Suckerpunch

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Suckerpunch Page 16

by Elyse Springer


  “He’s being stubborn.”

  His friend started laughing so hard that he had to pause the game. “Wait, he’s being stubborn? God, Phantom, it’s like the vampire myth is real after all and you can’t see yourself in a mirror.”

  Alex scowled. “I’m not stubborn.”

  “Sure,” Shawn said.

  Okay, Alex realized as they were flying back to Seattle. Maybe he was a little stubborn. But Sasha was way worse.

  The locker room kissing thing is starting to sound better and better.

  Seattle Cascades (@CascadesNHL)

  Have you bought your tickets for #ScadesAndSkates yet? Our annual charity night will be held on March 11! Get dressed up and come on down to meet your favorite players for a night you won’t forget. Benefiting the Seattle Children’s Hospital. https://t.co/tpoM6TRNsu

  MEETINGS BEFORE practice were fairly common. Meetings involving Alyssa from PR before practice, however, were not.

  Sasha sat in his stall and tried to duck out of her line of sight while she did her best to get the attention of twenty-something rowdy men.

  “Hey, shut up,” Merks yelled, “or I’ll have you all skating lines for the first part of practice.”

  That made everyone quiet down, at least. Alyssa folded her arms and gazed evenly around the room until everyone was settled.

  “All right. As you would know if you read your emails, ’Scades and Skates is coming up in two weeks. You are all required to be there. You are all required to be in formal dress. That does not,” Alyssa emphasized, giving Mo a dirty look, “mean nice jeans and a button-down shirt.”

  Morgan looked away guiltily, and the rest of the team snickered. No one could forget the look on Alyssa’s face after last year when Mo had shown up late and dressed comfortably casual.

  Alyssa cleared her throat and continued. “You all get a plus-one. Bring a date. If you don’t have a date, let me know and I’ll note you down for the Bachelor’s Auction.”

  Sasha glanced around the room and was amused to note how many guys suddenly looked very, very nervous. The auction was harmless; local socialites bid their money for the Cascades’ charity, and winners got to spend the rest of the evening with a player on their arm. Usually it was the younger guys who got suckered into it, the ones who didn’t have significant others and who didn’t mind having a couple of drinks with an attractive—and wealthy—woman.

  “I’ll keep reminding you over the next two weeks,” Alyssa finished. “If you forget, I’m putting you on bench interviews with that one guy from the NHL Network for the rest of the season. Got it?”

  With that final threat, Alyssa smiled and left the room.

  Conversation sprung up in her wake. “Damn, she’s terrifying,” Rager proclaimed.

  Sasha winced. Braiden usually didn’t realize how loud he was and how well sound carried. There was little chance that Alyssa hadn’t heard that one.

  “She has to be terrifying,” Oettenger joked. “She’s got two dozen idiots to wrangle. I wouldn’t do her job for all the money in the world.”

  Carts laughed. “You wear an A, Otter…, pretty sure that makes you a professional Idiot Wrangler by definition.”

  The rest of the guys started pulling on gear, getting ready for practice. Sasha grabbed his chest and shoulder pads, half listening to the chatter around him. He had a friend who he called on for events like this, the sister of one of his teammates from back in Russia who was studying medicine in Seattle, who would come with him to team-mandated events like ’Scades & Skates. It got her out of studying for a night and got him out of being on the auction block.

  “You gonna bring Heather, then?” he heard Carts ask.

  Sasha tugged a jersey over his head, then peered over to see Shawn and Alex talking a few feet away.

  “I guess.” Alex glanced to the side, then found Sasha’s eyes and didn’t look away. “I mean, it’s not like I have anyone else to take, right?”

  He held Sasha’s gaze for another few seconds, brown eyes intense, before turning back to Shawn.

  “What about you? Didn’t you break up with that girl you were seeing months ago?”

  The two of them moved off, heading to the ice to start practice, but Sasha was frozen in place.

  What the hell was that?

  IF SASHA had made it difficult for Alex to approach him over the last few days, he made it practically impossible over the next week and a half.

