Use Me

by Kimberly Knight

  It had been a week since the shooting, and I was returning to work. The season would be over in a few months, and afterward, Ashtyn and I were going far, far away. I didn’t care where as long as it was only she and I and all of our troubles were behind us.

  “Are you sure you’re ready to go back?” Ashtyn asked, zipping up her plum-colored dress.

  I put my head in my hand and turned to her as I lie in bed. “I’m only a little sore. It’s no big deal.”

  “Yes, but you’re on Norco, and you fall asleep sitting up.”

  “That happened once.”

  “You were on the toilet.”

  “I was comfortable.”

  “You were high.”

  I shrugged. “Still am.”

  Ashtyn rolled her eyes and went into the bathroom still talking, “Exactly why you should stay home. You have to go on air and people will be watching you.”

  “It will be fine. Plus, I want to get out of this place.” I waved my hand indicating the room even though she wasn’t in it.

  She walked back into the room. “Okay, but if you don’t feel good, I’m sure Jett wouldn’t mind handling everything again.”

  The day I got shot, there was no one to cover for me, and therefore, Jett had to do everything himself. I heard he handled it like a pro because he is one, and the last couple of games, we ended up getting Jeremy Roenick to fill in for me. Apparently, he’d heard what happened and offered his services. I have to say, watching him on TV again, talking about hockey, filled my heart. Or maybe that was the drugs talking. They made me feel good, and the pain was almost non-existent. Plus, the wound was getting better each day, and the stitches were almost dissolved.

  Each night I’d go to bed and somehow wake up the next morning and not have a nightmare. I wasn’t sure why, but I was glad because I didn’t want to relive the shooting again. And each day I texted Ethan to see if they found Corey, but he’d always text back that they hadn’t. They couldn’t find him using the GPS off his cell phone, he wasn’t using his credit cards, and he never went home. It was as though he’d vanished.

  We could only hope.

  “Everything will be fine. I’m already weaning myself off of them.”

  Ashtyn’s phone chimed. “Abby’s here.” Abby was picking Ashtyn up each day for work, and we’d arranged for Kenny to swing by and get me on game days.

  “Come give me some sugar, Cupcake.”

  Corey had been missing for two months.

  I was back to looking over my shoulder any time I stepped out of the house, but sometimes I’d forget that he could pop out at any moment. What made me a little more at ease was Rhys and I had bought a house.

  Together.

  Rhys had rented out his condo about a month ago, and things were moving along nicely. Our new home was a two-story, beige wood house with white trim and a red door. The front yard was luscious, and the backyard had a pool like we wanted. It also had four bedrooms, which meant we each got our own office, and a massive kitchen that Rhys made me breakfast in each Saturday morning.

  It was perfect.

  For our housewarming party, we ended up having the poker night like I’d suggested. And even though Rhys had taught me how to play, everyone, including Kenny, Jett, and Clark, ended up losing to him. They joked that we could take his winnings and buy something for the house. We were now looking into getting a hot tub for the back deck to add to our little paradise in the burbs.

  Everything was perfect …

  Except not knowing where Corey was.

  We tried to not think about him, but it was always in the back of our minds. We’d stopped going anywhere except work and home, and I was okay with that because all I wanted was to have Rhys safe. If Rhys and I had never started dating, then none of this would have ever happened. I might be locked in Philip’s basement or dead, but Rhys would have never been shot. It’s crazy to think that one fluke meeting turned into a game Rhys and I were trying to win. The game of love. I just wished we didn’t have to fight for our lives because this was not what love was supposed to be like. People shouldn’t have to die for people to stay together.

  Thankfully, both Rhys and I were still alive.

  Over the last two months, I’d also decided I couldn’t work in the field and do special reports or anything of that nature. I needed to stay in the studio where I was safe. I’d talked to Rhys and my boss, and made the decision to not do any field work until Corey was caught. That meant the story I wanted to do about the floating island would go to someone else. I was bummed, but Rhys told me he’d take me when they opened, and that was all I really wanted to do anyway.

