Hockey Holidays

by Toni Aleo

  And when she got to the studio, Charlotte took one look at her face and sighed.

  “You’re turning me down, aren’t you?”

  “I’m sorry it’s taken me this long to give you an answer and I know it’s not the one you want but…”

  As she searched for the right words, Charlotte found them first.

  “But you’re not over Kyle and you don’t want to tie yourself to this place.” Charlotte shook her head. “I know this was never your dream, to own a yoga studio. But I was hoping I could change your mind.”

  “I hope this means I can keep teaching—”

  “Don’t even say the rest of that sentence.” Charlotte held up one hand. “Of course I want you to stay for as long as you want. Forever, even. You’re the best instructor I know and you’re one of my best friends. And if that damn man doesn’t treat you right this time, I will personally take his hockey stick and shove it somewhere he does not want it.”

  Laughing, Leah shook her head. “I honestly don’t know what’s going to happen. I don’t even know what I want to happen. I just know I need some time to figure that out.”

  “I get it, hon. Just don’t do something because you think he wants it. Do it because you want it.”

  She just wished she knew exactly what she wanted.

  Chapter Five

  Kyle figured it was probably a good thing he was benched tonight.

  His brain was splintered in so many directions, it would’ve totally fucked with his game.

  Coach had noted the roster changes and a few of the guys had given him looks, but Derek and Nate and the three other guys who’d been at the studio nodded and tapped his pads on their way out of the locker room for warm-ups.

  When he’d skated onto the ice, he’d checked the seats where the WAGs usually sat, but he only saw Sophie and a couple of other women he didn’t recognize.

  Shit.

  He tried to tell himself it didn’t matter, that if she didn’t show up, he’d be at her door tomorrow morning with coffee and scones, because of course she didn’t eat donuts. And if that didn’t work…he’d figure out something else. He wasn’t walking away. Not this time.

  And he was prepared to do whatever it took.

  So he’d asked Derek, who’d gotten Stace’s number. Then he’d told her about the tickets for tonight and had practically begged her for help.

  Amazingly, she said she’d do what she could but not to hold his breath.

  He’d grinned in spite of her dig and headed for the arena. He’d take what he could get.

  But when he skated onto the ice with the rest of the team for the start of the first period before heading to the bench, he didn’t look again to see if she was in the stands.

  He needed to focus on the game because this was his career and he would give it everything he needed to make it work.

  But life had given him another chance with Leah and he wasn’t going to give it up.

  At least not until he’d exhausted every angle.

  When six thirty finally rolled around that night, Leah found herself, ticket in hand, on the concourse of the arena, knowing she was about to give Kyle an answer to a question he hadn’t asked.

  And if you’re wrong and you’re reading too much into a simple request?

  Then she’d live with it. Either way, she’d made up her mind.

  “No backing out now.” Stace nudged with her shoulder. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen a game and I’m looking forward to it.”

  Leah gave her friend a wry smile. “I wasn’t planning to leave. I’m just…”

  “Terrified?”

  “Afraid to be hopeful.”

  Stace put her hand on her shoulder. “Hey, if this isn’t what you want to do tonight, we can go have a few drinks somewhere and unwind.”

  Leah was shaking her head by the time Stace finished. “I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t want to be.”

  “If it makes any difference,” Stace said, “I do think he’s different this time. He seems more…thoughtful.”

  To hear what she’d been thinking from someone else made her heart glad and she was smiling when they made their way to their seats.

  “Leah! I’m so glad you came. Derek said Kyle wasn’t sure you’d make it. Which means he was afraid you wouldn’t come.”

  Sophie gave her a big hug, which Leah returned, then gave another to Stace. They only had a minute to talk before the music ramped up and the announcer began to speak.

  Leah hadn’t been to a game since October, had told herself she’d get to another one but never had. And had never admitted to herself that it was because she missed watching Kyle.

  She’d said it was because she was busy, didn’t have the time.

