by Amber Lynn
“Yeah, you goon,” Casey interrupted before Jasmine could finish her thought. John saw the annoyed look cross her face and had to hold back a laugh. If the two women were going to spend any time together, she was going to have to get used to it. “What kind of guy invites a girl to a hockey game and doesn’t make sure she gets to her seat?”
“One who wasn’t sure she’d really come and who had planned for someone to take her to the suite and make sure she had everything she needed. You feeling better after your nap?”
John wanted to put a blinder up and ignore Casey, but the redhead made that task a little difficult. Jasmine was just starting to nod her head when Casey’s lips opened to spew more words.
“How many times do I have to tell you guys that sending someone else to do something you should do yourself isn’t the way to a woman’s heart? You didn’t even come to me to make sure she was looked after. You called Dena.”
John refused to look over at Casey, but he imagined her green eyes flashed red like a demon. She clearly didn’t remember that he was already mad at her for the whole bachelor auction. Pushing his buttons wasn’t going to get her back on his good side.
Whether Jasmine felt her own irritation for not being able to speak her mind, or she saw Klinger plotting whether he could hit the glass hard enough to send Casey running, she reached over to put a hand on Casey’s shoulder. John saw her lips move, but whatever was shared between the women was whispered so he couldn’t hear above the crowd and the noises coming from behind him on the ice.
Casey wore one of her skeptical looks, but she ended up nodding before she retreated to the nearest stairs and wandered up a few of them. She gave one of her patented glares to a few fans that looked to be questioning her hovering around.
“I hope you aren’t as upset as she is about me not making sure you were settled.” John moved closer to the glass and lowered his voice below the level he’d been using. The move closer put him next to the thin opening between the partitions of glass.
“She obviously doesn’t know how much I needed the extra sleep you let me have. Thanks for earlier today.”
John had to ponder how often Jasmine actually said thanks to a person. From the interactions they’d had, even after her small break down, he didn’t think it was something that happened often.
“I hope that means you enjoyed it as much as I did.” John glanced at the clock on the video board and saw they only had two minutes before he had to get off the ice.
“You certainly know how to make a woman feel special.” She paused for a quick second to take a breath before she continued. “I see you counting down the seconds, so I won’t keep you. I just wanted to make sure you knew I made it okay and I needed to know where you wanted to meet after the game. I wasn’t sure if I should stay up in the suite or meet you at your place. Technically I do have the spare key you left to make sure everything was locked up, but I’m guessing you didn’t leave it for me to just let myself back in.”
Jasmine’s quick rambling told John she understood that when the time ran down, he needed to be gone. At least she’d taken half a second to acknowledge he knew what he was doing in the bedroom. It was no secret she had plenty of experience, and that made him step up his game a little bit. Not that anyone had ever complained before, but there was a need to prove himself that he never really felt.
“You can hold on to it so you don’t have to con Ken into letting you in.” The horn to announce there was only a minute left of warmups blared above them, causing John to roll his eyes. He wanted to relay the apologies he’d had to deal with after his remorseful landlord caught up with him. “Obviously I have to go, but go ahead and just hang out in the suite and I’ll text you when I’m back in my street clothes.”
Along with not knowing if she’d come to the game, John wasn’t sure she’d want to hang out afterwards. They really hadn’t talked through how the whole dating thing would work. He wasn’t sure about Jasmine, but he didn’t have a lot of experience other than showing up at functions with someone on his arm and bedroom activities.
“Sounds like a plan. Hopefully by the end of the game I’ll understand what’s going on. I have a feeling I’m going to be quizzed about my hockey knowledge soon.” Jasmine hadn’t really lost her smile, but it turned a little sad, and John knew the quizzing would probably come from her grandma.
His guest for the game waved at him and quickly took off to catch up to Casey, who had apparently become bored enough that she was walking up and down five stairs like she’d already had a little too much to drink. That woman had issues.
“Please tell me my hearing has gone bad and she didn’t mention you let her have a key to your place.” Doug barely let Jasmine leave before he was at his friend’s side.
John ignored him at first as he skated towards the bench. There were still ten seconds on the clock, so they had plenty of time to get off and go over the last-minute game notes. Klinger tended to try to tune everything else out and get in his zone, but chances of that happening were slim.
“It’s complicated, and since I don’t understand certain things, I highly doubt you’re going to.” John stepped through the open door to the bench and made his way down the tunnel to the locker room. With all his gear on, he knew it looked like he waddled.
He was able to take a seat in his stall before Doug pushed on. “I’d be disappointed if it wasn’t complicated. So, are you at liberty to tell me anything? I mean I know for a fact you went home alone last night and the last text I got from you, when I was fast asleep by the way, was after midnight and you were still alone.”
The hazards of being drunk some nights meant Doug ended up learning way too much about Klinger’s life. John had gotten better when it came to his oversharing, but when you invent a drinking game because you’re slowly driving yourself insane, bad habits aren’t surprising.
