Delayed Call

by Toni Aleo

  Looking up at her, he nodded. “Then how do I fix it?”

  “That’s all you, JoJo,” she said with a smile, cupping his face. “You have to want to share who you are, you have to want to tell someone your story. When that happens, then slowly you’ll get better. You’re so good at being closed off. You’re good at being Nate Way at the community because you’re not Vaughn Johansson there, the guy who lost his brother—and almost everything else because of some bitch. You can be this amazing man who has a heart of gold and would do anything for anyone. Vaughn is this hard exterior you wear, this playboy show-off. And while you’ve always been that guy, because you can be, the moment you allow Vaughn and Nate to merge, I’m pretty sure you’ll find that you’ll feel complete. Vaughn is a beautiful guy, he just uses Nate to show that. Does that make sense?”

  Holding her gaze, he felt his eyes start to itch. “Yeah.”

  She smiled. “Sometimes you let Nate out when you’re not at NateWay, but you stuff him back in real quick because you feel vulnerable. Again, that’s you. It’s your defense mechanism—because you haven’t always been like that. It happened when Hazel happened.”

  “I know when it happened, Wrenny. That’s not my problem. My problem is I don’t know how to fix it.”

  “I don’t either,” she admitted, holding his gaze. She smiled softly and she shrugged. “Maybe you have to have a reason to do it. Something to urge you into it. You always play your best when you’re under pressure—when the delayed call is on the other team and you want to score. You just need that call.”

  He nodded. “I see what you did there.”

  She grinned. “I’ve been working with hockey players a long time.”

  Swallowing hard, he nodded. After a moment, he whispered, “I hurt her.”

  Her shoulders fell as she cupped his face in a big-sisterly way, but she was really the little sister. He waited for her to ask who, she was nosy, but instead, she whispered, “Is it fixable?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Have you tried?”

  “No, because if I fix it, then what happens next?”

  “What do you want to happen?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Well, you need to figure that out, JoJo. Only you can decide how you want to live this insane thing called life. It’s all on you. No one can do it for you.”

  Looking over at her, he gave her a weak smile. “So I can’t ask you to go talk to her?”

  She scoffed. “No, and I wouldn’t because I want you to grow. I want you to be the amazing man I looked up to when I was younger. The one who built NateWay with your bare hands because you wanted to honor Nathan. I want— No, we all need that man back. The one before Hazel. You, above all, need him back.”

  He nodded then before wrapping his arms around her and kissing her temple. “Thanks, Wrenny.”

  “Anytime. You should come in more.”

  He smiled against her hair. “I don’t need therapy.”

  She laughed at that. “Everyone needs therapy, Vaughn. You, especially.” Pulling back, she looked up at him. “But tell me something. Who do you wanna be?”

  He didn’t even hesitate. “Someone Nathan would have looked up to.”

  Her lips curved in a sad smile. “Why?”

  “Because I loved him, and I wanted to be great for him.”

  She nodded. “Then be great, Vaughn. Don’t hold back.”

  Be great. He had that in the bag.

  Don’t hold back. Now, that was going to be a problem. He was used to just being so shut off to anyone because no one ever cared to know him more. When he wanted sex, he went and got it. When he wanted a companion, he went and got a dog because it was easier than putting himself out there. But after that night with Brie, he recognized that she wanted to know more. That she wanted all of him. She wanted him as a companion, and he was starting to realize that he wanted the same. But he had no clue how he would ever talk to her again without her trying to kill him.

  Yeah, he was in a pickle.

  Three-on-three overtime hockey—and he was left to defend the guy on the breakaway. That’s how she had him feeling since he’d walked away from her.

  He hated that feeling.

  He’d rather have a winning-streak kind of feeling, and he felt like that when he was with her. Something had to change, and he was really starting to think it had to be him.

  “Mr. Jo, can you teach me your wrister? It’s like the best shot in the world, and I want to be just like you.”