  The team had a hectic schedule, with a brief few days at home to play Winnipeg before heading back out on the road again, heading south to Colorado and Arizona before looping back up to hit Anaheim and Vegas. It was a warm-weather, sun-drenched trip that Alex wasn’t especially excited about. His bad mood about four away games—and no chances to start—was only augmented by the way Sasha cleverly avoided any contact him with over that time period.

  “I know it’s technically illegal to knock him out, tie him to a chair, and force him to talk to me,” Alex said while they were in Vegas. The team was banned from going out to the Strip, which meant he and Shawn were holed up in a hotel room, playing video games on the system Shawn had brought in his suitcase. “But I feel like a judge wouldn’t actually blame me if I explained why I had to.”

  Shawn snorted, jamming a few buttons on his controller. “You gotta tell him before ’Scades and Skates. He’s gonna see you there with Heather if you don’t.”

  Bringing Heather to the charity event had seemed like a no-brainer when Alex had first proposed it. It was great publicity for her, a chance to meet and mingle with some of the city’s elite, while also showing off Alex’s “girlfriend” to all of his teammates and the Cascades media.

  Except now Heather’s planned appearance was causing more and more strain between him and Sasha.

  “I would tell him if he’d just acknowledge my existence for ten seconds.” Alex cursed as his character on the screen took fire and he had to quickly maneuver to safety. “I tried knocking on his hotel room door last night, and he wouldn’t even answer. I know he was in there, though—I could smell him.”

  “It’s kinda creepy that you can do that,” Shawn admitted, though he didn’t actually sound disturbed.

  Alex whacked him with an elbow. “Trust me, it’s way creepier for me. Especially when I have to walk by your bedroom.”

  Shawn squawked in outrage, then muscled Alex out of the way so Shawn could attack his player on the screen. “Uncool, bro. Anyways, there’s gotta be some way to make him hear you out.”

  “If there is, I haven’t thought of it yet.”

  “Well, if worse comes to worse, you can trade me tables at ’Scades and Skates and talk to him there.”

  Alex threw his controller across the bed in disgust as his character died. “It’s assigned seating. Alyssa said so, and I’m not gonna risk her wrath by sneaking over to your table halfway through dinner.”

  The game switched back to the menu screen, and Shawn set his controller down to grab a bottle of water and stretch out his back. “So let’s just tell Alyssa we want to switch. I sit with Sasha at every one of these events. I bet she won’t mind switching things up.”

  It was a tempting idea. If Sasha wouldn’t give Alex a chance to talk to him, or even be near him, then ’Scades & Skates was a guaranteed opportunity to be feet apart for a full hour. Maybe Alex wouldn’t have a chance to actually talk to his idiot crush at the dinner, but he could corner him after for sure.

  “All right, Carts,” he said. “Let’s go with your plan. But you’ve gotta ask Alyssa… I don’t want her to get mad at me when I’ve only been here for two months.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Seattle Cascades (@CascadesNHL)

  #ScadesAndSkates is here! Our annual charity event gives you a chance to enjoy dinner, drinks, and some casino-style card games with all of your favorite players. And for the third year in a row, ’Scades & Skates is SOLD OUT!

  Emma (@Cascadiac)

  damn, wish I had $300 to spare. all the guys are p
ostin pics of themselves in their suits, looking super hot!

  “HEY, SMILE.”

  Valentina subtly elbowed him, and Sasha pasted on a thin smile as a photographer came up to take their picture. He recognized the guy as being from one of the local newspapers and quickly ducked away with Valentina on his arm before any questions could be thrown his way.

  “You know, you could at least pretend to be enjoying yourself,” Valentina said in Russian as she snagged two glasses of champagne from a passing server. “When you asked me to come along with you to this event, I assumed it was an invitation to a party, not a funeral.”

  Sasha accepted the flute that she passed him and took a long sip. “I just don’t enjoy these kinds of events.”

  ’Scades & Skates happened every year in March, and every year he dreaded it. It wasn’t the dressing up that bothered him or even the fans—most of whom were polite, clearly thrilled to be there, and respectful of obvious boundaries. No, it was the fact that every year his teammates came with their wives and girlfriends, and he had no one.

