Chapter Eight

 

"He kissed you!"

It wasn't a question. It wasn't even really a statement. It was more like an accusation, leveled with the same fast accuracy of each of Taylor's practice shots tonight.

Shannon had deflected most of Taylor's shots but she wasn't going to be as lucky with this one, not when the other woman was standing right in front of her, shock and dismay and frustration clear on her face. It didn't help that several of Shannon's other teammates flanked Taylor, similar expressions on their own faces.

"It wasn't a real kiss!" And dammit, even she didn't buy that. How could she expect her teammates to when just the memory of the kiss was enough to heat her face? She ignored her flaming cheeks and forced even more conviction to her voice. "Seriously. You're all overreacting. I told you, it was just for the stupid Kiss Cam."

"Kiss Cam my ass." Taylor slid closer, moving to within inches of Shannon. "He had his tongue down your throat!"

"Oh for fuck's sake, he did not." Not really. If his tongue had been down her throat, she would have choked. His tongue had simply been in her mouth. Hot. Wet. Tempting.

Too damn tempting.

"Don't tell me it wasn't! It's all over social media, Shannon. Any moron can look at the video and tell where his tongue was."

"And again, you're overreacting." Shannon pushed away from the net, wanting to do nothing more than fly across the ice and hit the locker room so she could change and leave. She wasn't even going to take a shower until she got home. She should already be walking out the door—practice had ended a good ten minutes ago. But she was penned in, unable to push her way past Taylor and Sammie and Dani. She was bigger than Sammie, she could probably just push her out of the way and make a dash for it—

Dani stepped in front of her, stopping her from doing just that. Shannon narrowed her eyes, ready to give her friend a warning when Taylor popped her on the shoulder to get her attention.

"And you're underreacting. I told you, Caleb's a player. He'll drop you as soon as he gets what he wants."

"Yeah? And? What makes you think I'm not playing him? What makes you think I'm not going to drop him as soon as I get what I want?" Shannon mentally cringed as soon as the words left her mouth and it took all her effort not to snort in disbelief. Yeah, right. Like she was capable of doing something like that.

The identical expressions of her teammates were nothing more than a reflection of her own thoughts. They didn't believe it any more than she did. And why would they? That wasn't her. She wasn't like that. She'd never been like that.

Maybe she should be. Maybe it was time to change and go after what she wanted for once. That's what she did on the ice, why should her personal life be any different?

Because she didn't have a personal life, that was why. But what if—

"Are you crazy? Did you get hit in the head or something and not tell anyone?" Dani's even voice—steady and controlled—cut through the surprised silence. Shannon narrowed her gaze and stared at the other woman.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Just what I said. That's not you. You wouldn't know how to play a guy if your life depended on it."

"How would you know?"

"Because I know."

"Yeah? Is that what you think? Because you don't know. For all you know—"

"Ohmygod would you two please knock it off! You're giving me a headache." Sammie wedged herself between them with a playful smile. "Besides, I have news."

"You're pregnant."

Sammie spun around, her light brown eyes wide with shock as she faced Shannon. "What? No! Why do you always think that whenever someone has news?"

"I don't know. Just sounds good, I guess."

"Well stop. Okay? It's silly."

"Fine. Whatever." Shannon draped her arm along the top bar of the net and stared at the smaller woman. "So what's this news?"

Sammie took a deep breath, her gaze resting on each woman for a long second. A slow smile lit her face and laughter danced in her eyes a second before she bounced up and down in excitement. "Jon and I are getting married!"

Silence greeted her announcement, dimming Sammie's smile. She blinked, glanced around, blinked again. "Well? Aren't you guys excited?"

"How exactly is that news? You guys are already married."

"No. We're divorced. Remember?"

"So you're getting remarried."

"Well…yeah. I guess."

Dani slid closer to Sammie and pulled her in for a quick hug. "Ignore Shannon. She doesn't have a romantic bone in her body."

"Hey! I do so!" Her half-hearted objection was largely ignored as the other two women congratulated Sammie. Shannon released a heavy sigh then skated closer to the small group, pulling Sammie in for a big hug. "Congratulations, Reigs. As long as he makes you happy."

"He does."

"Good. Because I'd hate to have to kick his ass for you."

Sammie hugged her back with a laugh. "I don't think you need to worry about that."

"So you guys have worked everything out, then? No more issues? Discussed how he screwed up last time?" Taylor's questions were sharp and direct, fired one after another. Sammie pulled away, ran a hand through the damp curls of her short hair, and nodded.

"Yes, yes, and yes. I mean, we're still working on what happened and I asked him to get counseling." Sadness filled Sammie's dark eyes, there and gone in a heartbeat. "You know, for everything he went through over there."

"And he agreed?" Taylor's voice held just the slightest edge, tinged with a little disbelief.

"Yeah, he did. Not right away but he agreed."

"And you're absolutely sure about this?"

Shannon looked over at Taylor, frowning. Why was she being so short? First with that bit over that stupid kiss, and now with Sammie's news. That wasn't like Taylor. Shannon opened her mouth, ready to ask what was going on, then snapped it shut. She could ask later, when Sammie wasn't gushing about her ex-husband. Or rather, her future husband.

"I'm positive. I love him. He loves me. That never stopped, you know?"

