For the Win

by Kelly Jamieson

  After a moment, he shows me a menu. “Spring rolls…the fresh ones. We can get vegetarian.”

  “Okay.”

  “And…pad kee mao. With chicken?”

  “Sure.”

  “This is my favorite—khao soy, with beef.”

  I read the description. I’ve never had either of these dishes, but they sound delicious.

  He places the order and sets his phone down. Stretching out on his side, head propped on his elbow, he studies me.

  Heat suffuses my body. The way he looks at me…like he wants me again…slays me. This is heady, feeling so desired, the sole focus of his intense attention.

  “You’re beautiful,” he says. “Inside and out.”

  “Oh.” I blink rapidly. “Thank you.” I set my hand on his chest. “I think you are too.”

  He covers my hand with his and holds it there. His heart thumps in a slow, steady rhythm against my palm.

  “I know you weren’t interested in me at first,” he says.

  My forehead tightens.

  “But I’m glad you finally agreed to go out with me. Maybe we could…keep going? Give this dating thing a shot?”

  I’m still apprehensive and hesitant, but I want to be brave enough to go for something I want. I am brave. “Maybe we could.”

  He nods.

  “And just for the record, it’s not that I wasn’t interested. Okay, maybe the first couple of times I thought you were a big joker, making fun of my class.”

  He closes his eyes. “Sorry. That wasn’t my intent.” He opens his eyes and holds my gaze. “The truth is, I was so attracted to you, I was trying maybe a bit too hard.”

  My lips tip upward. “Oh yeah?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Well, I was attracted to you too. But I haven’t dated for a while, and I’m a little nervous about it.”

  The corners of his eyes tighten. “Bad experience?”

  I hold his gaze and nod slowly.

  “Okay. I get it.” He lifts my hand to his mouth and kisses it. “We’ll just take it easy. Have fun. Okay?”

  Now my heart is thumping too, and my veins are filled with an excited fizziness. I really like Harrison, and like he said…maybe we can give this dating thing a shot.

  Chapter 16

  Harrison

  I’m probably crazy to be doing this. I’m supposed to be focused on hockey right now, on proving that I can play well enough for the team to need me, and keep a spot on the team permanently. Proving that Coach was wrong—I haven’t been coasting. I’m supposed to be working my ass off.

  Also, my dad is dying. I should be spending time with him.

  Not starting a relationship with someone.

  But I can’t not do this. More than ever, I’m convinced that Arya and I are supposed to be together. I won’t make the mistake of telling her that again, and I’ll respect her hesitation if she’s getting over a bad relationship, but I still believe it. I can do both…can’t I? Play hockey and prove myself, and prove myself to Arya?

  I hope I can.

  Now that I’ve had Arya in my bed, now that I’ve been inside her, now that I’ve made her come with my fingers and my tongue and my dick…there’s no going back. I’m not letting her go.

  I have to let her go, though, to answer the door when our Thai food arrives.

  I roll out of bed and pull on my jeans to answer the door, then unload the food onto the small kitchen table. Arya joins me, dressed in her leggings and tank top. She skipped the bra, and I approve of this, as I enjoy the sight of her nipples through the thin cotton. My dick also enjoys it.

  I hand her a plate and a pair of chopsticks, and we sit and eat together.

  “Delicious,” she pronounces after a few bites of the khao soy.

  “This is my favorite. I could eat it every day.”

  “I see why. I think I could too.”

  She looks around the kitchen as we eat, taking in the bowl of fruit, the blender that I use to make protein shakes, the double wall oven, and the extensive collection of utensils hanging behind the cooktop. “Who cooks? You or your brother?”

  “We both do.” I pick up a piece of beef. “He eats more junk food than I do, but he still likes to work out and eat healthy. He still plays hockey in a rec league.”

  “That’s good. Is he working tonight?”

  “Guess so. He doesn’t always keep my informed of his whereabouts.”

  “That reminds me, I should text Taj and tell him where I am.”