  But sitting here in the cold arena, with the crowd dressed mostly in red and black, she knew exactly why she hadn’t come. It hurt too much.

  And now she felt like she’d come home.

  How awful is it going to suck when he leaves again?

  No, she wasn’t going to think about that now.

  Since she’d missed warm-ups, she hadn’t seen Kyle yet, and when the lights went down, she felt a familiar catch in her throat at the thought of watching him play.

  Except…Kyle wasn’t starting.

  When they announced Nate in goal, she realized Kyle had given up his start to help her yesterday.

  Damn that man. Tears pooled, and she blinked fast so they wouldn’t fall. She didn’t want to have to explain to her friends why she was crying. And it wasn’t because she was sad.

  She didn’t see much of the game. Mainly, she watched Kyle as he sat one the bench.

  He followed the game with such intense focus, she couldn’t take her eyes off him. She only looked up to see what was going on when he reacted.

  Tonight’s game wasn’t going well for the Redtails. They were down two by the end of the first period and the guys looked discouraged as they left the ice. Kyle thumped each of his teammates on the back as they filed back to the locker room.

  Right before he followed, he looked up. Straight at her. His mouth curved in a huge grin and her breath caught at how stunningly handsome he was.

  Then he disappeared, and she sucked in much-needed air.

  “Do you think we should just let her stand here and watch the space where he used to be for the next eighteen minutes or should we drag her away to get a drink?”

  Stace’s wry comment made everyone laugh, and Leah turned to face her grinning friends with arched brows.

  “You’re just jealous.”

  “You’re damn right I am.” Stace sighed as she wrapped her arm around Leah’s shoulders before she leaned in close. “He better treat you right this time or you tell him I will follow through on my threat to cut off his balls with his stick blade.”

  “Stace!” Leah shook her head.

  “I’m serious, LeeLee. Don’t sell yourself short. Make him work for it.”

  “He has.”

  He’d proved it yesterday.

  Tonight, she’d tell him just how much it’d meant to her.

  The clock couldn’t run out fast enough tonight and not only because the Redtails lost the game with the score 5–2.

  When the last bell finally rang and the crowd cleared out, her heart pounded against her ribs like a trapped bird.

  She knew it would take him at least twenty minutes to shower and change and she had no idea if he’d added her to the list of visitors allowed to come downstairs to wait for the players.

  Stace gave her a hug and said good-bye, and Leah wondered if she should go home and wait for him or if she should check with the guard.

  Then Sophie linked her arm through Leah’s. “Come on, I know for a fact he put you on the list. Let’s go give our guys a hug. They’re gonna need ’em.”

  Was she out there?

  Kyle hoped like hell she was. He wanted her to be out there, wanted to see her waiting in the hall like she used to, a smile on her face.

  “Damn, man, yo
u look like you singlehandedly lost the game for us.” Will bumped his shoulder against Kyle’s as they sat side by side on the bench. “You weren’t even on the ice. Just not our game tonight. You’ll get your chance to be the hero next game.”

  “Hell, he’s not even thinking about the game anymore, are you?” Derek’s grin made Kyle lips quirk. “No, he’s wondering if Leah’s in the hall. Want me to check for you?”

  Kyle answered with a middle finger in Derek’s direction, which made Derek laugh and shake his head.

  “Aw, come on, you love me, just admit it.”

  Which made Kyle roll his eyes, but it also loosened some of the tightness in his chest.

  Maybe he was a little worried that she wouldn’t be there. Yeah, she’d come to the game, but was she going to give him another chance at her heart?

  Guess it was time to find out.

  Since he wasn’t on the list of guys the media wanted to talk to tonight, he was free to go whenever he was ready. Which was now.

  And still he continued to sit here.

  With a sigh, he stood, grabbed his jacket, and headed out.

  He didn’t see her right away with the other women clustered near the midpoint of the hallway, and his heart took a serious hit.

