Unsportsmanlike Conduct

by Melody Heck Gatto

  She slid her hands up into his wavy hair, his body felt so good pressed against hers. He had been so busy; it had been so long since he had touched her like this. Her head spun; he intoxicated her senses.

  He took one last taste of her mouth and slid his warm lips over her jawline, then nipped at her ear. "Baby, I want you … I need you …" The words, or maybe his hot breath against her ear, gave her chills. He sucked at her neck, and ran his hand on the outside of her shirt over her hard nipples.

  He grabbed her hand and led her to the bedroom. Urgency ran hot through her body. He loved her and maybe that was all she needed.

  He gripped her wrist and pulled her to him. His hazel eyes darkened as he stared at her intently. Desperately, he tore off her shirt, flung it aside and shoved her against the wall. She unbuttoned his shorts; they dropped to the floor.

  With a sly grin, he grabbed at her ass and thrust his erection against her shorts. "God, I want you …" He was never this intense, and it took her off guard as he threw her to the bed. He tossed his shirt aside and pushed her onto the mattress. Her shorts and panties landed on the floor with his boxers.

  Tyler nipped at her neck, his teeth scratching her skin as he entered her. She looked into his eyes as a mix of emotions ran through her: lust, need, guilt. He pulled her hips to his; and she locked her legs around him. Tyler’s hard body moved methodically, making love to her. She arched her back as he filled her completely.

  Running her fingers over his biceps, she traced the lines of his muscles. One of her favorite things. She swore the room was spinning. She was intoxicated by him. He smiled, his eyes dark with passion. His movements quickened and his rhythm picked up.

  "Oh god, Tyler …" she cried out. She dug her nails into the soft skin on his back.

  "God I love you, baby." Tyler moaned as he spilled over in her.

  CHAPTER 9

  GIA

  It was late morning when they finally woke up. She looked over at Tyler, my sweet Tyler. She ran her hand over his rough cheek and through his wavy hair.

  "Gia, I really want you to move in with me, baby," Tyler said as she rolled away from him. He kissed her shoulder, biting at her skin.

  Acid filled her throat as nausea took over. How could she tell him after last night? Why did she let things get this far?

  “Maybe I should get up and make us some coffee?” She grabbed her robe and slid it on.

  "Gia, I love you … and I want more out of this relationship. I know I haven't been around enough. I know I haven't made you a priority but that will all change. C'mon, just tell me you're ready to move in with me?"

  Oh hell, why did he have to say all of this now? She plopped back onto the bed and stared at the wall, not having the heart to face him. Her chest hurt. She couldn't keep this a secret from him. Her head dropped into her hands and she closed her eyes, "Tyler, I need to tell you something ..."

  The room was silent.

  Gia dreaded the next few moments. "Ty, I really do love you, you need to know that. You are the one I want to be with. I know that now." She felt the bed move as Tyler pulled away. She still couldn’t bear to look at him. "Tyler, I need to be honest with you because I respect you too much to lie to you ..."

  This was harder than she ever imagined.

  "Ty, I did something bad. I drank too much the day of the baptism, I was upset about you leaving, and I ran into Patrick by accident …"

  Tyler stayed silent at the edge of the bed. She could only imagine the deadpan look on his face. She hated when he looked at her like that.

  "I slept with Patrick, again. I'm so sorry Tyler." Gia began to sob. She didn't know how she expected him to react. She sat up, still sobbing, and felt him get out of bed.

  The silence lasted only a couple minutes but felt like hours. When he finally spoke, it was like the floodgates opened.

  "Are you fucking kidding me, Gia?" he growled, his voice deep and raspy. It sent chills up her spine.

  Jumping out of bed, Tyler grabbed something and threw it across the room. She heard it smash against the wall and pieces scatter. She had no idea what he'd broken but wasn't about to investigate now.

  She finally stood up with the courage to face him. Her body went cold at the wide-eyed look of rage on his face. “Tyler,” she squeaked.

  "For fuck’s sake, what is it about me? Why am I not enough for you, G?" The pained look on his face told Gia she had hurt him deeply. Again.

  "Tyler, please let me explain," Gia whimpered.

