by Avery Flynn
She read the article, written by a name she didn’t recognize. But then her gaze snagged on the credit under the photo itself.
Craig Bannon.
“Mother fucker.”
Mimi raised her eyebrows. “So, you do think Mr. Hockey used us?”
“No.” Suji turned the paper around to show Mimi. “Look at the by-line.”
“Isn’t that the jerk we had tossed out of here?”
“Yes, it is.”
“Well, screw that. Dr. Morris should call the paper and get his credentials yanked.”
“Yes,” Suji agreed. “I’m sure he’ll do more than that. Probably could get the police involved.”
That explained the photo, Bannon was a sleaze. Still, Zim had exposed the kids to this. He may have had good intentions, but those often paved the way to hell.
Maybe it was a sign.
Things had moved quickly with them. He lived on the other side of the country, for Christ’s sake. What had she been thinking?
“I suppose you were right about your boyfriend,” Mimi said, nudging her.
“He’s not my boyfriend.”
“Oh no?” Mimi pointed over her shoulder. “You might want to tell him that, ‘cause here he comes.”
With that, she made herself scarce, leaving Suji to face the man who had turned her world upside down.
She had no idea what to say to him.
“Suji.”
She turned. The look in his eyes, the panic, the terror, made her heart unfurl like a flower in the sun. Zim cared for her. A lot. It was written on his face in indelible ink. But could she do this?
“I know you didn’t do anything wrong,” she said and watched as he sagged with relief.
“I would never. Not ever.”
“I know.” She offered him a smile. “Come on, we need to talk.”
Suji turned and walked toward one of the empty patient rooms. Zim followed. Once they were inside, she closed the door.
“Those are the scariest fucking words in the English language,” he said before she turned back to face him. “Well, after we think it’s broken.”
Suji forced a smile.
“I am so sorry.”
“I know, Zim, but…”
He cut her off. “Before you say anything else, just know that we had the photo pulled from the paper’s website. We can’t do anything about the print copies, but at least it won’t be circulated online anymore. Not by the Inquirer. Any links pointing back to the article will re-cache without Aaron in it.”
Suji nodded. “That’s great, thanks for that.”
“And my attorney is all over the paper for taking the pic without permission.”
“We’re handling it on our end too.”
Zim nodded. “Is Aaron okay?”
Suji smiled. God, she really, really liked this guy. “He’s okay. He has no idea what happened. His parents, on the other hand…”
“Shit.” Zim ran a hand through his thick, brown hair. “If there are any damages, let me pay for them. I insist.”
“They’re not going to sue. But we did have to convince them not to move him.”
“Move him?” Zim snapped. “Aaron is getting the very best care here.”
Suji nodded. “But he was exploited, in their eyes.”
“Fuck.”
“It’s okay, Dr. Morris and I were able to reassure them. And he’ll handle the board too.”
Zim reached out and took her shoulders into his hands.
Suji stiffened, and he froze.
His hands dropped to his sides. “I am sorry.”
“I know,” Suji assured him. “But this just reminded me how different our lives are. Do you really think we could make a go of things, with you in Louisiana and me up here? With cameras following you everywhere, which is going to happen more now. Face it.”
“I wish I could change things.”
Suji shook her head. “But you shouldn’t have to. You’re a talented athlete, successful, you’re doing something great for these kids. There’s nothing you need to change.”
“Suji,” he stepped into her personal space and took her face into his hands, his thumbs brushing over her cheeks. “I’ve never…clicked with anyone like this. Not this fast and not this strongly. Fuck, I feel like…I want…”
He kissed her, and there was nothing ambiguous about it. He shook with his desire to make this happen, to make them happen, and she wanted to give in. Wanted to.
Suji returned the kiss, filling it with every emotion she felt. Passion, hope, doubt, resignation.
Zim pulled back. “You don’t even want to try?”
Her eyes stung, but Suji swallowed the tears before they could fall.
“I think it’s best if we leave it.”
Suji watched the mask of acceptance settle over Zim’s face before he nodded. “If that’s what you want.”
“I still want to work with you on Mila’s Room.”
He smiled. It was small, but it was there. Maybe they could be friends. Friends was good.
“I’d love that,” he whispered.
“Okay then.”
Zim stared at her, his eyes roaming over her face as if he needed to memorize it.
“Suji…”
“You’re leaving soon, right?”
“In two days.”
“Well, if I don’t see you, have a safe flight and a great season.”
He pressed his lips into a tight, thin line.
Suji didn’t want to hear whatever he was trying not to say. “I should get back.”
“Oh,” he said, seeming to come back to life. “Right, yeah. I need to get Eddie to the airport.”
Suji opened the door for him. “Say goodbye for me.”
Zim stopped and turned to her. “How about I just say see you later?”
She nodded, losing the battle with her tear ducts. “That works too.”
17
“So, that’s it? You’re just going to walk away?”
Zim had been sitting in his car for ten minutes listening to Eddie lecture him. Eddie Motz, of all people. Who knew he was such a hopeless romantic?