  Well, he had Valentina, but she was a friend and nothing more. Sasha’s teammates knew she was a medical student and a family friend, but they’d long ago moved on from teasing him about his gorgeous, supermodel-like doctor “friend” when he’d failed to rise to their baiting.

  “Come on, let’s go find our table.” Valentina took his arm and guided him through clumps of people toward the cloth-draped tables in the back of the room. The food was one of the bright spots of the night, at least—an elegant three-course meal. Each table would host two players, their dates, and a handful of fans. Sasha was always paired with either Ed or Carts at these types of events, but with Ed still on Injured Reserve it looked like it was going to be the two D-men tonight.

  “Hey, Sasha!” And speak of the devil…. Carts threw an arm over his shoulder, grinning as a blinding flashbulb went off from a few feet away.

  Sasha forced another smile and turned to his friend. “Shawn. You’ve met Valentina, of course.”

  Valentina smiled politely and brushed a kiss on his cheek in greeting. “It’s good to see you again,” she said in English. “And where’s your date?”

  Shawn shrugged. “I’m a single man tonight. On the auction block. You guys want to donate a couple grand to the Cascades Foundation and bid on me?”

  “Not a chance.” Finally Sasha’s smile felt genuine. “But I am going to record the entire thing for Instagram.”

  “Rude!” But Shawn laughed. “I’m starving. Let’s find our seats.”

  Valentina spotted their table first, pointing it out to Sasha who followed her. He glanced over, expecting to see Shawn beside him, but missed a step when he realized that Shawn was across the room, sitting down at a table with Mäkelä and his wife.

  What the— Sasha glanced around, confused. Who am I seated with, then?

  The answer came a second later when they finally reached their table.

  “Hey, Sasha.”

  No.

  But there were the nameplates, Alexander Petrov and Valentina Maximova spelled out in delicate script. And there, in the seats across from theirs, was a gorgeous, smiling blonde, and….

  “Alex.” Sasha swallowed hard. “You’re at our table tonight?”

  “Looks like.” Alex stood, offering his hand to Valentina. “Alexander Fanning. It’s lovely to meet you. You must be Sasha’s friend who we’ve heard so much about.”

  Valentina was polite, all smiles and poise, but she picked up on the tension immediately.

  “And this,” Alex continued, “is Heather Bell, my date for the evening.”

  Sasha couldn’t even pretend to smile. He shook Heather’s hand briefly, pulling his hand away as soon as he could do so without it being rude. She didn’t seem offended, though; in fact, she seemed to be trying not to laugh at him.

  They took their seats, waiting for the rest of their table to arrive. With nothing else to do, Sasha had a chance to study the couple before him.

  Alex’s girlfriend was beautiful, Sasha had to admit. She was even more stunning in real life than she was in the magazines or television shows that he’d seen her in. They looked good together, both of them young and attractive, her light hair contrasting with his dark as she leaned over to whisper something in his ear, which he laughed at.

  Valentina elbowed him again, this time far less subtly. “Что с тобой не так?”

  “Ow, careful.” Sasha scowled. “Nothing’s wrong.”

  She leveled him a look that said she didn’t believe him.

  CascadesTV: What’s your favorite part of the evening been so far?

  Emily Cole, Cascades Fan: I came here hoping to meet Merkley, because he’s my favorite player on the team. But the seat selections were random, and I ended up sitting next to Alex [Fanning], the new goalie? And he was honestly so nice, attentive and funny and polite. His girlfriend is really lovely too. Sasha [Petrov] was across the table from us so I didn’t get to talk to him as much, but Alex was just really charming. (Laughs) I think I might have a new favorite player now!

  ALEX DRAINED his third glass of champagne and set the empty flute aside. He loved the taste of a good champagne, but any more would leave him feeling miserable the next morning.

  Dinner had been fantastic. Shawn had told him a little about the event over the last week, so Alex had known what to expect. Several fans had joined them at their table, and Alex had alternated between eating his steak and answering whatever questions they had for him.