  “I’d be happy to take you home later,” I say. “If you’re okay with that.”

  Her fingers go still on her phone. “Okay,” she says slowly.

  “Don’t worry, I’m not a stalker,” I joke.

  She stares at her phone, and once again I feel like I just said the wrong thing. But she smiles and says, “Good to know.” Then she taps in a message to her friend.

  A while later, she sets down her chopsticks, pats her stomach, and groans. “I am so full.”

  “Yeah.” I lean back in my chair. “So worth it, though.”

  “I love food.”

  I grin. “Me too. What’s your favorite food? I know it’s not shrimp.”

  She laughs. “I have too many faves. Pizza. Cake. Ice cream.”

  “Oh hell yeah. I love ice cream. What kind of ice cream?”

  “I’d eat pretty much anything, but there’s a little place not far from Prana—Leo’s Creamery—and I love everything they make. English toffee. Lemon curd. Matcha green tea. They make everything themselves.”

  “Sounds amazing.”

  “I’ll take you there.”

  I fucking love the sound of those words. I want to pump a fist in the air and cheer. “Sounds good,” I say casually. “What are other favorite foods?”

  “I love burgers and fries. And…okay, you might think this is weird.” Sparkling blue peeps up at me through long eyelashes.

  “What?”

  “My favorite comfort food if I don’t have ice cream is sweetened condensed milk. Out of the can.”

  I stare. “What?”

  She grins. “Don’t knock it until you try it. Just open up the can and get a spoon. It’s delicious.”

  “I’m open-minded. I’ll try anything once.”

  “That’s good to know.” She sounds flirty.

  “I hope you’re thinking about the athletic sex positions I’ve been fantasizing about us trying out.”

  She chokes. “Uh, well. I wasn’t, but…” Her lips twitch. “I’m open-minded too.”

  I lean forward and say softly, “Good to know.” I reach for her hand and pull her out of her chair. “I think we need to start researching.”

  She laughs and lets me tug her down the hall and back into my bedroom.

  * * *

  —

  We practice Tuesday, and it’s a pretty laid-back, easy practice with lots of joking around. Everyone’s feeling good as we head into the playoffs, even though we got our asses handed to us last game.

  I laugh my butt off when Scotty and Eddie are bitching at each other, apparently about Eddie’s lack of dental hygiene, but then it’s my turn to get pranked. I pick up a bottle of Gatorade, tip my head back, and squeeze it to direct the beverage into my mouth. We don’t touch the bottles with our mouths, since we all share them. But when I squeeze it, the cap pops off and Gatorade spills all over my face and down onto my practice jersey. Some asshole had loosened the cap.

  This cracks up a bunch of guys, of course, Nicky falling down on the ice he’s laughing so hard. “Come on, that’s not even original,” I grouse at him.

  “Still funny, though.”

  Coach calls me out when I’m skating around in my own little world when we’re supposed to be working. “Fucking pay attention!” he yells at me
.

  “He’s thinking about his future wife,” Scotty says.

  Coach frowns.

  Shit.

  I need to focus. We have two home games left to play. Tomorrow night we’re motivated to salvage our pride by beating Calgary, then our last game is against the Long Beach Golden Eagles, ending the season with a Beach Barn Battle. With the intense rivalry between the two teams, it will be a good game to end the regular season. We’ve both made the playoffs, though, and could face each other in the second round depending on what happens in the first round.

  I convinced Arya to come to the game. She’s going to bring a friend, maybe Janey, who I haven’t met, or Taj. The game is ostensibly sold out, but there are always tickets for the players. The ones we don’t use are released for sale to the public on game day.

  Wednesday after our morning skate, I go see Dad in his office. I don’t do this very often, but I haven’t seen him since that day Mom told us about the diagnosis. I need to go home for my nap, but I have time to check in on him.

  I find Dad in his office with Théo, talking about meeting up with Vancouver in the first round and our potential travel schedule.

