Hard Fall

by Brenda Rothert

  She looked adorable tonight in skintight jeans, a jersey with Ben’s number, and her dark hair curled and tumbling just below her shoulders. When she smiled at me, I forgot all about the impending lawsuit, how Benny never slept, and the way Hadley busted my balls all the time. Mostly, I wanted to walk over to her and kiss those sweet lips of hers and let every single guy on the team know she was off-limits. Because more than one was eyeing her, especially the new guys who’d never met her.

  I settled for walking over and kissing her on the cheek. “Hey.”

  “You guys looked awesome out there,” she said. “It’s been ages since I’ve been to a game. Thank you for inviting me tonight.”

  “Anytime.”

  “Who’s this?” One of my teammates asked, coming over to join us and holding out his hand to Hadley. “I’m Michael Boone but my friends call me Boone.”

  “Nice to meet you.” Hadley seemed a little startled at Boone’s overt interest. “I’m Hadley Ellis. I was Lauren Whitmer’s best friend.”

  “Oh.” His eyes rounded. “Wow. I didn’t know that was you. Nice to meet you, though. Welcome to the Mavericks family.”

  “Thanks?” She watched him hurry in the other direction and then cut her eyes to me. “What did you tell him about me that made him run off like that?”

  “Nothing.” I laughed. “I swear. I think he was looking for a hookup and when he realized that wasn’t going to happen with the woman I’m raising Ben’s kids with, he took off. The youngsters have no finesse.”

  She chuckled. “Probably not, but it was a good call on his part.”

  “So we’re going to a local Italian place we like. We know the owners and they always find us space in the back room where no one bothers us. You in?”

  “Absolutely.” She grinned. “Annalise called for me at least half a dozen times while you were napping. And I just directed her back to Grandma. By the time I left, she and Patrick were more than a little frazzled. I don’t think they remember how much work a six-month-old is.”

  “Not to mention an almost four-year-old.”

  “Speaking of which, I’ve got to get started on planning her birthday party. I honestly don’t know where to begin.”

  “Doesn’t she want something to do with Frozen?”

  Hadley nodded. “It’s still too chilly for something outside, so we’re going to have to get creative.”

  “Did you talk to Nina?”

  “Tomorrow.”

  We grinned at each other.

  “All right, are you riding with me or going with Nina?”

  “Oh.” She hesitated. “I guess I’ll go with you. I don’t know if Nina and Drew are going. They were going to call the sitter to see if she could stay later.”

  “Cool. Then I’m ready to go if you are.”

  We took over the back room at Giovanna’s Italian Bistro, a quaint place that had amazing food, good ambiance, and took care of the Mavericks whenever we came in. The owner, Vicenzo, had named the place after his wife Giovanna, or Gia to us, and they greeted us warmly.

  “Good game tonight!” Vicenzo whispered to me. “Gia, she doesn’t know I watch on my phone when I’m in the back.”

  I chuckled. “One of these days we’re going to have to sneak you out to an actual game.”

  “From your lips to God’s ears,” he said, looking up to the ceiling.

  “I want you to meet my friend, Hadley. She’s Ben and Lauren’s kids’ godmother.”

  “The one you told me about.” He reached for Hadley’s hand and closed both of his around it. “We miss Ben and Lauren terribly. But welcome to St. Louis and to our little restaurant. Are you hungry? What can I get you?”

  “I’ll check out the menu and let you know,” Hadley said, smiling at him.

  We sat at a big table in the back, more than a dozen of us, and it reminded me of before the accident. This had been our favorite postgame hangout. Sometimes we came to eat, sometimes just for dessert, other times just for a few drinks and to hang out. Ben had started the tradition after home games on nights when we weren’t traveling or playing the following day. It usually happened about once a month, a time for all of us to catch up, relax, and spend time together. Though the whole team and their significant others were always invited, it was usually the same dozen or so who came.

