by Grey , S. R.
Boys of Winter #7
Table of Contents
Title Page
Other Books by S.R. Grey
Chapter One: A Stranger in a Strange Land
Chapter Two: Another Win
Chapter Three: A Necessary Plan
Chapter Four: Who’s That Girl?
Chapter Five: I Find My Mark
Chapter Six: I Like Maisie. I Like Her A Lot
Chapter Seven: Charmed
Chapter Eight: I Could Give Her Stockholm
Chapter Nine: Candlelight and Tears
Chapter Ten: Not Like Anyone Else
Chapter Eleven: A Letdown and an Invitation
Chapter Twelve: You Win Some, You Lose Some
Chapter Thirteen: He’s Staying, So Why Would I Go?
Chapter Fourteen: Taking it Day by Day
Chapter Fifteen: Oslo
Chapter Sixteen: Making Her Mine
Chapter Seventeen: Total Bliss
Chapter Eighteen: Beyond All Expectations
Chapter Nineteen: Flu Bug Blues
Chapter Twenty: The Story of Me
Chapter Twenty-One: Confession, Take One
Chapter Twenty-Two: Just Do It, Man
Chapter Twenty-Three: Plans Altered
Chapter Twenty-Four: She’s Gone
Chapter Twenty-Five: Vegas, Baby
Chapter Twenty-Six: Bumfuck Nowhere
Chapter Twenty-Seven: Damn Wolves Are Everywhere
Chapter Twenty-Eight: Holy F*cking Shit
Chapter Twenty-Nine: Hate to Love
Chapter Thirty: Nothing Has Changed
Chapter Thirty-One: It’s Out There Now
Chapter Thirty-Two: A Little Bit of Progress
Chapter Thirty-Three: Who’s In Charge?
Chapter Thirty-Four: Yep, Maisie is in Charge
Chapter Thirty-Five: Getting Ready
Chapter Thirty-Six: Brent’s Barbeque
Chapter Thirty-Seven: Bad Timing
Chapter Thirty-Eight: Should I Go?
Chapter Thirty-Nine: Closure? Maybe Not
Chapter Forty: Back to Where We Were
Chapter Forty-One: This Ends Tonight
Chapter Forty-Two: All In
Forward Progress
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Copyright Notice
Boys of Winter series
Destiny on Ice
Resistance on Ice
Complications on Ice
Caution on Ice
Player on Ice
Vows on Ice
Illusion on Ice
Forbidden on Ice
Men of Fall series
Forward Progress
Fair Catch
Judge Me Not series
I Stand Before You
Never Doubt Me
Just Let Me Love You
The After of Us
Inevitability duology
Inevitable Detour
Inevitable Circumstances
Promises series
Tomorrow’s Lies
Today’s Promises
A Harbour Falls Mystery trilogy
Harbour Falls
Willow Point
Wickingham Way
Laid Bare novella series
Exposed: Laid Bare 1
Unveiled: Laid Bare 2
Spellbound: Laid Bare 3
Sacrifice: Laid Bare 4
A Stranger in a Strange Land
I peered out the paned-glass window of the five-star hotel I found myself in—in freaking Stockholm, Sweden, no less—and all I could think of was how far from home I was.
You’re not in Kansas anymore, Maisie Troy.
No, I sure as hell was not.
Not that I was from Kansas in the first place. Two Palms, a tiny run-down Arizona town near the Nevada state line, was where I laid my head to rest at night.
Or I had until recently.
When I really thought about it, the modest trailer I shared with my former Vegas showgirl mom wasn’t much of a home. It hadn’t been for a long time, not since my dad left back when I was five.
I sighed, fogging up the paned window.
It just is what it is, Maisie.
That was fine.
I was used to that life, as I’d lived in good ole Two Palms my whole existence. Not that I was old or anything. I was only twenty-one.
I guessed there’s a certain amount of comfort in sticking with what you knew.
And in what you’re used to.
I leaned forward and pressed my forehead to the cool glass as I thought about my current situation. It sucked, no doubt about that.
So focus on something else.
I did. I peered down ten stories below and watched the vibrant Scandinavian city I was stuck in as it bustled with life.
Those lucky people, I thought.
Swedes were headed off to work, tourists were sightseeing, and construction workers were paving part of the street in front of the hotel.
Everything was as it should be, except for me.
I was a stranger in a strange land, and kind of stranded.
Ah, there was no “kind of” about it.
I was definitely stranded.
Good thing I was making the most of the situation. Not that it was difficult. I liked the city. Stockholm was lively, hip, and urban.
And, wow, was the architecture ever striking, especially over in Gamla Stan, or Old Town, located directly across the body of water, Lilla Värtan, just outside my window.
Yeah, it wasn’t all bad.
Still, I longed to go home.
Who wanted to stay somewhere where they felt lonely?
Not me.
There was only so much to do in the city all by myself. I didn’t have much money on me, so there was a problem already. And, crazy as it sounded, I missed the vast desert outside my modest trailer back at home.
I was nostalgic for the hot dry air that had a habit of creeping in the small window in my bedroom during the day, where it turned crisp and cool at night.
