It’d always been about the game and his boys.
Until lately.
Until Vi invaded his neatly compartmentalized life and invited in her special brand of chaos.
He found he was craving the chaos more and more.
* * * *
Vi sat down at a small table in the empty coffee shop. Midafternoon wasn’t exactly its busy time. Izzy was already there, alternating between tapping a message on her phone and making notes in a notebook.
Vi had dropped off the boys at Amelia’s for the weekend, sticking with the story she’d been telling. She was recovering from the flu. Heartbreak did feel like the flu, so she wasn’t telling a total lie.
The next thing she’d done was change her cell number. She’d stopped at the club and left the number for Steph on the slim chance she’d call. Then she’d asked for this meeting with Izzy.
“So, Vi, what’s up?” Izzy asked.
“I have a colored history that could cause Matt to lose custody of his boys.” Vi got straight to the point.
Izzy frowned, and her forehead wrinkled with concern.
“Worse than the stripping. Far worse,” Vi added.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“No, I don’t, but if you’re still willing to take me on as a party crasher, I could use the work. I’d rather not go back to exotic dancing.”
“Of course, I’d love to have you. In fact, we have an empty apartment over the garage. It’s yours if you want it.”
“I can’t do that.” Oh God, she wished she could. She really did. She had her studio, but the lease was up at the end of the month. In typical Vi fashion, she hadn’t figured out where she’d be living next. If she dug deep enough, she’d have to admit she’d been hoping to move in with Matt. She couldn’t go back to the studio; not only was the place unsavory, but Matt could track her down there. She should move out of the area completely, but she only had a few months before she got her degree. She wasn’t quitting now.
“You’d be doing us a favor. Riley’s been bugging Coop to let him live there. No way is Coop allowing his teenage nephew to live outside the sphere of his eagle eyes. My husband is a bit of a control freak, though on this point I agree. Riley’s too young to be on his own, even if the apartment is attached to our house.”
“Are you sure?”
“Positive.”
“I’ll pay rent.”
“Of course, we can discuss the deets later. The place needs a little painting and stuff. If you want to do some labor for the first month’s rent, we’ll work it out.”
“I hate to ask this, but could I possibly move in today?”
“There’s one issue.”
“And that is?” Izzy cocked a perfectly sculpted brow.
“I would prefer Matt not know where I’m living.”
Izzy frowned at her and narrowed her eyes. “If that’s your wish, I’ll be quiet. But I can’t speak for Coop. He’s stubborn, and he’ll follow his own path. I’m not sure he’d be keen on lying to one of his captains. You’ll need to take that up with him.”
“Fair enough.”
Izzy nodded, back to all business as usual. She stood to signal the end of their brief conversation. “I could use you tonight.”
“And I could use the money.”
“Good. I’ll text the address and time.”
“Thank you.” She scrawled her new number on a napkin.
Izzy glanced at the napkin, shoved it in her purse, and smiled. “See you tonight.”
Vi drove Hermie back to Matt’s house, packed up the few things she’d left there, and wrote him a note, actually several notes, because she couldn’t figure out how to word what she wanted to say. Finally, she settled for: I’ll always cherish our time together, but we both knew this wasn’t going anywhere. It’s time to end it before either of us gets in deeper and your boys get more attached. Please don’t try to find me. I’ll be okay. I always am.
She chewed on the end of the pen and added: I’ll miss you. Keep saving those whales, Vi.
With tears in her eyes, she picked up the cloth grocery bag she’d stuffed her clothes into and left Matt’s house one last time.
Chapter 17—Deflection
Vi was gone?
She was fucking gone.
Merde.
Shit.
Damn.
Matt studied the note penned in Vi’s messy scrawl and didn’t know whether to shout until his throat was raw or cry in anguish until he collapsed.
Matt rarely cried. He hadn’t cried when his ex left him. The last time was when his father died. His father had been worthy of his tears; Brie had not.
