Game On

by Victoria Denault

  “I’m focusing on my game,” I explain, which is true. “Coach hasn’t scratched me once this trip and I intend to keep it that way.”

  “Yeah but we’re going home in the morning,” he reminds me. “And I’m sure he doesn’t expect you to be a monk. None of us were ever monks.”

  “I’m not being a monk. I just…I’m not in the mood.”

  We step into the elevator and he looks more than confused now, he looks stupefied. “You lead the league in sleepovers. You’re always in the mood.”

  It’s a line I used to proudly boast about. Jordan might lead the league in short-handed goals, Avery in regular goals, Devin in points, Seb in penalties, Luc in hits and me in bedding women. Only this year, statistically I’d be way off. I’ve seen women come out of other players’ rooms every road trip and I’m yet to bed a bunny. It’s not a conscious decision, I just haven’t wanted to. It should be as shocking to me as it is to Jordan, but I don’t feel shocked. I don’t feel much of anything because it doesn’t feel like I’m giving up much.

  “I’ll make up the points in the back end of the season,” I tell him jokingly. “A threesome or two after Christmas break and I’ll be leading the league again.”

  “Yeah, there’s the Alex I know and love.” He laughs as the elevator opens on our floor and we say good night, since our rooms are in opposite directions. His comment leaves a cold feeling swirling in my gut and I can’t figure out if it’s because he’s relieved he thinks I haven’t changed or because, deep down, I think I have.

  The next day we land around noon and, since we don’t have practice or a game, I head straight to Daphne’s House. Selena opens the door when I buzz and greets me with a big smile. “Hey! Are you scheduled to volunteer today?”

  I shake my head. “No. But I have the tickets for the kids for the upcoming home game. And I was hoping to see Mac. Is she living here?” Selena’s smile slides right off her face and my heart slides right into my boots. “She’s not here?”

  “Not living here, no,” Selena replies and I heave out a heavy sigh. “Brie can explain. She’s in her office.”

  I storm back there before Selena can say another word. They had an appointment with the judge first thing this morning. I was worried when Brie didn’t text me, but I convinced myself it was because she knew I was flying home. And instead of texting her when I landed I decided to just come here. Now I’m worried and angry and most of all frustrated.

  I shouldn’t care this much. This is why I don’t get involved. The door is open and I don’t bother knocking. I just march right in. She’s at her desk, typing away on her laptop. She looks startled when I barge in, her big brown eyes getting bigger. She stands up and she is incredible. That thought forces itself into my head even though it’s completely inappropriate. She’s in a formfitting skirt similar to the one she was wearing in the Starbucks the first time I saw her. It might even be the same one, I don’t remember. Her sweater is also snug. I hadn’t realized until right this second that her breasts were as enticing as her ass. The revelation disturbs me, and that adds to the negative feelings swirling inside me.

  “You’re not going to let her live here?”

  The startled look on her face morphs into annoyance. “I’m good, thanks. How was your trip? Nice to see you made it home safe.”

  She’s making me look like an ass and even though that observation would be accurate right about now, it only serves to anger me more. “Selena said Mac isn’t living here. You said Laurie was petitioning the court this morning to get her placed here.”

  “She was and she did,” Brie replies tersely. “Turns out with Mackenzie’s history they aren’t inclined to give her a shot at independent living right now. She skipped school a lot her last year in foster care and ran away more than once.”

  “So they’ll just take away her chance at something that might work?” I accuse and she marches around the desk.

  “Don’t growl at me,” she warns angrily. “I’m doing what I can.”

  “Yeah, everyone said that to me too,” I reply before I even realize it. My eyes fly to hers. She doesn’t look shocked.

  “How long were you on the street as a kid?” she asks calmly, leaning her perfect butt against her desk.

  “So what happened to her?” I ask trying to sound less angry because Brie has already done more than I could imagine and I need to remember that. “Is she in juvie? Did they put her in another home? Has she already run away?”

  “Nice avoidance skills. I bet you’re better at avoiding questions than you are at slap shots,” she says tartly.