“What am I supposed to do, Eddie? Grab her by the hair and drag her back to my fucking cave? She doesn’t want to pursue anything with me. I can’t say I blame her. I mean, what could we really have anyway?”
Eddie shook his head. “Hockey players.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?
“You’re not the brightest bunch.”
“Fuck you.” Zim started the car.
Eddie reached over and turned it off.
“What the fuck are you doing?”
“No, Zimin. What the fuck are you doing?”
An angry Edward Motz was a sight. His lips thinned into non-existence and there was a definite twitch over his left eye. If Zim weren’t so depressed, he would have found it funny.
“You made me miss my flight so you could go win this woman’s heart, and you damn well better make it worth my while.”
Zim sighed heavily. “What do you suggest I do?”
Eddie pointed out the window. “See that florist over there? Go buy it out. Every rose they have. Take it up to Ms. Meriwether’s desk. Wow her. Woo her. She’s into you, anyone with eyes could see that last night. Don’t give up so damn easily. You’re a Cup champion, for Christ’s sake!”
Zim sat staring, his mouth hanging open. “Where did all of that come from?”
Eddie sighed. “Your team is one of the best bunch of guys I’ve ever had the pleasure of being around. Nice, upstanding men. And you know the one thing they all have in common?”
Zim shook his head.
“They all admire you.” Eddie shrugged. “Flynn, Ransom, every single one of them looks up to you. And Jonas? Jonas thinks of you like a brother.”
“Same,” Zim answered without hesitation. “But what does any of that have to do with this?”
“What do you think they’d say if they knew you’d walked away from a chance wit
h a woman you really like, and could even love one day, because of who you are and what you do, where you play?”
“That’s not what…”
“Isn’t it? You’re letting your career, your notoriety, the distance between here and New Orleans – there are planes, by the way – get in the way of what you could have with Ms. Meriwether.”
“It wasn’t my choice.”
“Ah, but did you even put up a fight?” Eddie gave him a knowing look.
Zim grunted. “Roses, eh?”
Eddie smiled. “Roses. Fill The Cup with them.”
“What?”
“Come on, we don’t have a lot of time. I need to be back in Toronto tonight.”
With that, he got out of the SUV and Zim had no choice but to follow. He had no idea what had gotten into the Keeper, but if Eddie had ideas on how to win Suji, he was all ears.
Suji dried her eyes for the umpteenth time. It was getting ridiculous, but she blamed Amrita. As soon as she texted her sister to tell her things with Zim didn’t work out, she’d regretted it.
Of course, Amri was going to call. Of course, Amri was going to tell her she was being stupid. Of course, Amri would say she’d just made the biggest mistake of her life.
The problem was, Suji knew she was right. It had been a mistake to send Zim packing before they’d had a chance to figure out what they could be. And what they could have been was something. Because if she felt like this after only having known him for a couple of days, and having only spent one night in his bed, in his arms, the thought of losing what they could have been made her unbearably sad.
It was fear holding her back. Fear of failure, her failure. Theirs. She didn’t want to invest in a relationship only to have it fall apart around her again. But that was fear talking.
Zim wasn’t Brian. And she wasn’t a coward.
Suji swooped past the nurse's station on the way to her office. “Mimi, I need to make a call. Grab me if you need me.”
Mimi grinned. “Uh huh.”
“What?”
“Oh, nothing.”
Suji frowned but didn’t stop. She had to catch Zim before he wrote her off entirely. She rounded the corner and opened the door to her office.
On her desk sat The Cup, filled with dozens of red and white roses.
Next to her desk, stood little Aaron.
Tiffany sat in Suji’s chair, grinning like a Cheshire cat while her legs dangled above the floor.
“What’s going on?” Suji stood in the doorway, her heart pounding like she just finished a marathon. “What are you two doing in here?”
“I asked Mimi to bring them.”
Suji’s knees turned to jelly at the sound of Zim’s voice behind her. She gripped the doorknob tight.
Zim stepped around her and knelt before Aaron. “Hey, buddy.”
“Hi, Subzero!”
“I just wanted to say I’m sorry to you and to Tiffany. I promised you a jersey, and I didn’t give it to you yesterday. I hope you’ll take this for now until I can get one over to you tomorrow.”
Zim took something out of his pocket and put in the boy’s hand.
Aaron gasped. “Is this…is this your Cup ring?”
Suji caught a glimpse of jewel-encrusted metal before Zim threaded a chain through it and placed it around Aaron’s neck.
“Hold onto this for me until tomorrow, and I’ll bring your jersey. Can you do that for me?”
“Yes!” Aaron nodded, clutching the ring to his chest.
“Don’t lose it.”
“I won’t, I promise.”
Suji had never seen the child so happy.
Zim stood and went around the desk. “And Tiff, I wanted to ask if you could help me with something.”
“What?” She hopped out of the chair. “You have another ring?”
Zim chuckled. “No, but help Aaron keep an eye on that for me, would you?”
“Sure thing.”
“Also, I’d love it if you could be my official stats keeper. For my website and stuff. Think you could do that?”
“Is it a paying job?”
“Of course.”