Now Vi had left him. She’d cut him off because it was easier to run away than stay and fight for their scary yet beautiful developing relationship. He knew her well enough to know she wasn’t nearly as tough as she pretended to be. Underneath all the BS was a scared little girl, and she hadn’t given him the chance to show how things could be, not how they were.
Had this been because she was a stripper? Was she afraid of repercussions that might affect his kids? Something happened while he was gone. Something that scared her off and made her do the noble thing. Something bad and ugly and—
Brie.
The second the thought entered his mind he knew he was right. She’d been casting about idle threats for the past week via her attorney. He’d had a few conversations with Lila, who’d assured him everything was in hand, even the issues with Vi as a stripper. She’d sworn they could gloss over the exotic dancing as a girl without means doing what she needed to work her way through college. They’d cast Vi in a sympathetic light. After all, Vi was a good person. She wasn’t prostituting herself. She was dancing, and there was nothing wrong with that, no matter what others might think.
Brie must’ve called Vi and threatened her, but Vi hadn’t taken his calls, or he’d have told her his attorney was handling his ex.
He plopped down on an overstuffed chair and texted her. Vi, you at least owe me a face-to-face explanation.
His text was met with dead silence.
Answer me.
Nothing.
Please. Let’s talk.
He threw his phone down and growled in frustration. He stared at it for a few seconds, grabbed it, and tapped on her name on his Favorites list. He waited for the phone to ring. It didn’t. Instead it came back with an out-of-service message.
Damn her.
She’d gotten rid of her old cell number.
He paced the floor, pausing to bury his head in his hands occasionally when his emotions overwhelmed him. He embraced his anger, because if he stayed angry and focused, he wouldn’t cry. He wasn’t going to cry because he hadn’t lost Vi. He wasn’t ready to give her up.
“Dad!” Joey yelled as the front door slammed open.
Matt froze and glanced at the clock. Merde. He’d been pacing for hours, and hadn’t realized how much time had passed.
He turned just as Joey launched himself toward him and caught him, spinning him around. Andy followed, and Matt wrapped them in his usual family group hug. Only Vi was missing. She’d been part of these hugs lately.
“Who loves you?” he asked.
“You do!” they chorused back.
Matt heard a throat clear and glanced beyond the boys. Amelia stood in the doorway along with Brick, who held Macy’s hand.
“Hey.” Matt flinched at how ragged his voice sounded.
“Hey, yourself.” Brick and Macy walked into the family room.
Amelia cast a sympathetic look his way. “How’re you doing?”
“So you know?”
His two friends glanced meaningfully at each other, then back at him. “Yeah, we’re sorry,” Amelia added.
“What happened?” Matt glanced at the boys, who were showing Macy a new video game and not paying attention. “Everything was fine as far as I knew.”
“Honest to God, Matt, I don’t know. She showed up at the houseboat on Friday night. Said she
had the flu. Asked me to keep the boys.”
“She didn’t have the flu,” Matt said flatly.
“Well, she looked like shit so I believed her, but she called last night and told me not to worry about her. Said you two were over, and she needed space for a while. You didn’t have a fight?”
“How can I have a fight with someone who won’t talk to me?”
Amelia shrugged, and Brick looked at his big feet.
“There’s something you aren’t telling me.” Matt glared at each of them. “You know something. Where is she?”
Neither said a thing.
“Come on, where is she?”
“We really don’t know,” Amelia said. “But I think she might be party-crashing for Izzy.”
“She is?”
“I think so.”
“I need her new number,” Matt said tersely.
“I don’t have it.” Amelia looked him straight in the eyes.
“But she called you.”
“And blocked her number. She’s not taking any chances.”
“Well, fuck.”
“We should be going.” Brick tugged on Amelia’s hand. “Sorry, bud, but we’re late for an appointment.”
“No prob,” Matt said.