"Are you sure—"

Shannon nudged Taylor in the side, hard enough to make the other woman grunt. "You heard her. She's sure. Now drop it."

"I just want—"

"So when's the date?" Shannon moved in front of Taylor, speaking right over her before she ended up saying something stupid. "Let me guess: a June wedding, right? With lots of lace and flowers and—hey, can you wear white again? I mean, considering you guys have already been married and have a kid and all."

"Three weeks."

"What?"

"We're getting married in three weeks."

Silence, stunned and heavy, hung in the air at Sammie's announcement. Shannon exchanged a disbelieving glance with Taylor and Dani then turned back to Sammie. "Three weeks? Are you fucking crazy? You can't plan a wedding in three fucking weeks!"

"What about the rest of the season? You can't just quit in the middle of it!"

"And the exhibition game. Please tell me you aren't going to miss that." Taylor's voice was a little strangled, the words coming out in a croak. "After everything Chuckie did—"

"Guys, stop! Holy crappola, you're supposed to be excited for me, not freaking out!" A playful smile filled Sammie's face as she rolled her eyes. "We're not doing a big wedding. We already had that. And no, I'm not wearing white. I don't think, I haven't given it much thought yet. And I'm not quitting. And I'm not missing the exhibition game, so relax. We're just going to have a small ceremony, that's all."

Dani edged closer and tilted her head to the side. "Like, how small?"

"Not so small that you guys won't be there."

"Whew. Okay, good." Shannon reached out with her stick and tapped Sammie on the leg. "Because I was going to have to go off on you if we weren't invited."

"Of course, you're invited! You guys are like my family." Sammie's voice wobbled on the last word, a second before she hurtled toward them, her arms open wide for a group hug. Shannon stiffened for a brief second then rolled her eyes and joined in the hug. No, it wasn't her thing, never had been, but Sammie's excitement was contagious and she couldn't let her friend down.

Or maybe she was just starting to soften a bit.

She shook off the horror of that last thought and stepped back, not really paying attention to the chorus of voices echoing around her. Taylor skated away first, followed by Dani. Shannon hesitated, ready to follow, but Sammie's stare stopped her.

"What?"

"You shouldn't pay attention to Taylor. She's just being a grump. I think she's worried about ticket sales. And the exhibition game. And Chuckie."

"Yeah, no kidding. And I'm not. Um, what about Chuckie?"

"I'm not sure but I think he's feeling added pressure because sales haven't picked up."

"But they will. Right? I mean, it's still early. And it has to mean something that he got the whole exhibition game set up. That's, like, a huge deal. Bigger than huge. It's abso-fucking-lutely amazing.

"Yeah, I guess." Sammie nodded then shifted her weight from one skate to the other and twirled the stick in her hand. "We don't have a shot at winning at all, do we?"

"Of course we do. Why would you say that?"

"Why? Um, because we're going to be playing against the Banners, that's why. Those guys are the real deal."

"Newsflash, Reigs: so are we. They just get paid a hell of a lot more."

"They also play more and practice more and have a lot more experience than we do."

"Doesn't mean we can't kick their asses."

Sammie laughed, the sound a little forced, a little hollow in the chilled air. "I guess. So…do you like him?"

"Who?"

"Don't play stupid. You know who."

Shannon shrugged and started skating away. Not to get away from Sammie and her questions—that wouldn't work, not when Sammie was right beside her. She was skating just to move. She thought better when she was moving, when the ice was under her feet, when she was part of the ice. Who cared if it didn't make sense? It worked for her. It had always worked for her.

Only the ice wasn't giving her answers, not to this question. She didn't know how to answer. Did she like Caleb? Yeah. But was there something more to it than that? How could there be when she still didn't know what he was up to? When she had no idea what it was he wanted?

"Well? Do you?"

"I don't know, Reigs. Maybe." Shannon pushed through the door, waiting for Sammie to follow before slamming it shut. "But I don't think I trust him."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't know what kind of game he's playing."

"Why do you think he's playing a game?"

"Oh please. Really? This is me we're talking about. My mouth opens and God only knows what's going to pop out. Guys like him don't want someone like me."

"I think you're selling yourself short."

Shannon grunted but didn't say anything as they entered the locker room and started removing their gear. Was she selling herself short? Maybe…but what else was she supposed to do when experience had taught her otherwise? And why was she suddenly so worried about it now, when it had never bothered her before?

Because she liked Caleb, that was why.

Which meant she was already in over her head.

She tossed everything into her bag—because they weren't the only ones who used this locker room so they couldn't leave anything behind—then pulled a heavy sweatshirt over her head and slid her shoes on. She needed to get over this…this thing she had for Caleb before she did something really stupid. Like sleep with him.

Or worse.

"You should bring him to the wedding."

"What?"

Sammie tossed her gear bag over her shoulder with a shrug. "You heard me. Bring him to the wedding."

"No. Not happening."

"Why not?"

"Because…because it's not, that's why. We're not dating. Not even close. And bringing him to your wedding would be like a date."

"But you like him. And judging from that kiss, he must like you."

"I told you, it was just for the stupid camera. It didn't mean anything."

"Uh-huh. That's why you're blushing."

"You're seeing things." Shannon turned away and hurried toward the door in a vain attempt to hide her flaming face. Sammie's laughter followed her, letting her know she hadn't succeeded in hiding anything.