  “I have a fucking great slap shot,” I growl. Again. “Now can you tell me what the fuck happened to her?”

  “When you answer my question,” Brie replies. “How long were you homeless as a kid?”

  “That’s none of your business.” My voice is vibrating with anger.

  “Technically Mackenzie is none of your business,” Brie replies, just when I think she can’t be more annoying. “You’re not a relative, guardian or even her foster parent.”

  I turn toward the door, but I don’t leave. I take a breath, but it’s hard, like the air is thick. “I ran away from my last foster home when I was fifteen. I slept in alleys and ate out of Dumpsters and then lucked out and went through a few years of bouncing around on couches of hockey teammates and even lived in a friend’s garage for a while. Happy now?”

  “Of course not,” she replies in a voice barely above a whisper. I feel her hand on my shoulder. It’s soft and she gives me a gentle squeeze and it’s soothing and I hate it. I don’t want pity, even if sometimes it feels like I need it. I spin around and face her. She’s standing so close to me she has to take a step back or else our chests would bump.

  “Now that you’ve invaded my privacy will you fucking tell me what I want to know?” I hiss.

  She looks a little hurt by that, but I don’t care. She forced me to share something I hate sharing. My mood is on her.

  “She’s at school,” Brie explains and takes a step away from me, crossing her arms. “Today is her first day. The judge is allowing me to continue to foster her for now. That’s a win by the way because she should be in juvie with her history. But they’re overcrowded, and Laurie convinced them she’d follow the rules with me. So far she has. She’s not a bad kid. A little rough—and hard—around the edges but good.”

  “How long are you going to keep her?” I can’t imagine this is anything less than an inconvenience for Brie. She’s young, rich and has a boyfriend who I know doesn’t want a kid that isn’t his.

  She sighs. “I don’t know, Alex. It’ll depend on the court and on Mackenzie. But I promise you I will do whatever is best for her.”

  I want to argue that but I have no reason to. She’s been good to this kid. I run a hand through my hair before shoving it back in the pocket of my coat. “How’s your boyfriend handling all this?”

  Her face changes, her lips flattening into a hard line, her eyes darting away from me to the window. “Now look who is getting personal?”

  “Tit for tat,” I snark.

  “You know, you and I have a lot in common,” she says.

  I laugh out loud, which seems to offend her judging by the pissed-off look on her face.

  “Why? Because you work with kids nobody wants, and I was one? Yeah, we might as well be twins.”

  “For someone who has seen both sides of life, you’re the most presumptuous, condescending asshole I’ve ever met.” Her stare is so fiery I bet I could toast marshmallows off it if I had any.

  “Look, don’t get me wrong,” I say. “What you do is amazing. And I can tell you’re a good person, but being around kids who have never been loved and being the kid who was never loved are two very different things.” I try not to let the ache developing in my chest seep out into my voice. I do not want this woman’s sympathy. I don’t want anyone’s and never have.

  “Where did you grow up?” she asks. “Quebec?”

 
“Nope. I got the information I needed. I’m not telling you another thing.” I turn and storm out of her office. I call over my shoulder. “Tell Mac I say hi.”

  I’m halfway to the front door when I remember I haven’t given anyone the tickets. I promised the kids they could come see the game tomorrow night. I turn back to find Selena and give them to her. And I collide straight into Brie.

  She starts to fall backward and instinctively I circle an arm around her waist. I yank her into me, her body pressing against mine and I pull her upright. It takes a second for her feet to get under her again and in that second I find myself overdosing on the feel of her warm, soft body pressed into me. Suddenly I’m well aware of how long it’s been since I’ve been this close to a woman. It’s been way too long.

  She grabs my shoulders and makes this tiny little gasping sound, which I feel in my groin. Jesus, it’s sexy as fuck. Our eyes lock. Her mouth is parted just enough that I can see the tip of her pink tongue. I want to know how it tastes. Because of that urge, instead of letting her go, I tighten my arm around her waist. She doesn’t pull away. Her grip on my biceps gets tighter too.

