Score on Me

by Melody Heck Gatto

  She rolled her eyes and mumbled, "poor thing." She took a mental note of the name, Anna Jourdain.

  "Anyways," He continued. "I needed a partner. I was lonely. That's where Anna came in."

  "So, you met her here?" Kat couldn't help herself.

  "No. I went home to Montreal the summer after my first season here. She approached me at the gym I was training at. We started to date, and she returned to Pittsburgh with me. It was nice to have someone to come home to." He shrugged.

  Kat's head was spinning, Anna sounded like she saved him. Great. No, nothing to worry about, Kat.

  "Well, the whole thing started to crumble about a year in. She started to take frequent trips back to Montreal, and I was alone a lot of the time again. Her favorite pastimes were shopping and, well, shopping. She didn't like sitting and listening to how my day was, or how things went at the game. She never even came to a game. She would stay longer each time she went to Montreal, claiming she was visiting family. That was around the time Pittsburgh signed me to a new contract," he shook his head, and moved the rice around his plate. "Then she got pregnant. She wanted to get married right away."

  "Wait, you have a kid?" Her eyes wide, she didn't expect that. What the hell?

  "No. I don't." He shook his head and looked into Kat's confused face. "Anna was pregnant, and long story short, tried to pass the baby boy she was carrying off as mine. She had eyes on my new contract, and wanted me to marry her. It was mid season, and I had no intention of trying to plan a wedding at that point. I needed to concentrate on my game, and she wasn't pleased about that."

  Kat was so disturbed by this story, she stopped eating. She thought she might be sick.

  "Once she had the baby, I was ready to give him my name. I was ready to be his daddy. Until the tests came back." Kat looked at him funny. "Yes, I had the hospital run DNA tests, just to be sure. I wasn't convinced. Well, my suspicions paid off. Apparently those trips to Montreal were for more than just visiting. I had seen things online about her going to Canada, and rumors that she was hooking up with Montreal player, Shaun Braden. Ironically, I knew Shaun, we had played Juniors together and had been friends."

  Okay, this chick was a piece of work. Kat took a drink of her water as he continued. Her stress level dropped as the story unfolded. Anna didn't seem like so much of a threat anymore.

  "Nico was Shaun's, not mine." He ran his hands through his hair as he took a breather, pushing the loose strands out of his face and back behind his ears. "She packed her things and left. Last I heard she was still in Montreal."

  "Wow." Kat sighed. That was a whole lot of information. She felt bad for him, thinking he was going to be a daddy, only to find out it was some other guy's baby.

  "Hey, you asked," He chuckled, shaking his head. "Feel better now?"

  She let out a small stifled laugh. "Yep. Sorry about all that, I didn't know and I–"

  "You saw her name pop up on my phone, I know. She's been calling lately. I don't answer and she doesn't leave a message. It's been a long time since I talked to her last. I can't imagine what she could want, but I don't really care. Kat, you ever hear of the term gold-digger?"

  "Yeah," she laughed.

  "Well, one would think they created that word just for her." He laughed at the look on her face. "Yeah, she's that bad. The new contract I had signed with Pittsburgh was a pretty nice one, and all she saw was dollar signs."

  Breathing a sigh of relief she was satisfied for now. She took a big bite of her chicken. But why would Anna be calling him again? Her thoughts were broken up by his voice.

  "My turn." A sneaky smile crossed his lips. Kat was not sure what to expect once he spoke. Kris chuckled at her nervousness. She played with her food without looking at him. "So, watching me play hockey, what did you like about me?" Kris asked.

  "Well, your sexy hair caught my eye first." Kris actually blushed at that, and nervously messed with his hair. "Then your accent, I like it. After that I started to watch the game for you, as much as I enjoy the game, I also enjoyed watching you…That sounds really creepy, sorry." Kat shook her head, hiding her face in her hands. I am such a dork, she thought, cringing.

  He smiled slyly, "So you like my accent, huh?"

  Kat blushed, but yes, that French accent was a huge turn on.

  "Yea, the accent is hot… have to admit" She said sheepishly.

