“Any chance we’ll have a Trane and Jax faceoff in the Cup finals?” Rocco smiled like he’d love nothing more.
Trane shrugged. He was highly motivated, but realistic of his chances. “It will be tough to make it past the first round. The finals may have to be someone else trying to take out our Jax.”
“Let’s go. I’ll get box seats. If our Jax man is in the Cup finals, we’re there.” Clint nodded to his brother down the table.
Everyone agreed. Trane asked Janae, “Wanna go?”
“What? Well, yeah. I’d love to if you’re sure.”
“Dates?” Trane asked the table.
Clint nodded. “Yep. Or others. Bring your mom if you want.” He jerked a thumb at Rocco. “I’m talking to you.”
“Don’t tell that to my mom. She’ll come.” Rocco shook his head.
“Hey if she brings her lasagna, we want her.” Trane rubbed his stomach. “Speaking of food…”
On que, a line of men with long spears exited onto the restaurant floor. The first one approached. Then the tip of the spear was on Janae’s plate. She nodded, and the server cut a thin slice of meat for her. He did the same for Trane.
Trane handed her a card with a stop sign on it. “So they keep coming and offering different cuts of meat until your card here says stop.”
She lifted it to flip over between the red and green signs and set it down with the green facing up.
“And the salad bar might be the best part about this place. They have everything from the authentic feijoada black beans and rice, to hearts of palm, to cucumbers in vinegar.”
Her eyes flashed with amusement.
“What?”
“I guess I should have guessed you would be a foodie.” Her eyes traveled over the breadth of him.
“We didn’t get a lot of variety at home so I love to find new places. And I remember when I find a good one. Surprisingly, Chicago has a good amount of churrascarias. This one is the best.”
“Speaking of your home…and not getting a lot of food…” Zane leaned forward.
The other guys looked to Trane and back to Zane. Declan murmured. “Do you want to do this right now Diesel?”
He shifted in his chair. The last thing he ever wanted to do was to talk about his dad, but he thought it might be good to work through some things, and might be good for Janae to be a part. Ryker and Grizz were deep in some kind of conversation at the other end of the table so he said, “I feel like a lowlife.”
“Then I’m ten times worse than you. I would have done far worse to that man’s face.” Zane shrugged.
“Yeah, but if I do, it makes me the same as him.”
Declan shook his head. “No. Never. You will never be your dad. It’s just not in your makeup.”
“Do you think we don’t get mad out there on the ice?” Jax laughed. “Every game dude. You’re a softie by comparison. You couldn’t play defense like the rest of us.”
Rocco called out. “Or offense. Do you think you could ram into Zane the way I do?”
“You’re lucky you didn’t get smashed up against the glass…oh wait.” Z laughed and then gulped his water. “I did that.”
“The point is…” Declan put his hands on the table. “We all know what to do with a bully. And you did it. And that doesn’t make you the kind of guy to pick on the innocent, or to be ruthlessly cruel.” Declan’s fists clenched.
“Honestly, the only reason this is still an issue is because you haven’t faced it. You haven’t confronted him like you did yesterday. Maybe you can put it behind you.”
Trane knew one more confrontation was necessary. He had a few things to say. But he didn’t want to talk about that right now.
Janae tapped her fingers on the table, and he wondered what was going through her mind. “Some people only understand one language. Maybe that’s what your dad needed to hear from you.”
His heart flipped. And several pieces of a long-disturbed puzzle found matches.
Jax pointed to Trane. “Janae is one smart woman.”
The servers arrived with their third selections of meat, and Trane could have eaten several more pounds of the stuff, but he noticed Janae was slowing down.
“You about ready to go?”
When her eyes met his, most of the wariness was gone. “I think so.”
He nodded. “Good enough for me.” He tossed some cash down on the table. “We’re going to head, good to see you. Thanks for making this special for Coach.”
“Hey, any time, Diesel. I’ll see you next week.” Clint waved.
They called out their farewells.
“Be good to him Janae. He might look all big and tough, but he’s as soft as a baby goat…” Declan cut off the rest of his sentence when Trane stared him down.
But Jax interrupted. “No, no, our Trane here, we call him Diesel, but really he’s the coal car.”
“Or no, our Trane is more like the new kitten, of a mother Lion.” Rocco snorted.
“No, I got it. Trane is…”
Janae waved her hands in the air. “Guys, you’ve got our Diesel here all wrong. I mean look at him.”
The guys all blanked out their expressions, for which Trane was grateful.
“He’s a tower, an impenetrable force. He’s strong.” She reached for his hand. “In all the right ways.” After looking up into his face in a way he hoped never to forget, she turned back. “And not one of you could take him down and you know it. He’s just that powerful.”
The guys shifted glanced from Janae to Trane, and then Rocco snorted into his cup. Someone nudged Zane, so he closed his opened mouth.
“He just chooses his moments,” she said.
Trane winked at the guys, and they turned to leave the restaurant.
“Thanks for what you said back there.” He squeezed her hand.