  Vaughn had thought his day was ruined. After his chat with Wren, he felt like shit, probably looked like shit. And while her words ran through his mind along with thoughts of Brie, after five minutes with the Adler kids, even people with a dead soul would be smiling. Looking down at the youngest, Quinn, sporting his Adler Assassins jersey, Vaughn grinned. But before he could answer him, Shea called out to him.

  “Wow, thank you, spawn of mine. You know I had the hardest shot in the league, right? For, like, ten years,” Shea said from across the kitchen with a hurt expression on his face while Elli just chuckled softly.

  “He’s right, Quinny.”

  Quinn beamed at his nickname that Vaughn had for him. Usually, everyone called him QA. “I know, but yours is sick.”

  “Baby, was mine not sick?” Shea asked, smacking Elli’s butt, and she laughed.

  “The sickest, baby. I remember when it broke glass.”

  Grinning big, Shea took her in his arms, kissing her lips. “I did break glass for you, didn’t I?”

  “You did, and you got fined for it.”

  Kissing her once more, he said against her lips, “Still the best two thousand bucks I’ve ever spent.”

  “They do that a lot,” Quinn said, rolling his eyes, and Vaughn snickered.

  “That’s true love there, buddy.”

  “Ew, love is gross.”

  Vaughn held his serious gaze. “I hear you, dude.”

  Grinning, Quinn asked, “But anyway, can you show me how to do your wrister?”

  “Of course, go get your stick.”

  Quinn practically came out of his skin, which made Elli smile happily as Shea grumbled, “He’s not that awesome.”

  “Actually, Cap, I am.”

  “Why did we invite him over?”

  Elli laughed. “To smooth things over with Brie, but she blew us off last minute.”

  Vaughn could guess why. “Want me to leave?”

  “No, I love you, and I love her, but she had some things come up with her brother. He’s going home from the hospital today and she wanted to be there, so I gave her a pass. But there was no way I was canceling with the greatest wrister in the world,” she teased, and her husband frowned.

  “I had a great shot!”

  That had them both laughing as Shelli came into the kitchen, her guitar in her hands and her face full of distress. “Momma! The twins won’t leave me alone, and I’m on Skype with Mrs. Avery, trying to learn this new song. Help. Please. I’m begging you.”

  “Lord, please help me,” Elli said with her eyes closed. She yelled out, “Evan, Owen! Leave Shelli alone, please.”

  “She sucks!” Owen hollered back.

  “And she hit us!” Evan added, and Vaughn grinned.

  “Boys!”

  “Hey, baby, I can teach you the song if you want,” Shea said, but Shelli turned up her nose. She was looking a lot like Elli at that moment, so regal and lovely, dark hair down her back and sparkling green eyes. She was really growing up.

  “Daddy, you didn’t write songs for Ed Sheeran or Selena Gomez. I think Mrs. Avery is more qualified.”

  With that, she turned around and headed out of the kitchen as Shea looked to Elli. “Do any of the kids I made with one shot love me?”

  “Please,” Elli complained, just as a scream came from the back room. “Boys!”

  They appeared, both with trouble written all over their faces before they looked up to their mom. “Mom, Shelli is impossible. She shut
the door. In my face.”

  “And kicked us in the nads.”

  “Yeah! Our nads!”

  Vaughn snickered as both boys held their boys, but they were lying through their teeth.

  “Be real. If she had kicked your little peanuts, you wouldn’t be walking. Go outside,” she said, ushering them away.

  “Mom! It’s freezing out.”

  “So you’re training for the rink. Go. Put a jacket on.”

  She threw them into the garage and shook her head. “Those boys are all you.”

  Shea shrugged, a small grin on his face. “I think they’re cool.”

  “Of course you do!”

  Right as she said that, Posey came into the kitchen, and Shea threw up his hands. “What’s wrong with you?”

  She gave him a look and then wrapped her arms around his waist. “I just wanted you to tell you you’re the best daddy.”

  Shea’s face broke into a grin before he picked up his little mini-me, kissing her cheek. “I’ll always have you, huh?”

  “Always,” she said, wrapping her arms around his head. “I love you too, Momma.”

  Reaching up to cup her face, Elli blew her a kiss. “I love you more. But I also know you want that chocolate that is on top of the fridge, and you ain’t getting it.”