Klinger looked around the room, noting at least six sets of eyes on him. The team tended to know at least a little bit about what was going on in everyone else’s lives, but everyone had their little secrets. He didn’t have any problem telling Doug what was going on with Jasmine’s grandma and her request, but no one else needed to know. On second thought, he figured he probably better clear it with Jasmine before he mentioned anything specific to Doug.
“Things changed with the morning light. I think we’ve come to a mutual decision that two people as gorgeous as ourselves would be foolish not to see where things lead.”
Klinger leaned back and closed his eyes. He knew it wouldn’t stop the questions, but it was part of his ritual. He’d already destroyed most of his rituals for the day, trying to focus his mind wasn’t something he could miss. As it was, he wasn’t sure exactly how Jasmine being in the stands would affect his game.
It shouldn’t have made a difference. John took a deep breath as he briefly tried to figure out why he didn’t think that was the case. He didn’t usually feel connections with the opposite sex, at least not more than the need to copulate frequently.
He felt that need with Jasmine, but there was something else. It could have been the vulnerability she displayed after being so strong, or it could’ve just been the fact that she was beautiful and seemed to be more responsive to his touch than anyone else he’d met. He needed to spend more time with her to try to figure things out.
“You’re not making a lot of sense. How in the world did we get to the point where she raided your closet and showed up here with your house key?”
“Can’t say. As far as anyone needs to know, we’re both off the market for the foreseeable future.” John inhaled deeply and slowly let his breath out. He didn’t need to have his eyes open to know most of the eyeballs in the room were focused on him.
“You sure you’re okay to play tonight, Klinger?” Coach Hines asked with humor in his voice.
There were a few players on the team that didn’t like the head coach’s leadership skills, with Nelson leading that pack. John didn’t have any run-ins with the guy,
so the animosity the statement would’ve had directed at someone else was lacking. It was good for Hines’ health, because John wasn’t in a mood to be rubbed wrong.
“Is there a reason I’m not aware of that makes you question my ability?” Simply saying yes seemed too easy.
John’s response elicited a few laughs from the room. He would’ve joined in if his relationship status was funny. The fact that there was a woman out there dying that drove the status change made it a little less amusing.
“I’m a little worried about the fact you were hit with two pucks from the point while you were out their talking to her. Did you even notice Nels aiming for you?”
The perplexed look that John felt transform his face was more than likely all the answer anyone needed. Nels wasn’t the hardest shot on the team, but he was close. A shot coming from him should’ve made a divot, but John couldn’t remember feeling a thing.
He opened his eyes to see if Hines was messing with him. He’d never seemed like a joker, but as they say, there’s a first time for everything. John’s quick glance around the room revealed at least a dozen expectant faces, none of them really telling him where the conversation was heading. Out of all the people to pick for the shooter in the coach’s scenario, Nels was the least likely to play along, but the way the corners of his lips turned up a bit evilly was hard to read.
“If that’s the truth, I’d be more worried about Nels than me. He’s clearly shooting like he’s playing with his kids and not full-grown men.”
Hines glanced over to where the other man sat in his stall. The coach leaned against the wall about ten feet from either man, and it took his face a few seconds to transform from his usual stern appearance to one that allowed John to pick up his amusement.
“Hey, at least someone else is finally ready to admit Nels’ shot isn’t as hard as he claims it is. I’m just messing with you anyway, Klinger. It’s the first time I witnessed you go gaga for one of your little groupies, so I’m curious exactly where your head is at.”
John’s lips moved to defend himself, but the team leader in penalty minutes jumped in before he could. Everyone on the team liked Parsons, though, he tended to be a man of few words, so the assist was a little unexpected.
“If you think that was just some groupie, you don’t get out enough, Coach. That there was award-winning actress Jasmine Truedel, and I, for one, want to hear what in the world changed from last night to this morning, because she clearly wasn’t having anything to do with you other than making sure her grandma and you hooked up.”
For a man who said little, Parsons might as well have just recited the longest speech ever written. Evidently the whole team was clued into the details of Jasmine’s bid, which seemed like a lifetime ago to someone who’d had a day like Klinger had.
“Well, be that as it may, it’s time to head out on the ice, so story time will have to wait until later. I’m just warning you that if I think your head is wandering, I’m not going to hesitate pulling you. We’ve got about a dozen games left, and we need all the wins we can get.”
Like John really needed the reminder. Wins didn’t ride solely on his back, but he had a lot to do with them when he was in the game, so he already knew the vice of pressure that liked to squeeze him while he was on the ice.
John had to put the pressure and his lingering thoughts about Jasmine aside and get in his zone. For the first time in his career, he actually had to ponder if he could get it done.
Chapter Eight
“How long do you think it’ll take me to understand what just happened?” Jasmine had finally calmed down after watching John get a shutout, at least that’s what Casey called it. All Jasmine knew was he had thirty-five saves, which apparently was good.
The goaltender on the other side of the ice wasn’t nearly as good, letting in three goals. Jasmine had a decent handle on goals and saves, but all the whistles throughout the game for at least twenty different reasons were a bit much.
“I say you’ll be an expert after five games. Can we expect you to hang around that long?” It was Nelson’s wife, Annie, fishing for answers.