  Tonight we were a rowdy but laid-back group, including Drew and Nina, me and Hadley, another veteran on the team named Ross Camden and his wife Allie, Nash, Lars, Boone, and our new Russian backup goalie, Konstantin, with his girlfriend Svetlana. He’d only been on the team a year, and mostly kept to himself, but he did come to our monthly dinners, as if trying to fit in and find his place with us. A few others were stopping by but hadn’t arrived yet so we settled in without waiting for them.

  “How’s it going with the kids?” Nash asked. “I feel bad I haven’t been by in a while, but it seems like you’ve got it under control.”

  “Well, we hired a nanny to help us out so Hadley can work and I can rest when I need to. That’s made a huge difference.”

  “And then the grandparents arrived.” Hadley picked up her wine glass and took a sip.

  “Are Ben’s parents still suing you for custody?” Drew asked, disbelief on his face. “I can’t wrap my head around that.”

  “Me either,” I admitted. “I used to have a pretty solid relationship with them. I’ve known them since I was a kid, but they’re not backing down. I’m not worried about it, though. The lawyer I hired is going to chew theirs up and spit him out. There’s nothing that’s going to make a judge overturn the will and the arrangements Ben and Lauren left unless there was some kind of abuse involved. Which obviously isn’t an issue.”

  “Judges make weird decisions sometimes,” Nina said. “Make sure all your ducks are in a row, just in case.”

  “We’re trying.” Hadley glanced at me and for the first time maybe ever, her eyes were filled with…appreciation?

  I slid my hand under the table, gently resting it on her thigh, though closer to the knee than anywhere else. I was trying to show support, not make a sexual overture, and to my surprise, she put one of her hands over mine. I almost expected her to move it out of the way but she just squeezed it gently as she took another sip of wine.

  Jesus. Were we practically holding hands under the table? My heart was pounding a little harder than usual and my chest tightened with excitement. I felt like a teenager who’d just landed the pretty cheerleader and now all my friends were going to be jealous.

  I didn’t know what the hell was wrong with me, but somewhere in the back of my mind I recalled a conversation where Ben had confessed he didn’t understand why Hadley was single.

  “She’s gorgeous,” he’d told me. “Smart, independent, and has a huge heart. What’s wrong with guys that they don’t want her?”

  “Well,” I’d drawled. “If she busts their balls the way she does mine, who has time for that?”

  “Did it ever occur to you that she likes you but you’re such a player she doesn’t dare allow herself to get that close?”

  I’d rolled my eyes. “Yeah, okay. If you say so. Frankly, she’s hot, but not my type.”

  “I think she’s exactly your type. You just need to grow up enough to recognize it.”

  Yeah, Ben had figured out there was potential there long before we did. As usual. Had Lauren had similar conversations with Hadley? I wished I could ask her, but we were exploring new territory and I didn’t want to scare her off.

  “Hey, guys.” Van Lukather, a young defenseman on the team, came strolling in. He pulled out the chair next to Hadley’s, flipped it backward and straddled it. He was probably the funniest guy on the team, always cracking us up, though he was as serious as a heart attack on the ice. He also could throw a punch, which was convenient sometimes.

  Right behind him was Rory Beauchamp and a pretty young woman I’d never seen before. Rory was kind of a wild card on the team. He was young, but not a rookie; talented, but without much dis
cipline; and, a partier without limits. Coach had sat him down a few months back, giving him a talk about all that and now he appeared to have a girlfriend. Maybe we were all growing up?

  “Hey, I’m Van.” Van held his hand out to Hadley. “I didn’t realize Wes had a girlfriend.”

  “Oh, we’re not—” she began, yanking her hand off of mine.

  “She’s not—” I said at the same time.

  “Hey, it’s cool. None of my business.” He waved down the waiter and ordered a beer.

  Hadley glanced at me and I looked back at her.

  Like it or not, we had to talk about that kiss. I hoped like hell I was reading her signals right and she wanted more than just another kiss as much as I did.

  Chapter Ten

  Hadley

  “The look on his face!” Drew threw his head back in laughter. “Ben hated having pranks pulled on him.”

