Chapter 29

Linc

I hate to admit it, but I love the Phoenix area. It’s hotter than hell and that will take some time to get used to, but I found a nice house in the city of Glendale. I decided to go with a house so I could have a yard. I’d like to get a dog because I’m lonely as hell.

When I made the move to Arizona, I was pleasantly surprised to find a welcoming committee on my doorstep within just a few days of settling in. Two of my new teammates, Nikolai Garin and Zane Kavanaugh, stood there with a case of beer and two pizzas. They are both new to the team, both having joined the NHL just last year.

We hung out and played XBox, which was about the only thing I had set up in my house. Since then, they were quickly becoming good friends, both of them easy going and funny as hell. They were also single, like me, and they liked to party hard.

I soon realized not everyone took off season training as seriously as I did—as evidenced by the beer and pizza that they showed up with. And because I was nursing feelings of anger and loneliness, I succumbed to letting these guys drag me out to go clubbing most evenings.

Niko and Zane were both high on their fame and capitalized on their good looks. They usually both went home with a woman they picked up each night that we went out. I merely went to pass the time and to try to drown my sorrows in alcohol.

I miss my dad and Nix, but I miss Ever more. I’m not sleeping well and it’s because I don’t have her warm body pressed up against mine. I’m not able to wrap my arms around her and breath in her strawberry fields. I didn’t realize what a comfort that was until it was gone.

I still burn with anger when I think of the last time I saw her. I’m pissed as hell that she couldn’t be stronger. That she would so easily give up on what we had. Admittedly, I probably freaked her out when I told her I loved her but I wouldn’t think about taking that back. I shoot straight and I talk truthfully.

My email chimes this morning with a message from Nix. I eagerly open it up, searching for those few moments that would chase the loneliness away. Instead, I get doused with a bucket of metaphorical ice water.

Nix wrote to tell me that The Post had published Ever’s article about me and he has attached a scanned copy. He doesn’t say much, other than I should read it.

I stare at that attachment for probably fifteen minutes. My fingers itch to open it up. Would she attack me again? Or would she paint a nice picture? Would she even talk about what we meant to each other?

Most importantly...would she be truthful about her cowardice? And how she bailed on me?

I walk away from the computer and do some more unpacking. I have been taking my time, because, frankly, I don’t give a shit if my home is a disaster or not. My time basically is spent working out, eating, sleeping and partying with my new buds.

After another hour, I go back to the computer and look at the email from Nix. I wish he had given me more details about the article, but he probably assumed I would be all too eager to read it. He just doesn’t understand how devastated I was to lose Ever.

My finger hovers over the mouse. A simple double-click and I will be able to see a piece of Ever. My heart rate actually picks up at the thought of seeing her photo near the headline. Because...in the several weeks that we had spent together, Ever and I didn’t have one photo taken of ourselves as a couple.

I press the left mouse button once then I hesitate.

I stare at the attachment and my anger builds again.

Before I can think twice, I right click the file and delete it. I then go into my Deleted Items and permanently remove it from my computer.

It’s time to move on from Ever Montgomery.

Tonight, the boys and I decide to forego a nightclub, instead opting for a popular bar with a band and outdoor seating. This is a good thing because I don’t like to dance and Niko and Zane are pretty awful to watch. They have mad skills on the ice but they look like complete dorks on the dance floor. It’s why I don’t dance...because I suck at it.

We are watching the band play 70’s cover music and drinking iced cold beers from The Phoenix Ale Brewery. It doesn’t take long before we are recognized and the same thing pretty much happens each night. First, some guys will recognize us and come over and ask for autographs. Word will spread, and then the ladies come up. These are usually the ones that are genuinely interested in the sport, and a lot of them can spout more knowledge of hockey than some of our own players.

Then come those ladies that want to get in our pants. They are usually scantily dressed, overly forward and don’t take offense if you say no. But if you show interest, then you can have one in your lap and offering a blow job within a matter of minutes.

I’ve watched this show play out each night I’ve come out with the boys. They’ve tried to get me to join in on the action. I always politely declined and tell them I’m just picky. There’s no way I was going to tell them I’m still stuck on some woman back in New York.

But I think to myself that maybe I need to get unstuck. Tonight...maybe I should let loose. I’m young...I’m single...and hey, it’s what I used to do before I met Ever. She’s gone. Now there is nothing stopping me from jumping back into the game.

I pound beer after beer and after the sixth one, I’m feeling pretty good.

“Hey, Linc,” Niko yells across the table at me. He’s way drunker than I am and his Russian accent is getting thicker by the minute. “Plenty of hot women tonight, no?”

He says that as a petite redhead squirms on his lap.

