Delayed Call

by Toni Aleo

  “I know.” She had been a little butthurt that he hadn’t been there when Rodney came home, especially when Rod had asked for him. But then she was thankful. She didn’t want it to be awkward for Rodney, and she also couldn’t control her temper with Vaughn. She needed the distance, and she thought maybe he was giving it to her. Or maybe he didn’t care about anyone but himself. That seemed more like him. But then she heard shit like this, and it all went to hell.

  “He said when I’m better that I can go to a game with everyone. He has a box. I’m sure you can come.”

  She smiled. “Rod, I’ll already be there, but I’ll make sure to come visit you.”

  “Cool. I’m excited. There is some prom coming up. I think I’m gonna ask Phyllis to come with me.”

  “Prom? And ooh, does Rodney have a crush?”

  “She’s nice and, yeah, the Assassins are throwing it.”

  “Oh, cool. That sounds like a blast.”

  “It will be. So, yeah, let me let you go. I want to play.”

  “Sure, please be careful. Okay?”

  He nodded hard, his face bright and happy. She loved seeing him like that. “Yeah, I know. I’m taking it easy. Plus, Grandma keeps coming in here and hollering at me if I move.”

  “I think I love that woman.”

  Rodney made a face. “She’s like you.”

  “I know.”

  He blew her a kiss. “I love you, B.”

  “I love you too.”

  They waved to each other, and she hung up. For the first time in a week, she smiled. Really smiled. Rodney was good. Solid. She had that fucker to thank for it, but she would never ever tell him that. Hell, she’d never talk to him another day in her life if she could get away with it.

  “Hey, Brie, here is the list for interviews tonight.”

  Taking the list from Travis, she looked at it and instantly wanted to throw it. “Really? Johansson?”

  “Yeah, they want you guys to discuss something. I don’t know.”

  “Discuss what?”

  “The game you two will be playing.”

  Her head whipped to where her director, Russell, was standing, and the lipstick that was being applied went across her face, much the makeup artist’s dismay. But Brie didn’t care. “What game?”

  “Elli Adler wants a little on-ice competition between you two. Just read the teleprompter. Great battle makeup, by the way.”

  He went to turn and walk away, but Brie followed him. “What the hell do you mean? I didn’t agree to this.”

  “So? Elli wants it.”

  “I don’t care. I don’t want to play hockey with that asshole.”

  “Well, I mean, it’s your job. You don’t want to piss off the owner of the team you report for, do you?”

  Her jaw dropped. “That is so messed up. What if I have an injury? I broke my foot.”

  Russell gave her a dull look. “Brie. Come on, it will be fun and easy. He’ll probably let you win.”

  She laughed. Loudly. “That dude has an ego of an elephant. He won’t let me win, nor do I need him to.”

  “Then you’re good.”

  With that, he walked away, leaving Brie bursting with fury. She didn’t want to play hockey with that…that asshole! “Damn it!”

  Stomping back to her chair as the warm-up music started, she shook her head as the makeup girl began to clean up her face. “I’m sorry.”

  She didn’t even answer Brie, just went back to work as Brie stewed in her anger. The last thing she wanted to do was go anywhere near him. And playing hockey with that monster man, he would be bound to touch her. She couldn’t handle that. He put his hands on her, and she turned stupid. Got distracted by his words, his amazing hands, his gorgeous and sinful lips, and all of a sudden, she was in the shower crying. It wasn’t freaking fair. It was just that she felt this pull between them. This strong, magnetic pull and it all was all a lie.

  How was she supposed to get over all that when this job of hers had her working side by side with him? It was like the forces beyond thought this was funny. How mad could they make Brie? How far could they push her until she lost her fucking mind?

  Damn it.

  A few minutes later, after getting her face fixed, she found herself behind the bench with Jensen leaning against it, a grin on his face. “You’re getting the start tonight, with Tate Odder being put on injured reserve. It’s looking as if you’ll start more than you assumed you would. How excited are you?”