  “But he was the first one to laugh at the rest of us when we were on the receiving end,” Nash added.

  There was a moment of silence at the table at Giovanna’s. Though there was sadness on many faces, there were also smiles. Hearing the story about the time Van had put a snake in a locker-room cooler and waited for Ben to open it in search of a drink had made me laugh. I liked finding out something I didn’t know about him—it almost made me feel like he was here with us. Or at least, his spirit.

  “The rookies had it worse that year,” Wes said, shaking his head. “Van put the snake in bed with each of them, and we videotaped it.”

  “Oh shit, that’s right!” Drew said. “Didn’t Rory piss himself?”

  Rory glared at the team’s goalie. “I thought I was about to die, motherfucker. You guys are lucky none of us had heart conditions.”

  Wes looked at me, his expression relaxed and happy. I was feeling the same way, both of us several drinks in and full of delicious bread and pasta neither of us had cooked or cleaned up after.

  “I think the poor snake was more scared than anyone,” he said, giving my hand a little squeeze.

  “I took him to the woods behind my parents’ house after,” Van said. “I’m sure he had a good life there.”

  “Guys, I hate to do this, but we’ve gotta go,” Drew said, looking at Nina. “Our kids mercilessly wake up hungry and full of energy at six on the dot every morning.”

  “Ugh.” Rory cringed. “I’d tell ‘em to grab a protein bar and let me sleep another hour.”

  “Hadley,” Nina said as she stood up. “Can I come by tomorrow, early afternoon? I thought we could catch up and hang out with the kids.”

  “Actually, I have both our nanny and Ben’s parents helping out right now, so I could do lunch out if you want.”

  “That sounds great. Let’s text in the morning about a time and place.”

  Wes leaned his face in close to mine and murmured, “Hope you don’t mind, but I texted Tori and told her she can have a few days off, with pay, while Patrick and Susan are here. I want them to get the full experience.”

  “You’re ruthless,” I said, laughing. “And I love it.”

  The others were starting to rise from the table, gathering coats and purses. I glanced at my watch and saw to my surprise that it was after midnight.

  Wes helped me out of my chair and we said our goodbyes to everyone. I’d seen Wes pass Vicenzo a credit card from his wallet a couple hours ago, and he signed for the check and got his card back on our way out.

  “We thank you,” Vicenzo said, putting a hand on Wes’s shoulder. “Your team is always so generous with us. Bring your lovely lady back for a date soon and I’ll reserve a corner table for you.”

  Wes met my gaze for a second and said, “I’ll do that. And we’ll see you next time. Thanks for staying open late for us.”

  “Anytime.”

  We walked out into the brisk night air and I put my dark purple stocking cap on. Wes grinned down at me.

  “That was nice of you, to pay the bill,” I said.

  He shrugged. “Team captain’s job. Ben always picked it up, so now I will.”

  “You’re the new team captain?”

  “Technically. But Ben will remain our official team captain for the rest of the season. If we don’t start winning consistently, he might send me a message from the beyond telling me we need to get our asses in gear.”

  “Let’s not worry about any of that tonight. It feels so good to take a night off of winning and losing and deadlines.”

  “You’re right,” he said. “And you look cute in that hat.”

  My heart kicked up as I touched the end of my stocking cap and said, “Thanks. Lauren made it for me.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Yeah. She was just naturally good at things, you know? If she wanted to learn to do something, she just...did.”

  “You’re good at things, too.”

  I laughed lightly. “Like ballbusting?”

  Wes sighed softly as we walked in the direction of his Range Rover. “You know, Hadley, if I could do it all over, I wouldn’t have made that lame crack about you liking wieners.”

  I whipped my head around in surprise. “You remember that?”

  “Of course I remember. Over the course of exactly three seconds, your face went from interested, to incredulous, to disgusted. I’d just…had a few beers and, to be honest, I still had some growing up to do.”

  His humility about our first meeting caught me off guard. We reached his car, and before he could open my door, I stepped closer to him and put a palm on his chest.

