A Game of COURAGE

by Lena Hart

  “Actually, I didn’t mind the staring,” Jules said, her lips still curved into a small smile. “He had this huge bruise under his eye, but I thought he also had a cute smile.”

  “It wasn’t that big.”

  She snorted. “Yes, it was. But it didn’t bother me. What really set me off was the grabbing.”

  Dr. Kahn’s eyes rounded into large saucers. “Grabbing?”

  “It wasn’t Mason. One of his drunken teammates got a little ballsy, and handsy, and decided to grab my butt.”

  “And before I could knock some sense into him for it, here comes this sexy lady in this sexy yellow dress taking a swing at me,” Mason said.

  Jules winced. “It was a mistake. They were both standing behind me, and I just reacted. I hadn’t even noticed his creep of a teammate until it was too late.”

  “That’s one big misunderstanding,” Dr. Kahn said. “How did you find out the truth?”

  “One of my girlfriends saw him and confirmed it. I was so embarrassed.” Jules shook her head, as if she was reliving the moment. “I had on this huge ring when I hit him, and it sort of did some damage.”

  “I think it cut me.” Mason couldn’t remember if it drew blood, but he did remember that it hurt like a son-of-a-bitch.

  The ends of Jules’ brows turned down. “I tried apologizing like a hundred times, but you wouldn’t accept.”

  “Because you had just sliced my chin open for something I didn’t even get to do.”

  With another small wince, Jules reached over and lightly stroked his chin. His entire body flooded with warmth.

  “I know, baby. I’m sorry.”

  The touch was spontaneous, but Mason didn’t care. He missed these causal caresses, her impulsive touch. The air between them suddenly shifted, and she became aware of her brief show of affection. A hint of pink flushed across her brown cheeks, and she let her hand drop back onto her lap.

  “So how did you go from a cut on the chin to Mr. and Mrs. Courage?” Dr. Kahn asked.

  “He made me take him out to breakfast the next morning. Said that was the only way I could make it up to him.”

  Mason remembered that moment well, trying to think up some other way to get her phone number before they went their separate ways that night. Extorting a meal out of her had worked. They met again the next morning—away from her friends and his teammates—and had gotten a chance to get to know each other. He missed those days when they had been able to sit around and just talk for hours.

  Smiling, Dr. Kahn glanced over at him. “Why not dinner?”

  He shrugged. “I think that had been my first request, but she said no.”

  “Because I was dating someone at the time, and dinner just felt too intimate,” Jules explained. “We went back and forth until we settled on breakfast.”

  “So you were already in a relationship when you met?”

  “Yes, but it wasn’t serious. Not serious enough to fly out with him to my friend’s wedding.”

  Mason watched as Dr. Kahn jotted something down on her notepad. Had she been taking notes this entire time, or had he only just started to notice?

  If the fact that he had continued to pursue Jules while she had been in a relationship piqued her interest, Dr. Kahn didn’t let it show. That small detail certainly hadn’t stopped him. He’d known from that moment on what he wanted—and he’d gone after Jules.

  “It sounds like you two had an interesting start.”

  Jules turned to him again, a warm smile on her lips. “I guess we did.”

  He couldn’t remember the last time she had smiled at him like that. It felt nice—honest and real. Moved by a sudden need to touch her, Mason took her hand in his and laced their fingers together. When Jules tightened her hand around his, he hadn’t realized how tense he was waiting for her response.

  “Fast-forward ten years later. What is your relationship like now?”

  They turned back to Dr. Kahn, the tension between them slowly returning. Jules shifted in her seat.

  “It’s…different,” she began.

  “How so?”

  “Well, so much has happened in ten years. We’re married with two kids, one of them with special needs. Naturally, things between us would change.”

  “Mason, would you agree?”

  He shrugged. “Sure. No one’s perfect, right?”

  Jules stiffened and pulled her hand from his. Mason instantly missed the small connection.

  “How would you classify your marriage?”

  “A work in progress,” Mason said.

  “What sort of progress would you like to see?”

  Mason gritted his teeth, irritated by Dr. Kahn’s incessant questions. “I don’t know. Doesn’t every couple have issues they need to work through?”

  “True. But what is it that you want in your marriage?”

  He shrugged, not sure how to answer that, because he really had no room to complain. When it came to their kids and their home, Jules took care of everyone and everything. He would love it if she showed just as much interest in his career, but then again, she had never been much of a hockey fan. Or any sport, for that matter. He had known that when they had first met.

  In a time when he had been surrounded by the press and puck bunnies, it had been refreshing to be with someone who didn’t particularly care that he was a professional athlete, and just enjoyed his company. Despite the challenges of a long-distance relationship, they had made it work, and one year later, he had married the woman of his dreams.

  “Honestly, everything I want, I already have.”

  Dr. Kahn nodded. “Okay. If you had to choose one thing that you could improve between you, what would it be?”

  Mason thought about it, his first thought being their communication. But that wasn’t true. Jules always expressed herself to him, especially when she was angry. It was probably the cause of many of their arguments. With him, she always seemed to find something to be upset about.