  “Hey, come on in,” Théo says, waving a hand. “You here to see Grandpa?”

  “Yeah.” I feel shitty keeping stuff from Théo. Of all the family members, he needs to know what’s going on. He needs to make sure Dad’s not making bad decisions or doing anything to embarrass the team, like forgetting the name of the commissioner of the league or publicly calling him an asshole. I need to talk to the rest of the family about this, especially Mom, I guess. “How’s it going?”

  “Good.” Dad smiles at me. “How was your morning skate?”

  “Fine. We’re feeling good about the game tonight.”

  “I hope so. They killed us in Calgary. What the hell happened?”

  I grimace. “No excuses.”

  “You didn’t seem all in,” Dad says, frowning. “Is everything okay?”

  I stare at him. No, everything is not okay. Jesus Christ. My heart drops to my feet. I try not to look at Théo.

  “Rumor has it there’s a new woman in his life,” Théo says.

  “Ha!” Dad crows. “I knew it! Who is she?”

  Now I slide my gaze over to Théo and lift my eyebrows.

  He grins. “Tell us, man.”

  “It’s just…we’ve only gone out a couple of times,” I mumble.

  “I heard it’s serious.”

  I narrow my eyes at him. He’s yanking my chain. And fuck the guys who are gossiping about me to my nephew. Ah. I know who it is. Bellsy. He lives in the same building as Théo, and Everly and Lacey are friends. I’m gonna punish him. Maybe the old cutting-the-skate-laces trick

  “Have I met her?” Dad asks.

  That stops me short. I close my eyes. He doesn’t know. I clear my throat. “No, Dad, not yet. She’s coming to the game tomorrow night, but you won’t see her then.”

  “My birthday’s coming up,” Dad says. “Your mom is planning a party.”

  “She is?” I don’t know if this is a good idea. “I’ll talk to her about it.”

  “She’s here,” Dad says. “She’s with Kate.”

  “Oh.” I remember Mom’s been coming to the office with him so she can drive. Has she taken away his car keys? Ugh. That could be another disaster, if he was driving and got in an accident…or, God forbid, killed someone. We do need another family meeting to deal with some of these issues. And when are they going to talk to Mark and Matthew, so we can tell everyone else? Especially Théo. “Maybe I’ll see her before I go.” I force a smile. “Need my nap.”

  “You’re the most superstitious of my kids,” Dad says, shaking his head. “Make sure you wear your lucky cup.”

  Jesus. That was when I was eight years old. Now I wear lucky socks. “Okay, Dad.” I turn to the door. “I’ll see you guys later.” They’ll both be at the game tonight and Thursday’s season finale.

  Instead of looking for Mom, I go to Everly’s office. I find her and Bellsy all snuggled up there. Well, not literally. He’s there and they’re talking in low voices, heads together.

  “Hi.”

  Everly lifts her head and smiles. “Hey, guy. What’s up?”

  “I just checked in on Dad. What’s happening?”

  Her smile fades but doesn’t totally disappear. Bellsy watches her with a look on his face that’s sympathetic and protective. He rubs her back.

  It’s weird seeing him with my sister like this, but I have to say I’m really happy for her. She’s always been so perfect, so on top of things, I always wondered what guy would ever take her on. I never thought it would be a party animal like Bellsy who grooves through life without a care. Yet he seems different too, more settled and less…frantic. Not that I know him that well.

  “They still haven’t talked to Mark and Matthew,” Everly answers.

  Mom and Dad asked us not to say anything to others until that happened. Then we’d all figure out how we’re going to deal with it. Obviously, we want to maintain Dad’s privacy.

  “Damn.”

  “Yeah.”

  “What’s the holdup?”

  “Honestly, I think it’s just the season.” She runs a hand through her hair. “Everyone’s so focused on hockey and the playoffs right now.”

  “True. And that’s not going to end for a while.”

  “Yes. It’s fine, I guess. It’s not like…” She swallows. “Like Dad’s going to die tomorrow.”