Yup. He’s getting lucky tonight. I glance over at Zane, who is standing beside our table talking to two women. They look really young and I hope he checks their ID’s before he takes one—or both—home.

I pound another beer and decide to walk up to the bar rather than wait for our waitress. A fleeting image of Ever bursts into my head and I immediately banish it. I deleted the last thing connecting me to her today and I need to let it go.

Warm fingertips on my arm cause me to glance down. A well-manicured and tanned hand rests there. I follow the arm up and glance into the blue eyes of a knockout woman. And fuck if she doesn’t look similar to Ever. Except...well, she’s tanned where Ever is fair. And although she has dark hair, it’s curly and she wears it off of her face. Her eyes are lovely, but they are not as big and round as Ever’s. She’s taller than Ever too and her tits are bigger no doubt. I can’t help but notice because they’re spilling out of the scrap of a dress she’s wearing.

“You’re Linc Caldwell,” she says. I recognize her New York accent so it’s no wonder why she recognizes me.

“Yup, that’ me,” I respond as I pay the bartender and grab my beer from him.

“I’m a huge fan.” She removes her hand and I look at her skeptically. “I used to have season tickets to the Rangers until I moved here a few months ago. That shut out you got against Philadelphia in the first round of the playoffs this year was phenomenal.”

Okay...the woman knew her hockey.

“Thanks. I just happened to have a really good game that night.”

She cocks her eyebrow at me. “Good game? That was a fantastic game. You stopped forty-seven shots that night, but I would expect nothing less from the goalie with the best goals against average in the NHL this past year.”

Holy shit! She really knew her hockey. I don’t even remember how many shots I faced that game.

“That’s impressive you know that,” I compliment her.

She shrugs her shoulders. “What can I say...I love hockey.”

“Can I buy you a drink?”

“Sure. I’ll have whatever you’re having.”

I turn to the bartender and order another Camelback Pale Ale.

“What’s your name?” I ask her, handing her the beer.

“Melissa.” She sticks her hand out for me to shake, and her grip is firm but her skin is soft. I feel a stirring. Oh, not below the belt, but something inside of me says I should put my moves on her. Maybe the old Linc Caldwell is ready to come out and play.

I open the door to my house and walk in. Melissa follows behind me, looking around at the mess. “Sorry it’s so disorganized. I haven’t unpacked everything yet.”

“Not a problem. I understand.”

Dropping my keys on the kitchen counter, I turn to look at her. It wasn’t hard getting her to come home with me. In fact, had I not suggested it, I’m sure she would have. We spent about an hour at the bar, talking and drinking. I had finished off a few more beers and I was nice and drunk. I liked this feeling. It numbed the pain and I hadn’t thought about Ever in the last hour.

Well, shit...I thought about her just now, but I’m not going there.

Melissa watches me, promise in her eyes.

Come on, Linc. Make a move. She’s yours for the taking.

When I don’t move toward her, she takes the lead, peeling the front of her dress off of her shoulders and shoving it to her waist. Her breasts bounce free and I can’t help but roam my eyes over them.

“What are you waiting for?” she asks in a husky voice.

What am I waiting for?

I take two steps and then I’m kissing her. My hands go to her breasts and I knead them, eliciting several breathy moans from her. She fumbles at my pants and it doesn’t take long for her to unzip them and push them to my knees. She then drops to hers, intent on sucking me down.

I grasp her head and look down at the ebony curls framing her face. Her blue eyes are staring up at me, almost waiting for permission. My hand runs through her hair and it’s stiff from an overload of hairspray. It’s not soft, like Ever’s.

Her eyes aren’t as wide or sparkling.

Her skin looks over baked by the sun.

When she wraps her hand around me, I feel...nothing.

Because she’s not Ever.

Stepping back quickly, I pull my pants up. “I’m sorry,” I grind out. “I can’t. This isn’t going to work.”

I expect her to pout, to beg or even to whine. Instead, she stands up and pulls her dress back over her breasts. “You’re in love with someone, aren’t you?”

I give her a hard smile. “Am I that obvious?”

She gives a light laugh. “Any man that steps away from that is either gay or his heart completely belongs to someone else. And Linc Caldwell...I can tell...you’re not gay.”

“I’m really sorry,” I tell her again. “I didn’t think that would happen. I was trying to move on.”

Her look is wise and sympathetic. “Maybe that’s your cue that you shouldn’t be moving on.”

I call Melissa a cab and walk her to it. She gives me a chaste kiss on the cheek. “It was nice meeting you, Linc. Good luck to you.”

“Thank you,” I tell her. But what I need luck for I don’t know. Just because I couldn’t let her blow me didn’t change anything between me and Ever.

That was still over. I just apparently needed a bit more time for the old Linc Caldwell to get his game back.