I shouldn’t have, but I loved that.
I sighed, as I also missed my dog, Claude. Not that Claude was real. He was a stuffed animal. But he made me feel good and he meant something to me. Probably because he was the only thing my father had ever given to me.
Years ago, before he left.
“Shit,” I murmured, my breath fogging the glass once again. “I have to find a way back to the States. I shouldn’t even be here, damn it.”
I rolled my indigo-blue eyes, big and wide in the reflection, and bit out, “Yeah. Thanks for that, Mom.”
Bad enough that I didn’t have a dad, but, lucky me, I’d been left in the care of a mom who behaved more like she was the child.
I was used to it, though. It’d been that way for as long as I could remember. So, really, it shouldn’t have been a big surprise that I was stuck in Stockholm.
Still, I had to be honest with myself. It was partly my fault too, for letting my mom talk me into another one of her misadventures.
She’d begged and pleaded, as was her way, promising we’d have lots of fun.
“Maisie, it’ll be the best girl’s trip ever,” she gushed.
Stupid me, I got caught up in the excitement and believed her. I’d been wearing my rose-colored glasses and didn’t even realize it.
That’s why I was now paying the price.
Bopping my head against the glass, I chastised, “You’re such a fool.”
Then I was muttering “ow,” because the glass was unforgiving.
No matter, I deserved the pain.
Maybe next time—and there would always be a next time with my mother— I’d pay more attention. I should’ve known the money was from somewhere suspicious. We weren’t the kind of people who ha
d cash lying around for international trips.
“Far from it,” I huffed.
Mom sure had played me, telling me she’d won the trip playing slots at a casino across the state line.
How could I have been naïve enough to believe her?
I knew how—I had wanted it to be true, just this once.
But it wasn’t.
It was all a lie.
The money had come from a guy.
There’s always a guy involved, right?
With my mother there was. And this particular guy was rich. He’d funded the trip. His name was Gary Tarrington, and he owned an international juice company. His signature blend was some kind of lingonberry concoction.
I’d looked it up since then, and had come to learn that lingonberries were pretty big in Sweden.
Just like how Gary was big in Mom’s mind.
Worse than the lying, my mother had wasted no time in abandoning me. While I was recovering from jet lag our first night, she was out meeting up with the Juice King.
She called at midnight, waking me.
“Hey, honey, I’m alive and well,” she informed me.
“That’s good.” I checked the clock. “It’s 12:00 AM. Where in the hell are you?”
I got a hasty explanation about how she was with Gary and would be for a while.
“Huh, what? What do you mean by ‘a while’?”
“Just go back to sleep, Maisie,” she’d said, annoyed.
I was too groggy at the time for the gravity of the situation to sink in.
But it sure has sunk in since then.
In six days, Mom has called only once more—to inform me I was on my own.
“It won’t be so bad,” she’d said. “Enjoy Gary’s suite for as long as you like, honey.”
I was mad as hell by that point and bit out, “I should’ve known you didn’t win that money playing slots.”
“No, no, I didn’t,” she confessed, chuckling.
Bitch!
“So what happens now, Mom? Our girl’s trip is over no sooner than it begun?”
“I’m afraid so, Maisie.”
“That’s pretty rotten,” I mumbled.
She went off then. “Don’t start with me, Maisie. You’ll be fine; you’re an adult. It just is what it is, okay?”
“It’s shitty is what it is,” I cried out. “You brought me all this way just to leave me stranded and on my own? What was I? Simply a back-up plan in case your guy didn’t come through?”
I didn’t need a reply. Her bags were gone. I’d definitely been the back-up plan.
“Just tell me this,” I said. “Where’s the info for my flight home? I’ll just call and change the ticket so I can fly back to the States as soon as possible.”
“Um, that might be a problem.”
A feeling of dread crept up my spine. “Why’s that?”
“Well, our tickets may have only been one-way.”
“What? May have been, or were they only one-way, Mom?”
“They were one way,” she confirmed. “But it’s okay. Again, just stay in the suite, live the life. You’re in a top-notch hotel. Enjoy the perks, Maisie. We don’t get chances like this.”
I rolled my eyes and muttered, “Oh, yay.”
Mom droned on. “Anyway, Gary and I plan to do a little traveling around Europe this summer. Never fear, I’ll be in touch at some point.”
“You’re going to be gone all summer?” I yelped, incredulous. “You’re kidding, right?”
Mom, nonplussed, replied, “No, I’m not, Maisie.”
“What about me?” I whimpered, broken by that point.
“You’ll be fine,” she reiterated. “You’ll probably end up having more fun on your own, anyway.”
I choked out a shaky, “How?”
“By going out and meeting people, silly girl.”
She was crazy. Hadn’t she ever watched the ID channel? I didn’t want to become another statistic, damn it!
But she didn’t even care.
Drawing in a deep breath, to keep my tears at bay, I said, “Mom, let’s get serious here. Me, alone in a foreign city, this is a recipe for disaster.”
“No,” she countered, “it’s a recipe for fun. Don’t be such a party pooper.”
