Falling Fast (Loving the Sound Book 1)

by Kat Obie

  “Sleep. I’ll do what I can to make your girl’s birthday a bit less shitty.”

  “Kay.”

  Scott went into his house and climbed up to bed. Before setting his head on the pillow, he made damn sure the alarms were set so he could do his pregame stuff and get to the rink on time. Chloe followed him upstairs like she was just as worn out from the early morning events.

  7

  Alice

  As the day went on, Alice’s sense of vulnerability and panic set back in. It was amazing how much comfort Scott had provided for her. She felt so safe and secure, especially when he was holding her. She had never been someone who looked for protection in someone else’s arms.

  It had to be a mixture of two things: the true connection that she had with Scott and the absolute terror of the evening. She barely comprehended that Scotty had told her he loved her.

  There were multiple times she wanted to text Scott and ask him to come to the gym. She couldn’t bring herself to do it. She didn’t want to appear weak. She already hated herself for calling him last night, but she couldn’t have done it solo.

  The only time she found herself feeling halfway normal was when she was teaching a couple of swim lessons. She put on a happy facade and pretended that things were okay. She was more distracted than she should have been. She was grateful that when she was working with her clients, she didn't think about the break-in as much as she did the rest of the time.

  As she was rinsing off the chlorine, she realized she’d forgotten to pack anything for the Sound game tonight. They had been talking about the game for days now since it would be the first time she would be sitting with the other players’ significant others. Hell, they’d even talked about the game that morning. She wouldn’t miss it for the world. The All-Star Break started up after tonight and there would be no games for a week, although Scott would be playing in the All-Star game. He was leaving town in a couple days.

  The All-Star Game would also mean that she wouldn’t get to see Scott for a few days since he’d been selected to play on the Metropolitan division team with the usual suspects. Alice was excited that Scotty had been selected, even if she dreaded knowing that he would be out of town for the week.

  She had to go home before the game so she could be properly dressed. She was bold and chicken all at the same time. She texted Scotty: Hey, I must run home before the game. Should I grab clothes for the next few nights?

  Before he could respond, she got a call from the police. They had a few more questions for her. They were straight forward. Did she have any enemies or past boyfriends who could hold a grudge? She had to admit that she was currently dating Scotty but that it was very new and she didn’t think anyone really knew they were dating.

  There were some questions related to her relationship with the landlords but she couldn’t understand why they would ask someone else to commit a burglary.

  They had to come back to her apartment to collect the bag of goldfish as it hadn’t been added to the evidence the evening before. She asked to meet them after the Sound game. They agreed and said they would send out the same shift that helped her the previous evening.

  She heard a few notification beeps while she was on the phone with the police, and she hoped she would be seeing a message from Scott giving the okay for her to stay at his place until he had to leave. It would likely be more birthday messages, though.

  Low and behold, it was more birthday wishes that she didn't look at. The only good thing about the radio silence from Scott was that it meant he was finally getting some rest. So, after about a half hour.

  A: Hey, the police have to come by after the game. Sorry to throw yet another wrench into the plans.

  S: It’s okay. I’ll come with you and we can do something after.

  A: Thanks. You are the best.

  S: I was hoping you would stay until I had to leave for the All-Star game. Get what you need.

  A: Thanks

  S: How’s it been today?

  A: It’s been up and down. Still feeling afraid and off

  S: That’s to be expected.

  A: I know. But I don’t have to like it. I want to feel normal again.

  S: It will get better.

  A: Did you get some sleep?

  S: Yeah. If I didn’t Lager would kill me.

  A: Why?

  S: He’s still pissed that the Habs didn’t protect him in the draft. So he always wants our A game when we play them.

  A: Sorry for messing up your evening.

  S: Don’t! I would have been pissed if you didn’t call after something like that.

  S: I have to get going soon. But I can’t wait to see you! Ping me if you need to vent.

  A: Kick some ass for me tonight.

  S: Will do. Je t’aime.

  A: Je t’aime.

  Alice couldn’t believe she’d told him that she loved him in response. She remembered him saying it last night. If she wasn’t completely freaked out that she would have comprehended what he was saying even if it was in French, not English.

  Her brain wasn’t ready to understand anything when he picked her up. The words sank in. They’d carried her though the last thirty minutes of her workday without too much in the way of anxiety (at least in comparison to the last 24 hours).

  There were a few seats up front of the box that were open. She got distracted as she started to watch her man on the ice. He was so easy to spot with his red hair and no helmet. It seemed like he was relaxed and having fun during the warm ups. He was chatting with his teammates and handling the puck well. Nobody watching the game would ever suspect that he’d stayed up all of the previous night.

  As Alice was watching down ice, a tall blonde woman who appeared to be about her age said, “Wie gehts?”

  Alice was a little surprised to be addressed in German. She knew enough German to answer back, but that was the extent of her skills. Plus, she wasn’t sure how the woman would even know she could respond.

  “So-so. Und du?”

  “Gut.” The woman laughed for a moment and said, “Sorry. Been home all day with the little one and I sometimes forget how to speak English. We are trying to always use German at home so he can be bilingual. Please don’t be afraid to remind me to speak in English, but I’m impressed that you could actually answer back.”

