by Toni Aleo
“I knew that night at the Penalty Box you two were gonna hook up.” I looked toward Natalie, a girl I had been with and one of Bo’s friends. “It was like fireworks in that place.”
“Yeah,” Maci agreed. “Didn’t think you two would become anything, though.”
Bo looked over at her and shrugged. “Why?”
She looked uncomfortable for a moment and then smiled. “Well, you know why… Everyone knows why.”
Lizzy laughed at that and then sent us a small smile. “Maybe she tamed the beast?”
I found myself laughing at that. “There is no taming the beast, ladies.” I felt Bo’s gaze on me. Looking down at her, I could see she didn’t appreciate that comment, but surely she knew I was just joking.
Apparently not.
Moving over at bit, she scoffed. “I never claimed to tame the beast.”
“I didn’t say you did,” I answered back, and then I pointed to Lizzy. “She did. Get mad at her.”
Everyone chuckled or laughed while our gazes stayed locked. “I was just joking. Don’t be upset, Bo.”
Pulling her gaze from mine, she flashed Lizzy a small smile. “I’m not. I’m just teasing him.”
Oh, she was such a liar.
“It’s not about taming anything. We’re cool, and you guys aren’t surprised or shocked… You’re jealous.”
“Oh, she told you guys,” Max joked, and laughter broke out in the group, though I didn’t miss the sideways glances from some of the girls. They were jealous, and they didn’t like that Bo had pointed that out.
When Bo moved out of my arms, I stopped her, holding her close. “Where you going?”
“To the bathroom,” she snapped, but before I could stop her, she was already moving away.
“She’s pissed,” Max said.
I nodded as I glared at Lizzy. “Thanks a lot, asshole.”
She shrugged. “I was joking. My bad.”
“Whatever. I’ll smooth it over. She can’t stay mad at me.”
Max laughed as he shook his head. “Man, this must be serious if you care enough to smooth it over.”
I raised my brow. This was my best friend. Surely he knew it was serious. “Duh. You knew this.”
Max shrugged. “Honestly, no. I didn’t.”
“What?” I asked, shocked. “You see us together all the time.”
“Correction, I’ve heard you,” he said, and I laughed.
“That too.”
“But I seriously thought you were just hanging out and doing it. I didn’t think you cared for her more than a fuck. You’ve never been like that.”
“’Cause no one else mattered the way she does.”
Max laughed. “Yeah, that’s crazy. I didn’t think you had that in you.”
He held my gaze for a bit, and then I shrugged. “I do.”
“I can see that. I gotta tell Jessica.” Pulling out his phone, he flashed me a grin. “Maybe we can double date.”
I knew he was fucking with me, or trying to at least, so I just grinned back. “Let me know when.”
That stunned him for a second before he laughed and texted his fiancée quickly. Smiling to myself, I took a long pull of my beer as I looked around. Bo should have been back by now. I saw her walk out of the bathroom, but instead of coming toward our group, she went out the side gate that led to the shore.
I put my beer down since I couldn’t take it out to the ocean and then jogged after her. When I reached her, she had her shoes off and she hugged herself tightly as the sea breeze blew her little pieces of hair around. Taking off my hoodie, I walked up behind her, wrapping my arms around her, and held the hoodie between my hands.
“Here.”
She didn’t even look back behind her. She just took my Suns’ hoodie and put it on. When she was situated, I wrapped my arms around her and nuzzled my nose into her neck. “Well, let me have it.”
“Have what?” she asked softly, leaning her head against mine.
“My comment upset you.”
She scoffed. “No, it bothered me because you made sure to let everyone know taming you would never happen, so they know you are always available—”
“But—” I tried, but she shook her head, holding her finger up.
“And then I got annoyed that I felt that way, that I got upset that you were just being you, probably joking, but I immediately got jealous. That somewhere within the last couple weeks this went from just having fun to something important to me. Something where I get upset about someone else wanting you or you wanting someone other than me.”
