Bears of Burden: STERLING

by Candace Ayers

  "Don't worry," Troy said. "He'll fuck up. He always does."

  I glared at Troy, who noticed my rising temper. "People can change," I said. "They can grow. At least most people can."

  "What's with you?" Troy asked. His face was tight and red. "Cooper's a jerk off. Everybody knows that. Maybe that Coach of his finally got him whipped. He's been pretty quiet since that mooning stunt of his. I heard Coach threatened to toss him if he had one more outburst."

  I didn't say anything. I knew that was true though. Aiden and I had talked about it. He was terrified of being thrown not just out of the game, but out of the league. I'd told him if he just did his job, which was playing hockey not drinking and carousing, then he'd be fine.

  "But a little carousing can be a good thing for a man," he'd said, his fingertips gliding over my arm. I'd smiled and told him so long as it was me he was carousing with, he'd be safe.

  The game ended and I jumped up with Billy, Troy trailing behind us. We ran to the locker room and I could see Troy getting ready to make some sort of speech about how we were to be let through.

  "Right this way Ms. Larkin," the guard said before Troy even had a chance to say anything. Billy and I jogged ahead of Troy.

  "Why is he following us around?" Billy asked. I shrugged. "He gives me the creeps," Billy said, glancing back.

  Then we were in the locker room and the players were coming out. They stood around with towels draped over them, half naked, and completely oblivious to the fact that a woman was in there with them. Reporters started shouting questions over each other, and my voice seemed to get drowned out with the others. But Aiden looked right at me and smiled.

  "Let's start with the prettiest reporter here," he said.

  I blushed and the other reporters chuckled. No one thought anything of Aiden's remark. He was so known for being a ladies man that comments like that were just a part of who he was. When the interview was over, and the reporters were booted from the locker room, I walked to the van with Billy, intending to ride back with him.

  I felt Troy's hand shoot out and grab hold of me. "Ride with me," he whispered. I shook my head, not wanting Billy to notice. "Ride with me," Troy repeated, "or you're fucking fired," he spat.

  My shoulders tensed and I planted a fake smile on my face. "I'm gonna ride with Troy," I told Billy. I leaned in and whispered. "I think he wants to ream me out for not asking better questions."

  Billy's eyes widened. "I thought your questions were good," Billy said. "As good as anyone's, that is. He's just a jerk." I nodded and watched Billy drive off without me.

  "Now," Troy said. "Was that so hard?"

  Chapter 10

  My phone starting ringing almost the second I plopped down in Troy's car. It was Aiden. I glanced at Troy and ignored the call.

  "What is it you need to talk to me about?" I asked.

  "I made an appointment for you in the morning. We're gonna get this thing taken care of."

  My eyes bugged out of my head. I couldn't believe how little regard he was paying me. "I'm not getting an abortion," I told him for the umpteenth time.

  "Yes you are," he said. "Or I'll make sure you're blackballed in this business. You'll be nothing but a joke. The slut that ruined her career by getting pregnant."

  "You're the one who got me pregnant!" My phone rang again and I hit the ignore button.

  "No one's going to believe you," Troy said. “I'll just say you're mad because I fired you."

  "But..." I didn't know what else to say. I felt cornered. Troy smiled. "So what are we doing tonight then?" I asked, my heart sinking. I fought back the tears that were starting to form.

  "Tonight," he said, his hand creeping once more onto my knee, "We’re gonna spend together."

  "You can't be serious," I shouted, astounded that he could possibly think I was gonna spend the night with his crazy ass.

  "Why not?" he asked. "You don’t really think I’m going to let you out of my sight before tomorrow morning, do you?" His eyes were malicious and his laugh was like a lunatic. I felt disgusted with myself for ever having slept with this man.

  "I'm not having an abortion," I told him.

  "Well, we'll see about that."

  My phone started vibrating in my hand. "What?" I snapped, answering Aiden's call.

  I heard the confusion on the other end. "Skyler?"

  "Yeah, what is it?" I knew I was being rude, but I was too upset with Troy to care. Tears were starting to spill over my cheeks.