  "Explain? Why don't you explain what I haven't given you that Patrick can? He's nobody special, G. He's just a fucking scrub. I'm the fucking face of the Professional Hockey League. I'm Tyler fucking Kidd. Explain how you could cheat on me? Every guy wants to be me and every girl wants to screw me. Well, every girl except my own fucking girlfriend. She'd rather do Patrick Dubois."

  His breath was ragged as he quickly pulled on his pants and grabbed his shirt. "I have to get out of here."

  "Ty, I'm so sorry," Gia whined.

  "Gia don't, okay? ‘Sorry’ won't fix this. Sorry isn't good enough." His voice was harsh and felt like daggers aimed at her heart.

  As much as this hurt, she deserved it. She was unable to stop the hot tears that flowed down her face.

  "Nice try, but tears aren't going to make me stay. I can't even look at you."

  "But Ty–" Gia begged. She chased after him. "Tyler!" She sobbed as tears streamed down her face. "I never meant to hurt you." Her voice was low through her sobs.

  "Gia, what do you expect me to say? I can't be here. I can't fucking do this. I can't be near you right now." Turning to look at her, a single tear rolled down his dark, red face. "All I see when I look at you is my good friend Patrick slobbering all over you." Gia tried to speak but he cut her off. "Leave me the hell alone right now and don't try to call me. Fuck this, I'm outta here."

  Gia hung onto the doorway as she sobbed. What have I done? She didn't call his name out; she didn't say a word. This was all her fault. She caused this mess. She hurt him. Gia closed the door and fell onto her couch, a blubbering mess. She could hear his sports car and then the tires screech as he sped out of the parking lot. The tears continued to flow as she curled up into a ball and cried herself to sleep.

  ****

  TYLER

  Tyler gunned his Aston Martin and fishtailed out of the parking lot. He wiped away the tear from his cheek. How could she do this to him again? He had been overly generous to forgive her the first time. It wasn't an open invitation to continue her infidelity.

  He loved her. Before the incident last year, he was ready to marry her. In all honesty, her unfaithfulness scared him a bit and he realized things were moving too fast. He had a job and responsibilities. As team captain, he needed to devote his time to his team and his career. He wanted her by his side and he realized that he might lose her if he didn't start putting her first. He had been ready to make changes to his life.

  "How the fucking hell could she do this to me?" he yelled as he pulled up to a stoplight.

  Dammit, Gia. This was not how he imagined his homecoming. He should be in her bed right now, with her in his arms.

  Instead, he took the next turn to Kris's house. They had been away last he heard. Shit, what if they weren't home?

  He hit the gas and took a turn too fast; his tires squealed again. The speed felt good; it was the one thing he could control right now. At one with the car as his foot pressed harder on the gas pedal, the trees and other vehicles blurred as he tore down the road.

  "Call Lafleur." he said aloud. The car phone dialed Kris.

  "Hello?"

  "Kris, it's Tyler. I need to talk to someone, are you at home?" He didn't feel like exchanging pleasantries right now. He just needed to talk. Kris was the first person that came to mind. Too bad he was also Gia's brother-in-law. No, this won't be awkward. What the hell am I doing?

  "Um, yeah, c'mon over, Ty."

  Within minutes, he pulled into the Lafleurs’ driveway.
Even though Kris was the closest thing he had to a buddy, he wondered if he should drag Kat into this mess.

  Kris waited at the door as he pulled into the driveway. Tyler sat motionless in the driver’s seat for a moment. He couldn’t leave now so he crawled out of the car and sulked to the house.

  "Tyler, what's up, buddy?" Kris asked as he held the door open.

  "Hey, Kris. Thanks for letting me come over. I didn't know where else to go."

  "Tyler, hello. Didn't know you were coming over," Kat said, smiling. She gave Kris a confused look. "Everything okay?"

  His eyes were probably red; at the very least, that vein was popping out of his neck. He shouldn't have come over.

  "Yeah, baby. It's fine. Ty just needed to talk. Nothing to worry about." Kris placed a soft kiss on Kat's cheek. "We'll be in the basement. I know you're trying to get Ian to take a nap."

  "You sure everything is okay?" She eyed Tyler and tilted her head to the side.

  "Baby, it's fine. Ty, let's grab some beers and go talk in the basement," Kris said as he led the way through the kitchen.