  “Mason, what’s the first thing that comes to mind?”

  “Affection.”

  Dr. Kahn arched a brow and heat crept up his cheeks. He cleared his throat to cover his embarrassment and could feel Jules’ eyes on him. It was strange for him to admit something so personal to a stranger, especially when showing and giving affection had never been an issue for them.

  “You mean like intimacy?”

  “Yeah. We could use a little more of that, too. I would much rather be making love to my wife, but most of our time is spent arguing the minute I get home.”

  Jules folded her arms under her breasts. “I don’t see how you expect us to be intimate when you’re hardly around, Mason.”

  He frowned at her. “Don’t put that on me. Every time I try to touch you, you find something for us to argue about.”

  “You can’t expect me to be in the mood just because you are. It doesn’t really work that way.”

  “Then please enlighten me, because no matter what I do, you find an excuse to pull away.”

  A tense silence fell in the room. Mason clenched his jaw, wondering how in such a short time they could go from laughing and smiling about their first meeting to snapping about their lack of intimacy.

  And the unruffled therapist started right back with her damn questions.

  “Jules, what’s the main source of your usual arguments?”

  “Hockey,” she said without hesitation. “He puts his career before us, and it’s frustrating.”

  Mason glared at her. “That’s not true, damn it, and you know it.”

  “Let’s try to keep our cool,” Dr. Kahn said, staring pointedly at him. “It’s important to hear each other out so you can find out why your wife feels this way.”

  “He knows why,” Jules said tightly.

  “It doesn’t appear he does,” Dr. Kahn countered. “Why don’t you give an example of a time you felt he put hockey before you and your kids?”

  “Well, there’s yesterday, for starters. He missed our session becaus
e he was giving a press conference. Then there’s that time a few weeks ago when he cancelled a meeting with the principal at our daughter’s new preschool. This will be her first year, and he’s too busy with work to get involved with that.”

  He couldn’t argue with her on any of that, because she was right. This past year, he had prioritized his team over his family. Those extra drills, the long hours of practice, the time spent developing new plays had won them the Cup. Now he was going to lose his family.

  “It sounds like the main source of the tension between you two is your husband’s work. Do you think it would help your relationship if he quit?”

  Mason sat stiffly in his seat and braced himself for her response. He couldn’t see how backing him into a corner like that could ever save their marriage. But Jules had never given him such an ultimatum, and he’d always been grateful for that.

  “No. I don’t want him to quit his job. I just want him to find a better balance. It’s like ever since his dad passed away, he’s—”

  “Jules, don’t.”

  She glanced at him, then fell silent, folding her hands on her lap. His tone was harsher than he had intended, and that drew Dr. Kahn’s interest.

  “You don’t want to talk about your father?” she asked.

  “I don’t want to make this session about him, because it has nothing to do with him.”

  “According to your wife, he’s a small factor. When did he pass?”

  “September last year.”

  “And were you two close?”

  Mason gritted his teeth and nodded, annoyed that she would continue on the subject of his dead father. The pain of losing him was still fresh and he didn’t need some therapist to drum up daddy issues where there were none. Dalton Courage had been a great father to him and his younger brother Ryder. It was through his father that Mason had found his love for ice hockey. Even when Ryder had decided soccer was more his sport, their father had supported them equally, never missing a game. And when they had both gone on to play professionally, their father had been their biggest cheerleader to the very end.

  “Could it be that you’re throwing yourself into your work to deal with your loss?” Dr. Kahn asked. “It wouldn’t be uncommon.”

  “Maybe.” Mason let her conclude what she wanted.

  “Perhaps you should seek grief counseling to better deal with your loss.”

  “I appreciate the concern, but I’ve dealt with it.”

  In fact, he had found peace with his father’s passing a while ago. Losing him had hurt, but with his declining health, it had been expected. Throwing himself into his work had nothing to do with hiding behind his pain, and everything to do with winning the Cup for his dad. As a player, he had come close twice but never made it. This time, he had grabbed at the chance for the championship, and threw his all behind his players. Against the odds, they had won. Mason imagined his father had been beaming down at him with pride that night.

  These were all things he had learned to come to terms with. He didn’t need therapy, or Dr. Kahn, to tell him what he had since accepted.

  “Dr. Kahn, I only brought up his father because that’s when I noticed the shift in his priorities where our family was concerned,” Jules said. “But hockey isn’t the only problem.”

  “Then what is the real issue?” Dr. Kahn asked.

  She shifted in her seat, her hands clasped tightly together. “I feel alone in this marriage.”

  Mason glanced away from her rigid profile, bothered at her admission. Though part of him was relieved that she didn’t want him to quit hockey, another part was disturbed by the fact that she felt lonely with him. Whether or not he understood how, that was how she felt in their marriage.

  “We’re out of time for today,” Dr. Kahn said, placing her pen down. “But what I’d like you two to do before our next session is to go out on a date. Alone. It can be anywhere, but I want you to plan it together. When I see you again, I want to hear all about it.”

  “Where do you think we should go?”

  Mason shrugged. “You decide.”