  Tonight, however, I was going to the last Blackhawks’ home game of the season. Rhys got everyone tickets: Jaime, Kylie, Colleen, Abby, my brothers, their families, my parents, Rhys’s parents, his sister, Romi, and her husband, Shane. He had set us up in a penthouse suite with food, drinks, TVs that broadcasted the game (and Rhys when he did his shows before and during the game) and a view of the entire ice.

  It was going to be awesome.

  He let me borrow his Crawford jersey again, and after I arrived at the stadium with Abby and Kenny, we met up with everyone else and waited to be escorted to the suite. A lady finally appeared, and after confirming our tickets were for the penthouse suite, she took us in groups up to the room. I was in the last group to go up.

  “Sis,” Carter said, slinging his arm across my shoulder as we walked into the room. We stopped in front of the muted TV where Rhys and Jett were broadcasting. “Rhys is the best guy you’ve ever dated.”

  I pushed him away playfully. “I know that, but you’re only saying it because your dream of getting free Hawk tickets has come true.”

  “I saved his life,” he countered.

  “True, but he was only shot in the shoulder.”

  “Just be lucky we approve,” Ethan chimed in.

  “Leave your sister alone,” my mother chastised, “and tend to your children.”

  They each had two kids, and said kids were leaning against the railing of the suite that overlooked the stadium. Tyson, the youngest of Ethan’s, had his belly balancing on the black rail and looking straight down as though he were Superman. Cohen, Ethan’s oldest son, and Jacob, Carter’s youngest son, were all looking at Tyson as though they were two-seconds away from doing the exact same thing.

  “Shit,” Ethan muttered and went to save his son from falling. Carter followed.

  I looked toward the bar to see both of their wives ordering a drink. I needed one too. “Thanks, Mom. Can I get you a drink?”

  “Sure. A glass of wine. I’m going to go talk to Claire for a bit.”

  I smiled and turned toward the bar. My friends had already formed a line. “So, when are you two moving in together?” I asked Abby and Kenny.

  Kenny’s eyes widened.

  “We don’t move as fast as you and Rhys,” Abby replied.

  “Please,” I snorted and hooked my thumb in Kenny’s direction. “This one keeps gossiping with the guys weekly about how much he stays at your place and stuff. ‘Abby has the best coffee.’ ‘Abby makes me an omelet every morning.’ ‘Tonight when I go over to Abby’s—’”

  “We get it.” Kenny chuckled as though he were embarrassed.

  I grinned. “So again, you two moving in together soon?”

  They looked at each other and shrugged. I laughed slightly and moved up in the line after my sister-in-laws were done getting their drinks. “Ash, what are you having?” Jaime asked.

  I stepped forward to stand next to her. “Two red wines, please.”

  The bartender started to pour a glass of the burgundy wine.

  “How’s the house?” Kylie asked.

  “It’s good. Big.” I laughed.

  “Have you christened the entire place?” Jaime asked.

  My eyes widened, and I looked toward mine and Rhys’s parents. Then I turned my head back to the girls and grinned. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

  �
�That’s a yes,” Colleen stated.

  I shrugged, not confirming that they were, in fact, correct. Even the pool once. It was still too cold to actually enjoy the pool, but I knew we’d spend a lot more time in there this summer.

  Without further grilling and teasing, the lights over the ice dimmed, indicating the game was about to start. After sliding my mother her drink, I went to sit next to my dad and Andy in the front row seats of our suite.

  “Hey, kiddo,” Dad greeted me.

  “Hey, Daddy.”

  “I was just talking to Andy about going to a Cubs game. Would you and Rhys want to come?”

  I thought for a moment. In the past, I liked baseball more than hockey, but sports had never been my thing before Rhys. “I’ll ask him.”

  My dad turned back to Rhys’s father and they starting talking again. Watching them chat was warming my heart. This was what I’d always wanted. I had the guy, my family loved him, I loved him, and we lived together. Even my mother and Claire were having a conversation, both of them laughing. My heart swelled even more.