She turned in my arms and faced me. I gazed down at her, unsure what she was about to say or do.
Swallowing hard, she said, “Gus—”
“If you’re about to break up with me, save it. It’s not happening.”
Her brows pulled together. “What? Why?”
“’Cause I’m not letting you do it. Yeah, things have shifted, they have changed, and the thing is, if you had said that, I would have gotten pissed too. I was just fucking around, promise. And yeah, I don’t care that you don’t like promises, ’cause I’m a promises kind of guy, and I promise you that it’s okay where this is going. Honestly.”
“Gus, this can’t happen.”
“Well it is, so accept it.”
She held my gaze, her eyes searching mine as her lips pressed together in a hard line. “So I’m not crazy? You feel it too?”
I scoffed before taking her face in my hands, wanting so desperately to be closer than we already were. “Babe, I’ve felt like this was something since this started. I just didn’t want to tell you when you were all let’s have fun.”
She exhaled hard. “We’re in for a load of hurt. You know this, right?”
“Actually, I don’t,” I answered, holding her gaze. There was no light except for the moon shining down on her beautiful face.
“Gus, you are a rookie with a one-way ticket out of here. When that happens, what happens to this thing we’ve found ourselves in?”
I shrugged. Had I thought about that? Sure, but I didn’t want to talk about it. We didn’t have to worry about that yet. “Am I leaving tomorrow?”
She shot me a dry look, her brows pulling together. “No, but it’s going to happen.”
“And when it does, we’ll cross that bridge,” I said with a shrug. “Right now, I want to be with you, I want you to be with me, and I want you to be jealous ’cause I get jealous just thinking of someone even looking at you.”
“You do?” she asked, her cheeks warming a bit with color. “I never thought you’d get jealous.”
“Neither did I,” I said simply, rubbing my thumbs along her cheeks. “But then I never thought or expected some beautiful redhead to come into my life and completely turn it upside down.”
A sneaky grin pulled at her beautiful lips. “What are we going to do about us?”
“Let us be,” I said softly, moving my nose along hers. “Stop worrying about shit that doesn’t matter right now, and just enjoy what we have.”
“We do have a lot to enjoy.”
“We do,” I said, a grin pulling at my lips as I slowly turned her around and pressed her ass into my groin. “Like I’m enjoying the fact you’re more than likely not wearing panties tonight.”
She feigned shock as I slid my hands up her skirt. “Why do you assume that?”
“’Cause you’re wearing a bra,” I whispered in her ear, kissing her lobe. “And you never wear both.”
When I found her soft and dripping wet, I smiled against her jaw. “Just as I thought.”
“Proud of yourself?”
“Not yet,” I breathed against her ear as she let out a little moan once I found her clit. “But I will be when I make you scream my name on this beach.”
“I won’t.”
“You will,” I demanded in her ear, kissing it once more. “And you’re going to like it.”
“I mean, I won’t hate it.”
I smiled.
; Yup, I was falling hard for this girl.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Gus
I was carrying the puck and darting around the ice, looking for my teammates. They were on a line change, which was fine. I had time since the other team was changing too. We were tied at one with two minutes left against the Admirals, and I was aching for a goal. I hadn’t scored all game, and I wasn’t sure I’d get one before time ran out. We really needed to score now to win.
When Roberts hit the ice, I sent it up the boards to him, and he took it in as I rushed with Max to the line. Roberts shot, but it went wide, and when Chomsky got it, he shot it quick, but it went off their defenseman. He hit the ground hard. He was stung, and while it sucked, I took advantage. But when I rushed to the puck, some asshole beat me to it and zipped around me.
“Well fuck!” I yelled as I chased him down, since of course, he was on a fucking breakaway.
I was able to catch up and get in front of him, and when he went to shoot, I laid out, taking the puck to the ribs, right where my pads didn’t fully cover.
Of course.
