Hockey Christmas (A Holiday Sports Romance Love Story)

by Naomi Niles

  And then to find out what Brad was really like… I just couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t imagine my mom picking such a horrible man to marry. What the hell had she been thinking? Did she have even an inkling of the truth?

  I’d always assumed that people could never be married to a criminal without at least some knowledge, but I couldn’t believe that she would throw away the career that she’d worked so hard for over this. She had no idea, and I was going to have to be the one to tell her.

  Urgh, tomorrow is going to be absolutely awful.

  I clambered quietly back into my bed and I lay my head down on the pillow, trying to shut my racing mind off. I needed to get at least some sleep if I was going to through all of that trauma tomorrow. I squeezed my eyes shut, wishing that none of this was happening while I was pregnant. It was so stressful, and I really didn’t need that. I hadn't even managed to see the doctor yet, and I felt guiltier about that with each day that passed. I’d been planning on phoning again in the morning, but it seemed like another day was going to be consumed by whatever the hell Brad was doing.

  By the time the sunlight started to stream through the window, I sat up in the bed with my whole body aching–the sort of pain that could only have come from tossing and turning all night. I hadn’t slept much at all, and I was already feeling it. Not only were my emotions all over the place with the thought of seeing Rhett again, but the panic was starting to consume me, too.

  I glanced over at Mom, who was still sleeping, and I decided to sneak into the shower to let her rest for a little while longer. I grabbed my belongings, and I started to make my way over to the door, but by the time I got there a quiet knock rang out on the door.

  Knock, knock.

  My heart raced as I wondered if it could be Brad. I was pretty sure that Mom had told him where she was staying in one of her desperate messages, which meant that he could turn up at any given moment.

  Knock, knock.

  “Hello?” I whispered quietly, not wanting to open the door until I knew exactly who it was.

  “Danica, it’s me!” Rhett hissed through the crack, causing a sense of calm to overcome me. Thank God! I swung the door open with a big smile spread across my cheeks.

  “Back so soon?” I asked, feeling happy that he was here. We hadn't made any set plans for what time we would be seeing each other, and I found myself feeling really glad that it was earlier rather than later. At least I wouldn’t have to explain this entire mess to Mom by myself–Rhett knew more about it all than I did, anyway.

  But Rhett didn’t smile back. In fact, he appeared to be in full panic mode, his face was contorted in what appeared to be shock. “Come out here,” he insisted, flickering his eyes everywhere. “I need to talk to you now. Alone.”

  What the hell?

  Just as I thought things were finally pulling themselves together again, something else had happened. Rhett was much calmer last night, so clearly somehow between midnight and now everything was about to change.

  Adrenaline was coursing through my veins as I stepped out into the hallway with him. My heart raced, my body trembled, and my emotions flew everywhere. I hated seeing him so wound up, especially when I didn’t know what I could do about it.

  “What’s going on?” I crossed my arms across my chest, suddenly feeling a little self-conscious about my dishevelled appearance–which was silly because it was the least of my problems. “Are you okay?”

  He certainly didn’t look okay. In fact, he looked more of a mess than I’d ever seen him before. Sure, he was never the primped and preened type, but this was on another level. I wanted to reach out and grab him, but I couldn’t. That invisible barrier was still there between us, and I couldn’t do anything about that right now.

  But Rhett didn’t answer me; he simply gave me a long and lingering look that I didn’t know how to decipher. That was until he grabbed me, and wrapped his arms around me before kissing me hard. But this kiss wasn’t particularly loving, or passionate. It was desperate, and that had me more worried than anything else.

  Of course, I was glad to have his lips pressed up against mine, but I couldn’t help freaking out. This wasn’t right, it felt too…off. We hadn't even discussed the possibility of us yet, and I certainly didn’t feel like this was the best way to start it, so I pushed him off with a stunned shock on my face.