  Aiden hesitated. "I thought I'd come over to your place. Is everything okay?"

  "Fine," I lied, fighting back the tears in my voice. I didn't want Aiden to hear me cry. "I'm just tired. Not tonight okay?"

  Funny, I never thought you could hear someone think, but I swear that's what if felt like now. I could actually hear Aiden's mind spinning. "Something's wrong," he finally said.

  "No," I told him. Troy was watching me. "Everything... I just don't feel well. I'll see you some other time." Then I hung up before he could respond.

  "Who was that?" Troy demanded.

  "No one."

  "Sounded like someone to me. You got another bedmate I should know about?" His voice growled low and steady. I knew what he was implying, that he wasn’t the father of my baby.

  With the way Troy was looking at me, I didn't think it was wise to explain. "It was just my sister," I told him. He stared at me a moment longer then seemed to accept that. Idiot. I didn't even have a sister.

  We pulled up to my apartment building and were almost to the door when a Porsche came screeching into the parking lot. Troy and I turned around and saw Aiden jumping from his car and running towards us.

  "Aiden Cooper?" Troy said, confused. He looked over at me and understanding lit his eyes. "Oh, hell no," he said. "You've been fucking this asshole?"

  Aiden heard him and only slowed his approach because he didn't yet understand the situation. Tears were filling my eyes again. More than anything I wanted Aiden here with me. I didn't to send him away, but I didn't know what else to do.

  "Aiden, what are you doing here? I told you not tonight."

  He looked from me to Troy. "Who's this guy?" Aiden asked.

  "My boss," I said, my cheeks going red. Despite what some people thought, Aiden wasn't stupid.

  "Why are you crying?"

  "I'm not," but I couldn't meet Aiden's eyes.

  "You heard her," Troy said. "She doesn't want you here." He yanked my arm, pulling me towards him.

  "Ow," I said. "That hurts." I tried to pull my arm away and Troy slapped me once across the face. That was all it took. Aiden made a tight fist that sent Troy sprawling backwards. He fell to the ground, hitting his head. When he sat up his nose was bleeding and his eyes were black. He lunged at Aiden.

  Aiden fought back, hitting Troy again. I scrambled backwards, shouting for them to stop. A few neighbors came out. One of them recognized Aiden and pulled out his phone. Then a couple others joined him and began recording the fight.

  "Troy stop!" I screamed. He got one good punch in at Aiden, but Troy was just no match. Aiden used a wrestling move he knew and flipped Troy onto his back. He punched Troy again until finally Troy stopped fighting.

  When Aiden stood back up, I took his hand, pulling him away. There were more neighbors and more phones out now.

  "You'll pay for this," Troy shouted. "Both of you."

  Aiden made one final attempt to lunge for him but I held him back and ushered him into my apartment. Tears streamed down my face.

  "That asshat is your boss?" Aiden asked, bewildered. His nose was bleeding. "Skyler, please, talk to me. Tell me what's going on."

  "I'm pregnant," I told him, unable to take it anymore. His face paled for a second before righting itself again. "It's not yours," I added quickly. "It's Troy's. We slept together. Once. Four months ago. It was a mistake, but, well.. he's been hounding me ever since. He wants me to have an abortion, but I can’t. I just can’t. He..." I began to choke on my sobs as they pour
ed out of me. "He says if I don’t he'll blackball me from the industry. Ruin my career before it even has a chance to get anywhere. And I believe him."

  I slumped against the wall and covered my face with my hands. My body shook. I was certain that Aiden was about to walk out my front door and never look back. Instead, his strong arms enveloped me and pulled me in close against his firm body. He held me tightly and kissed the top of my head as his hand rubbed up and down my back.

  "I don't know what to do either," he said. "But what I do know is that that guy is never coming near you again." I laid my head against his chest and he held me like that for the rest of the night.

  Chapter 11

  The next night, I stood with the other reporters, watching the Knights get trampled by their opponents. Aiden sat on the sidelines. He'd been out the entire game. The videos of him beating up Troy were all over YouTube. His picture was plastered all over the internet. Troy had already announced his intention to sue Aiden and the team, unless Aiden was immediately released from his contract. Troy was trying to get Aiden kicked out of the NHL forever.

