dominic finished up her foot and stood. "Where are you from?" Claire wiggled her toes and said "Detroit." "Aah, so a Red Wings girl?" "A little, I have family ties to the team." "Who?" Dominic prodded. "Howe." Claire picked at her fingernail.

As expected, Dominic erupted. "You're related to Gordie Howe?! How?!" Claire giggled. "He's my grandpa." "Which brother is your dad?" Claire sighed, "Mark." "What?" Dominic paused, noticing her seeming annoyance. "Nothing, it's just that all you hockey players are the same. You find out I'm a Howe and it's rapid fire questions." Dominic flushed slightly. "Don't blush, it's fine!" Claire laughed. "Well, I guess I should get going." Dominic looked embarrassed, still. Claire smiled, boys are so easy to fluster.

"Hold on." She hopped off the counter and limped to the island, where a pad and pen of paper were sitting. She wrote her name and number on the top sheet of paper and tore it off. "Here," Claire handed it to Dominic. "For the next time you're in this side of town and want to get some good, cheap Vietnamese food." "Vietnamese food?" Dominic grinned. "Yeah! It's my favorite." "Ok, deal." Dominic smiled and let himself out.

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