  Okay, so she left. You need to do more work, show her just how much—

  The crowd shifted as they noticed him, all of them smiling at him. He had a second to wonder why before he saw her.

  The smile on her face wiped away every lingering doubt, and his mouth curved into a grin so wide, his face kinda hurt.

  Small price to pay.

  He picked up his pace to get to her, as she started to move forward. They met in the middle, and as she opened her mouth to speak, he cupped her head in his hands and kissed her like he hadn’t seen her in years and she was the most precious thing in his life.

  Which she was.

  Catcalls came from both ends of the hall, the women louder and more boisterous than his teammates, who’d started to trickle out seconds after him.

  Neither of them cared.

  Leah wrapped her arms around his waist and pressed close as he twisted his head to align their mouths at the perfect angle.

  Then he tried to show her just how much he loved her. He didn’t let her up for air for several his seconds. His lips moved over hers with a purpose she couldn’t ignore.

  She gave back just as much.

  When he finally released her, they both sucked in air as they smiled, oblivious to the rest of their friends.

  “I love you, Leah. I’m going to prove it to you every day so you never doubt me.”

  Her smile lit him up inside, more completely than any game ever could.

  “I love you, too, Kyle. I’m ready to follow you anywhere as long as we’re together.”

  “Together.”

  ~ THE END ~

  Books by Stephanie Julian

  Redtails Hockey series

  The Brick Wall

  The Grinder

  The Enforcer

  The Instigator

  Salon Games series

  Invite Me

  Reserve My Nights

  Expose My Desire

  Keep My Secrets

  Indecent series

  An Indecent Proposition

  An Indecent Affair

  An Indecent Arrangement

  An Indecent Longing

  About Stephanie Julian

  Stephanie Julian is a New York Times and USA Today best seller who writes sophisticated, sultry romance for adventurous readers. Her books include sexy heroes (sometimes two!), smart heroines and emotionally engaging love stories. Her series include the best-selling Salon Games, Indecent and Redtails Hockey!

  Stephanie is a slow runner, a reluctant cook, a lover of all things Joss, JJ and Disney. She's happily married to a Springsteen fanatic and is the mother of two sons who introduced her to the joys of Slipknot, Warped Tour and never-ending headaches.

  Join Stephanie in her Facebook Reader Group, http://bit.ly/SJReaderSalon, and like her page at http://bit.ly/SJFacebookpage. Also please join her newsletter to keep up with all her new releases http://bit.ly/SJNewsletter

  Email | Website

  Kat Mizera - Dmitri's Christmas Angel

  Two women. Two surprise pregnancies. Dmitri Papadakis is screwed.

  Chapter One

  Two lines.

  A plus sign.

  Two lines meant positive.

  So did that stupid plus sign.

  Positive.

  Pregnant.

  Holy shit.

  Angelica Reardon stared at the plastic pregnancy tests in horror. How had this happened? For the first time in her life, she’d been dating the most amazing guy. A hot, sexy, on-the-rebound hockey player with big dark eyes whom she’d started to fall in love with. A guy who’d made her happier than she’d imagined possible, who liked her in spite of her faults, who’d thought she was worth taking a chance on.

  The team he played for, the Las Vegas Sidewinders, was on a road trip, but he was supposed to call her when he got home and she’d been planning to sleep over. Their relationship was already complicated but this was going to add a level of hell she hadn’t been expecting.

  Angel had been a mess after the death of her parents. Barely eighteen, she’d been wholly unprepared to be the sole guardian of her seven-year-old sister, Bella. There had been no money, no savings, nothing, and they’d wound up living on the street. Though she’d had enough presence of mind to get her little sister to a homeless shelter, she herself had made spectacularly stupid choices, dating a member of a local gang and getting involved in things she never would have done had her parents lived. She’d been a scared, bitchy teenager who’d nearly screwed up everything with the bad choices she’d made. And now she’d screwed up again.