  At least Shawn had agreed to trade tables with him, so Alex could sneak glances at Sasha throughout the meal. Sasha, to no one’s surprise, had managed to avoid looking at Alex as much as possible. Heather had been shaking with laughter by the end of the third course, clearly picking up on some very loud emotions from them both.

  But now dinner was over, and Heather had escaped to talk with some people who she recognized. Alex scanned the room idly. Most of the fans had gravitated to the more popular players: Merkley was dealing cards at a full table across the room, with a dozen observers circling around as well. Oettenger and Mäkelä were in the middle of an interview with Cascades TV, and Alyssa was hovering nearby. Even Shawn was occupied, talking to a mixed group of fans, everyone laughing easily.

  But there was one man in particular he was keeping an eye out for. He spotted Valentina, towering over everyone around her in her sky-high heels. If Shawn hadn’t explained about the arrangement they had, and assured Alex that she was only a good friend, he might have felt a twinge of jealousy.

  Instead, her appearance only made him more eager to talk to Sasha as soon as possible.

  Only… the man in question was nowhere to be found.

  “Hey.” Alex caught Sjöberg’s arm as he passed by. “You seen Petrov anywhere?”

  The Swedish defenseman shrugged. “Last I saw he was heading toward the back to get some air.”

  “Awesome, thanks.”

  It was as good a place to start as any, Alex reasoned. He circled around the outside of the room, ducking his head to avoid being spotted—by fans or Alyssa, either of whom would be more than happy to prevent his escape—until he found a hallway leading toward the back of the venue.

  As soon as he stepped down the corridor, he knew he was going the right way. Sasha’s scent, always on the edge of Alex’s awareness these days, was much more noticeable here. Alex followed it, smiling politely at a few surprised caterers, until the rich, earthy scent was as strong as if Sasha was standing right beside him.

  There was no Sasha, but there was a door. Alex tried it, found it unlocked, and slipped inside. A familiar form sat hunched over on a chair, facing away from him.

  “You know, Alyssa will skin you alive if she finds you skipping out on media obligations back here.”

  Sasha went from relaxed to tense so quickly that Alex worried he might pull something.

  “I’m just taking a break.” Sasha’s words were barely audible, and he didn’t turn
around. “Tell her I’ll be back out in a minute.”

  “Or,” Alex said, locking the door behind him and stepping farther into the room, “we can take that minute to talk.”

  Sasha, somehow, went even tenser.

  The room was full of extra tables and chairs, some stacked against the walls and others sitting out and ready for use if needed. Alex wove around the furniture, each step taking him closer to the room’s other occupant.

  “Okay, then, you don’t have to say anything. I’ll talk, and you can listen, okay?”

  He slid around one last table, then came to a stop directly in front of Sasha. With only a few feet between them, the scent was almost overpowering. Alex took a deep breath, held it, then exhaled.

  “First of all, your kissing technique could use some work.”

  Sasha’s eyes jerked to Alex’s face, surprised. Clearly, that wasn’t what he’d expected to hear.

  “The thing is,” Alex continued, “it was really great right up until you stopped and ran away. So, you know, A-plus for the initial execution, but a solid F for the conclusion.”

  Sasha’s mouth opened, then closed.

  “I debated for a long time about saying anything to you. I was pretty sure you had feelings—that you returned my feelings—but I wasn’t positive. Until I knew for sure, I couldn’t risk being wrong.”

  There was a hint of something in Sasha’s stunning blue eyes. It looked like hope, but there was still a healthy amount of fear and confusion too. Alex wanted nothing more than to see the latter disappear.

  “When you kissed me, I had all the confirmation I needed. And damn, Sasha, that kiss. You have no idea how long I’ve been thinking about that.”

  Sasha cleared his throat. “But….”

  Alex smiled. “Heather. Yeah, I’m getting there. Shawn told me right from the start that the Cascades locker room is a good one. That people are pretty tolerant and understanding. But this is the NHL, and it’s hard enough being a rookie goalie. Being a gay rookie goalie? It was terrifying to even contemplate.”

 

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