Chapter 10
Miller
It’s game night. The first match of the season and my guys are pumped. It’s a home game so the stadium is packed, and I’m pretty sure that has something to do with all Dani’s promotions, I mean, before Dani and Sophie started this assignment, we were still pretty hated guys around here after last season’s fuck up. Don’t get me wrong, we have our loyal die-hard fans that we love, but the rest, they like to go with the flow.
I briefly wonder how Dani is doing with the whole calendar thing tonight, she said she had quite a bit of interest in it so far and had stuck a few freshmen at a table, putting them in charge of making sales so Dani could watch the game.
I stand with my boys as Coach gives us his first pep talk of the season. “Alright boy’s, you need to get out there and show those guys who owns this ice,” he starts, his face turning red as he pumps us up. “This is our season, our house and nobody comes between us and victory. We will wipe the floor with them. Show them how to play like men,” he hollers, looking each of us in the eye. “We have a reputation to win back. We know we deserve it, but they don’t. So go out there and take what’s ours.”
We all holler and chant as we hear our name called over the speakers. I lead my boys out of the locker room and into our stadium. The crowd cheers as we make our appearance and of course there are the few ‘boo’s’ but I choose to ignore that. We will show them who the true Kings of Denver are.
We skate out onto the ice and I look up into the grandstand, searching for a face that I know is hiding amongst the rest. There is no way she would miss this. I find her familiar golden hair almost immediately. She blows me a kiss and I pretend to catch it and laugh as she rolls her eyes in embarrassment.
We get started on a quick warm up, then head over to the side to let our opponents warm up.
Ten minutes later we’re called to the ice. The referee takes to the ice and the game begins. I take off like a bat out of hell and so do my boys. Each of us exactly where we need to be. Not two minutes in I shoot the first goal of the season. Our fans cheer and I look up to find Dani standing with her camera pressed to her face, capturing the whole moment. Fuck, I’m glad she is here.
“Good Job, Cain,” Coach hollers from the barrier as Tank claps me on the back.
The game continues, growing more intense as it goes, though, we keep the upper hand scoring goal after goal. Our opponents grow frustrated as the game goes on, which is when the real action starts. The reason I fell in love with the game in the first place.
Their right defence attempts to body slam Tank into the barriers, but he is too quick. Tank sidesteps and takes the puck out from under him, throwing the opponent off balance and slamming himself into the wall. Tank goes on to score us yet another goal.
The game continues, growing more intense but more rewarding the further we get and we win the game by 13 points.
The boys cheer right alongside the crowd as they do a poor impression of the Mexican wave, but points for trying.
We make our way off the ice and head for the showers.
Twenty minutes later, we’re all cleaned up, dressed and ready for a night of celebrations. “Where to boys?” Aaron asks as he grabs his skate bag up off the bench.
“Let’s stick to tradition,” Shorty says. “Home game, so it’s Micky’s bar.”
Everyone cheers their approvals as we make our way out of the locker room and into the throng of loyal fans who wait for us at the other end of the hallway.
Our fans take us in greedily, clapping us on the back and celebrating right along with us. We slowly make our way to the door when I spot Dani a few feet away, busily helping at the merchandise table. I call out her name and watch as her head snaps up and begins searching me out. Her eyes land on mine and she gives me one hell of a cheeky smile. “Micky’s?” I ask, hoping she can lip read as the roar of the crowd gets louder when they begin to chant The Dragons war cry.
She nods her head and turns back to the lady in front of her and hands over at least five copies of the calendar. Shit! It must be selling well.
We make our way out the front of the stadium and pour out into the car park. A few of the boys climb into my SUV and dump their bags in the back. Two minutes later we pull up at Micky’s and get the party started.
The bar is packed with college students and we are welcomed right in like the local celebrities we are. A table is cleared for us and the boys all settle in, ready for a great night. Beers are poured and the music is cranked right up.
Our table is immediately swarmed with every available girl in the bar looking for a good time. I bat away a few needy chicks and keep my eyes glued to the door, waiting for that one particular girl who is going to turn this already fantastic night into an incredible one.
“Here’s to being undefeated,” Jaxon hollers like the moron he is as he raises his glass.
I can’t wipe the smile off my face as the whole bar cheers right along with him, raising their drinks high in the sky and begin chanting to the mighty Dragons.
A familiar wave of golden hair steals my attention and I get up from the table, making my way to her. “Sorry I took so long, apparently, you guys are getting pretty popular again and every girl on campus wants a calendar,” she smirks.