I tried reasoning with her. “Even in the best case scenario, I’m bound to be discovered. And what happens then? I’ll tell you what happens. I get caught and I get thrown out of this hotel. The suite isn’t mine, Mom.”
She huffed. “You’re being silly, Maisie. None of that is a concern. Gary’s accountant pays the bill every month, no questions asked. Go ahead, eat and drink like a queen. Do whatever the hell you want, just put it all on the hotel tab and relax.”
Though it was a relief to learn expenses weren’t a pressing concern, I still wanted out.
So, trying one last time to appeal to my mother’s sense of reason, I said, “Look, I don’t want to run around the city all by myself. I’d prefer to go home.”
Angrily, she hissed, “Sorry, but that just isn’t an option right now.”
This is weird.
“Why not?” I asked. “Can’t the Juice King just buy me a plane ticket back to the US?”
Mom hemmed and hawed, and finally, in a hushed tone, she said, “Not yet. Okay?”
Uh-oh.
I knew this song and dance.
Warily, I asked, “Mom, what’s really going on?”
Something was up, but, not surprisingly, she turned the tables onto me. She was a pro at shit like that.
“Maisie,” she began. “Must you always be so difficult and question everything? Just take this as the blessing it is. You’re in a country people back home would kill to visit, let alone not have to pay a dime to do so. Go out and enjoy yourself. You’re bound to meet a friend you can hang with.” Under her breath, she added, “Hopefully it’ll be a man. Heaven knows you need one.”
Figures, she’d go there.
Grasping at straws, I lamented, “But I don’t even speak Swedish.”
She had an answer to that one too.
“Practically everyone in Sweden speaks perfect English, honey. You’ll get along just fine.”
“Mom, please. I just want to go back to Arizona.”
Dropping her voice to a hushed whisper, she finally came clean. “Okay, okay, I know. I get it, right? I’ll work on that return ticket, I promise. But I can’t ask Gary just yet.”
“And why is that?” I snapped.
“Because he’s not aware I brought you to Sweden, okay?”
“Oh, no.” I closed my eyes. “How could that be? If no one knows I’m here, how can I stay in this room? Won’t it look suspicious if someone is ordering food and putting crap on a tab?”
Mom snapped back, “I told you no one will be checking, at least not for a while. Gary’s accountant doesn’t keep constant tabs on his client’s whereabouts. He’ll simply assume Gary’s staying there.”
It sounded too simple, and I suspected it wouldn’t be that easy to dupe this accountant guy.
I was up shit creek. And I knew I had to do something, something on my own and something drastic, to find my way home.
Putting the crappy call with my mom out of my mind, I went back to blaming myself. Mother had trained me well.
You should’ve known better and said no to the trip in the first place. Or you could’ve backed out.
After all, it hadn’t been the first time my wanderlust mother had jetted me off so she could meet up with a man.
But, in my defense, the last time had been long ago.
I’d forgotten her MO.
That last time had also only been to LA. Not to somewhere freaking thousands of miles away.
“One thing’s for sure,” I mused out loud. “You absolutely cannot rely on Mom to help you find your way home.”
No, I couldn’t count on her to come through.
A fresh round of tears welled in my eyes, blurring the world below.
But as clear as
the glass before me, I realized then that, without a doubt, I was the only one who could get me out of this mess.
Another Win
After a hard-fought battle along the boards and behind my team’s net, I emerged victoriously with the puck.
Yes!
Skating up ice and over to Team Germany’s zone, my forwards remained the perfect distance ahead of me.
I quickly assessed who was most open.
Everyone had been so well-covered throughout the game, making for one hell of an epic defensive battle.
But now we, Team USA, had a chance.
There’d been a defensive breakdown, and my teammate, right winger Blake Cavaletti, was not covered.
So I shot him the puck.
Luckily, it adhered to his stick like there was glue on it.
Cavaletti promptly took off, evading a defenseman who came onto the scene.
Blake played for the New York Rangers back home, and I was with the Las Vegas Wolves. We hadn’t known each other for all that long, only since we both arrived in Stockholm to play in these world championships.
We’d clicked right away, though. And Blake had since become my go-to guy on the ice.
Dude was fast as hell, and today was no exception.
After a few more evasive moves, outsmarting three of Team Germany’s best players, Blake scored.
I whooped, “Fuck, yeah. That’s how you do it, Cavaletti!”
We were now up 2-1. And there were only a couple of minutes left to play.
We transitioned to a tight defensive lockdown mode.
Team Germany never had a chance.
We won the game, advancing us to the semifinals.
Hell yes!
It was exactly what I’d needed after the past month.
I decided to join Team USA after the Wolves were knocked out of the playoffs. I freaking loved hockey, man, and felt like I had a lot left in the tank.
What a great decision.
Ever since I’d arrived in Stockholm, I was playing hockey every day. I also got the pleasure of hanging out with an awesome group of guys.
What could be better than that?
My brain had an answer. Or maybe it was my heart doing the talking, since what I heard was: If you had someone to share all this with, Noel, it’d be a little more worthwhile, yeah?
“Ah, shut up,” I grumbled, even though I knew my damn heart was right.