Anton

The first night I came back to Lucky Seven to see Mia, she was off. The night after that, I had a game. So by the time I’m able to return the third night, my anticipation is off the charts.

I swear my blood heats up as soon as I see her. She’s got her dark brown hair in a bun tonight and she’s wearing a white V-neck shirt that stands out against her caramel-colored skin.

After approaching the bar, I sit down on an empty stool to wait until she sees me. She’s drawing beer from a tap, listening for another order at the same time.

“Hey, I know you,” a female voice slurs next to me. “Petrov, right?”

“Yep.” I give her a polite nod.

She leans closer. “My ex was a huge hockey fan.”

“That’s good.” I don’t look her way this time, because I’m not taking a chance on Mia seeing me and thinking I’m hitting on her.

“You here alone?” the woman asks.

“Meeting someone.”

Mia glances over then and our eyes meet. My cock starts to stiffen and my heart races with arousal and awareness.

Almost every time I’ve seen Mia, she’s been at an event with Adam. I never allowed myself to really take her in then, to physically react the way my body craved. But this time, I give in and release my inner restraint.

I’ve got a good poker face; no one but me knows what I’m thinking and feeling but me. And when Mia walks over, my hidden longing for her intensifies.

“What’ll it be?” she asks, her bourbon-colored eyes studying me.

“Water with lemon.”

“You didn’t tell him.”

I shake my head. “And I won’t. But how do you know I didn’t?”

She looks down. “He’d…I would’ve found out.”

She can’t seem to look me in the eye again as she turns to get my water. When she returns and sets it on the bar, she says, “Thank you.”

“I need to talk to you. When are you off?”

“Late.”

I nod. “I’ll wait.”

Mia furrows her brow. “Don’t you go to bed really early?”

“Most nights.”

A couple of drunks start pounding their glasses at the end of the bar, yelling for refills. I turn their way and scowl as Mia dashes off.

If Mia’s heard I go to bed early, I wonder what else she’s heard about me. I’m known as a guy who eats clean, doesn’t drink, gets his sleep and doesn’t fuck around with women.

In major league sports, I’m an anomaly. I’ve got some married teammates who don’t fuck around on their wives, but no one’s as strict as me about sleep, diet and weights.

Some guys assume I think I’m somehow better than them, but I don’t. I just know this is what it takes to keep me in shape, especially as I get older.

Mia gives me a look every time she refills my water, and once she even tells me she’ll be going straight home after work so I might as well leave. But I stay until last call, and as people are streaming out of the bar, I tell Mia I’ll be waiting out front.

“It takes at least forty-five minutes for me to close,” she says, exasperated.

“Okay, see you in forty-five minutes.”

It’s more like thirty minutes later that she comes out the front door, locking it behind her and putting a key ring into her backpack.

“Anton, it’s not good for me to be seen with you,” she says, pulling a stocking cap onto her head and over her ears.

“You need a lift home?”

She shakes her head. “I walk.”

“In this weather? How far?”

“Don’t worry about it.”

I rub my hands together, wishing, I’d brought gloves. “You don’t need to be on your guard around me. I won’t tell Adam anything. I don’t even like the bastard.”

“That makes two of us.” She looks away.

“Are you guys divorced?”

I silently pray she’ll say yes, but she shakes her head. “I left eight months ago, but he won’t give me a divorce.”

“Fuck that, why’s it up to him?”

“It’s complicated.”

“Try me.”

She pulls off the bright blue stocking cap, unwraps an elastic band from her bun and lets her hair fall loose around her shoulders. Again, my cock hardens at the sight of her. She’s the most stunning woman I’ve ever seen. She has the exotic look of Rihanna, but there’s also something soft and sexy that’s all her own.

“Keeps we warm while I walk,” she explains.

“You don’t have to worry about that because I’m driving you.”

“Anton—”

“Mia.”

“Look, the less you know about me and Adam, the better. You guys are teammates and you have to be on his side.”

“No, I don’t.” I shove my hands in the pockets of my coat. “I can’t stand that asshole. I’d release him right now if I had the power. And I know he wasn’t good to you, so as of now, I’m on your side.”

Her eyes widen in alarm. “How do you know that?”

Before I can answer, she relaxes, seeming to come up with the answer herself. “Oh, the cheating, you mean?”

I nod, wishing I could kick Adam in the face.

“Yeah, if only it was just that,” she says softly.

Now I want to do more than kick him in the face. “What else did he do to you?”

She shakes her head and looks at the ground. “Your concern is really nice, Anton, but—”

“You’ve got it covered?” I offer. “Don’t need any help from me?”

“Exactly. But th—”

“I’m not buying it,” I cut in. “If you had even one good friend in your life right now, you wouldn’t be walking home through a shitty part of town at 3:00 a.m. in the freezing cold. How far is it?”

She sighs softly. “About three miles.”

I cringe. “And if you had the money, you wouldn’t be walking, either.”

Mia bristles. “I grew up on the Southside, Anton. I can take care of myself.”