  "I'm sorry, Kris. I didn't mean to cause such an issue."

  "Nonsense. Now what is going on?"

  "Kris …" Tyler took a long drink of beer. How did he say this to her brother-in-law? "She fucking cheated on me."

  ****

  GIA

  Gia woke to the sound of her phone and looked over at the clock. It was already afternoon. As she became more aware of her surroundings, she remembered the earlier scene, and her eyes filled with warm tears again. She looked at the name on her phone. Oh god, not my sister.

  "Kat?" she said hoarsely into the phone.

  "What the hell did you do?" Kat whispered loudly into the phone.

  "What are you talking about?" Gia stopped crying long enough to wonder why Kat was freaking out.

  "What did you do, G?" Kat hissed into the phone.

  "First of all, why are you whisper-yelling at me?" Then it hit her--Tyler probably made a beeline for Kris. Who else could he talk to about this? But her own brother-in-law? Really? "Oh no …"

  "Oh yes … Tyler is downstairs with Kris now, I can hear Ty yelling all the way up here in the bedroom. He is PISSED. He already dropped more F-bombs then I ever heard him use on the ice. What the hell did you do?" Kat asked.

  Now it made sense why she whispered, so Tyler and Kris didn't hear her. Gia felt bad to have put Kat in this position. "Kat, I didn't mean for it to happen."

  "It was Patrick, wasn't it?" Kat asked angrily.

  "Yes." She wouldn't lie to her sister.

  "G, what happened?" Kat pressed.

  "You don't want to know."

  "G, he's in my house, so I'm already in the middle of it. What happened?"

  "Alright … Fine." Kat was right. "It was Ian's baptism, I drank too much. I ran into Patrick, and one thing led to another … and another ... and, well you get the picture. I tried to fight it, I swear … but I sort of didn't want to either …" As she listened to her own voice, she groaned. It sounded bad, it all sounded bad. Unforgivable bad.

  "G …" Kat whined, "Why? Ty loves you so much. He's so angry, I'm afraid all the yelling will wake the baby. He punched the wall--can you believe that? He punched my damn wall. He better hope he didn't damage his hand or Coach Walker will kill him. I can hear him tell Kris the plans he had for you two." She added, "G, you had everything."

  "I know, I know …" Gia began to sob again. "I'm … so … sorry …"

  "I'm not the one you should be apologizing to. But I don't think Kris is going to let him go home. He already drank more than a few beers and he's so angry. And I'm sorry, but you can't come over here. G, how will you fix this?"

  "I don't think that I can …" Gia paused when she heard Kris's voice.

  "Baby, I know you're talking to Gia. All he wants her to know is that he needs space, she just needs to give him space." He kissed Kat on the cheek. "Tell G that we are here for her and that we love her, okay?"

  "Did you hear all that?" Kat said into the phone.

  Gia took a breath between sobs. "Yes. But you're MY sister; can we make this about ME and not poor Tyler?"

  "G, you gotta let him figure this all out, but I know that he loves you. Okay? I'm sorry that I can't be a shoulder for you right now."

  "It's okay … I can't believe I made such a mess of this …" Gia sobbed.

  Baby Ian screamed in the background. "I love you sis, we all do. I have to go, all the yelling just woke Ian up. That sounded like a hockey stick breaking. Oh, god. I need to get the baby back to sleep and make sure Ty doesn't tear apart my house. We'll talk soon, okay? Hang in there …" Kat hung up.

  Her sister was such a good person to take Tyler in and give him someone to lean on. She couldn't help but be jealous because she needed sister’s comfort; her big sister telling her it will all be okay. Trish's words came to mind. Everything happens for a reason. Maybe she was right. Trying to get Patrick out of her mind never worked, and she had ended up in bed with him again.

  No, I can't possibly be meant to be with Patrick! I love Tyler.

  Gia shook her head. She didn't know what to do with herself, and she really didn't want to be alone. With eyes swollen from crying, she put on some shorts and a tank top, slid on some flip-flops and grabbed her keys. She hopped in her car, and started to drive. Once out on the road, she realized she had no idea where to go.