  “What the hell is going on? Tell me now,” I demanded, hoping that I sounded fiercer than pissed off. I wasn’t angry, just a little confused and afraid of screwing everything up.

  “I’m okay,” he insisted, nodding a little too wildly for my liking. “I’m just glad that you’re all right, too.”

  “Why? What’s going on?” I hissed. “Why wouldn’t I be?” I was in full panic mode now too, and there was no reeling it in. Something bad must have happened somewhere along the way and I’d missed it somehow. The tension was killing me, why wasn’t he just telling me the truth? Did I need to shake it out of him?

  But then he spoke out, and he stunned me to my core.

  “Why didn’t you tell me that you were pregnant?”

  Oh my God.

  My ears buzzed, my eyes went dizzy, and I felt my whole world fall out from beneath me. Somehow, Rhett knew my secret before I was ready to tell him, and I had no idea what to do about it. I stepped backwards, as if I was in a daze, and I stared at him, confused and afraid. “How…” I started, trembling with fear. “How did you find out?”

  But surprisingly he didn’t look angry at me at all. In fact, he looked sort of happy. That was probably the last emotion I was expecting, after everything that we’d been through. “So, it’s true then?” he asked, with a beaming smile on his face. He reached out his hands to grab me, but I couldn’t reciprocate his actions.

  In fact, I couldn’t match his emotions at all; I was too unsettled and surprised. It made me really uncomfortable that he’d found out without my knowledge, which hadn't allowed me to control the situation at all. But there was nothing I could do about it now, no point in trying to keep up the lie, so I nodded, finally telling him the truth.

  “I know you probably think that I should be angry that you kept it from me, but I’m really not.” he exclaimed, pulling me in for a hug which I finally allowed myself to melt into. “I know how weird everything was, and you probably didn’t want to throw another complication into the mix.” That was putting it mildly. “I’m happy because I know that we’ll work things out eventually.”

  This would have been the perfect time for him to tell me that he loved me for the very first time. Or maybe it would have been the worst, I wasn’t sure. All I knew was that I was feeling it massively, and I would have loved to have heard it.

  But I didn’t.

  And I didn’t say it, either.

  Instead, Rhett pulled back, looked deeply into my eyes, and said, “Danica, we need to go now. Right now. Me, you, and your mom.” He was focusing on the current situation, rather than any feelings which was the smart thing to do, but I couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed. Why did he seem to be so much more in control of his feelings than me?

  “What’s going on?” He still hadn't told me, and I really needed to know. I wasn’t going anywhere until I at least knew why. He couldn’t just rock up here and tell me to leave without explaining what he knew. I deserved to know, and so did my mom.

  “My dad has been watching you, while you’ve been here.” My blood ran cold. Was that somehow how Rhett had found out about the baby? Why the hell was Brad so interested in what I was doing, anyway? Was it purely because he suspected about me and Rhett or was there something more sinister there? I couldn’t help feeling a little violated. “And me, too. He was in my hotel room last night.”

  “What?” I practically screamed. “Mom has been worried sick about that bastard, and he’s close by? That’s unbelievably out of order.” How could he have left my mom worrying like that while he was swanning about the place acting like a dick? I could not have hated him more.
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br />   “I know, but now isn’t the time or place to debate that.” He was right, of course he was, but that didn’t make it any easier to deal with. “What we need to do is get out from under his radar, and get to safety.”

  “But how are we going to do that if he’s watching us?” I pulled my clothes tighter around me, glancing everywhere, feeling like his eyes were all over me. I just couldn’t believe that I’d been watched and that despite all of my secret keeping he had managed to find out about my baby.

  “Don’t worry about that; I have a plan.” I gave him a look, but it didn’t seem to affect him at all. He wasn’t telling me anything right now. “Trust me, the less you know about this, the better,” he insisted.

  Trust him.

  Did I? It was such a simple request, but so loaded because of our past. I wanted to, and my instincts were telling me that I could, but my brain just wanted to slow down for a second, just to confirm that I was making the right choice. I didn’t want my feelings for Rhett to get in the way of something so potentially dangerous. Not when it affected more people than just me.