  Jensen nodded. “You know, no one wants to see a teammate hurt. I care for Odder, for his family. I don’t like the circumstance that brought me this start, but that doesn’t mean I’m not ready to bring home the W. I love playing, I love being between the pipes, and I’m ready to do Odder proud.”

  “We’re ready to watch,” she said with a dazzling smile as she looked back to the camera. “The Stars are a tough offensive team. What are your plans to make sure they don’t get any through?”

  “Well, I mean, I have the best defensemen in the league in front of me. They come out, put their hearts on the ice to protect me, and I’m lucky for that. What they can’t block, I pray I’ve got eyes on and I can do my job.”

  “Thank you, Jensen.”

  “Thanks, Brie.”

  He skated off, and she looked at the camera, her brilliant smile in place as she said, “Stay tuned because I’ll be back with Vaughn Johansson with a special announcement. Now back to Mike and Sully.”

  As she dropped the mic, her grin dropped too. Fuck the special announcement, double fuck Vaughn. But even as she walked out from behind the bench, her eyes were drawn to his as he did his rounds on the ice. He always went around four times, his hair blowing in the air, a certain smile on his face. The same smile he had when he came inside of her.

  Great, now she was hot all over and thinking of him.

  Fabulous.

  As Brie sat in the tunnel, she kept her eyes on the game as it progressed. The first period was pretty uneventful, ending with a no goal score. After a quick and pointless interview with Coach, she found herself back in the tunnel, her eyes on the game again as her heart pounded in her chest. She didn’t have her interview with Vaughn until the second intermission, which gave her time to prepare to be so near him. But even she couldn’t prepare for everything he made her feel.

  Which was every single fucking feeling in the world.

  Standing there, her mic in her hand, she watched as the Assassins carried it into the Stars’ zone. Franklin had the puck. He was playing with it on the power play as Reeves and Sinclair lined up to take the one timer. When he tried to pass it back, though, a Stars player blocked him and took off on the breakaway. But out of nowhere came Vaughn. He was skating with everything inside of him, and when he laid out, blocking the shot for Jensen, she couldn’t help it, she hollered out for him.

  The crowd was going just as wild as some of the Stars’ fans called for a penalty. But it was a clean block, and the player should be lucky he didn’t get the call for embellishment with the way he threw his stick down over Vaughn. When he got back to his feet, the play was already up ice, but Vaughn and number nine were still at the end, talking back and forth.

  “Fucking pussy,” the player called out.

  “Aw, wanna go and cry to your momma that Vaughn Johansson blocked your shot? Fucking baby!”

  As he skated toward the other end, Vaughn’s eyes met hers. Something came over his face before he took number nine’s stick with his own and slid it across the ice from him as he was trying to get it. Instantly, the ref’s arm shot up, and Vaughn threw his hands up. “It got in my way.”

  “Player interference. Go to the box.”

  “The stick got caught in mine!”

  She couldn’t help it, she snickered as he continued to argue, skating toward the box as the coach tried to fight for Vaughn. But everyone knew he’d done it as an asshole move.

  Now both teams were even, but only for twenty seconds before the other team got their fifth
man back, and the time was gone before they knew it. With the Stars on the power play, Brie was practically biting her nails as she watched Jensen block shot after shot. Time ran out, quickly. Thankfully, no shots went through, but when the Stars shot just as time ran out, Jensen got the puck. He sent it hard up the middle where she thought no one was, but it went right onto Vaughn’s stick, giving him the breakaway of the century. Coming out of the tunnel, she practically climbed Jet, the trainer, to watch as Vaughn deked, pulling the goalie out before the puck went in with ease. With his beloved wrister.

  The stadium lost it. It was so loud that Brie’s ears started to hurt, but then she realized they hurt because she was screaming so loud. As she closed her mouth, she slowly backed into the tunnel and shook her head.

  She was supposed to hate that guy.

  But she was having a hard time remembering that.