  “I overreacted,” I admitted. “I shouldn’t have let one stupid comment decide whether you were worth getting to know better.”

  “Can I confess something?”

  I smiled and said, “Of course.”

  “I’d never been shot down before. I was kind of blown away when you rejected me, because I was so used to women falling at my feet no matter what I said. I once walked into a party after a game in college, drunk off my ass, and told a woman I’d just stepped in dog shit. She laughed and said I was cute. Anyway…” He shook his head, looked away and then met my gaze. “I thought you were sexy as hell. An absolute ten. And then, when you shot me down…I liked you even more.”

  I warmed from head to toe, pleased with the compliments, but also trying to wrap my head around what I was hearing. “You liked me?”

  “Always. I just knew I’d blown it.”

  He cupped my cheek in his hand and brushed his thumb across my cheekbone, then across my lips, creating a flutter of excitement in my stomach. A small snowflake fell on his dark stubble as he slid his hand around to the back of my neck and leaned down, kissing me.

  It was soft and tender. His lips slowly caressed mine before I grabbed the sides of his coat and pulled my body flush against his, intensifying our kiss. His sweet words, woodsy scent and hard, warm body made me forget everything else. I didn’t take the time to analyze or overthink it—I just lived in this perfectly romantic moment.

  Wes groaned and pushed me against his car, his tongue brushing over mine in a kiss so passionate that I couldn’t think straight. I just knew I wanted more.

  When Wes’s mouth moved down to my jawline, I gasped and closed my eyes, blissfully overwhelmed by his large frame and obvious hunger for me.

  “Let’s go to a hotel,” he murmured in my ear as his lips grazed my neck.

  “I want to.”

  “You’re so goddamn sexy, Hadley. I can’t wait to show you what you do to me.”

  Even through our coats, I felt his hardness pressed against me. I wanted to throw caution to the wind and stay in this moment, screwing Wes until the very last minute we had to return home in the morning.

  The voice was back, though. That little, annoying thread of logic was telling me it was irresponsible to stay out all night, return home in the morning looking like we’d gotten drunk, fucked and come slinking back home in yesterday’s clothes. We hadn’t even run staying out all night by Patrick and Susan.

  “I want to so much,�
�� I repeated. “But like Nina said, we have to keep our ducks in a row. I don’t want to give Patrick and Susan any ammunition to strengthen their case against us. And they don’t know how to pat Benny’s tummy when he has gas at night. And if Annalise wakes up in the morning and we aren’t there…”

  Wes sighed heavily. “I get it.”

  “I want to.” I pulled on his coat and waited until his eyes met mine. “You know how much I want to, right?”

  The corners of his lips tugged up in a smile. “Yeah, tell it to my balls.”

  “I’m not sure a one-on-one conversation between me and your balls would be helpful at the moment.”

  With a low laugh, he kissed my forehead and said, “Okay, not tonight. But soon.”

  “Yes.”

  He kissed my lips a final time before stepping back, pulling me with him so he could open the passenger door for me.

  How soon was soon? I wondered as he drove us home, his hand on my thigh making me so hot I was squirming in my seat.

  Not soon enough.

  “So obviously, you and Wes are getting it on.”

  My cheeks warmed as I laughed at Nina’s comment. We were sitting at a booth at a suburban deli, chatting over soup and sandwiches.

  “We haven’t gotten it all the way on yet,” I confessed.

  “Really?” She gave me a skeptical look. “I told Drew on the way home last night that with the way I saw you guys looking at each other, there was a one hundred percent chance of sex.”

  “Well, we had to go home to the kids and Ben’s parents, so…no.”

  “Yeah, I can see how that would be a buzzkill. But I love that you guys are so into each other. And I know Lauren would, too.”

  I looked down, smiling sadly when I looked back up at Nina. “Lauren and Ben tried to fix Wes and I up a long time ago…like seven years ago, I think. It didn’t go well.”

  “People change. Drew says he got all the partying out of his system quick when he went pro because it was so much more intense than he realized it would be.”