  Gia drove aimlessly for about an hour. She didn't know what to do, or where to go, but sitting around her apartment wasn't an option. She just kept seeing Tyler storm out of her door. She wiped tears from her eyes as she drove. Her stomach growled; she hadn’t eaten since the pizza last night. But the thought of food made her sick.

  CHAPTER 10

  PATRICK

  Patrick jumped in the shower after working out in his basement gym. He couldn't get Gia out of his head. She had avoided him again since their night together. He figured she had told Tyler about them by now and wondered how that went. Did he break things off? Did he forgive her? He didn’t know if they would be able to smooth things out for the sake of the team.

  He wouldn't blame Tyler if he hated him; he had screwed up twice now with Gia. If she hadn't avoided him for a year, it would've been more than twice. That girl drove him wild. Anytime he was around her, he had a constant hard-on. He thought about her warm skin pressed against his, the taste of her lips, the way she moaned when he caressed her body. His dick got hard just thinking about her.

  But that may never happen again if she chose to go back to Tyler.

  What would Tyler do once he found out? Bench him for as long as he could? Trade him? Shit. He liked playing for the Renegades. He liked being on the same team as his cousin. That had always been a goal for them as kids, for him and Kris to play together in the professional hockey league. Now it was finally a reality. He hoped Tyler wouldn't take that away from him.

  But could he blame him if he did?

  He stepped out of the shower, dried off and pulled on a pair of basketball shorts. Looking in the mirror at his fuzzy chin, he realized he needed a shave. It can wait til tomorrow. Rain pelted against the window. Maybe he’d just stay in.

  There was a knock at his door.

  Who the hell is that? The rain pounded against his windows. Thunder rumbled through the dark skies as he opened the door. Gia stood on his porch, dripping wet, her eyes red and puffy with tears.

  “Gia? What are you … get in here!" He pulled her in from the rain. "Why are you crying?"

  She stood there as water dripped off her and puddled at her feet. "Gia, what are you doing here? Sweet thing, you're soaking wet."

  "I'm sorry. I didn't know where else to go. I've been driving around for–I don't know–maybe an hour or more," she said through her tears.

  "Oh, G, come here …" He wrapped his arms around her soaked body. Moving her wet hair out of her face he cradled her head against his warm, bare chest. She was shaking. "Baby girl, we need to get you out of these
wet clothes and dry you off." She was dripping all over the linoleum floor in his entry way.

  "I don't have extra clothes. I don't even think I remembered to bring my purse, I don't even know–" Gia said softly, her sobs cutting off her words.

  Poor thing was really shaken. She must have told Tyler. "How about you go up to my bathroom, take a warm shower and I’ll find something for you to wear."

  After showing her to the bathroom and giving her some privacy, he found an old t-shirt; it was big but would work. Assuming she was already in the shower, he opened the bathroom door to sneak in the shirt. As he started to enter, he was surprised to see Gia just getting ready to step into the shower. Her back was to him, and she hadn't heard him. He stood for a second admiring her naked body, creamy skin, round ass and the tattoo on her lower back. This was the first time he had seen it clearly: three hearts, one pink, one purple, one red, with an arrow through all three of them, and the words heartbreaker.

  Got that right, he thought. The sight of her naked body had him fixed to his spot and aroused.

  He closed the door again and knocked this time.

  "Come in," Gia answered, muffled by the water.

  "I have a shirt for you, G. Do you want me to put your panties in the dryer?" They were so tiny, he was sure they would dry in no time. "Or did you just want a pair of my boxers?" Was it weird that I asked that? Do girls wear boxers? He wasn’t really sure what the girls who left his bed wore; they were always gone before he woke up.

  Her voice cut through the steam that hung in the bathroom. She sounded stronger, more like the Gia he knew. "Actually, don't ask me why, but I think I have a spare pair in my gym bag in my car. I couldn’t possibly ask you to go out in the rain to get them for me, so don’t worry about it. You’re being so generous as it is. And thanks for the shirt, Patrick."

  “Nonsense. It’s no problem at all, I’ll be right back.” Before she could argue Patrick jogged out into the rain to check her car. He found the gym bag in her back seat, grabbed it and dashed back inside. He shut the door behind him, now creating his own puddle as rain dripped off his hair, shorts, and sandals. Inside the bag, he found a tiny pair of pink thong panties.