  What did I do? Should I tell Rhett that I wouldn’t go anywhere with him unless he told me everything, or should I just blindly follow? As I gazed into his eyes I could see that all he wanted to do was keep me safe, and when I thought back to that boy that I’d met at Camp Woodtree, before everything got complicated, I couldn’t stop my heart from melting. He wasn’t a bad guy, not really, we just found ourselves in a shitty situation that was all.

  “Come on,” I finally decided, after only a few moments of deliberation. “Let’s go and wake up Mom. She needs to know what’s going on here. She needs to be in the decision-making process.”

  “Okay,” Rhett nodded, looking relieved. “Let’s do it.”

  Chapter 38

  Rhett

  Thank God.

  My heart didn’t stop pounding until I saw Danica’s face relax and she started to agree with me. I half expected her to turn me away or to demand to know my plan, but luckily she didn’t. I wasn’t sure how I would have explained my potentially dangerous idea to someone who I absolutely knew was going to stop me. She wouldn’t like to hear what I had up my sleeve, and I really didn’t want to have to tell her.

  “Mom,” Danica shook her mother lightly, trying to wake her up in the gentlest way possible–which was fair enough, because what was to come next was going to be a little brutal. For Lyla to learn the truth about her husband was going to be awful.

  As I watched Danica caringly calling to her mom, I saw another image of her forming in my mind–the one of her as a mother, caring for our child. I still couldn’t get my head around how lucky we were, but I knew that I’d be able to digest everything properly once all of this was done, and life returned to normal.

  If I allowed my brain to even think about becoming a father, it went into meltdown mode, so I knew that I couldn’t do it until all of this was over. I mean, how was I going to be a dad? How were we going to get everything organized before the baby came? How were we…

  No, I couldn’t think about that. Once my dad was out of the picture, then I could deal with everything.

  There were still so many unknowns when it came to me and Danica, but I was certain that we would be able to work it out soon enough. The one thing that I was certain of was that we would come out of this on top. Once my dad was gone, nothing would ever tear us apart again.

  “Ngh?” Lyla finally sat up, sleepy and very groggy. “Brad?” That was the first person that she asked for, which tore my heart in two. It was obvious that she still loved him despite everything, and I hated that I was going to be the one to ruin that for her.

  “Mom, it’s me,” Danica continued with a soft, childlike quality to her voice. “I’m sorry to do this to you, but we really have to go. We need to pack up and get out of here.”

  “What? Why?” She jumped up in her bed, really paying attention now. “Rhett, what are you doing here?” She was shocked and confused, and I knew that I needed to dispel all of that quickly so that we could get a move on. I had no idea what my dad would do next, especially if he saw me here with his wife and Danica, and I needed to escape to get my plan into place before he did anything stupid.

  “It’s my dad,” I stepped forward, and handed her the stack of papers, knowing that reading it all would make more sense to her than me explaining it. Lyla wouldn’t need me to tell her what was going on in my half understanding kind of way. She was a lawyer and a very intelligent woman. She could get a better grasp of it just by looking, and she would get the implications of dad’s actions much better than I ever could. “

  He’s not the man you think he is. I’m sorry to be the one to tell you this, but I don’t want you to find out in any other way.”

  She scanned her eyes over the documents, much quicker than I could have read it, her face going whiter with every single word. “What does this mean?” she gasped, throwing her hand over her mouth. “Is it…is it what I think it is?”

  “I’m afraid so,” I admitted, assuming that she’d at least gotten the general gist. “Which is why we need to go. My dad has been very good at evading the law up until this point, and he knows that I’m on to him now. He’s been following Danica, and he isn’t afraid to use her to get to me–he told me as much himself.”

  I suddenly cringed at the implications of this sentence, but luckily Lyla was too tied up in knots to notice. I didn’t want her to find out about my relationship with her daughter in such a shocking way.