  "Favorite car? Favorite color?" Kris was funny, asking her question after question, and she answered every one of them.

  "Car? I love Mustangs. Color? Purple. My turn. Okay, favorite music? Oh wait." Kat laughed, her face burned and she wanted to hide. "I know this one… hard rock and metal. I also know your favorite color is blue, and when your birthday is… Seriously, I feel a little stalker-ish right now!" There wasn't much she didn't know about him, well, because it was all on the internet. And because she had done her research on him. She hid her face as best she could with her hand.

  "No you aren't stalker-ish! That info is out there online. I don't know what I can tell you that you don't already know. Except now you know I have a pool and hot tub, and that I'd like to see you in them," he said in a low growl.

  After a moment he changed the subject. "So, what kind of music do you like, Kat?"

  "I like rock and metal. From what I have read, we have pretty much the same taste in music."

  "Nice," he smiled. "So, tell me about your family."

  She wrinkled her nose, "Well, my parents are snow birds, so they spend most of their time at their place in the Florida Keys. Like now, it's cold here, so they're in Florida." She didn't really want to talk about her parents, they were gone so much during the year, she spent most of her time on her own.

  "Siblings?" Kris coaxed her on as he ate.

  "One sister. Gianna. We are actually really close. She's three years younger than me. She lives here, but goes to the Florida Keys with my parents." Kat sighed, she missed her sister.

  "Is she here now?" Kris fired off more questions about her family, he looked genuinely interested. Kat just had no idea why.

  "She should be home in a few days, actually."

  "Nice."

  "And you? You're so curious about me, what about you? Parents? Siblings?" He wasn't getting away that easy. She took a big bite of her food while she waited for his answer. She was kind of enjoying this.

  "Okay, fair is fair. No siblings, but I have a cousin my age that I am very close with. He's always been like a brother to me. He plays hockey too." That piqued Kat's interest. She tilted her head curiously. "He plays for Los Angeles."

  "Okay, don't keep me in suspense, who is he?" Kat questioned. She knew her hockey and didn't recall another Lafleur. How could she miss that?

  "Patrick Dubois. And my parents still live in Montreal–" Kris barely finished his sentence before she answered back.

  "Patrick Dubois? Seriously? The captain for Los Angeles?" Kat was shocked, she had no idea they were cousins.

  "Yep. We don't publicize it. Obviously we don't see each other a lot, but as kids we were real close."

  Apparently she didn't know all there was to know about him, she laughed to herself.

  Kris turned to Kat and said "Vous êtes stupéfiant et beuatiful."

  Kat wanted to just melt…the way he spoke French to her made her heart race and her body warm.

  "In case you don't speak French, I said, 'You are amazing and beautiful.'"

  This is too good to be true. Kat expected to wake up any minute and have it all be a dream.

  "Wow… I love that! I like when you speak French, it's sexy." Kat giggled and blushed. Now he knew his accent was one of the things that drove her crazy.

  "So is it safe to say that you'll be anxiously waiting for me to get back from Jersey?" He asked with a sexy growl.

  ****

  Kat had an article due for the paper about the finals of the local pee wee hockey tournament. She put all of her energy into it while Kris was gone. She handed it in that afternoon and finally had some
free time.

  The game against Philly had been ugly, as usual. Kat had watched enough hockey games to expect nothing less. Their muscle had a target on Kris and Tyler Kidd's backs. Tyler had been hit in the jaw, which caused Kris to come to his aid, leaving Philly's enforcer with a black eye. In the end, Pittsburgh outplayed Philly winning 5-1.

  She didn't hear from Kris after that game, but didn't worry about it, the deadline for her article was approaching fast. They weren't even 'officially' dating. She wasn't sure why she was pathetically pining away, waiting for him to get home and call.

  Luckily she had her article completed and turned in before tonight's game in New Jersey. The microwave beeped, her chili was reheated. By the time she turned the television on, the first period had already started. She was so hungry, realizing she had forgotten to eat today, food was her first priority.

  After setting her empty bowl down on the coffee table, the horn sounded indicating the first period was over. She muted the television, and grabbed her laptop. She typed 'Anna Jourdain' into the search box. For a moment she felt weird doing this. Was it any of her business? She shook her head, who cares. Any information online was for the public to see.