  And just to rub it all in, Troy was actually at the game. He was sitting far from me in expensive box seats with the other station owners. Billy kept glancing at me. My face had been hidden in the videos. No one had bother to focus their cameras on me, it had been Aiden they were interested in. Still, it had taken a lot of makeup to cover the black eye Troy had given me when he'd slapped me. It looked a little weird.

  "Your face..." Billy said.

  "What about it?" I snapped.

  "Never mind," Billy said quickly.

  The game ended and the Knights slunk off the court, defeated once more. Reporters fled to the locker room, eager to get a word in with Aiden.

  "Aiden, Aiden!" one reporter shouted. "How do you feel about your meeting with the Knights owner tomorrow? Think he's going to kick you off the team?"

  "Yes," Aiden answered honestly.

  "Why were you fighting with Troy Mannen?" another reporter shouted. "Was it over money?"

  "Was it over a girl?"

  "Are you on drugs?"

  The questions kept flying in. They weren't even giving Aiden a chance to answer.

  My heart broke into a thousand pieces. This was all my fault. I had to do something to make it right.

  "It's not his fault," I said, quietly at first. Then louder, "It's not his fault! IT'S NOT HIS FAULT!"

  Everyone stopped and stared at me. Billy moved to turn the camera off but I told him to keep it rolling. "Aiden Cooper is a good man," I said, facing the camera straight on. "He was fighting Troy Mannen because..." I took a deep breath. "He was defending me." Tears flowed freely over my face now. The makeup I had so painstakingly applied began to wash away.

  "Not long ago, Troy Mannen, who is my boss at KGLB... we slept together. It was a one-time thing, but I’m pregnant." I was self-conscious of all the cameras in the room, now trained on me, but forced myself to continue.

  "Troy... yesterday he tried to blackmail me into having an abortion, but I refused. He told me if I didn't terminate the pregnancy, that he would not only fire me, but see to it that I never worked in this industry again. Then he hit me." I rubbed at the makeup I'd been hiding my black eye with. Mixed with my tears, the makeup rubbed away easily. There were gasps all over the locker room. Even Aiden's coach looked stunned.

  "Aiden came along as Troy was trying to hurt me. That's the part no one saw on the videos. The part where Aiden was only coming to my defense. He won’t lose his job because I’m sure that the owner of the Knights has no intention of firing a good and honorable man like Aiden Cooper. Not when Aiden Cooper exemplifies all that the Knights and the NHL stand for- honor, bravery and courage."

  I suddenly felt lightheaded. My legs started to crumple and I felt myself rushing towards the floor. Aiden's strong hands reached out to steady. He pulled me up and held me to him, wrapped in his arms. "I love you," he whispered.

  "Did you hear that?" someone shouted, excited, as cameras went off. Then Aiden, attention seeker that he is, kissed me.

  "Hey!" someone shouted. "Troy Mannen's in the stadium. Let's find him!"

  Reporters, eager to jump on the bandwagon, fled the room. Aiden stayed right where he was, with his arms wrapped around me and his heart beating in time with mine.

  Chapter 12

  Billy sat next to me as we watched Aiden score another goal. The crowd cheered as the announcer's voice blared across the stadium. "That's four in a row for Knights center Aiden Cooper." There was another roar as the announcer said his name.

  "Is he really as great a guy as the papers make him out to sound?" Billy asked. Then he looked over at me, smiling ear to ear. My baby bump was showing now, but Aiden said it just made me look that much more beautiful. "Look who I'm asking," Billy said. "Of course you're gonna think he's great. You're his girlfriend." He laughed to himself and shook his head.

  It was weird being thought of as Aiden Cooper's girlfriend, but It was definitely official now. After the whole Troy ordeal, we discussed our future together. A future we both wanted.

  "It's kind of crazy to think how much he's changed," Billy said.