  When our eyes connect again, it’s electric. There’s a charge between us. All the animosity and anger that heated the air between us a second ago has turned into something else. Passion? Lust? Maybe both.

  I dip my head, she turns hers, our lips are inches from each other. The sound of the door directly behind me buzzing because someone is coming in, feels louder than a fire alarm. It’s also a wake-up call reminding me that not only do I not get along with this woman but she has a boyfriend. I pull back so quickly she stumbles again but manages to grab the staircase banister.

  It’s Reg coming home from his job at Dunkin’ Donuts, still in his uniform. “Hey, Alex! Are we still all going to the game tomorrow?”

  I pull the tickets from my pocket and hand them to him. “Yeah. Give these to Brie.”

  “But she’s right—”

  “See you tomorrow night!”

  Chapter 13

  Brie

  Say that again.”

  “No.”

  “Come on. Humor me,” Len begs. “I have no life, romantic or otherwise, so I’m living vicariously through you right now.”

  I roll my eyes, but she ignores that and tugs on my arm, which she’s been holding as we walk with the kids through the arena toward the gate where are seats are located. I probably shouldn’t even be here. But he included a ticket for Mackenzie and she wanted to go. One of the kids didn’t want to, so I offered the extra ticket to Len. And then I confessed the details about what happened yesterday in the hallway. I shouldn’t talk about it. I should just ignore it and move on, act like it didn’t happen, but I can’t stop thinking about it. More importantly I can’t stop thinking about how much I felt in those wild few seconds. Passion, lust, need, desire raged inside of me out of nowhere as soon as his arm circled my waist and he tugged me to him possessively.

  “Say it!” Len urges in a harsh whisper still tugging on my arm.

  I glance at the back of Mackenzie’s head. She’s far enough in front of me that I don’t think she’ll hear. So I indulge Len and I say what I said earlier that’s got her so excited. “I think he was going to kiss me.”

  She squeals. I feel heat touch my cheeks and that now familiar shiver of desire dance down my spine like it has every time I’ve thought about that moment since it happened. I’ve never experienced anything like it. In ten seconds flat, as he grabbed me to keep me from falling, all my frustration and reservation about Alex disappeared. It was like they were never real to begin with. Like they were just a curtain veiling my attraction to him. As soon as his strong arm slipped around my waist and my body was pressed to his, the curtain fell and I was left with nothing but deep, burning desire for this man.

  “It’s not a big deal,” I tell Len as I shush her and glance ahead to make sure the kids are still wrapped up in their own conversations. “He was just emotional and got caught up in the moment.”

  “I don’t know, Brie,” Len says softly, growing serious. “You could be this epic, like book-worthy, opposites-attract love story.”

  I roll my eyes again as we enter one of the entrances to the seating. The truth is we’re not opposites at all, but I don’t feel like I should tell Len about his childhood when he clearly didn’t even want me to know. He thinks I’m some pampered princess who has lived this privileged life and I need him to know I’m not. I was just one of the lucky ones.

  I don’t remember much of when my luck changed, I was only four. And what I do remember are like flashes from a horror movie filled with screaming and blood and sirens, which took years of therapy to deal with, but that led my parents to me so it was lucky. It hurts my heart to think that he wasn’t as fortunate when he was little.

  “If you don’t want to talk about Alex, talk about Victor,” Len urges me, still clinging to my arm. “Since my last boyfriend just disappeared on me like I never existed, I didn’t get a chance to break up with him so I want to hear all the gory details of your breakup.”

  I almost laugh at that. “It wasn’t that gory. I mean, yeah, he was angry at first, but I also think he was a little relieved. I think he knew we wanted different things.”

  “And you weren’t going to become the person he wanted you to be,” Len adds because I’d already told her that was what I told Victor after the fund-raiser. “Because you are a perfect, smart, sassy, badass woman just as you are and if Vic doesn’t like it, he can’t stick it up his—”

  “Whoa!” I warn, but as always the kids are chatting among themselves, oblivious to us. Still, I don’t want her to finish that sentence. “Anyway, he came by to get his stuff from my place yesterday and he met Mac and that seemed to make him understand.”

