I mock gagged and left the ice. So far none of the other guys knew about my night with Chloe, which was perfect. It also meant I could trust Olli.
I hurried to shower and change. I wanted to talk to Chloe before she left. I hadn’t called her over the weekend because I didn’t want to pressure her. I didn’t want to come on too strong, but I’d been second-guessing that decision since I saw her walk down the stairs in the area. She looked beautiful, but she never met my eyes. I could sense from yards away there was something between us and I wanted to clear it before it turned into a major obstacle.
I waved bye to the team and hurried down the hall toward the elevator. I pressed the button when someone said my name. I turned and saw her standing halfway down another hall.
“Hey.” I hurried to her before anyone came out of the locker room and saw me talking to myself.
I pulled her into my arms the moment she was within reach. She smelled like vanilla and I inhaled her. “I missed you.”
She laughed against my chest. “It’s been two days.”
“I’m sorry.”
She pulled back and looked up at me. “For what?”
“Not responding. I got busy after practice yesterday.”
Her fingers rubbed over my sore back muscles. “Don’t worry about it. Just don’t do it again.”
“So, I get another chance?”
She bit her lip and I nearly bent down to kiss it.
“This time.”
I finally let her go, but instantly missed her warmth.
“What are you doing down here?”
“I wanted to see you.”
That had to be a good sign. “And risk Erik seeing you?”
She peeked around me. “Yeah, although we should probably find somewhere safer.”
I took her hand and led her out to my car. I opened her door before looking at her. “Have dinner with me?”
She nodded and got in.
When I started the car and drove out of the parking structure, she seemed to relax.
“Where are we going?”
“My place?” I probably should have checked to see if she was comfortable with that before assuming. I watched her reaction out of the corner of my eye, but she just nodded.
“Are you going to cook for me?”
Wooing a woman with my cooking was not one of my moves. I had maybe three meals I’d mastered, thanks to my mother, but I doubted she’d be impressed by spaghetti with canned sauce.
“I’m going to try.”
She giggled, making me smile. “This is a first for me.”
That simple statement made my ego swell. I was the first guy to cook for her. Probably the first guy to take her to dinner in a garden.
Too bad I was also the first player she’s dated.
The first one she’s broken her rules over.
Did that mean my strikes evened out?
We were walking through the door when she stopped. I walked into her back and grabbed her shoulders to keep her from falling over. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s so bare.”
I looked around at the blank walls, single sectional sofa, and TV. “It’s functional.”
“It’s sad.”
I pushed her inside and shut the door behind me. “It’s not like I’ve had a ton of time to add any personal touches to the place. I’ve been at the arena more than I’ve been here.”
She nodded while looking around. She made herself comfortable, showing herself to the kitchen. “At least it’s modern.”
It was that. My agent found two options to choose from while I was on the flight here. I’d picked the one closer to the arena. Not much thought over the paint color or appliances had been put in.
“It doesn’t seem like you’re planning on staying long.” She eyed the suitcases that lined the hallway back to my bedroom.
“I haven’t had time to unpack. My assistant offered, but I feel weird about someone else dealing with my laundry.”
She smirked. “Then what does your assistant do?”
“He keeps track of my schedule, grocery shops, manages my fan mail, and answers my email.”
She nodded slowly. “That would be nice.”
“Doesn’t Erik have one?”
She laughed. “You’re looking at her.”
I had to take a second to calm down. “That’s not your job.”
“Not technically, no. But I do keep track of his schedule, grocery shop, and manage his fan mail. He answers his own email, though.”
I was sick of talking about Erik and him taking advantage of her. That seemed to be one topic we couldn’t agree on.
I moved around her to the fridge and found it stocked with plenty of options. “How does ravioli sound?”
She ducked under my arm and peeked in. “You can make that?”
I pulled out a bag of premade ravioli. “I sure can.”
“You’re a cheater.”
“I’m resourceful.” My assistant was good at not only grocery shopping, but meal planning. He wrote out a week’s worth of meals at a time and let recipes for each. I picked up the ravioli’s and looked it over. A brown butter sauce. That didn’t sound too hard.
We worked around each other as I made the sauce and she prepared a salad. I wasn’t used to having people in my space. Even in Boston, I rarely had people over. I thought it would feel weird, but it didn’t. We seemed to flow together. She didn’t stop to ask where things were. She’d check until she found it, and by the time dinner was ready she knew my kitchen better than I did.
I set the dining room table for two and brought the plated food out. “Madame.” I pulled out her chair and waited for her to sit.
“This is so nice.”
It was the best I had to work with. I wished I had candles or some nice wine to offer, but I didn’t drink during the season. I’d have to add candles to the shopping list, though.
I held up my water glass and she mimicked me. “To many more nights like this.”
She smiled and clinked her glass against mine. “Cheers.”
“I should have learned after the first date not to underestimate you.”
I looked down at the pasta. It wasn’t that fancy.
“I’m not talking about the food, although this is really good.”
“Then what is it?”
“It’s just you. I keep thinking you’ll drop the act and end up being just like all the other players. Crude, selfish…”
“How that makes us sound horrible.”
She shrugged. “I guess I just expected the worst. Maybe that’s why I never wanted to date any of them before.”
“And none of them are me.”
She smiled. “You’re right.”
“So, what is it about me?”
“Are you, Reese Murray, digging for compliments?”
I laughed and lifted my arm to rest on the neighboring chair. “I’m just interested.”
“It was probably the offensive things you said when we first met.”