  Ashleigh Hunter-Lassiter had swept into that homeless shelter like a television super hero, adopting Bella and offering Angel a chance to start over as well. She hadn’t trusted her to live up to her promises, but Ashleigh and her hockey-playing husband, Brock, had done all that and then some. Though Angel was twenty now and a legal adult, Ashleigh was only six years older than she was but Angel considered Ashleigh and Brock second parents. They’d been so good to her, giving her money and paying for her to attend UCLA so she’d be able to get a degree and have a career. Then she’d met one of Brock’s teammates, Dmitri Papadakis, and gotten herself knocked up. This was a cluster-fuck if she’d ever been in one and she had a feeling no one was going to be happy about it.

  Her phone buzzed and she wasn’t sure if she was happy or terrified when she saw Dmitri’s text.

  You awake? I’m home. Flight was delayed.

  Do you still want me to come over?

  Is this a trick question?

  See you soon.

  She picked up her overnight bag and crept down the stairs quietly. Brock wasn’t home yet but Ashleigh, Bella and the new baby, Devon, were asleep. If she could get out of here before Brock got home, she’d avoid unpleasant questions.

  She was staying at their gorgeous house in Las Vegas for the Thanksgiving break, and though they didn’t treat her like a child, Ashleigh worried if she didn’t know where she was. Angel usually told her she was at a friend’s house, but the truth was she didn’t have many female friends and none in Las Vegas. She had a few acquaintances, but when she and Dmitri had gotten involved, she’d made up a girlfriend. Lying sucked, but Dmitri was nervous that Brock wouldn’t be happy they were dating, so no one knew except Dmitri’s roommate, Royce, who promised to keep his mouth shut.

  By the time she got to the house the guys shared, Angel was a nervous wreck, her mouth a little dry and her stomach in knots. She and Dmitri had met at a cookout over the summer and they’d fallen into bed together pretty quickly. She’d assumed it would be a one-nighter, but he’d kept calling and they’d kept sleeping together and by the end of summer they’d been unsure what direction to go with their relationship. The start of the school yea
r had put a damper on things but they saw each other whenever they could and just before hockey season began, Dmitri had said he didn’t want to date anyone else. If they were going to be exclusive, they had to start thinking about going public with their relationship, and he’d said he thought she should meet his family over the holidays. They hadn’t yet decided when to tell Brock and Ashleigh.

  “Hey, beautiful.” Dmitri met her at the door, taking her bag as he leaned over to kiss her.

  He was so damn handsome, she took a moment to appreciate his big brown eyes, jet black hair that was cropped close to his head and those damn full, sexy lips. That had been her downfall, that mouth of his, and the first time he kissed her she’d essentially lost all sense of reason. Not to mention a hockey player’s body, all hard, muscular lines, lean hips and the most fantastic ass she’d ever had the pleasure of biting into. He was sexier than anyone she’d ever met but she was about to ruin his day and most likely get her heart broken in the process.

  “You guys want to play Cards Against Humanity?” Royce called out as she and Dmitri walked into the living room.

  Angel smiled but shook her head. “Not tonight. Dmitri and I need to talk about something.”

  “Yikes.” Royce grimaced, his green eyes narrowed slightly. “On that note, I’m gonna watch some TV.”

  “Let’s go to my room,” Dmitri said, frowning slightly as he took her hand.

  Angel followed him and sank onto his California king size bed and leaned back on her hands, watching as he put her bag in the closet and then leaned against the wall.

  “Are you breaking up with me?” he asked quietly.

  She snorted out a derisive laugh. “No, but you’ll probably want to when I tell you what’s going on.”

  “What’s wrong, ayapi mou?” Dmitri was first generation Greek, born to Greek parents who lived in Astoria, New York and owned a Greek diner. He spoke Greek and “ayapi mou” meant “my love.” Though he hadn’t said “I love you” in English, he’d been using the term of endearment with her regularly.