Tiff nodded, scratching her chin as if she were thinking it over. “Yeah, I could do that. After I ask my parents.”
“Of course,” Zim agreed. “Ask first, then we’ll talk.”
“Deal.” She stuck out her pinky and, to Suji’s surprise, Zim took it with his own. They shook.
“Awesome. Now, could you two stand guard in the hall for a few minutes? I need to talk to Nurse Meriwether.”
Aaron eyed him with suspicion. “Are you going to kiss her?”
“Aaron,” Suji warned, trying not to smile.
Zim laughed out loud. “I sure hope so, buddy.” He caught Suji’s gaze. “If she’ll let me, that is.”
Tiffany took Aaron’s hand and walked him to the door. Suji moved to let them through, and Tiff looked up at her.
“We’ll be right outside if you need us.”
“Thank you, Tiff. I appreciate it.”
Tiff nodded and then they were gone.
Suji closed the door.
“Zim…”
She didn’t have time to say anything else.
Zim gathered her in his arms and slanted his mouth over hers. It wasn’t the bruising, frantic kisses they’d shared at the pub or even at his house. It wasn’t the brain-melting kiss he’d given her at dinner or the soft, chaste goodbye he’d given her that morning when he dropped her off.
This kiss was full of unspoken promises.
His tongue swept between her parted lips, and Suji opened for him, surrendering. It had lasted for long minutes before he broke away, breathing hard. His hands felt so good, holding her tight.
“I’m going to fight for you,” he said, his voice ragged. “For us. Because I think this has the potential to be something. Maybe everything. I want to know every little thing about you. I want you to know me. I want us to find ways to be together, whether it’s for five minutes or five hours, or five days. Please.”
He ran a hand through her hair and searched her eyes.
“This can’t end, Suji, not yet. Just…I don’t want to walk away from this.”
“Neither do I,” she hastened to tell him.
He froze, his eyes wide.
“I was going to call,” she continued. “I want this. With you. I want to see where it goes. Because…I…”
“Because?” The hope in his eyes gave her courage.
“It’s never been like this for me either, not like this.” She trailed her palm across his stubbled jaw. “Not like you. So, let’s try. I want to try.”
Zim smiled, exhaled, nodded. “Good, that’s very good, Nurse Meriwether.”
And yeah. It was.
“So,” he started, his hands roaming into dangerous territory. ”Any chance you can duck out of here early?”
Suji smiled up at Zim, and ran her fingers into his hair to scrape her nails across his scalp.
He rewarded her with a low groan.
“Did you have something in mind for this afternoon, Mr, Zimin?”
Zim pulled her tight against his front. He was hard. Everywhere.
“I just think it’s best we get out of here. Now, unless you want to scar those poor kids out there for life.”
Epilogue
Three months later…
Zim never got nervous before a game, yet he found himself bouncing off the walls. Philly was a tough team, and he knew it would be a battle on the ice, but that wasn’t the reason for his jitters.
“You all right, Connie?” Rage leftwinger Anders Sorensen gave him the once-over. “You look a little green. Worried about playing in front of your home crowd?”
“They’ll boo, it’s what they do,” said Cooper Banks, another leftwinger. “It is Philly, after all.”
“Some will boo, but some will cheer their hometown talent,” Sorenson chimed in. “Coop’s right, though. You do look shellshocked. Everything okay?”
“Yep.” Zim waved them off.
“Hey, is this your first home game in front of your girl?” Leave it to Sorenson to zero in on the problem. Damn wingers and their damned sixth senses.
“Oh!” Coop exclaimed. “Will we finally get to meet this mystery woman?”
“That’s up to her,” Zim replied. “Anyway, my parents are here too.”
“Aww.” Anders grinned. “Mommy, daddy, and girly. We better play good, boys. Can’t embarrass Connie in front of his family.”
“Fuck off.” Zim laughed despite himself. He did love these guys.
They won in overtime.
Local fans were none too happy, but they’d been respectful of Zim as one of their own. A few fans hung around after the game, and he was more than happy to sign autographs for them.
“Think you'll ever play for us, Subzero?” The kid who had asked was probably fourteen.
“I love my team, but never say never.” Zim hoped his answer was sufficient. Judging by the boy’s grin, it was just fine.
“That would certainly make things easier.”
Zim looked up to find Suji smiling down at him, flanked by his mom and dad. And didn’t that paint a pretty picture.
In the three months since they’d decided to see where things might go, they’d gone very, very well.
He’d flown home when he could, and she’d come down to New Orleans, or wherever he was playing when she could. It was far from ideal, but they were making it work.
Better yet, it had been so worth it. She was worth it, worth everything.
“What?”
Zim hadn’t realized he was staring at her. “Nothing.”
“Well, go get changed so we can have dinner." Suji winked. "Your dad is hungry.”
“Starving,” his father agreed.
“You just had a pretzel, and beer, Genya,” his mother chided lovingly. “How are you already hungry?”
Zim’s father laughed. “Watching these boys play, I felt like I was out there.”
Lilya shook her head. “Boys never change.”
She caught Zim’s eye and winked.