I pull her in close. “What did you expect?” I joke, indicating down my body as if it is God's gift to womankind.
“You’re an idiot,” she laughs. “But you did great tonight.”
“Thanks,” I smile. “Let’s get you a drink.” I take her by the hand and lead her back to the table, where the boys all jump up, offering their seats.
She laughs them off and goes to sit beside me but I give her a tug, making her fall into my lap. “Where’s Sophie?” Tank asks her from across the table, raising his voice to be heard over the crowd.
“Don’t know,” she says thoughtfully. “She said something about meeting up with a friend.” He nods his head and sits back in his chair as he thinks it over. I recognize the look on his face and realize something is definitely up with those two. Just not sure what.
The night flies by way too fast and before I know it, it’s 1 am and Dani has me by the balls, dancing in the middle of Micky’s bar. She pulls me to the bar and orders a round of shots for the boys and immediately throws it back. She smirks up at me and finds a stool, however instead of sitting on it like I expect her to do, she begins to climb up onto the bar. Shit. She is plastered. She starts dancing and shaking her glorious ass in my face as the men in the bar begin to crowd around, one even goes as far to thrust a twenty-dollar bill in her face, which she gingerly plucks out of his hands.
Nope. Not my girl.
I grab her by the hand and tug her down off the bar, throwing her over my shoulder and making my way over to the table while she giggles and squeezes my ass. “Can you watch her?” I ask Tank. “I’m going to piss then drop her home,” He gives me a quick nod and gets back to nursing his beer.
I head off to the bathroom to take care of business and stand at the basin, washing my hands when a drunk surfer looking dude, crashes his way in. He throws his hand up against the wall to steady himself then looks around the small bathroom, stopping when his gaze falls on me. A wicked smirk comes over his face as he looks me up and down. “The big shot hockey guy,” he slurs, taking a step towards me. “She’s too good for you,” he adds.
“Who’s too good for me?” I ask.
“Dani. That fucking bitch is mine. You’ll see, she’ll come running right back,” he slurs moving closer to get right in my face.
My back straightens at the mention of her name. Is this the ex? “Tell me, how come she’s not with you now?” I ask.
His face drops in anger as he raises a hand to point me in the chest. “That’s none of your business,” he snaps.
“You see, that’s where you’re wrong,” I say, grabbing his hand from my chest and twisting it away. “Everything to do with Dani is my business,” I push him away from me and leave the bathroom before I beat this shit out of a drunken douche bag and ruin my career before it’s even begun.
I head back to the table to find Bobby leaning in towards her. “How many calendars did you sell?” he asks.
“Ah… like 200 maybe,” she says, still as giddy as ever.
“Shit,” Bobby says as Tank raises his eyebrows in surprise. “So, you must have made, what? Like four hundred dollars?” he asks looking down at his fingers, trying to do the math.
“No,” she giggles. “More like four thousand dollars,” she smirks.
“Fuck,” Tank says, beating me to the punchline.
She smiles up at him. “Yep and that’s only your first game. You guys are going to be giving women, lady boners all over the state by the end of the season,” oh geez.
“Ok, Dani,” I say cutting in. “Let’s get you home.”
“What?” she groans. “But I was having so much fun.”
I laugh at her little pouty face. “Don’t stress, we can do it all again when we win next week’s game,” I say, getting cheers from all the boys at the table.
“Ok,” she says, getting up from her chair. I put my hand out to steady her as she continues to wobble. She takes my hand and laces her fingers through mine, smiling up at me in awe. My heart aches knowing she isn’t really mine and if she hadn’t been drinking, she probably would have told me to fuck off by now.
I walk her the fifteen minutes to her place and stop at her door when she turns to face me. “You’re being unusually quiet,” she comments.
“Yeah, sorry. I was debating whether or not to ask you something.”
“Sure,” she smiles. “Go ahead.”
“You may not like it,” I warn.
“Try me.”
I take a deep breath, hoping I’m not going to upset her. “Your ex cornered me at Micky’s,” I explain. “So, I guess that leaves me wondering what the story is.”
Her body goes rigid at the mention of her ex and I instantly hate myself for bringing it up. “Shit,” she sighs, then eyes the outdoor lounge on the veranda. “Wait here.”
She bolts inside and returns a minute later with a blanket. She takes my hand and drags me to the lounge, pulls me down and curls up beside me. “You’re not going to like this story, but promise me you won’t try to fix anything.”
“I can’t do that,” I tell her.
“Then I can’t tell you what happened.”
“Fine,” I sigh. “I promise.”