“Fuck!” I yelled out as he kept jabbing me with his stick to try to get the puck. But then he was on the ground, Chomsky on top of him, pounding him in the head. I tried to stand, but then I was knocked down. A body landed on me, and then I was being called a stupid pussy. I wasn’t sure what I did wrong except play my game, but then, I wasn’t the nicest guy out here. We were all trying to fight for our spot. At that moment though, I was trying to get the fucker off me as whistles were blowing and people were yelling.
Loads of fun.
When it was all said and done, both teams were down two men. Sitting next to Max, I squirted some Gatorade in my mouth and looked around as they dropped the puck in our zone. My side was killing me, but I wouldn’t say anything. A bruised rib wouldn’t get me down.
Max leaned over. “You’re making a face.”
I laughed, and it hurt. “He hit me in the ribs a few times.”
“You good?” he asked, worry filling his features.
I nodded. “Fine.”
Our line was called, and we went over the boards with ease. Since I was a defenseman that could score like a forward, they only threw out one forward with us. The Admirals had possession at first, but Chomsky changed that the moment he got on the ice. Unfortunately, their defense stole the puck, but when they tried to pass it up to their forwards, I broke up the pass, getting control before sending it up to Max, who was moving hard up the ice with Chomsky beside him. I rushed to catch up as they tried to make a play. Max shot, but he missed, and it went up the boards to Chomsky, who passed it back to Max. One would assume that he would have shot, but he didn’t have the lane, so I set up with a clear shot in my sights. Like I knew he would, Max passed it to me, and I shot, hard—and by the grace of the good Lord above, it hit the back of the net.
Throwing my arms up in the air, I cringed hard, letting them drop just as Max and Chomsky wrapped me up in a hard hug that hurt the shit out of my side.
Houston, we may have a problem.
But I wasn’t telling anyone.
* * *
“I may or may not have broken a rib tonight.” Looking in the mirror of the locker room, I grimaced as Bo made a face at me.
“What do you mean?”
“I got beaned with the puck,” I said, looking over my wound. Everyone had already left for the hotel, but I needed a long hot shower and I didn’t want to wait.
“Is there a bruise?”
I nodded before flipping the view on my FaceTime so that she could see the mirror.
Bo gasped out as she gushed, “Oh my God, Gus, that looks awful. Does it hurt when you breathe?”
I took a deep breath, cringing just as I did it. “It doesn’t tickle.”
“You’re crazy. Go to the doctor!”
“You’re not here though.” I pouted.
She grinned and said, “Gus, seriously.”
“Seriously nothing. I can’t go to the ER without you.”
“Then go to the team doctor, you idiot! Jesus! What if it punctured your lungs or something insane?”
I made a face. “I’m fine. Maybe I’ll go tomorrow.”
She gave me a stern look. “Now. You haven’t even left yet.”
“Ugh. I don’t want to.”
“Stop being a baby and go.”
I pouted. “Will you kiss it when you get back?”
She flashed me a grin. “That and more,” she said, wiggling her brows. “Go, seriously. Please.”
“Fine. I’ll call you back.”
“I’m getting on the plane. I’ll call you when I land.”
I nodded as I shot her a grin. “I miss you.”
She blushed as she moved her hair out of her face. She had her ear buds in, and her hair was down in big curls over her shoulders. I loved her hair down. “I miss you too, you big dork. Go.”
“I am. Damn, you’re mean.”
“Ha. Don’t act like you’re just realizing this!”
I smiled as I waved, and she did the same before the call ended. Tucking my phone into my pocket, I considered not going to the team doctor, but then I knew Bo would be pissed if she found out I didn’t go. I didn’t want to upset her since I did that daily with my annoying tendencies. So swallowing my pride, I headed toward where the team doctor was set up. I knew he was still working on Merriam, our goalie. It wouldn’t take him long to tell me if it was broken or not, but I hoped he knew I wasn’t letting this keep me from playing.
Maybe I should just let Bo get mad at me.