  Jules turned to him. His attention was focused on the road ahead. Their first marriage counseling session hadn’t been as uncomfortable as she had believed it would be. If anything, it had made her feel closer to him than she had in a long time. But while she was eager to begin planning their first obligatory date, he was uninterested.

  “Mason, please don’t make me plan this on my own.”

  “Sorry.” He reached over and gave her knee a squeeze. “How about we try that new seafood restaurant in the French Quarter?”

  “La Bouff’s? I’ve heard good things about them.”

  “Good. I’ll make a reservation for us.”

  “Maybe we could go dancing after?”

  He shot her a quick glance. “I’m not good at dancing.”

  “Yes, you are. Dancing is like making love, and we have two kids, remember? Trust me, you’re good.”

  The corner of his lips kicked up. “Well, if you’re talking about that kind of dancing, then yeah. I’m great at it.”

  She rolled her eyes, though she couldn’t hold back her own smile. “Don’t get ahead of yourself. Even a pro needs practice.”

  “When can we start practicing again?”

  Her heart thudded in her chest from the low, suggestive question. From the husky desire in his tone, it was clear they were no longer talking about dancing, and her thighs quivered at the thought of being with him again. With last season’s playoffs keeping him away, and the rising tension between them because of it, there had been no room for romance or intimacy.

  Yet, based on their session today, he wanted more of that between them. A revelation that surprised her. He had stopped making an effort to touch her, and didn’t appear bothered by their lack of lovemaking. She had assumed he had stopped caring about that part in their marriage. She was relieved to learn she had been wrong. Then again, would it be wise of them to jump back into bed so soon when they still had so much to work through?

  Before she could approach that delicate subject, his cell phone rang. Mason answered it, and a familiar voice spoke clearly through the car speakers.

  “Mason, I think that cocksucker—”

  “Watch it, Doug. My wife’s in the car.”

  “Oh… Sorry, Jules.”

  “Don’t sweat it, Doug,” Jules said, finding her husband’s reproach amusing, since he rarely ever bothered to watch his language around her. “I’ve heard it all before. Now, you were saying…”

  There was a brief hesitation before Doug spoke again. “It’s Harrison Stacey. I think he’s trying to make trouble for you, Mason.”

  “Who’s that?” she asked quietly.

  “I’ll tell you later.” Mason’s tone was low and guarded. He returned his attention to Doug. “What happened? Did he publish something?”

  “No, but I think he may have filed a complaint with the league. I heard Steven got a call from the commissioner’s office, and now he wants us to meet with him today.”

  “Today’s no good, which is why I blocked my schedule.”

  “I told them that, but then they started talking about suspensions and fines if we don’t get this straightened out, so I called you.”

  Mason’s grip tightened around the steering wheel as they sat at a traffic light. He turned to her, his expression strained and apologetic. She realized then he was waiting for her permission. With his free schedule, she had hoped they could have lunch together at home and maybe finish planning their date night. Apparently that would have to wait.

  “Go,” she whispered. “This sounds important.”

  “All right, Doug. I’ll be there in a few.” Mason ended the call and glanced toward her. “Sorry, babe. I was not expecting that. We’re nearly home, so I’ll drop you off first.”

  She nodded. “What’s going on, though? Who’s Harrison Stacey?”

  Mason sighed. “He’s some damn sports journalist I took a swing at yesterday after th
e press conference.”

  Her mouth fell open as she processed his words. “What? Why?”

  Mason clenched his jaw and shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. I should have known better than to let him get under my skin. That was stupid on my part.”

  She studied him as they neared their home. It was true her husband had a temper, but his fighting days had come to an end after his last season as a defenseman. His reputation may have advanced with him into his coaching career, but he wasn’t the type of guy that would go around punching people or things.

  Yet he had done both yesterday.

  “Did he deserve it?”

  Mason glanced at her, his brows lifting. “Yeah, he did. And I sure as shit don’t regret hitting him.”

  “Then this will all work itself out. Don’t worry.”

  “Who says I’m worried?”

  “Your white knuckles.”

  He looked down at his hands, and they both chuckled. He eased his hold as he began to turn the wheel. It took her a second to realize they were pulling into their driveway.

  “When I get back tonight, maybe we can order in and put on that panda movie Jeremy loves.”

  “The kids would love that.”

  Jules started to exit the car then stopped. Turning back, she leaned over and pressed her lips against his cheek. She caught the stunned look on his face and smiled big. Pleased with herself, she started out of the car again.

  To her surprise, he grabbed her hand and pulled her back to him. Looping his hand around the back of her neck, he brought his lips lightly down over hers. His lips moved over hers gently before he deepened the kiss. Something warm unfurled inside her, and she instinctively rested her hand on his arm. No matter how much they fought or how angry he made her at times, he was the only man that could make her feel this way.

  With a tremulous sigh, her lips fell open, and he slowly slipped his tongue into her mouth. The taste and texture of him was familiar, but there was something new in the way he moved his tongue along hers. He took his time, as if savoring the very essence of her. The sensation left her tingling with warmth all over. She released a soft moan and returned his kiss with all the passion and fire she still held for him.