Amelia gave him a peck on the cheek, Brick slapped his back, and Macy gave him a hug. Once they were gone, his boys gathered round the kitchen counter, climbing onto the stools.
“Where’s Vi?” Andy asked.
“She’s not here right now.”
“When is she coming back?”
“I don’t know,” Matt said softly.
Joey’s lower lip quivered. “Did she leave us like Mommy did?”
Oh, fuck. A bass drum was pounding in his head, and every beat of his heart brought stabbing pain. Both boys watched him as if he held the answers to all the questions. Joey rubbed his fists in his eyes and bravely held back the tears, while Andy’s expression was stoically blank.
“She didn’t say goodbye.” Joey frowned.
“Boys, I don’t know what’s going on with Vi. I won’t lie to you and say she’s coming back because I don’t know if she is.”
Joey sniffled and a lone tear slid down his cheek. Andy’s eyes were bright.
“We want her to come back,” Andy said. “We love Vi.”
“So do I, boys. So do I.”
Matt walked behind the barstools and wrapped both boys up in a hug. They began to cry and so did Matt.
He’d just spoken a truth he’d only now admitted to himself.
* * * *
Vi had never been so miserable in her life. Not even the day she’d been tried, convicted, and locked up had she been this miserable. She’d had hope things would work out. She didn’t have that kind of hope now.
Out of necessity, Vi made a clean cut with Matt and the boys. Changed her cell number. Moved out of her apartment. The only people who knew where she currently resided were Coop and Izzy. Coop hadn’t been thrilled about keeping her secret, but he’d finally acquiesced to give her two weeks. After that, all bets were off. For all his he-man ways, Coop was a bit of a closet romantic. The last thing Vi needed was for him to get involved in this mess, but she feared he already was.
None of her new friends knew the full story, and they would never know if she could help it. She’d done what Brie wanted. She’d left. Now it was up to Matt’s ex to keep her end of the bargain, which was in her best interest. Of course, with Brie, a person never knew what they were dealing with.
Almost three weeks had passed, and Vi had managed to avoid Matt, assuming Matt was even looking for her. Coop hadn’t told him—yet.
She’d made herself somewhat difficult to find. Matt hadn’t miraculously hunted her down like the hero in a romance novel and declared his undying love by falling to his knees, begging her to give them another chance.
She was a dreamer, and no amount of dreaming could fix their problems. She’d known the truth from Day One, even if she’d forgotten it. NHL players with two little boys did not have serious relationships with ex-con strippers.
He’d moved on. She should, too. She tried, but every night, as she lay in bed, she couldn’t stop the memories of how his body felt against hers, how his dark eyes pierced hers as he thrust inside her, how he shouted her name as he came. And she couldn’t let go.
The guys were on another week-long road trip, and Vi breathed a sigh of relief, knowing she wouldn’t have to worry about running into him. One of the disadvantages of living in Coop’s apartment was the constant worry she’d cross paths with Matt.
Tonight, she tuned in to the Sockeyes game, as she had almost every night since her disappearing act, at least those nights when she wasn’t party crashing. Izzy kept her busy with four to five events a week, sometimes with Izzy and her sisters, and sometimes just one other person. She’d done multiple events with a gay friend of Izzy’s, Dane. Dane could dance like a dream, and all the little old ladies ate out of his hand.
A longtime friend of Izzy’s offered her a part-time job teaching ballroom dance to adults. Coaching awkward adults wasn’t like owning your own dance studio and keeping the cream of the crop students for herself.
Despite everything else in her life going well, Vi couldn’t shake the melancholy that smothered her most days. She missed Matt in more ways than she could imagine. And she missed the boys, too. Who’d have ever guessed? She’d always thought she didn’t like kids.
She wondered if they missed her. Or if they’d moved on.
Most likely as part of some unwritten bro code, Brick and Coop kept their mouths shut about Matt, never passing any info her way, leaving her alone with her fantasies and relegated to watching his games to get her “Matt fix.”
