Shutout (The Renegades Series Book 5)

by Melody Heck Gatto

  His face brightened. “His name is Smokey. He’s a good little dude.”

  “Is he gray?” Assuming that’s why he was named Smokey.

  “He is. I found him at a shelter. I was just going to foster him, but he was too cool not to keep. Kaden doesn’t mind having him around either. The way he’s been talking, I’m pretty sure he’s getting one soon.”

  “A cat? Kaden?”

  “Yeah, we rent the loft together. I call it an apartment, but it’s not like those small little things we used to rent back in Canada.”

  “Well, it looked nice, what I saw of it.” She didn’t want to talk about how she had rushed out the morning after their night out, so she continued with the first thing that came to mind. “So, Kaden is the other goalie on the team, right?”

  Dominic nodded. “I’m getting the feeling that you didn’t know I was playing for Pittsburgh.”

  She shook her head. As if I hadn’t made that obvious enough with my utter shock at the club that first night.

  “Mia didn’t tell you?”

  Mia, her friend from back home, knew Dominic too. Her brother Johnny and Dom were buddies. “No. I, well… no, she never mentioned it.”

  “Let me show you some pictures of my nephews and niece.” Dominic proudly showed her all the photos he had on his phone and his Facebook.

  They talked about the kiddos and what they were into now, her parents and brother, and the upcoming game schedule he had. After a slight lull in the conversation, Dominic took a deep breath before getting into the conversation she really hoped they wouldn’t be having.

  “So, do you like working at the club?”

  “Eh, it’s a job. I’m sure you really don’t want to hear about it.” Especially after that night he got drunk watching her dance from table to table. “You know I felt bad the other night.” Why do we need to talk about this?

  He tilted his head to the side, his face twisted in confusion. Then he nodded with a knowing smile. “Oh, yeah, that night. Nothing to feel bad about, sweet-tart.”

  “Can you please not call me that? That was from another time, another place. It has nothing to do with where we are now.” Her heart skipped a beat every time he called her by her pet name from all those years ago. She didn’t like the way it still affected her.

  “I don’t think that’s going to be possible. You may look totally different, but you’re still the same girl to me. And even though you left me the way you did, I never stopped caring about you.”

  “Even the way we left things?” She remembered going off on a rant, talking about not wanting to be a good little wife and not needing to be taken care of. Her heart ached at the memory of what she’d said.

  Dom shrugged. “All I know about that day is you turned me down and stormed out, yelling about not wanting anyone to take care of you.” His eyes met hers, searching her face. “Seems like you do pretty well on your own now. You are doing okay?”

  Her pulse picked up. She didn’t want to be talking about this. “Yeah, I guess. I make enough for what I need. Someday I won’t have to. I hope eventually to have my own art gallery. Display and sell my paintings. Maybe help young artists.” And that day can’t come soon enough.

  “Wow. That’s great.” His eyes twinkled, his voice laced with admiration. “And once you reach that goal, you won’t have to dance anymore? Or any of that other stuff…?”

  This was too much. Why was he so okay with what I did for a living? He didn’t even look mad when he talked about the day I left him. Why isn’t he furious with me? Looking into those brown eyes, there wasn’t one hint of anger. Had she been wrong? After all these years, was it a mistake for me to leave him? Her stomach flopped and she found it hard to breathe. “You know what, I really need to go. It was great catching up again, but…” She stood up and pushed in her chair, glancing at the door.

  “Hailee, don’t leave,” he pleaded.

  She didn’t dare look at his face, couldn’t face whatever it was she might see in his eyes. “Um, no. It really was a nice talk, but I… I have to go.” She hurried out the door before he could say anything else.

  * * *

  When Hailee returned home and stepped into her loft, for the first time it felt lonely. It was too quiet and too empty. She turned on all the lights and hit the power button on her stereo, filling the large area with soft beats and soothing song. Things hadn’t been the same since she had run into Dominic. She thought she had her life figured out and was happy until she saw him again, and then it all came crashing down around her. A heavy knot sat in her throat. Did she even really know what happiness was?