“Hey, it’s the truth. I might not have liked what I saw at first, but now I understand better what went down.”
“So, you’re good?”
“I’m better.”
“Another round of Princess Bride?”
“Eh, how about something more like Die Hard?”
“An old eighties action movie?”
“Is that any worse than an old eighties romance? Come on, it’s a classic! All this talk of pounding something makes me want to watch some of it on screen.”
“Oh, no, I have something even better. Can we stop someplace first?”
“Sure, where?”
“Surprise.”
She shrugged but seemed game. He hoped so because suddenly, he felt like putting some of his adrenaline to good use, and he thought Janae might enjoy it too.
They pulled up in front of the boxing gym. It was late. There were only a couple cars in the lot. The place was open twenty four hours, but Trane was happy they’d have the place to themselves.
“What’s this?”
“You ever been boxing?”
Her expression clouded for a moment, but then she sat up taller. “Nope. Let’s do this.”
He laughed. “Okay. They’ll have gloves and stuff inside you can use. You okay wearing a dress?”
“Even better. I’ll just take off my heels.”
“This is going to be good. We’ll get a workout in for an hour or so.”
She hopped down from the truck he’d rented, and they walked into the place.
It smelled like sweat and old gym. And she wrinkled her nose for a minute but didn’t say anything.
He nodded to Javier, the owner, and picked out some gloves from a bin on the floor. “These are just kind of the lost and found ones, but there’s got to be something in there that fits you.”
“Maybe…” She sorted through and grabbed a pair. Then she slipped off her shoes, hiked up her dress just enough that Trane had to swallow twice before he spoke again and then she rotated her arms. “Just show me what I can hit.”
“That’s it. Right there.” He led her to a training room full of bags, balls, and weights. “Anything in here is fa
ir game. You can even hit that wall over there.” He pointed to the opposite wall, which had a section that acted as a bunching bag.
“I’m on it. Is there any special way you should punch?”
“I’ll take care of this, Diesel.” Javier walked in. He was an old guy by most standards, and his heart was solid—loyal.
“Oh, awesome. Give me some lessons.” She bounced on her toes.
“Okay, the guys are going to love you even more when I tell them.”
She smiled. He watched her dimple come and go. “I like your friends. I wish I had someone like that in my life.”
“You do. That’s how we work.”
He watched as she started pounding into the wall. And he had to admit, he was impressed. She had surprising power behind those hits.
He moved to the bags. He tied one down, floor to ceiling chains, and powered into it. For you Dad. For trying to ruin my life. For forcing a confrontation. Stepping back in the moment things started going right. He hit the bag again and again, finally okay with his anger, accepting it for what it was, understanding that it was okay, and that pounding the bags was a great way to express it. It made him feel lighter, more relaxed somehow. Then he started to just hit for fun. He used muscles not usually worked on, uppercuts, side hits. He felt the power. He loved to use his body, work his muscles.
When he paused for some water, the room was quiet. No one was in the gym, although he assumed Javier was in the office they’d passed when they walked in. Now, only Janae stood in front of him. She’d dropped her gloves. He wondered how long she’d been standing there.
She stepped closer, out across the mat and into his arms. “That was the hottest thing I’ve ever seen.”
“Ha, oh—”
She covered his mouth with hers, her hands moving up his chest and across his shoulders. He pulled off his gloves, responding to her pressing urgency at his lips. When at last his hands were free, he pressed against her back, the sweat through her dress only exciting him. He moved his hands to her hips, pulling her closer. She responded with a nip to his lips. And sent her hands up in his hair.
And then she was dropping, slowly to the mats. He followed, not losing one second of her mouth. He cradled her, shifting so that her face was below. She reached for him, pulling him closer as he embraced her.
He knew where this could go. But even though Janae looked stunning and was responding to him, asking for more from him, the intimacy heating up by the second, he knew now was not the time. Not here in the smelly gym, not with some concerns still between them. And so he kissed her, he loved her, worshipped her with his mouth, but he kept himself in check.
His lips pulled at hers. He ran his tongue along her lower mouth, opening it wider. And he poured love into this beautiful woman. He couldn’t believe how lucky he was to have her. Then he paused. She tugged at him, but he softened his kisses, and gently lifted away. “I think…” He smiled, still trying to think straight at all. “I think it’s time to get out of this place.”
Though her small pout was adorable, he resisted kissing it, and they both rose.
She looked amazingly mussed and thoroughly kissed. He pulled her into his arms and just held her, no words, hopefully none were needed. They exited the training room. She slipped on her heels and they walked outside.
He welcomed the blast of cold air. Then he smiled. “You’re more than I can handle, Janae Terry.”
“And I think you’re just right.”
Chapter 18
Back home in Detroit, Janae pulled into the Comets arena after an early morning flight, trying to get her energy up. Her smile grew every time she thought of Trane.
She’d never been more relieved when she realized the full background to his scene with his dad. And listening to his friends talk, she’d learned enough to keep dating him, to keep discovering more about this new man in her life. Originally, she thought she’d come in and out of Detroit like a whirlwind, but now… She breathed out. Now, she just might stick around for awhile.