The puck dropped and Vi leaned forward in her chair, her eyes glued to the TV. She didn’t need to see his face or his jersey number to recognize Matt. He skated across the ice with his usual graceful efficiency, not the fastest guy on the team, but quick and agile. Vi frowned when she realized her body was imitating Matt’s as if she were skating with him.
At one point during the game, they showed the bench on TV. Matt glanced up, straight into the camera, as if seeking someone. She could’ve sworn he was looking for her. His brown eyes were sad. He mouthed three words, and she swallowed hard. Her eyes filled with tears. She could’ve sworn he’d said I miss you.
Vi walked to the TV and put her hand on the screen, as if she could feel him, and whispered back, “I miss you, too.”
* * * *
Matt sat on the bench in front of his locker and pulled off his sweat-soaked jersey. He sighed and put his head in his hands.
“Tired?” Coop asked as he walked by.
“Tough game.”
“Yeah, it was pretty physical.” Coop studied him and lingered, which wasn’t like the captain. He was a man of few words, and he didn’t stand around and chat.
“Something up?”
“I know where you can find Vi. I promised to keep quiet for a few weeks to give her time to think things through. She’s had enough time.”
Matt sat up straight. “You do?”
Coop nodded slowly.
“Where?”
“She’s living in my garage apartment and party crashing for Izzy.”
“No shit?”
“No shit.” Coop actually fidgeted. “What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know. Yet. Any idea what scared her off?”
Coop shrugged. “Not a clue. She’s not talking.” Coop lowered his voice. “If I were you, I’d go after her, even if you have to go all caveman and drag her back home.”
“Vi doesn’t do well with caveman.”
“Good luck.” Coop smacked him on shoulder and moved on to talk to a rookie who’d had the game of his career.
He left Matt to keep his own company and mull over his next plan of attack.
Chapter 18—Hash Marks
The Sockeyes last game of the road trip was an afternoon game in Vancouver. The team pl
ane landed about nine-thirty. Matt turned on his phone to check messages, hoping his temporary nanny was surviving with the boys. She’d come highly recommended by one of his teammates who had used her multiple times. The boys called her a drill sergeant, which from Matt’s way of thinking wasn’t such a bad thing.
There were several texts, one from his mother with a pic from her cruise and a few from the drill sergeant reporting everything was fine, and she’d put the boys to bed.
“Heading home?” Coop asked as he stood behind Matt waiting to get off the plane.
“Yeah, it’s been a long road trip.”
Coop nodded and lowered his voice, his eyes darting left and right. “Izzy’s crashing a party at the Edgewater in downtown Seattle.”
“She is?”
“You can thank me later. A nice bottle of twenty-five-year-old Scotch should do the trick.” He winked, tipped an imaginary hat, and turned to talk to Smooth standing behind him.
Matt recognized the tip for the gift it was. He called the nanny, reporting he’d be a little late. The boys were in bed. He could wake them up when he arrived home. First, he had to talk some sense into a woman—a very special, one-of-a-kind woman.
Matt drove like a man possessed, skidding around corners on wet Seattle streets. Arriving at Seattle’s historical waterfront hotel, he threw his keys at the valet, bribed the concierge to tell him where the party was, and took the elevator to the fourth-floor Olympic Ballroom with its stunning views of Puget Sound and the Seattle waterfront. There was only one view Matt was interested in, and it had nothing to do with water or mountains.
Stepping out of the elevator, he followed the music through the open double doors and paused. The majority of the guests were the over-fifty crowd, way over. He spotted Vi immediately. She wore a silver sequined dress which showed off her gorgeous body. Her hair was still a shiny chocolate with auburn highlights. Vi and a good-looking guy in a tux were leading the group in the electric slide. Matt grinned and joined the crowd on the dance floor, maneuvering closer and closer to Vi until he was at her elbow. As soon as the song ended, he put a hand on her arm.
She turned with a huge smile on her face until she realized it was him.
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