  That made Alice smile. “Trust me, I would have said something. That was about the extent of my German. It’s always been my weakest language.”

  “So, are you Scott’s mysterious new girlfriend?”

  “I would hardly say I’m mysterious, but yeah, I’m Alice.” How did she know who she was and which player she was connected with?

  The woman signaled to someone behind Alice with a tilt of her head. Then she said, “I’m Brigitta. I’m Ander’s wife.”

  Alice knew that she had a look of confusion on her face. She was still trying to pick up on all the Sounds’ nicknames for the major players. It wasn’t like the Flyers who she had been following for years. She was learning a full team all at once.

  “You probably know him as a Lager.”

  Alice nodded and took a sip of her beer that she grabbed prior to walking into the box. She knew exactly who Brigitta was married to. He was one of the people she was looking forward to meeting, and she wanted to make a good impression. Lager was Scotty’s best friend.

  “It’s nice to finally meet you,” said Brigitta.

  “Same. Sorry I haven’t been around. My work schedule was not cooperative, and it didn’t make sense to come in for the last period.”

  “Trust me, I get it. I know Klaus and I don’t always make it out all the time. Why don’t you meet everyone?” She directed them towards the back of the box.

  The room had changed. There were more people, and one of the cocktail tables was covered with several gift bags. She was hoping they were for someone else, but she had a nasty feeling they were for her. The phone buzzed in her pocket, so she pulled it out to see a message from Scotty.


  S: Don’t be mad. I asked for a little help to transform your bday into something better.

  Alice shook her head. She fired off a quick text back. He knew she wanted to downplay the occasion, but she couldn’t blame him for trying to give her a reason to celebrate.

  A: You’re lucky that you are cute and I love you. Kick some ass tonight.

  S: I will just for you.

  S: Je t’aime. Don’t forget that!

  Her heart soared. It was like it was before the break-in for a minute. She was amazed at how easy it was to hear him say that he loved her.

  She had to have a cheesy grin on her face. It was just nice to have someone who could make her happy, even if it didn’t always happen the way she expected. He also had stellar timing on and off the ice right then. Trying not to be too rude, she stuffed the phone back in her pocket and gave her attention back to Brigitta who was smiling.

  “I take it that was a quick word from your man.”

  “That obvious?” Alice was ashamed it was so clear that someone else could see it.

  “A little. Everything relaxed for a moment. Besides, this is the only time the guys can send out a message.”

  A boy who looked to be about three, with blond hair like Brigitta’s, was running around the box. Brigitta stopped him and turned him around. “Klaus. This is Alice. She’s friends with Uncle Scotty.”

  Alice knelt down and shook hands with the little tyke. She was touched to hear that Scott was known as Uncle Scotty. “It’s nice to meet you, Klaus.”

  The boy had no problem shaking her hand, but he remained silent. Neither Alice nor Brigitta forced him to talk. Brigitta let the boy go. He immediately went to the slightly older boys who looked to be about five or six.

  Brigitta immediately said, “Those two are Dima’s kids. Klaus wants to be just like them and do whatever they do. Fortunately, they are good kids, so I don’t mind if they run about. He always sleeps better afterwards.”

  She followed Brigitta up to the gift-covered table. She had no clue what to expect. She’d never met them before so she felt like everything was awkward. But they were able to go through the gifts. She had plenty of gift cards and new Sound stuff, all with Scotty’s name and number 34 on it.

  There was one last bag on the table. Alice was pretty sure she’d met everyone there. As she peered into the bag, she knew right away who the gift was from. Only one person knew that she was in the market for a new iPad. Plus, he was the one person who couldn’t be there. The card had a romantic saying on the front but the inside had a hastily written message which absolutely made Alice swoon:

  I love you so much. I just want to make you smile each day and get a chance to wake up beside you as many days as I can. Je t’aime.

  Toujours,

  Scotty

  Alice heard the goal horn sound. Between meeting everyone and opening up the gifts, she’d missed a little bit of the game.

  At first, she thought it was the horn to announce the start of the game. Then she realized she’d missed the first goal. Naturally, she cheered, even though she didn’t know what had happened. She peered at one of the mounted TVs showing the game.

  Fortunately, the TV was showing the replay: a quick breakaway play where Scott won the faceoff and got the puck to Dysktman. Dykstman flew with the puck as Lager crashed the net and Scott flew up on the left side. Dykstman passed the puck behind to Petey instead of shooting on net. Petey took the shot on Diemi, who let off a wicked rebound off his pad. That sent the puck straight back to Scotty, who took a clean shot on net with his wrister. The goal horn went off.

  She couldn’t believe his timing. While she was melting over the card he wrote, he was getting it done on the ice.

  Despite the fact that he wouldn’t see it until they were about to meet up, she fired off a text to say: Only you could melt my heart by timing the opening of your card with the moment you scored your goal.

  From then on out, Alice paid attention to the game. Both Brigitta and Diane were talking to her almost non-stop. Brigitta would talk hockey or just try to catch Alice up on the dynamics of the box. Diane had a one-track mind though; she wanted to get Alice involved in the various wives’ charity events.