“Hey, Persson, come in here.” I paused midstride and looked into the room Coach Rowe was set up in. “I was about to come find you.”
“Me?” I asked, racing my brain for any reason that my coach would be looking for me.
“Yeah you, dumbass. Come in here.”
I did as he asked, and just as I went to shut the door, he held his hand up. “That’s not necessary,” he said simply. “You’ve been called up to the Tornadoes. You’ll play tomorrow night. Here is your ticket to fly out in the morning.”
I just stared at him. “I’m sorry, what?”
Coach laughed. “Isn’t rocket science, boy. You’ve been called up. One of the defensemen went down last night with a groin injury. They want you. So, you’ll go.”
I could only blink. I knew I wanted this. I wanted it more than I wanted my next breath, but I honestly didn’t think it would happen this fast. I thought I had more time. I thought… Fuck, I needed more time.
With Bo.
“Oh. Oh, shit.”
Coach smiled up at me as he held out my ticket. “I want to say I hope I get you back, but I’m pretty sure I won’t.”
I tried to muster up some kind of emotion. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Good luck, and if you do come back, don’t let that get you down. Plenty of guys play both teams until a spot opens up. Don’t worry. I believe in you. A spot will open for you.”
“Thank you,” I said once more, but all I could do was think of Bo and how she had been worried about just this. Meanwhile, I was too consumed with everything that involved her. But here I was, standing with a ticket to the NHL in my hand. This was my dream, what I had wanted since I was a boy. What I had worked for. Surely we could figure something out. I couldn’t lose her, but there was no way I would give up this chance. And Bo wouldn’t ask me to. I know she wouldn’t.
Looking back at my coach, I smiled. “I won’t let you down.”
“I know you won’t, boy. Good luck.”
Walking out of his office, I ignored the pain in my ribs, which had been taken over by the strain in my chest of not knowing what would happen with Bo. I wanted so bad to believe that we would be okay, but she had already decided we wouldn’t be.
And I wasn’t sure what to do with that.
Or with the pain in my ribs.
’Cause I was playing for the Tornadoes.
No matter what.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Bo
Davis was just so full of life.
“So then, Willy knocked me down ’cause he’s bigger than me, though Daddy says he isn’t even five, that he’s ten.”
I laughed as I looked over at my dad, who was smiling wide. He looked older than I remembered him being. I hadn’t been home in almost a year, and it worried me that a year of my being away had taken its toll on my father. He was gray everywhere and looked every bit his fifty-five years.
“Boo! He’s taller than you!” Davis took a big bite of his eggs.
“No!” I gushed. “How in the world is he playing, then?”
“He paid the league off, Mommy said.”
I giggled and glanced at where my mom was washing dishes. “Mom said that?”
“She sure did,” my dad said, shaking his head. “Though, I don’t disagree with her.”
“You guys are insane.”
“It’s the truth. You’ll see!”
Davis took another bite, and I wanted to scream at him to stop growing. When I was on FaceTime with my mom, he looked so small, but sitting beside him, he looked huge. His red hair was a shaggy mess, and I wanted to holler at my mom to cut it. His blue eyes were bright and full of such mischief. His nose was running, and his lips were red and chapped. He’d apparently stayed out on the pond for hours the night before, getting ready to show off for me.
He was just perfect.
“She sure will,” Mom said, coming over and moving her hand through Davis’s mane of hair. “Why don’t you go and get dressed. And grab your bag out of Daddy’s truck. We’ll be taking my car to the game.”
With a mouthful of eggs, he nodded before hopping up. “Okay. I’ll be back. Don’t go anywhere, Boo.”
I shook my head. “I’ll be right here.”
He sent me a toothless grin and ran off. Once he was out of the kitchen, I moved my fork through my eggs before saying, “He needs a haircut, don’t you think?”
“Sure does, but your mom likes it shaggy,” Dad said, flipping through the paper. “I don’t have it in me to argue with her.”