  The Blackhawks each skated out of a darkened tunnel and onto the ice where they skated in front of the net and then to center ice where they stood in a line, facing the goal on the red line. After the national anthem was sung, the game finally started.

  The puck was dropped, and the players started to skate, getting into whatever position they needed to get the puck in and try to make a goal. From where we were all the way up in the seats, we could still hear the skates cut across the ice as players stopped, when they checked other players against the boards causing them to rattle, and whenever someone shot the puck.

  “Ms. Valor?” I looked up to see a lady in black pants and a Blackhawks polo shirt standing next to me.

  “Yes?”

  “Each intermission we have games for fans. We were wondering if you’d like to do the one during the second intermission?”

  That meant I was going to miss Rhys’s broadcast. I hesitated, but my family and friends all started to shout, “Do it! Do it! Do it!”

  “You can win a couple of prizes. Maybe even a new jersey.”

  “Do it! Do it! Do it!”

  I chuckled, figuring that I could maybe get my own Crawford or Kane or whoever else’s jersey if I actually won. “Okay, sure.”

  “Great. I’ll be back around the middle of the second period to get you and take you down to the ice.”

  I could see the headline now …

  Breaking News: Ashtyn Valor sucks at ice games. She also fell on her ass on the ice.

  The period ended, and everyone in our suite moved to the TVs. Andy turned up the volume, and Rhys’s handsome face filled the screen. Watching Rhys do his thing was hot. Not gonna lie. Watching him in his element turned me on each night I caught his show. He owned the camera when he spoke. His intermission show only lasted about twelve minutes because intermission was only fifteen. On Tuesday, when it was the Hawks’ final game, I vowed I wasn’t going to miss a single second of Rhys’s show.

  After intermission was over and we returned to watching the game, I became even more nervous. Why couldn’t I get some of the athletic genes that my brothers got? They played sports their entire childhood, but yet I was the one that was going to go down and play some sort of game. Maybe it would be Jenga. I could totally do Jenga. Of course, that wasn’t likely because it needed to be something fast so the Zamboni could do it’s thing before the fifteen minutes was up.

  Lost in thought, I didn’t realize it was time. “Ashtyn, are you ready?”

  I looked up at her. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

  “Stop being a pansy ass and get out there,” Ethan bellowed as he pointed toward the rink.

  I rolled my eyes and stood.

  “Good luck,” everyone cooed as I followed the lady.

  “I’m Brittany by the way.”

  “Nice to meet you.” We made it to an elevator to head down. “What will I be doing exactly?”

  “Shooting two pucks into the net.”

  “That’s all?”

  We stepped into the elevator and Brittany pressed the button. “You need to shoot from the blue line and then from the center red line. There’s a prize for each line.”

  “Oh … What can I win?”

  “You need to make the goals to find out.”

  I chuckled. “It’s like that?”

  “It’s the rules.” She shrugged.

  “Can you give me a hint?”

  She thought for a moment. “One of them may or may not be a jersey.”

  “And the other one?”

  “Can’t tell you that.”

  The elevator dinged and we walked out into the underground halls of the stadium. At least that was what I’d assumed. It was industrial with walls and walls of off-white concrete. We made our way down the hall and then we were in what vaguely looked like the walkway the players skated out to take the ice right before the game started.

  Brittany and I stayed inside the tunnel, and she gave me a general idea of what to do. The buzzer sounded, and the players skated off toward their benches and into their locker rooms.

  “Okay, here we go.”

  “Wait,” I said, “don’t I need skates?”

  She smiled. “You can walk out onto the ice. Just go slow and you won’t fall.”

  “I better not!” At least I was in my Chucks and not high heels.

  “It will be fine. There are carpets where you’ll take your shots.”

  I breathed a sigh of relief and then followed Brittany onto the ice as slowly as I could. It was slippery, but I made it to the first carpet at the blue line. I could hear my friends and family up in the suite to my left screaming and hollering their cheers for me.