  Looking at her paintings, there was so much of him in every one of them. They used to be so good together. Until she found out what kind of life was waiting for her if she became a Zanetti. She wasn’t like his sisters; she couldn’t live like that. Focusing back on the paintings, she wondered why it couldn’t just be as easy as these painted scenes.

  Coffee with him was nice; it was like old times. Until the conversation became too much for her. The rush of emotions confused her. She couldn’t think of anything but getting out of there and away from him.

  Sitting down at her computer, she checked on her virtual gallery website. Her name graced the top of the page in bold letters. She wanted that in real life, in fluorescent lights, above her gallery. But she had to sell some paintings first.

  Her more professional paintings were listed by price. Checking each one, she found that none had any inquiries yet. It had been weeks now, and no one had shown any interest in her work. Maybe she wasn’t promoting to the right circles. Or maybe she just wasn’t that good.

  Before she could stop herself, she pulled up Facebook and looked up Dominic. She didn’t know why she was putting herself through this, but she needed to see how many girls were on his page. Maybe he was with someone, and his interest in her was truly nothing more than friendship. She just needed to know. Feeling like a creeper, she continued to scroll down his page, ignoring the photos of him with his huge white pick-up truck, and his amazing tattoos and soulful eyes. He was quite the selfie taker. But there was not one photo of him and a lady friend. Only him and his niece, or mother or sisters.

  Her breathing slowed, and her chest wasn’t so heavy. She didn’t know what she’d expected to see. There were even photos of him and his cat that he’d been telling her about, Smokey. He was certainly a cute little guy.

  She tried to piece this all together, in addition to their meeting for coffee. Not to mention whatever compelled her to creep him on Facebook. Her head started to spin. Luckily, she had the night off, so she decided to turn in. Maybe she could sort this all out in her dreams.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Dominic

  Dom was first on the ice for morning skate. He didn’t sleep well last night after coffee with Hailee. She invaded his thoughts even as he closed his eyes and tried to relax. The one time he did manage to doze off, Smokey jumped on his legs and started to attack his feet, his sharp claws scratching Dom’s skin. Then there were a few more hours of tossing and turning until his alarm went off.

  Smokey didn’t like him being up that early; the cat preferred to play and run through the apartment like his tail was on fire at 4 a.m., then he was back to sleep until eight or so. On game days Dom liked to get moving early, take an early jog, shower, eat, and get to the arena for morning skate.

  Standing at the bench, he talked with the trainers until the rest of the team came onto the ice.

  “Finally! I wondered if you guys were ever going to show up,” he teased.

  “Zanetti, just because you’re a morning person doesn’t mean we have to be,” Kaden called, his goalie mask perched on top of his head.

  “Dom, you’re backing up O’Conner tonight, so you take the visitor net. O’Conner, you take the home net,” Coach Walker called. He was standing by the bench with the clipboard in his hands. “Guys, gather around.”

  The team responded and all took a knee around Coach Wa
lker and Sal. “Guys, we are in second place in our division. We need to keep up the energy. I expect your total commitment in the upcoming weeks. We have a busy next few days. Tonight Tampa comes in our house, tomorrow we fly out to New York, then to New Jersey for back-to-back games. We have a four-day break coming up soon so just hang in there. If Ty can concentrate on the game, so can the rest of you. Got it?”

  Over that four-day break, Tyler was getting married.

  “I still don’t know why he couldn’t wait till the summer break,” Nick Talon, the team General Manager said with his arms folded from the bench.

  Tyler shrugged. “Nick, don’t look at me. You take that up with the bride.”

  Nick shook his head and walked back down the tunnel. He normally sat up in the stands to get an overview of how everyone was playing. Coach blew the whistle and the guys skated out to center ice to start laps.

  Kaden skated next to Dom. “Hey hoser, you got a date yet to the wedding?”

  “Nah, I might go stag.” Dom didn’t want any random girl. He’d rather go alone.