“Yeah, I know it. But I’m not getting in my car and driving home when this whole situation is complete bullshit. Adam froze you out on the money because you left him, didn’t he?”

“Pretty much.”

“Fuck that. I’m parked around the corner. Let’s go warm up in my car and I’ll drive you home.”

She hesitates. “You promise this stays between us?”

“I do.” I take off my wool coat and wrap it around her, because her coat is a thin piece of shit. “The only way you’re able to trust a person is by trusting them. I keep my word, so give me a shot, okay?”

She exhales a breath into the cold winter Chicago air, and then falls into step beside me as I walk to my car.

When I unlock the passenger door to my Range Rover and open it, she gives me a skeptical look. “Just a ride. I’m not fucking you.”

“Jesus, what kind of guys have you been hanging out with?”

She steps up into the car and I close the door. I wonder as I walk around the car to get in if she’s seeing anyone. I really hope not. Not that she necessarily wants to date me, either, but…fuck, I’d do anything for a chance.

I can hear Alexei’s voice in my head reminding me that she’s not just married, but married to one of my teammates.

I start the engine and turn on the heat and the seat warmers.

“I haven’t been in a car for a while,” Mia says.

“Do you walk everywhere?”

She shrugs. “I don’t go many places. I walk to work and the grocery store, my classes are online this semester, and I take the train to see my grandpa.”

“Where’s he live?”

“In a nursing home.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. Is he there long-term?”

“Yeah. He has Alzheimer’s.”

“Damn, I’m sorry.”

She shrugs. “He’s in a good place. I get to see him twice a week.”

“So you left Adam and he wouldn’t let you take anything, and you tend bar to make ends meet?”

Mia nods. “But I’m not complaining. I’m happier than I’ve been in a long time.”

“Do you want to divorce him?”

She scoffs. “More than anything.”

I’m letting out a battle cry on the inside, but I don’t let my happiness show.

“So why don’t you?”

Her shoulders slump. “I’ve already said more than I should’ve.”

“He’s trying to fuck you over.”

Mia smiles sadly. “Pretty much.”

“So get a good attorney and take that fucker to the cleaners.”

“Bartenders don’t make good attorney money.”

“I’ll give you the money.”

Mia leans farther back against the car seat. “You don’t even know me, Anton.”

“I know enough. Besides, Adam deserves a solid ass fucking.”

She laughs at that.

“Sorry,” I say sheepishly. “Sometimes I open my mouth and the hockey player in me comes out.”

“I get it. And thank you for the offer, really. But I’m okay. I’m finally away from him. I’m just going to keep doing my thing and hope that at some point, he wants to marry one of the women he fucks.”

“That’s not fair.”

“Life’s not fair.” After a pause, she says, “Can you take me home? My roommate’s son will be waking me up at seven this morning.”

I put the car in drive and pull out from my parking place. I’m not sure how to feel about what Mia’s told me tonight. I’m so fucking pissed at Adam I’m not sure how I’ll keep from beating his ass when I see him next. And I’m frustrated for Mia.

But I’m no longer turned on. Mia may be in a bad marriage, but it’s still a marriage. I’d never put the moves on a married woman. And I can tell that’s the last thing on her mind right now, anyway.

“Anytime you need a friend, call me,” I tell her as I take the nearly deserted route she’s navigating to her place. “You can put my number in your phone if you want.”

“That’s nice, but—”

“I know, you’d rather be walking right now, but some asshole’s driving you home in his warm car. Fuck friends, right?”

With a light laugh, Mia takes her phone out. “Okay, what’s your number?”

I give it to her, warming as she inputs it.

“Will you text me so I have yours?” I ask her.

“Sure. But if Adam finds out about this, he’ll sucker punch you.”

I laugh. “That motherfucker wouldn’t know a fair fight if it came up and grabbed his nut sac.”

“It’s true.”

I turn to her with a serious look. “Has he ever hit you?”

Mia looks at her lap. “He’s too smart for that. Hitting leaves bruises.”

“Has he ever hurt you? In any way?”

“Nothing physical,” she assures me.

The pain in her voice makes me want to weep and fuck Adam up at the same time. How could any man do anything but revere this woman?

“I’ll fight Adam any day of the week,” I tell Mia as I pull up in front of her building. “Just because I don’t fight a lot on the ice doesn’t mean I don’t know how.”

“Thanks for the ride.” Mia unbuckles her seat belt and I do the same, getting out of the car to see her to the door of her building.

“Call if you need anything,” I remind her.

“Thanks, Anton.” She hikes her canvas bag onto her shoulder as she unlocks the front door to the building, walks in and then locks it behind her.

I look up at the crumbling three-story building. It’s dumpy. We lived in a worse place in Leningrad, but we didn’t know back then that anything better existed.

Since the day I saw her, I’ve been dreaming about Mia Marceau. Even if I can’t have her the way I want, hopefully I can be her friend. That’s what she needs. And being needed by her is more than I ever thought I’d have.