  When the second period ended, the Assassins were up three-to-zero. Jensen was on fire, and the forwards were kicking some major ass. As Brie stood in the Assassins’ hallway where all the interviews were done, she bounced in her heels against the box she stood on, her heart still pounding hard. All she had to do was read the teleprompter. She didn’t even have to look at him. She had this. She did, but her little pep talk went to hell when he rounded the corner and met her gaze.

  Of course, he looked hellishly sexy. He was all sweaty, red-faced, and had the marks where his helmet rested against his forehead. He was only wearing his tight shorts, no shirt, just a towel across his shoulders. His body was so hard and rippled with muscle, his arms so big and thick she wanted to hold on to them. She wanted to be wrapped up in them. Damn it, she missed him.

  But he didn’t want you!

  He didn’t want a relationship.

  He wanted to fuck you.

  Where is your self-respect?

  Closing her eyes, she shook her head.

  You are a professional, Brie Soledad. You’ve got this. Ignore him.

  But even she knew she was lying to herself. This wasn’t going to be easy.

  Clearing his throat, he said, “Hey.”

  But she ignored him, looking to Travis. “Are we ready?”

  “Two seconds.”

  Damn it.

  “So you’re going to ignore me?”

  She only looked at the camera, but she could feel his gaze on her.

  “You look good.”

  Biting her lip, she kept her mouth shut. She wouldn’t give him an inch. Nothing.

  “Like, really good. I love your ass in that skirt.”

  Shaking her head, she yelled out, “Can you guys get your shit together and let’s do this?”

  Travis and everyone else looked over at her, their eyes wide, and she just glared. “We are, Brie. Damn, something is up with the cord.”

  “Then get another one!”

  She was being a bitch, overreacting, but damn it, she couldn’t handle Vaughn. He was killing her. Literally killing her. As everyone jumped into gear to do something—and, really, they were on a time crunch, it only made sense that they hurried the hell up—she heard Vaughn say, “So, how are you?

  When he realized she wasn’t going to answer him, he said, “I went and saw Rod. He looks great. I know Trish is staying with him. I was worried you would have pulled him.”

  She bit into her lip so hard, she tasted the blood on her tongue as she stared a hole into the camera.

  “Brie.” When she felt his hand on her, she snapped her head toward him.

  “Do not touch me.”

  His eyes widened with hurt. Before she looked away, he said, “I miss you.”

  Pulling her gaze from his, she swallowed hard as Travis called out, “Okay, let’s do this. In five, four, three, two—”

  When he pointed to Brie, she put on a bright grin even though her heart hurt so bad she couldn’t breathe. “I’m Brie Soledad, here with Vaughn Johansson. Johansson, great goal tonight after a call that had you pretty upset—”

  “I mean, we both know it was a fair call, but I had to fight. I fight for what I want.”

  Her eyes narrowed to slits as he held her gaze. She would not let him get the upper hand here. “Oh, that’s good that you fight for things, that you want some things, but not others. I’m so glad one of those things is hockey and scoring goals for the Assassins.”

  “That’s my job.”

  “Oh, it’s so good that you do the things you say you’re going to do on the ice.”

  News flash, Brie was going off the deep end. Not wanting to be that reporter, she reeled it back in as she tore her gaze from his and met the camera where Travis was gesturing with his hand, moving her along. “Not everyone knows this, but I played hockey for the Syracuse Orange my whole college career. I have the record for the most goals scored for the school from my time there. But I think Miranda Bishop might surpass me with her superb playing this season. But because of this, we here at the Assassins thought it would be fun to put the Assassins’ leading scoring against the ’Cuse Orange’s best. Which is me.” She added in a laugh to make it seem like she was just pleased as punch about this and didn’t hate everyone at that moment. “So, Johansson, do you take the challenge to go one-on-one with me?”

  She didn’t want to turn, she didn’t want to look at him, but she knew she had to. When she did, she wished like hell she hadn’t. His eyes were full of dark and sinful promises but also a bit of hurt as he took a step toward her, holding her gaze. “I would love to go one-on-one with you, Brie Soledad. Any day, any time.”

  She wanted to smack that smug smile off his face, tell him to fuck off so bad. Instead, she turned to the camera and grinned. “Well, there you have it, folks. Stay tuned.”