  Sometime in the third period, Alice went from helping with the player’s favorite things basket that was basically obligatory for submission to helping with set up and being on the committee. Alice was sure she was going to regret taking on such a big role, especially since she worked so much, yet it would be something that she would enjoy in the long-term.

  Scotty and Lager were on fire that evening against the Habs, with 4 points apiece (2 goals and 2 assists each). With a little over ten minutes left in the game, she was hoping to see a hat trick. But something weird was going on with the top line. Scott was trying to feed it up to Lager, Lager was doing whatever he pleased, and Dykstman kept trying to get it to Scott. Hell, even the defense were just as guilty for trying to set up Scott instead of Lager. They were all blowing the scoring chances and just eating up the clock while they played pass-the-puck. At the very end, only Scotty got a hat trick and Lager got kicked off after a scuffle, so he only got a Gordie Howe hat trick.

  Scott

  After they met the media requirements, a few of the guys were hoping that Scott would come out for a few drinks to celebrate his hatty and Lager’s Gordie Howe hat trick. But since it was Alice’s birthday, he had the perfect excuse to hang out with her.

  When he went upstairs, she was engrossed in conversation with Brigitta, giving him his favorite opening. He came up from behind and hugged her tightly as he nuzzled her neck. He whispered in her ear, “Hey there, beautiful.”

  She looked back and said, “You’re not too bad yourself. Good game tonight.” Her smile seemed true enough, but he could see how dull and brown her eyes were. He loved how when she was really happy they had flecks of gold and were mostly green.

  “Hey there, Scott,” said Brigitta in a quiet voice. Lager’s kid was passed out in her arms. He was glad he hadn’t made Alice squeal when he hugged her. She’d instantly melted into his body.

  “Hey, Bridge. Thanks for taking care of Alice tonight.”

  “No problem. It was my pleasure.” Brigitta stood up with the ease only a parent could have when holding on to a child. He secretly hoped that one day he and Alice could have some of their own. Brigitta turned to Alice and said, “Good luck with everything tonight.” As she was passing, Bridge mouthed, “I like her. You better keep her.” Scott nodded and thought the same thing.

  “So, did you get anything good for your birthday?”

  “Yup. Got to see my special guy get his 3rd career hat trick. He even said something about loving me for the first time. I’m starting to think he’s too good for me.”

  She made him blush. He always felt self-conscious when he did since guys weren’t supposed to blush. Not only was she okay with what he’d done for her birthday, she was happy with him. The only thing he didn’t like was how she was putting herself down, so he nipped at her lip. “Could be that you are just as special to him and, if anything, you might be too good for him.”

  Alice smiled. “Nah. I might be just as special, but he’s definitely too good for me.”

  Scotty shook his head. Alice was stubborn. He would make her see his point of view one day but it wouldn’t be today. Then even thinking about a future with her was a shift from being solo focused on hockey.

  Alice

  Alice was surprised at how much fun she’d had at Scott’s game. Everyone was so welcoming. Only a handful of people knew about the break-in, and it was so comforting not to have to talk about it. She wasn’t sure if she could have handled it if she’d had to. Scotty was so flirty, and that kept her in such good spirits.

  It was weird not to just get into the car with Scott. By the time they made their way downstairs from the box, it was too late to have anyone drive Scott’s car home. They were among the last ones there and ended up driving to her place separately.

&nb
sp; As she got closer to her apartment, every ounce of fear came back to her. She didn't want to go there, but she knew she would have to reclaim her place eventually.

  Scott was waiting for her to pull in by his SUV. He seemed to read her better than anyone else and he came up and scooped her up into a hug the moment she stepped out of her car. He whispered in her ear, “It’ll be okay.”

  Once they were inside, she looked around, not sure what she wanted to do first. There was a part of her that was a little hesitant about the fact that the police weren't already there waiting.

  At least she had Scotty with her. She looked around, still careful not to touch too much in case she was missing things.

  Her Danish experience that she did a few years ago kicked in while she was looking at stuff from her desk and found her container of kroner. The Danes were all about hygge: a homey, comfortable space that you want to be in. Part of that meant lighting some candles. She needed to re-establish the hygge around her.

  Home and safe meant she wanted to be wrapped in Scott’s arms. It was almost insane how much she wanted to be held after the burglary. While she’d always loved PDA when she was in a relationship, that feeling was intensified. It was hard to put into words.

  Scott’s leadership qualities kicked in first. “Let me pour both of us a drink. Any preference? Is there anything that I could help with after the drink?”

  Alice looked back at him and nodded. She didn’t care if she had a drink or not. “Sounds good. Just pour anything that looks good.”

  Alice looked more closely at her drawers that were still left open. Maybe the boxes she kept some of her foreign change in were missing, but at the same time, the Danish Kroner was still there. “Maybe I didn’t put it back after Paris. I know I spent all the bills.”

  Scotty came up and handed her a dark amber drink. He held a bottle of Yuengling. She wasn’t surprised that he kept to the safety of his favorite drink. As he pulled her close with his free hand, he asked, “What did you say?”