  I nod. “Yeah. But…there are serious things we need to figure out.”

  She bites her lip. “Do you think we need to talk about it sooner?”

  “I don’t know.” I blow out a frustrated breath. “We don’t need any more shit hitting the news.”

  “I’ll talk to Mom.”

  “Dad says she’s here again.”

  Everly nods. “She’s here almost every day now.”

  “People are going to wonder why.”

  “I think most people here have figured things out. People that deal with Dad all the time. Théo’s been really good at stepping in, though, and he’s good with handling Dad.”

  I mention the birthday party.

  Everly sighs. “Yes. But Mom’s keeping it small. Just immediate family.”

  “Okay. Dad wants me to bring Arya.”

  “Do you think that’s a good idea?”

  “Everyone has to meet her sometime.”

  She gives me a weird look. “Things can’t be that serious between you two already.”

  Bellsy snorts. “They’re getting married, didn’t you know?”

  “Ahahaha. That’s so funny.”

  “Shut up, Bellsy,” I say mildly.

  He grins.

  Everly looks between us. “Getting married? What am I missing?”

  “Nothing. Okay, I’m going home for a nap.” I nod at Bellsy. “You should too, instead of molesting my sister in her office.

  Everly laughs.

  “I’m on my way,” Bellsy says. “See you later.”

  * * *

  —

  We manage to beat Calgary Tuesday night. Wednesday, we practice.

  First, we have yoga class. It’s almost getting to be my favorite part of practice.

  But really, nothing will ever be as good as being on the ice, and probably a lot of why I like yoga has to do with Arya.

  Now she’s mine. We’re really dating. I need to act casual about it, though. I don’t want to embarrass her. We’re both professionals.

  This class seems a lot looser than others. I guess because we know we’re in the playoffs and we only have one game left, everyone’s pretty relaxed. Almost punchy.

  “This is the Plow Pose,” Arya says, to the chill tune she’s playing. “Exhale and bend from
the hips joints, and slowly lower your toes to the floor above and beyond your head.”

  Jesus, I can’t breathe with my insides all squished up like this.

  “You can continue to press your hands against your back, pushing your back up toward the ceiling…or you can release your hands and stretch your arms out behind you on the floor, opposite your legs.”

  “Did you just fart, man?”

  After a couple of beats of stunned silence everyone cracks up. I fall over, laughing, and look at Scotty glaring at Bergie.

  “Yeah,” Bergie admits. “Couldn’t help it.”

  “Ah! That’s nasty!” Face screwed up, Scotty rolls away, waving his hands.

  Bergie rolls his eyes, but he’s still laughing. “Oh, come on, it’s not that bad.”

  “You gotta stop eating those spicy burritos, man.”

  Arya is collapsed into a quivering heap up front, her face down on the mat so I can’t see her laughing, but I know she is. She’s a good sport.

  She collects herself and rises to her knees. “Okay guys, if you haven’t farted yet, you’re not doing it right.”

  Everyone collapses into laughter again.

  “Alright, let’s do Prasarita Padottanasana,” Arya says. “Wide-legged standing forward bend.”

  We all get to our feet. Hopefully Bergie has released all his gas. Truthfully, sometimes it’s hard to hold it in, during some poses.

  “Stretch your arms straight out to your sides and widen your stance until your ankles are directly below your wrists.”

  I shuffle my feet wider apart.

  “Root your feet firmly in the mat. Make sure your weight is even between your big toes, baby toes, inner heels and outer heels.”

  I focus on the tiny adjustments I have to make, feeling all four points of my feet pressing into the mat.

  We follow Arya’s directions, hands on hips.

  “Continue to lengthen your torso as you fold forward. When you’re about halfway down, lower your hands and bring your fingertips to the mat beneath your shoulders. Move your weight slightly forward on the balls of your feet.”

  She talks us through it, and we walk our hands back, letting our heads hang, then resting them on the mat.