  “And we’re off.”

  Stepping off her box, she didn’t look back as she handed the mic to Travis. Because she knew if she did look, she wouldn’t be walking away.

  She would punch Vaughn square in the jaw instead.

  Or fall into his arms.

  Like a dumbass.

  But all she could hear was his voice, so low, over and over again:

  I miss you.

  “Hello, I’m Brie Soledad.”

  “And I’m Vaughn Johansson.”

  This was a clusterfuck.

  Brie’s blood had been boiling since the moment she stepped onto the ice with him. It had been three days since she’d learned about their fateful meeting at the rink, and she was still not happy. Especially since they had an audience for their little competition. Not only was the whole film crew there, but almost all the guys from the Assassins, including Jensen, who was leaning against the boards, a goofy grin on his face.

  Since walking out of the hallway after their interview, she had done well ignoring Vaughn. Well, she didn’t leave her apartment except to go see Rodney, but it was the same thing. She was pretty sure Vaughn was trying to catch her outside, because no one walked their dog in snow. But apparently, he was subjecting Tricksie to that. When she saw him outside walking, she noticed he had put a jacket and boots on his dog. At least he cared about that dog since he couldn’t care about anything else. Lord, he infuriated her. Yet, as she stared into the camera, she was all smiles while she held her helmet in one hand and her stick in the other. She just had to get through this, and then she wouldn’t have to deal with him until their next meeting, which she prayed wasn’t for a long time.

  She needed more time.

  Because even though she was livid at him, just seeing him made her breath catch.

  God, she was an idiot.

  Like, at that moment, as he stood beside her in full Assassins’ gear. A little grin was on his face and his hair was back, wet from where he had wanted it to stay in place. He smelled fantastic, and she hated that she was still attracted to him. It made her want to smack him with her stick, and that made her question her sanity.

  Maybe she was violent?

  Shit, did she need help for that?

  With wide eyes, she looked at the camera, ignoring her crazy t
houghts as she said, “We are here for a fun, one-on-one competition. Are you ready, Johansson?”

  “I am, Soledad.”

  “Great, I’m so excited,” she said so sticky-sweet she was pretty sure she saw some of the guys laughing. “Rules are easy. Hit the post, get a point, but it can’t be anywhere past the line that has been drawn on the ice. Gotta keep it fair. First to three wins. Ready to lose?”

  “I don’t lose, Ms. Soledad.”

  “You will today,” she said with a bright, fake smile, reading word for word from the poster that was being held up for her.

  “Cut,” Russell called from the bench as Brie exhaled hard, letting her face rest from the foolish smile she had been faking. “Okay, y’all set up, and we’re going to film the whole thing. Trash talk is welcome, but let’s keep it family friendly. Jensen here will be the ref.”

  Oh, that’s why he was there. Whatever.

  As she went to put her helmet on, Russell called out, “Vaughn, try not to make this a blowout. Give her some chances.”

  Brie’s eyebrows shot up to her hairline, and she paused as she went to put her helmet on. “Excuse me?”

  Russell looked over at her. “What?”

  “That was fucked up,” Vaughn said, and a couple of the guys oohed like children. “I don’t need to take it easy or give her some chances. She’s good. Have you not watched her footage from Syracuse?”

  “I can’t say I have.”

  “Well, I have, and you don’t doubt her abilities like that if you haven’t.”

  Glaring, she looked over at Vaughn, confused. “I don’t need you to defend me.”

  He shot her a look, obviously annoyed by Russell. “Well, I will if I want.”

  Her body shook with a fury like none other. Who the hell did he think he was? “You don’t have the right, remember? You made that very clear.”

  “I don’t care what I said. I’m not going to have this asshole talk to you like that.”

  “Oh, so only you’re allowed to cut me down and hurt me?”

  “Guys, come on,” Jensen called out, but they both ignored him, locked in a heated stare down

  “I don’t fucking cut you down, Brie. I pick at you, and you give it back just as much I give. I told you I didn’t mean to hurt you.”