  She looked through all of the articles and found a handful of photos of Ms. Jourdain. Holding her breath, she clicked on one of the thumbnail photographs. Of course, Anna was a skinny strawberry-blonde with big breasts. Probably fake. She had little freckles on her nose and cheeks. Miss Big Boobs looked like she might have been older than Kris. Scrolling through the photos she found one of Anna when she was pregnant, standing with Kris. He looked so happy.

  Looking up from the laptop, she wondered how badly it crushed him to find out that the baby wasn't his? She turned the volume back up. Kris was on the ice so she diverted her attention back to the television. She liked watching him skate, and he had a few nice shots on goal this period. Before the horn sounded, he hip checked a Devil into the boards, sending him sprawling onto the ice.

  The refs called a two minute penalty on him, and because the period was over, he would start out the third in the penalty box. The television cameras caught him slamming his stick into the wall as he left the ice.

  Kat chuckled to herself and went back to her laptop. Scrolling through the articles, she hoped to find something current on Anna Jourdain. She found some tabloid articles about her and Shaun Braden dating, but the only mention of marriage was that Shaun had been asking her to marry him since she moved back to Montreal. There was even a photo of her, Shaun and baby Nico. He had a pudgy little face and big dark eyes. He was a cutie.

  There it was, a recent article mentioning Anna, but it was about Shaun Braden. Apparently, last season Braden went out with a concussion after a bad hit. He had been on long term injured reserve; he hadn't been back on the ice since. They recently announced he was still suffering from post-concussion syndrome; he was still having bad headaches, and trouble seeing. That is when Kat saw it, an article written just a few weeks ago, saying it was possible that Shaun Braden's career was over, and mentioning that his romance with baby mama Anna Jourdain was also over.

  Kat didn't like the coincidence. Kris wasn't joking when he called her a gold-digger.

  Kat had been so involved in her internet search, that she missed what was happening in the game, until she heard the announcers yell "Kris Lafleur with the goal!" Her attention snapped back to the television as she watched the replay, she hooted out loud. There were two minutes left and Kris put the Renegades ahead 2-1.

  CHAPTER 9

  "Gia, what should I do?" Kat waited for a response from the other end of the phone, she was hoping her sister had some words of wisdom for her.

  "Kat, what do you want me to say? If you like him, see how things play out. She sounds like a nut job anyways. I looked her up while you were talking, and wow, can you say gold-digger?"

  Kat stifled her amusement at Gia's comment.

  "Yeah, but look at her…" The quietness of her apartment started to close in on her. Kat really wasn't anything compared to Anna. That self-conscious feeling was back. Miss Fake Big Boobs was really doing a number on her own confidence.

  "Oh stop it! Sis please! She has nothing on you. You are beautiful!" Gia exclaimed. "Listen, I will be home in a few days. Stay strong, how likely is it that she would come back to Pittsburgh anyways? Kris is not the daddy, wouldn't you think Braden would have some sort of rights over her not taking Nico away?"

  "I guess." Kat wasn't sure about anything anymore, except that her diet started tomorrow.

  ****

  Kris flopped onto his couch, finally home from a two game road trip. "Home sweet home," he mumbled as he popped open a beer. His phone started to ring. He quickly grabbed for it, hoping it was Kat.

  But the name read Braden instead. He hadn't talked to Shaun in years, a lot of years. There hadn't been any reason to. "Hello?"

  "Lafleur? It's Shaun Braden."

  "Shaun, what's up?" He kicked back and took another sip of beer. Shaun Braden, of all people. He hadn't talked to him since before he found out Anna was cheating with him.

  "It's been a while, Kris. Hated to call you about this, but I think you should know that Anna and I are through." He sounded sad. Shaun Braden really was a good guy, he just got mixed up with Anna. No one deserved that.

  Great, he thought. This is not what he wanted to hear. At least while Anna was with Shaun she wasn't bothering him. "Sorry about that bud, can't say I didn't see that coming." Not surprising news. Rumor was that after Shaun got hurt he had proposed many times to Anna and she turned each one down.