They’d scheduled her for a talk show, and a social media interview tour. Word was spreading and some of their YouTube videos had gone viral into the tens of thousands. That was decent, and she couldn’t be happier.
Why not stick around? The team was good to them, the owner was incredible. Sponsorship offers were rolling in. And Trane.
She grinned again and lifted her duffle out of the trunk.
“Have a good weekend?” Tiff approached from her own car. Janae hadn’t seen her drive up.
“The best.”
“I’m happy for you girl.” They started to walk in together. “Now, what do you have up your sleeve for today?”
“Something so amazing it’s going to blow everything we’ve done so far out of the water.”
“Okay, hon. This I gotta see.”
“Oh, it’s going to be epic. We’ll finish the actual routine today, and then I’ll show the girls what we have planned.” She held open the door. “If we can get it right today, we’ll do it live for the first time at tomorrow’s game.”
“So soon! Okay, Let’s get working.”
“And Tiff…”
“Hmm?”
“Is everything okay with the girls, with me dating Trane and all that?”
“I think it will be. They’re never going to love it when any girl gets a player. That’s the name of the game around here. Trane was particularly tough cause he was out of reach—like way out there. We knew it was going to take a special lady.”
“Thanks.”
They worked hard for a solid three hours. And at the end, Janae knew they were ready.
“Here it comes, ladies, get in formation.”
They did, and she could see they were exhausted.
“Last time. I promise you won’t regret it.”
And then the lights went out and the music started. As soon as the black lights switched on, they squealed, but they kept moving. Their rods she’d bought for them glowed, any bit of white on them glowed. And they looked amazing.
The light show began, and the lasers on the ice around them flashed.
Watching how it all came together, Janae was happier than ever she’d come to the Comets.
The next day in the locker room while getting ready for the game, everyone else seemed really pleased as well.
They all wore white leggings and a fluorescent halter top. The team paid for their spray tans, but they’d all sprayed sparkle paint on their mid-drifts that would only glow once the black lights turned on.
And then the pregame show began. They skated out onto the ice, waving to the crowds, holding signs that said Get Hype, or Get Loud. After their one lap around, the lights started flashing and the music amped up really high. They exited out onto the ramp, high fiving the players as they left. Trane always stood at the back. Their eyes connected as she made her way down to him, her skates hobbling along on the rubber flooring. All she could think about was their moments on the boxing room floor. She was certain her whole face was aflame by the time she reached him.
“Have I told you how hot you look in this outfit?”
“No, you haven’t.”
“Hmm. Well you do.”
“That’s good to know.” She winked.
The announcer went crazy, and Janae backed away, knowing Trane’s attention had just shifted back to the game he was about to play.
The girls moved to sit in front of the televisions in their room. No matter what teams they’d grown up following, they were all Comets fans now. They screamed and shouted at the puck drop and sat on the edge of their seats watching.
At two minutes in, they made their way back out to the edge of the ice and grabbed their shovels.
“And now, let’s welcome the Comets’ Ice Girls!”
The crowd’s cheers roared through the arena and Janae smiled. Then they went up and down the ice with their shovels. Janae found great satisfaction in the fluffy white powder that collected in her shovel. She pushed it out onto the d
own ramp. Then she moved to the goalie box. Trane had stayed out on the ice doing stretches of his knees and back, kneeling on his pads. When she skated by, he met her eyes and then lifted one corner of his mouth.
She felt it to her center. Wow, what one smile from this handsome man could do to her. She cleared out his goalie box, and every move felt personal, like they shared a kitchen or something. And the thought made her heart race. Would she share a kitchen with Trane? Wow, she didn’t dare look at him again as she skated back off the ice.
The thought wouldn’t leave her mind.
The ladies were now changing into their white costumes for their show. And the level of excitement amped up. Lily even smiled at her. Janae knew the light crew was ready. The girls were ready. Todd had agreed to keep the channels tuned in for this show. The ones who switched would do a recap.
They made their way to the side, ready to exit out onto the ice as soon as the players left it.
Their glow sticks in their hands, they held up the other to high five the guys. Trane’s hand lingered in hers a moment longer, and then they raced out onto the ice. They got into their positions and then, just as the they smiled, the lights went black.
Five, four, three, two, one.
The music started, the lights still out. The girls began their routine. And then the black lights lit.
And the crowd went crazy.
Janae hoped that Trane could see it all. Their glow sticks were lit, their outfits were glowing, and the girls were doing amazing. Janae was so proud of it all.
When the music ended and the lights went back up, the girls were gone.
The crowd went crazy again.
And Janae and the girls hurried back to their room to change. They giggled and laughed and screamed like she hadn’t seen a group of women do since high school.
And when they got inside, they all came at her in one massive group hug. She was surrounded by their acceptance, and tears welled up before she could stop them.
“Thank you.” She wiped her eyes.
“You’ve done so much for us.” Lily reached in and hugged her again.
Shootout (Northbrook Hockey Elite Book 6) Page 13