  Posey puckered out her lips and looked at Shea, who shot a look at Elli, but she wasn’t looking. Reaching for the candy, he handed it to Posey and smacked her butt as she ran off, a happy little grin on her face. When Shea looked to Vaughn, he just laughed. “Want some awesome chaos in your life? We have kids to go around.”

  Snorting, Vaughn shook his head. “Tricksie keeps me on my toes.”

  Plus, it wasn’t like he had someone to even think of having a kid with. Ignoring that nagging feeling inside of him, though, he looked up as Quinn came into the kitchen, a too-big stick hitting Elli in the elbow as he passed.

  Shaking her head, Elli laughed. “I forgot about you. Did you get lost?”

  “I wanted the best stick for Mr. Vaughn to show me my wrister.”

  Squinting at the stick, Shea threw his hands up again. “So you got the stick that I won the hardest shot with for four years? Go put that back, and get your own stick. Jesus, boy!” As Shea ushered Quinn out of the kitchen, Vaughn sat back, laughing as Elli dropped down into the seat in front of him. There was never a quiet moment in the Adler household, not even when company was there.

  “Can we trade places? I’ll take the dog over all this.”

  She was lying, but Vaughn went along with her. “I mean, Jenny is like all the kids put together.”

  She scoffed. “He is not. He is the sweetest ever.”

  “You don’t live with him.”

  Grinning big, she leaned back in her seat, crossing her legs. Unlike in the office, she was wearing sweats and a big Assassins hoodie, her hair up in a wild bun. She reminded him of Brie. But just thinking of her had a sad smile coming over his face. He had wanted to be there when Rodney came home. But he wasn’t sure how Brie would handle that, so he stayed away, and he kind of regretted that. He had promised that their issues would never hurt Rodney, and in a way, he was letting them. He felt like an ass, but that was becoming a normal manifestation.

  “Well, he’ll be my starter for the next couple weeks. You think he’s ready, right?”

  Vaughn’s eyes widened. This was news to him. “What happened to Odder?”

  She rolled her eyes. “I could gut that boy. He’s been off, we’ve all seen it. And when I asked him, he said he was fine, he’d do better. And he was. But come find out, he was going home in atrocious pain. Audrey called me crying, and I went over, yelling at him. We went to the team doctors, and lo and behold, he has an avulsion fracture in his groin. So he’s out for at least eight weeks, fifteen at the most, which means the play-offs are iffy.”

  “Whoa, that sucks. Didn’t he have that last time?”

  “Yeah, but it was just a tear. He’s hurt it more this time.”

  “Man, that blows.”

  “I know, I hate it for him. But he told me he was worried for his spot. I feel bad. Maybe I shouldn’t have brought Monroe in, but I need someone who could win me games when Tate needed a break or was down.”

  “Yeah, I get it.”

  Letting out a long breath, she shrugged. “Oh, well, problems of an owner.”

  “Endless.”

  “Yes, just like being a mother and wife to Shea Adler.”

  Vaughn beamed. “You love it.”

  “I do. More than anything,” she admitted, her lips curving in a sweet, satisfied smile. Smacking the table, she sat up. “You good?”

  He shrugged. “I’m okay.”

  “Good. I’ve been thinking about you a lot. Oh, and I talked to those folks at NateWay. They are all for coming to our buddy night prom, so I figured I’d pair you with one of the residents if you don’t mind.”

  Vaughn’s heart jumped into his throat as he held her gaze. If he said yes, then his buddies would give him away at the party. He knew this. So with a shrug, he said, “Let me get back to you on that.”

  “Sounds good,” she said with a nod. “So.”

  He smiled. “So…?”

  “Anything you’re wanting to talk about before we eat?”

  He eyed her. “Why? What have you heard?”

  She laughed. “Stuff, but I’d rather hear it from you.”

  His smiled dropped. “What did you hear?”

  “A rumor.”

  He rolled his eyes. “A rumor?”

  “Yup.”

  “Am I being fined for this rumor?”