  “Why don’t you just ask her?” Kaden cut to his net and Dom followed. They dropped to the ice and started to stretch out.

  “Who?”

  “You know damn well who. The girl you’ve been pining over. The girl we go to the club to watch but you never grow the balls to just tell her you want her back. And don’t forget, the girl you drank yourself silly about because of the other night. The girl that didn’t like being told she couldn’t play a drinking game with the college boys, and got shitfaced drunk due to her stubbornness. That girl.”

  That’s exactly who he’d like to ask to the wedding, but he wasn’t in the mood for being turned down. “You’re an ass.”

  “I know. But are you going to ask her, or what?”

  “Why do you care? You that interested in my love life all of a sudden?”

  “Ha! Hardly, dude. Just trying to help. If you’re not going to ask her, I’m sure my date has a friend that would love to go with the tattooed playboy goalie,” Kaden said with a laugh.

  “What bunny are you taking?” He didn’t need to ask if it was a bunny; when it came to Kaden, it always was. “Or is it Alison?”

  “Nah, I don’t know what’s going to happen with Alison. It’s just fun right now and don’t want to give her any relationship ideas. You know how girls get. I was going to ask that hot piece of ass from the club, Sasha, but decided on the blonde from the other night, Lexie.”

  “Which one was she?”

  “You know, she was over that morning you were all hung over.”

  Dom thought he’d been dreaming those screams coming from down the hallway; guess not. “Nah, I must’ve missed that completely.”

  “Well you’ll meet her at the wedding. She’s hot, dude. So, if you’re not going to ask Hailee, I’ll see if Lex has someone.”

  “No thanks.”

  Coach blew the whistle before they could say any more. Kaden just shook his head before securing his mask and skating back and forth in his goal crease. Dom went to his end of the ice, secured his gear and ground his skates into the ice, moving side to side. He didn’t need Kaden to get him a date, but maybe he was right about asking Hailee.

  * * *

  The next few days didn’t give him much time to think about what Kaden said. Tampa had beaten them in overtime in their own house and last night they shut out New York. At least they were still in the number two slot in their division. Tonight they were in New Jersey and feeling good about their game.

  But right now, his mind was on Hailee. He might be on his game in net, but in the love department, he was way off. He should’ve asked her over coffee, but instead they had talked about his family and his cat. And then she’d rushed off again. Really? I guess it could’ve gone worse; she could’ve not shown up at all. It was time to go to the arena and get ready for tonight’s game. Kaden was already downstairs.

  “Zanetti, the bus is leaving for the arena. You all packed?” Kris knocked at the door.

  “Yeah, on my way now.” Grabbing his suitcase, Dom checked his hair in the mirror, straightened his tie and headed into the hallway. Kris and Tyler were waiting for the elevator.

  “Dom, we thought we lost you,” Tyler joked.

  “Nah, I just, I couldn’t get my hair right.” Saying that he had stuff to think about wasn’t his best idea, unless he wanted to be relentlessly picked on. His hair was a believable enough excuse.

  “I know. It takes time to look this good,” Kris agreed and ran his hand through his own hair.

  The elevator opened up and they got in. Ty hit the button to the lobby.

  “You two and your damn hair.” Tyler shook his head and adjusted his knit beanie. “I don’t care what either of you look like, as long as we win the game.”

  “Haven’t you heard? I’m on a roll,” Dom quipped with a wink.

  “Boy, you are too cocky for your own damn good.”

  “Ty, don’t tell me when you first came into the league, you didn’t act like your shit didn’t stink.” Kris gave Ty a friendly shove on the shoulder.

  “I don’t have to defend myself to you benders, I’m Tyler-Fucking-Kidd. I run this ship.” Ty flashed a devilish grin.

  “Between the two of you, I better get out of this elevator before your egos take up all the space,” Kris said as the elevator doors opened.

  Stepping out of the elevator, they found the lobby was a madhouse. Security was blocking the entrance to the hotel, and the manager was running around making sure everyone in the lobby belonged there. Nick Talon was talking with security.