  “Ladies and gentleman, we have a special guest in the arena tonight.”

  Her words stilled me, but then I remembered that this part wasn’t televised because people were watching Rhys do his thing and Corey wouldn’t know where I was.

  “You may recognize her as Ashtyn Valor from the evening news. She’s going to try to make two shots. One is from the blue line and one if from the red line. Can we get loud for her?”

  People cheered, and I moved to the center of the carpet at the blue line. As I tried to get a good grip on my stick, Tommy Hawk, the Blackhawks mascot that was a giant black hawk, skated out and stood in front of the goal as though he was the goalie.

  I laughed and turned my head toward Brittany. “Not making this easy on me are you?”

  She smiled and talked into the mic. “You can do it, Ashtyn!”

  The crowd cheered again, including everyone in my suite. They were the loudest, which gave me the encouragement to do the best I could. I lined up the puck and slapped it with the stick. It was heavier than I thought it would be, but I watched it glide across the ice and through the legs of Tommy Hawk. He threw his hands over his eyes and faked being defeated. The crowd continued to cheer.

  “One down and one to go!” Brittany announced into the mic.

  I moved to the carpet that was farther away and did what I had the time before by adjusting my grip and the puck until I felt I was lined up with the center of the net. I swung and watched the puck once again slide across toward the net. I held my breath as it got closer and Tommy Hawk once again pretended to miss it as it went into the net. He threw his stick down and faked being upset. I laughed and turned to Brittany, ready for my prizes.

  “I have one of them.” She was holding a Blackhawks T-shirt in her hands. “And Tommy Hawk has the other.”

  I turned back to him, and he was standing in front of me holding what appeared to be a square jewelry box. Then Tommy Hawk proceeded to take off his head. He was literally lifting the black bird’s head off his body, and I blinked, realizing I was staring into the electric blue eyes I saw every day and night.

  “Rhys?” I whispered.

  He didn’t say anything as he started to bend down on one knee. The crowd went crazy, just as wild as my heart bea
t in my chest. If I wasn’t standing on carpet, I knew my feet would slip and I would fall on my ass. I didn’t want that mishap to be in the story of how Rhys proposed, so I stayed absolutely still and covered my mouth with my hands.

  “Cupcake—” he started, grinning up at me.

  He was cut off when someone shouted, “We can’t hear you, man!”

  We both chuckled, and I thought that was the whole point. Neither one of us wanted to share this moment even though we were in front of nineteen thousand people or so.

  Rhys continued, still holding up the box. Now I realized it was open and a big ass diamond was shining at me. I couldn’t tell what it was or what it looked like because tears had started to form in my eyes, causing Rhys and the ring to become blurry.

  “Like I was saying, Cupcake, from the moment we first met, I couldn’t stop thinking about you. You were the light to my darkness, and I wanted to pretend that what we had going on was just you and me using each other to fill the sadness we were both feeling. But the more we spent time together, I realized you’d always held the key to my heart. You make me happy. You make me feel free. You make me feel alive. And while I don’t mind being used, because let’s face it, baby, you can use me anytime, I want to make you mine.”

  “I am yours,” I whispered.

  He smiled. “Then marry me and make it official.”

  I nodded and muttered a “yes” before I flung myself at Rhys. A diamond ring was much better than a jersey. Rhys caught me and stood and then we glided across the ice with my arms wrapped around his neck and my lips pressed to his.

  The crowd cheered again, and Brittany spoke into the mic. “I think she said yes.”

  Breaking News: Ashtyn Valor said yes!

  Ashtyn was going to be my wife.

  When I rushed to the arena after my first intermission broadcast, my heart was racing a million miles an hour. Kenny dropped me off at the back loading zone, and I rushed in. Being in the field has it’s perks, especially when I got a discount on a suite for the night so I could have everyone that was important to us there to watch me propose. Everyone knew what was going to go down, and when I took off the mascot’s head, and Ashtyn saw that it was me, I realized that no one had spilled the beans.