  She laughed. “No, but it deals with Brie Soledad.”

  He froze as he held her gaze. “What about her?”

  “Well, we all saw you guys arguing about hockey on camera, and that she is more knowledgeable than you and she told you that. You gave her crap, of course, ’cause that’s what you do, and you told her to get on the ice any time of the day, and she told you to bring it.”

  He had no clue where that rumor came from because he’d thought they had been alone when most of the conversation he was thinking of. But then, they did have that fight behind the bench. Crap, where was Elli going with this? “Yeah, she thinks she knows stuff.”

  Elli smiled. “You know, she won her college’s Big Orange cup because she scored the winning goal. She actually scored the most goals in school history. To this day, she still holds the record.”

  He didn’t know all of that, but it didn’t surprise him. She was amazing. “Oh, cool.”

  Elli lit up. “So Russell and I were talking about cool things we can do, and that came up.”

  “What came up?”

  “A little on-ice competition between the two of you.”

  “Me and Brie?”

  “Yeah.”

  “When?”

  “As soon as possible.”

  Looking down, he let out a long breath. It could be his chance to talk to her. He hadn’t seen her. She was avoiding him, and he was pretty sure she hadn’t even been home to her apartment. What would he say? But then, who was he to turn down kicking her ass on the ice? She may be good, but she wasn’t his kind of good, and he would love to see her out there.

  It actually brought a secret little smile to his lips. If he knew anything about Brie, he knew she loved competition. So if he got her out there, maybe there could be a certain kind of wager. Yeah, that was a great plan.

  Nodding his head, he looked up smiling. “I’m down.”

  This was his in.

  But was he ready for it?

  Or better yet, was he ready for what could happen afterward?

  Eh, he’d worry about that later. He had to beat Brie first.

  “So what you’re saying is you don’t want me to come stay the night?”

  Brie sat in the makeup chair as Rodney looked back at her through FaceTime. He had a grin on his face, and she could hear Mitch in the background. Rodney looked good. His color was back, his grin
was unstoppable, and she was pretty sure that was because he was out of the hospital and back home. “No, I’m okay. Mitch is staying the night, and Trish is staying too. I’m good.”

  “But I’ll miss you.”

  “Well, I’ll miss you too. But don’t you want to be alone? You’ve been sleeping at the hospital for the past week and then with me the last two days.”

  She smiled sheepishly as she shrugged. She wished she could say she was staying to keep an eye on her brother, but that was a lie. She’d been avoiding that douche canoe Vaughn like the asshole he was. She was still so… She couldn’t even say she was just mad; he’d hurt her. A little more than she expected and she hated that. She didn’t even understand. She liked the guy, found him delectable. But somewhere along the line over the three times they’d—God, it killed her to say it—fucked, she felt something. Something more. Something she thought would be amazing, but he put the brakes on that fast. With no damn notice. And it fucking hurt.

  She hadn’t cried over a guy except Rodney in a long time, but she spent a few nights in the shower crying over Vaughn Johansson. It was no one’s fault but her own. She knew who he was. She knew it in her bones, but she got distracted and wrapped up in this other guy she thought he was. And boom! Just like that, she was a mess. Had she mentioned that life was hard?

  “Yeah, I guess sleeping in my own bed would be nice.”

  Though, it bothered her that Vaughn would be across the hall. Probably fucking someone else. Man, she hated how much he’d come to mean to her. She didn’t even know the dude, but she missed him. She missed him so fucking much.

  “Cool. Oh, Vaughn came and visited me today!”

  Brie paused, her heart jumping up in her throat. “Oh, really?”

  “Yeah, he came, and we hung out for hours. We played video games, and he bought me some gross healthy stuff from some smoothie shop. He said it was heart-healthy, and he wanted my ticker to stay ticking. He said he was sorry he wasn’t here when I came home, but he snuck me some extra cookies to make up for it. He asked about you.”

  Her breath caught. “He did?”

  “Yeah, he wondered where you were, and I said doing work stuff.”

  “Oh. That’s nice he finally came.”

  “Yeah, I missed him.”