  “When?” she snapped, sounding angrier than I’d ever heard her before. “When did he tell you this? Have you seen him? Do you know where he is? Why hasn’t he been talking to me?”

  “Last night,” I told her, knowing that she was going to hate this part. “He turned up in my hotel room and threatened me. He threatened all of us, really.” I needed them to focus on the danger that faced us, rather than the fact that Brad Fronton was a dickhead–we could all process that much later on.

  “That fucker,” she growled, and I couldn’t help but flinch. I’d never heard Lyla curse before, and it was too weird for words. But it proved just how deeply all of this was affecting her. “How fucking dare he?” Her face was red with rage. “I’ve been worried sick about him, and he’s been doing…this!” She slammed the papers down in front of her, and sprang into action. “Right, Rhett. What do we have to do?”

  “Come on,” I tried to smile reassuringly at her, hoping that I could at least instil some confidence in her that everything would be okay in the end. “Let’s go. I’ll sort everything out.” I sounded more sure than I really felt, but I didn’t want to give anyone even a second to doubt me. This plan had to go perfectly if it was even going to come close to working!

  ***

  After much discussion about where we were going to go next–a location for which I didn’t mind, as long as it was far out of the way–I ended up dropping Lyla and Danica off at Lyla’s sister’s home. I vaguely remembered Danica’s Aunt Catherine, or Cat as they all seemed to call her, from the wedding, but I hadn't had the opportunity to speak to her too much, which made meeting like this a little awkward.

  As I listened to Lyla explain to her sister about why they needed a place to crash, I kept feeling her scrutinizing gaze upon me. She was obviously trying to size me up, to see if I was as much of a scumbag as my father, and I was desperately trying to communicate that I was nothing like him and that I was innocent without saying a word.

  When they finally went inside, leaving Danica and me alone, I felt an odd mixture of relief and sadness. I was happy to have protected her and her mother from what was about to come, but I didn’t like leaving them behind. I knew that I didn’t have a choice–it was what needed to be done–but that didn’t make it any easier.

  As I stared into Danica’s eyes, I felt like I could end up losing her all over again. I’d only just gotten her back into my life, and despite the circumstances I didn’t want that to end.

  �
��I’ll message you,” I insisted, needing some sort of communication to bond us together. I wouldn’t have been able to cope without it. “Every half an hour, and you do the same. That way we can know that we’re both safe.”

  “Okay,” she nodded, looking about as unhappy as I felt. She clearly didn’t want me to go, and if it wasn’t for the fact that I absolutely had to, then I might have allowed her to convince me to stay. “Look after yourself, okay? And, I’ll see you very soon.”

  We hugged tightly, and I found myself wanting to say lots of things to her. I knew that it wasn’t the time or place, but if I was totally honest, I couldn’t be one hundred percent sure that we would get another shot. The feelings that I’d been experiencing for a very long time came bubbling to the surface and I could no longer keep them inside.

  “I love you,” I mumbled into her ear, feeling free as those words finally spilled past my lips. “I love you so, so much.”

  I could already feel the wetness on her cheeks as she replied, “I love you, too. I have since the very first day I met you.” I’d made her cry, but as I pulled back to get a look at her face I could see that it was from happiness rather than despair.

  I thought of us back when we first met, sitting in that orientation room next to one another, tentatively flirting, having no idea what we go on to mean to one another. Who knew that we would go on to fall in love, to be having a baby, and to be having all of this madness surrounding us? It seemed totally unthinkable at the time; I had just thought that she was a very beautiful girl.

  Now, she was my everything. I didn’t know what I would do without her, and I hoped never to have to find out.

  “I won’t be long,” I promised, knowing that I truly meant it. I had to get this done quickly, to get back to her now so that our real lives could finally begin. “You stay safe indoors, and I’ll be back to get you soon. When I do, things will be different. We will finally be free.”