  "Yeah, I know. Well anyways, she took off with Nico. Last I heard, he was with a nanny somewhere here in Montreal, and she may be headed to Pittsburgh." Kris was wondering what she would want in Pittsburgh. Oh, right. "Apparently she left as soon as I had her served with the papers."

  "Papers?"

  "Yeah, I'm trying to get custody of my son. I am home all the time, and if my symptoms get too bad I can afford a live-in nanny or whatever I need to take care of him. Anna is the same as she always was, now instead of mysterious trips to Pittsburgh, she takes mysterious trips to Boston. I guarantee she is messing around with Rancy. Once she gets her claws into him that kid will never know what hit him."

  Kris shook his head, same old Anna. He had heard the rumors about her and JR Rancy. "Neither will his bank account. So you're trying to find out where Nico is?"

  "No, my legal team can do that. I'm going to get him back, whether she likes it or not. But I wanted to warn you, watch yourself, seeing as she's in Pittsburgh, that doesn't sound good for you. Unless of course the Renegades have some new young hunk on the team with a big bank account."

  Kris laughed, knowing Anna ran after money, and the younger the guy the better.

  "Okay, well, thanks for the heads up, Shaun. I hope things work out for you." No, there was no new up and coming young star on the team; she had to be here for him. Kris let out a long sigh.

  "Keep in touch, brother," Braden said before ending the call.

  Oh yeah, that was what all the phone calls were about. Just then, his doorbell rang.

  A huge smile crept across his face once he saw Kat standing there. "Well hey, beautiful! What a sight for sore eyes! C'mon in." She was all bundled up, wearing jeans that hugged her body nicely, an oversized sweater, and black gloves, along with black ankle boots. This girl always looked like she stepped out of a fashion magazine.

  "Hey there! I hope it's okay that I stopped by?" she asked nervously.

  "Of course it is! Were you out this way?" He hoped she hadn't made a special trip out here just to see him. But then again he could make it worth her while.

  "I was covering the college hockey tournament on Neville's Island. I figured I was halfway here, I might as well stop by."

  "Lucky for me!" He smiled as he pulled her into his arms. "Lucky for me," he mumbled again. She smelled like vanilla. He was really starting to like that scent. "Well come on in, are you hungry?"r />
  "Maybe a little." Kat followed him down into the living room.

  Grabbing her in his arms, his lips brushed against hers. "I missed you," he whispered in her ear. He missed her scent, he missed her soft skin, he missed holding her in his arms. He sighed as he held her warm body against his. He was falling for her, falling hard.

  "I missed you too." Kat nuzzled her face into his shoulder.

  "Beautiful, you need to send me some photos of you for road trips like that," he said with a chuckle. "That was way too long a break without being able to look into those blue eyes." He smiled then placed a small kiss on her lips. "So, hungry? How about I order us a pizza?"

  "Ooh, I do love pizza." Her face quickly dropped. He heard her mumble something under her breath.

  "I was thinking a white pizza with broccoli and mushrooms?" He saw the smile leave her face and did his best to backpedal. "What's up? We don't have to get pizza if you don't want."

  "Well, that actually sounds really good." Kat said. Her stomach growled loud enough for him to hear it. "But I just started this diet, and–"

  "Diet? Really?" Kris said as he slid his hands on her hips, feeling her frame shaking in his grasp. This girl was insane with her diet, there was nothing wrong with her; there was certainly no need for a diet. "Beautiful, I have seen what's underneath that sweater, and I love every inch of it. There is no need for a diet."

  He had her locked in his stare, his eyes dark and serious. He pressed his hips into hers, showing her the truth to what he said. He was hoping she could feel the bulge in his pants grow as he pressed closer.

  "So, you can stay for a while?" He nibbled at her lips before she could answer. She was only able to nod. "Good." Pulling away he grabbed his cell phone. "Let me order the pizza."

  Seeing he had another missed call from Anna his expression fell. This was getting old quick. Taking Kat's face in his hands he smiled against her lips. "I'll be right back."