“Ok,” she starts, looking out into the street to avoid my eyes. “Wow. This is harder than I thought. Apart from Sophie, I haven’t told anybody this.”
I put my arm around her shoulders and pull her in tight, giving her all my support and comfort. “It’s ok, take your time.”
She takes a deep breath and sighs once again. “I started dating Brett two years ago after we met at this party the swim team put on, he swept me off my feet, right from the get-go. You could say it was love at first sight,” she scoffs. “I was crazy about him and we were pretty much inseparable. A few months in, he was begging me to move in with him but I loved living in the dorms with Sophie and call me old-fashioned, but I didn’t want to move in with a man who my parents hadn’t met and approved of yet. So, we waited out the year and over Christmas break, he came home with me and charmed the pants off my parents, even went as far as asking my father for his blessing to marry me which of course, my dad happily gave.”
Shit. She pauses and takes a deep breath and I can tell this is where it gets hard for her “So, when we got back, I moved in with him and it was magical. Well, the first few months were. He started failing his business degree and would come home stressed out and angry and would snap at me about little things, so I always did my best to make sure the washing was done and dinner was cooked so he could come home and study. Looking back on that now makes me sound pretty pathetic, but I loved him and I wanted everything to be perfect.” She gives me a tight smile and looks off into the distance, thinking how she is going to get to the next part of her story.
“I had gone out with Sophie and Jared to this bar for her birthday and even though it was pretty trashy, we were having a great time,” she smiles. “Right up until Brett showed up to find me dancing with Jared. He stormed in grabbed me under the arm and hauled ass out of there, calling me every name under the sun even though I had told him a million times that Jared was gay, apparently that didn’t change the fact that I was a slutty whore. I didn’t realize until morning that my arm was covered in bruises.”
My body tenses under her, knowing that dickhead put his hands on my girl. Feeling the movement, she turns in my arms and gives me a beautiful smile. “Calm down,” she says. “I haven’t got to the best part yet.”
“Please tell me it doesn’t get worse than that,” I beg her.
She squeezes my hand and suddenly she’s the one giving me support. “Things got worse from there. It started with the name calling and not letting me go out, he got super possessive and one night he left his phone out on the bench when a text came through. I saw a girl’s name come up and I just couldn’t stop myself, I unlocked it and opened the text to find she was confirming the hotel they were going to meet in and if he wanted her to dress in black or red lingerie,” she cringes.
“Fuck,” I whisper. “You don’t need to tell me the rest,” I say, knowing where this is leading. I don’t want her to have to relive it again.
“No, I need to tell you. I want you to understand me, to know why I have such a hard time trusting men,” she explains.
I give her a nod and pull her against me once again.
“Ok,” she breathes. “So, I asked him about the girl and he lost his shit, saying he fucks her because I’m such a whore and that it’s my fault I wasn’t woman enough for him. He had been drinking and we got into this huge fight and I said I was going to leave him. I’d had enough of his bullshit, so I went to go start packing but he grabbed me by the hair and yanked me back to him saying I was his and I wasn’t to leave until he was through with me,” she takes a deep breath as tears begin to fall down her cheeks.
“I refused to stay there and started packing anyway. He thought I was just cooling off in our room and when he walked in to find me packing he lost it, didn’t even give me a chance to defend myself, just reached back and let his fist do the talking. He stopped immediately, realizing what he had done and began apologizing but there was no going back for me, he’d already put me through hell long enough, I wasn’t sticking around to get hit again. So, I left and moved in here with Sophie.”
She sits in silence beside me and I grab her around the waist and pull her up onto my lap “You are more than enough woman for me,” I tell her. She wraps her arms around me and nuzzles her face into my neck. I feel her smile against my skin and hold her tight.
We sit in silence for a short while before I realize she has fallen asleep. I scoop her up in my arms and make my way inside, down the hallway and into her room. I slip her under her blankets and turn to leave. “Stay with me,” she murmurs.
“God, babe, don’t tempt me. You have no idea how badly I want to spend the night with you, but I know you’ll regret that decision in the morning,” I explain.
“I know,” she says. “But stay anyway.”
I walk over to her and lean down above her. “Good night, sweet girl,” I say, pressing my lips to hers. She grabs me and moans against my lips, trying to pull me down to her.
“Please, I need you,” she says, trying to rid me of my shirt.
“Not tonight, babe,” I smirk. “Try me again tomorrow when you haven’t drunk the whole bar.”
“Fine,” she groans. I press my lips to hers once more and get the softest kiss in return “Night,” she whispers.