  "Not really," I replied. "Everyone is multifaceted, it’s just a matter of which facet you choose to let shine." I glanced at Aiden who winked at me. Billy nodded with understanding. Troy would never change facets. He hadn't just been fired, he'd disappeared off the face of the Earth as far as I knew. Right after the station told him to get out, he'd tried to get a job elsewhere, but no one wanted to hire a man with his reputation for beating on and bullying women. Before he'd left Los Angeles, he'd said he never wanted to see me again, and that he was going somewhere where they'd never heard of hockey. That had been three months ago and true to his word, I hadn't heard from him again.

  The Knights won their game easily and the rest of the players jumped on Aiden, congratulating him. Reporters started to head to the locker room to ask their questions but before they could file out, Aiden grabbed a microphone and started talking. Everyone stopped moving.

  "Thanks, folks, for coming to the game tonight," Aiden said, smiling. "Three months ago it looked like I might not be playing hockey anymore, and tonight, we're on the verge of hitting the playoffs." The crowd cheered.

  "A lot of people think it's me that's to thank for the turnaround this team has taken, but that's not true. Everyone on this team has worked equally as hard at creating the awesome outcome we’ve been experiencing, including our fabulous coach." The crowd cheered and a few of the players patted Coach on the back. "But there's only one person, who has made a difference in turning my life around. Her name’s Skyler Larkin. Skyler, where are you? Come out here, please."

  My cheeks turned red. Aiden held out his hand for me and Billy gave me a push. I stepped onto the ice and started to slide. Aiden scrambled over and helped to the middle of the rink.

  "What’s going on?" I whispered. He just smiled at me.

  "Skylar Larkin," he said, kneeling on the ice. My jaw dropped. He pulled a small velvet box from his pocket and the crowd in the stadium grew completely silent. You could have heard a whisper from the other side of the stadium.

  "I never would have believed I could meet a woman as kind as you, as beautiful, as funny, or as strong. You've changed my life immeasurably and I never want to be without you. I can't believe I'm gonna say this, but I love you more than hockey. Will you marry me?"

  For a half a second, I forgot to breathe. "Yes, of course!" I screamed. Throwing my arms around him. The crowd cheered. Aiden kissed me and spun me around. "I love you too," I told him as he slid the ring on my finger. It glowed bright in the stadium lights.

  "The only thing left to do," Aiden said, "is figure out how this adoption stuff works. Our baby is gonna grow up with a father. And if it's a girl, she's gonna be the first girl to ever play pro hockey in this rink."

  I smiled as the baby kicked, adding its seal of approval.

  THE END

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nbsp; HOLDING

  STORY DESCRIPTION

  Mia made one mistake – one.

  She secretly dated her best friend, Rachel’s brother, whom she’d had a crush on since third grade. But, that one mistake changed Mia’s life forever.

  Logan doesn’t regret the love he gave to Mia, if it were up to him, they’d be married by now. It clearly wasn’t up to him, when Mia dumped him three years ago in an email. Logan went on to pursue his dreams of playing pro football, and has made a huge success of his talent. He never saw Mia again….

  Now, his sister Rachel has called everyone back home to Oakville for her lavish, over-the-top wedding.

  The upcoming nuptials leave Logan with questions- Will Mia be there? Has she moved on? Can he rekindle their spark? Can he convince Mia that she’s the only woman he’s ever truly cared for?

  Mia is not looking forward to the wedding. She is a terrible liar and she has secrets that she’d rather keep buried. One in particular- her three-year-old daughter, Emma.

  How will Mia explain why she forfeited her Harvard Law scholarship in favor of working at SmartMart?

  Chapter 1

  Mia stood at register, waiting for the next person in line to hurry up and make their decision. Candy or no candy? Gum or no gum? A rather large, gray haired woman made a face at Mia as she eyed the chocolates, as if Mia was somehow personally responsible for tempting her. The man behind her grumbled and shuffled his feet.

  "Come on lady," he yelled. "It's not rocket science."

  The woman glared back at him then turned her wrath on Mia. "I don't like the way you're looking at me," she said. "Where's your manager?"

  Great. The only thing Mia needed less than a root canal was to drag Mr. Rayner over to her register. Why couldn't anyone who shopped at Smart Mart actually be reflective of the store's name. "Ma'am," Mia started her attempt to placate the woman.