  “Really?” Len looks shocked.

  “Yeah. When he realized I was serious about fostering and he’d never turn me into his personal breeding cow, he couldn’t leave fast enough.”

  Len’s pretty face contorts with anger. “Vic is a worthless jerk. I am beyond thrilled he is out of your life. On to bigger and better! Possibly with skates and a face like an alley cat.”

  “Shut up,” I hiss but I’m smiling at her because her ridiculousness is kind of cute.

  “Holy sh—” Mackenzie stops mid-swear and corrects herself under my glare. “Shoot! These seats are insane!”

  I realize we’ve stopped at the first row, right behind the team bench. I glance at the number on our tickets. Yeah, this is us. Mackenzie is right, Alex outdid himself. I can tell by the looks on all the kids’ faces that they’ve never experienced a professional sport this up close and personal. Neither have I, honestly. Victor had season tickets to the Knicks but always took one of his friends or a client.

  We let the kids scoot into the row first and take the two end seats. As soon as we’re seated Len leans in and whispers. “Now that Vic is out of the picture, you need to live a little! And Alex looks like a guy who knows how to make a girl feel alive.”

  I glance down the row to make sure the kids didn’t hear. “Speaking of making women feel alive, did you tell him you canceled that woman’s prize from the auction?” Len asks.

  I shake my head. “I’m hoping he just forgets about it and I never have to tell him.”

  Len gives me a stern glare. “You’ll have to tell him, and I hope he thinks you canceled because you want him all for yourself. Then maybe that almost kiss will become an actual kiss.”

  I glance at the kids again as I hush Len. No one is paying attention at all. Len is staring at me with a pleading look on her face like she’s desperate for me to do something inappropriate with Alex. It’s actually hysterical and I can’t help but laugh. “You are nothing if not a hopeless romantic.”

  I give her a quick side hug because I adore that in her. When we first met as kids I was a little bit dark, maybe I still am. And she’s always been nothing but light and sunshine and happily ever after. “He volunteers for me, so al
though he’s not my employee, it’s still not a great idea to think about dating him. Besides, he’s far from the settling-down type and proud of it.”

  “So don’t settle down,” Len says with a shrug. “Keep it casual.”

  I take a long slow breath and even though I might regret admitting this, I tell her a truth I have barely admitted to myself. “I don’t do that kind of thing. I have nothing against it I just can’t. I can’t turn off my feelings.”

  Her big blue eyes somehow get even bigger and she starts gripping my upper arm again. “Are you falling for him?”

  “No. But he has this side of him I’ve seen a few times, like with Mac, that’s way more appealing than the cocky, flirty side he shows everyone,” I confess. “I think I could develop feelings for that Alex and that’s not a good idea. He’s…not ready for that and probably never will be and even if he was, it probably wouldn’t be with me. He thinks I’m some spoiled brat.”

  She looks confused. “So tell him about your childhood. Pre-Bennetts.”

  “You know I don’t really talk about that,” I remind her. “It upsets my mom when I bring it up. You can literally see her heart breaking.”

  “So don’t tell him in front of your mom,” Len says with a shrug. “Are you worried he’ll be like Vic and think it makes you somehow less?”

  “No. I know Alex won’t react like that,” I tell her. “But I don’t like to bring it up with just anyone.”

  “Yeah, but if you’ve got feelings for him, he’s not just anyone.” Len looks excited and I know I have to squash that hope before she gets carried away.

  “I said I don’t have feelings for him,” I remind her. “I’m trying to avoid developing them.”

  Len looks undeterred. “But he’s kind of like a friend now, right?”

  I think about all the phone conversations when he was on his trip and how they easily morphed from talking about Mac to talking about ourselves. I found myself looking forward to hearing his voice. Because of that I can’t help but give Len a nod of confirmation.