Throughout the game the wives and girlfriends of the other players seemed to be questioning what Jasmine was doing there. She knew she didn’t really belong, but it was hard to believe they hadn’t dealt with John’s revolving door of girlfriends before. If they were all treated with the scrutiny she felt, it wasn’t surprising he hadn’t found someone to settle down with. The other women seemed overwhelmingly protective.
“What’s the longest one of his other girlfriends has been around for games?” During the game Jasmine had been focused on watching John, so she’d dodged most of the conversation. While she was waiting for him to get cleaned up, she thought it’d be a good time to do a little digging of her own.
There was a group of four women gathered around her, Casey, Annie, Lizzie and Michelle. They were all women Jasmine had recognized from the group John had led her to at the charity ball the night before. Their six children had spent most of the game trying to distract Jasmine from her goal of learning everything she could about hockey. Three of the children had finally given up and had fallen asleep, Casey and Dylan’s daughter sat on her father’s lap behind the women and Annie’s and Michelle’s little girls were sitting on the floor coloring on a massive sheet of paper.
Before anyone could answer Jasmine’s question, she heard Dylan chuckle from behind her, causing her to look around at what he thought was funny. There was nothing going on in front of her on the ice, and as far as she could see, the posh suite she’d been led to when she first arrived didn’t have anything unusual enough happening around it to cause the chortle.
Casey had to have seen the questioning look on Jasmine’s face, because she reached over to put her hand on the other woman’s leg to get her attention. Out of all the women, she seemed to be the least combative, which seemed a little odd after hearing John talk about her. It made Jasmine wonder if she hadn’t filled the other women in about Jasmine’s quest to find John that morning.
“Klinger has never given another woman a ticket to the suite, which is why we’re so curious about you. I’ve heard rumors about what his kiss can do to a woman, but that one before you left last night must have been a real doozy.”
Jasmine didn’t want to focus on thoughts of John’s lips, so she stuck to the first part of Casey’s statement. “What do you mean he doesn’t bring other women here? I’ve seen pictures of him out in public with at least thirty other women.” Thirty was probably on the low end, but Jasmine really hadn’t spent the time to count all of them.
“And yet you’re the first one to see our little home away from home. And you showed up wearing his clothes, no less. Unless you managed to find a game-worn jersey on the internet and had it delivered in the middle of the night.”
Jasmine looked down at the jersey as Lizzie spoke. She’d noticed a few sewn up tears and black marks that almost looked like grass stains. After watching John play, she’d figured the marks were probably left from the frozen piece of rubber that repeatedly hit him.
“Look, I can’t speak for John, so you’re going to have to ask him why he wanted me to sit up here with you guys.” A move Jasmine was starting to question. She knew they were trying to make it look like they were really dating, but that probably could have been accomplished with her sitting in the stands.
“I’m sure we’ll get to that,” Casey said with a grin. “I imagine if he’s not cleaned up, he will be by the time we get down there, so why don’t we walk and talk, just you and me.”
There was something in the redhead’s eyes that told her she’d been holding something back. Jasmine wasn’t sure how she knew that, but she was pretty sure she should be happy that Casey wasn’t planning on bringing up the subject in front of other people.
“Okay. He said he’d text, but I wouldn’t mind going for a walk.” Jasmine wasn’t able to finish her sentence before Casey’s cold hand was in hers and the women were on
their way out the door.
Jasmine had no idea where they were headed, so she didn’t mind following along. There didn’t seem to be many other people around, mostly just the people tasked with cleaning up after the fans. Even without a lot of extra ears, Casey waited until they were in an empty elevator before she spoke up.
“I should have known it the second I saw your eyes up close, but it wasn’t until I heard the details about your grandmother being John’s number one fan that I realized who you really were.”
The claim caused Jasmine to turn and study the woman, who evidently had the ability to say the least expected things. Jasmine wasn’t even sure how to process the statement. It wasn’t like she’d tried to hide who she was, sadly most people she came across already knew without her having to say her name.
Casey’s look of knowing something had turned to sympathy, with her eyes softening enough that Jasmine was even more confused. It made her a little scared to be alone in the elevator with the other woman.
“What does my grandma have to do with who I am?” It was the only answer Jasmine could come up with.
“I don’t often see the exact same hue of color when I look in people’s eyes, but you and Iris are almost and exact match. I’d guess that hers have diminished a little with age, but not enough to miss the similarities.”
“You know my grandma?” Jasmine was skeptical, but Casey was right about their eye color and she knew her name.
“Sadly, which isn’t a dig on her. You went to see her between last night and now, didn’t you?”
Was there another way to take the sadly other than a dig? Because Jasmine could understand how people may be a little overwhelmed by Meemaw, but sadly wasn’t a word she thought of when she consider how most people seemed to enjoy Meemaw’s company.
“What in the world does that have to do with anything?” Jasmine was trying to keep calm as the doors to the elevator opened and the women made their way out. They were on the lowest floor of the building, where it seemed everyone had decided to congregate. Different people running around in Tigers apparel zipped by before Jasmine had a chance to get her bearings.