  “Nick,” Tyler called. “What’s going on?”

  Nick’s hair was tussled and his tie crooked; he looked frazzled. “Change of plans, guys. The bus is parked down back now. There were some fans who all but ambushed Kaden and Torin, and as we were getting them out of that situation, a few snuck around us and cornered Mateo and Luc. Security had to remove them and move the bus. So instead of going out front, head down that ramp. You’ll see where the bus is loading.” A man in security gear called for his attention. “I have to deal with this. Good luck tonight.”

  “Poor rookies,” Kris said, referring to Marco and Luc. “I bet they won’t be so eager to go out without security next time.”

  “You only make that mistake once,” Tyler answered.

  Matt’s voice came from behind them. “Did you hear about dinner last night? Sam, Pat, and Kash were confronted by a group of them while they were eating. The girls wouldn’t leave them alone and even followed them out to a coffee shop afterwards. Pat had to get a little loud and tell them to back off.”

  The fans outside the windows cheered and screamed as they walked down the ramp.

  “How do they know we’re staying here?” Dom asked.

  “Internet,” Tyler answered matter of factly.

  “But how do they know this stuff?”

  “They just do,” Kris said.

  The bus was waiting down back like Nick said. They loaded their luggage and then boarded the bus. Kaden was already seated, so Dom chose a seat by himself. He needed this time to prepare and get Hailee out of his head so he could be on point tonight. As the bus pulled away, the conversation with Kaden about Hailee played over and over in his mind. He hadn’t talked to her since their coffee date. Pulling out his cell phone, he found her number. Asking her over a text was lame, so instead he asked her to the Cupcakery for a milkshake tomorrow. They had a team meeting early, but after that he was free.

  He waited the whole ride to the arena for a response. Maybe she was working, or just didn’t know what to say, but she wasn’t answering, and that was weighing heavily on him in the form of a lump in his stomach. He closed his eyes and tried to focus on his game for the rest of the ride.

  At the arena, the guys went to their lockers and started to get dressed. Dom put on his Under Armour, then took a moment and walked out to the empty arena. The total quiet was eerie, but he liked it. You could he
ar the faint echo of folks waiting in the lobby, and the concessions stands preparing for the fan rush. This was his favorite time. He sat on their bench and looked around at the empty seats. The calm helped him mentally prepare. He breathed in the coolness from the ice.

  Closing his eyes, he counted to twenty, then once more. The serenity of the empty arena was short lived as a few fans started to file in to the seats. He took one more look around from the seats to the rafters, then he headed back to the locker room to finish getting dressed.

  They had to win this match up; playoffs started next week. A win tonight would secure home ice and they were counting on him. Slowly and methodically, he put on his gear from the bottom up. He put his pads on his torso, then pulled on his jersey. Pulling out his mask, glove and blocker, he took a deep breath.

  “Yo Dom, dude, your phone rang or something while you were out on the bench,” Sam said, while he grabbed his pads from his locker.

  Dom fumbled around until he found his phone which was buried in his hockey bag. The light was blinking so he definitely had a message. Maybe it was nothing, or maybe it was the response he’d been waiting for.

  Hitting the button to wake the phone from its slumber, Hailee’s name lit up his screen. Immediately he hit the message to reveal her answer.

  Hailee: Sure, I love the milkshakes there. Meet you there at two.

  His lips immediately lifted into a smile. He might have a shot at getting her to go to the wedding with him after all.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Hailee

  “Glad you could make it.” Dominic sat at the soda fountain bar at the Pink Ribbon Cupcakery. The countertop was bubblegum pink with polished silver accents. Being a big beast of a hockey player, he should’ve looked silly sitting at such a girly counter. But he didn’t.

  A grin graced his face and gave her goose bumps. He wore a gray hooded sweatshirt and blue jeans with perfectly white tennis shoes. Not a speck of dirt on them.

  “Hey, thanks for the invite.” She waved at the girl behind the counter. “Can I get a Birthday Cake Shake, please?”