I cringed. I hadn’t understood the dynamics between her and Erik. I still didn’t, but I hadn’t had the mind to shut up. “I’m sorry about that.”
“I’m not.” She looked at me, not smiling for the first time that night. “You made me realize I wasn’t living my own life. Sometime over the last few years, Erik’s had taken over. I might not have liked that you pointed it out in front of the team, but you were right. It was time for me to stop living in his shadow and leave my comfort zone.”
“I’m glad you took a risk on me.”
“Me too.”
We ate the rest of dinner with much lighter conversation and cleaned up in comfortable silence.
“Would you like to stay? We can watch a movie.”
She smiled up at me. “I’d love to some other time. We both have early mornings. I should get home.”
“Of course.”
We drove back to the arena and I pulled up next to her car. She reached for the door handle, but I stopped h
er.
“Let me.” I got out and went to her door. I wanted to prolong our goodbye, but she was right. We both needed to act like responsible adults, no matter how bad I wanted to stay up with her all night. I felt like we’d only skimmed the surface and I wanted to dive deeper. To know all of her. Her past, her fears, her hopes.
“Thank you for tonight.”
“Thank you for coming.”
I wrapped her in my arms and breathed her in one more time. When I stepped back, she stood up on her tiptoes and gently kissed my lips.
“Goodnight.” She whispered against my cheek before slipping away and getting into her car.
Chapter Nineteen
Chloe
The guys had promotional events all week. From meeting the mayor, pictures with fans, and now a parade. I was covering them all for the blog and site. It was still warm outside, but a crowd had formed along the street to see the players drift by on themed floats. This was one of the last chances for the public to see the team before the season started. The players threw candy to the children, and at the end of the route, people could get autographs and pictures with their favorite players.
It was a fun tradition, even though I was sweating through my team T-shirt.
Things were going perfectly. Kristen was monitoring the floats and promised she’d deal with any problems that arose, but I was still waiting for something to go wrong. With so many pieces involved, it was bound to happen.
I’d been talking to reporters this morning, so I wasn’t able to talk to the guys. I wanted to wish them luck and remind them to hang out at the end to interact with the fans. Hopefully, Kristen or one of the other assistants told them.
Taking pictures was a good excuse to be around because it was the only time I would be able to see Reese, or Erik. Everyone was so busy. They had interviews and photoshoots almost every day, plus practices had been grueling. It was exciting, and as much as I loved the start of a new season, it was always hard to adjust to it. Life felt like it moved in fast forward.
“Hey, Chloe! Take a picture of us!” Porter and Hartman were sitting on the top of a vegetable garden-themed float waving to the crowd with wide smiles. I held up my phone and got the shot. I gave them a thumbs up and kept walking down the road to the next float.
Our photographer, George, was taking pictures of the guys, so I wasn’t worried about missing anything, but these would be good shots for the guys to post on their social media accounts later. Fans loved this kind of stuff.
I took pictures of the crowd and each float to get a feel of the atmosphere so I could write about it later. I let the floats pass me, waving to the players and snapping pictures.
“Hey, Chloe!” Erik was standing on top of a beach themed float surrounded by beautiful women in bikinis. It stuck out with all of the family-friendly floats in the parade, and I wasn’t surprised Erik had found it.
What did surprise me was who was standing on the back. With two model-thin scantily clad women hanging over him.
“Hi, Erik.” I took a picture of him for future blackmail and waited for the float to pass.
Reese noticed me when it was far too late for him to cover up what was happening.
His smile disappeared in an instant. I could see the panic on his face, and his lips formed a curse, but it was too late.
I looked away and walked down the road.
What was he thinking?
He was a player. On and off the ice.
I should have seen it coming. He was a star. Soon he’d be a full-blown celebrity here in Salt Lake. It was bound to go to his head sooner or later. I should have known.
How stupid could I be?
He could have any woman in the world. Why on Earth had I thought he’d be interested in me?
Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.
I shook my head and pasted on a smile for the crowd. I couldn’t let it get to me right now. I had work to do.
As each float passed, I cheered with the crowd. The last float was carrying Coach Romney and Coach Rust, who were met with applause. They were heroes in the city. They’d led the team to the playoffs for the past seven years with two championships. People loved them just as much, or maybe more, than the players.
They waved to the crowd and I followed behind the float. A few members of the front office were walking the parade route, so I joined them.
Kristen slipped her arm around my shoulders. “Hey! I found you.”
“You’re supposed to be watching remotely. What if something goes wrong?”
She laughed. “You need to relax, Chloe. I put Greg in charge. I wanted to be at the fan event in case you needed me.”
I cringed. I didn’t want to go and see Reese there. The bikini girls would probably be all over him.
“Can you actually run that?”
She dropped her arm looked at with shock. “Are you serious?”
I nodded.
“You’re delegating?”
“Don’t act so surprised.”
“What an honor. Chloe Schultz is passing responsibility onto my meek shoulders.” She held her hand up to her chest. “What have I done to deserve this extortionary honor?”
“Don’t make me regret it.”
She smiled and patted my arm. “I got this.”
“Thanks. I’m going to head back.”
I turned and headed in the direction of the arena without giving her any more details. I didn’t want her asking why I didn’t want to be there. It was petty. It was immature. But it was avoidable, so I was going to take advantage of it. I had enough to write an article. I didn’t want to wait until the end to see Reese wrapped up with even more girls.
I walked back to the arena and hid in my office. Since everyone else was down at the parade like they were supposed to be, I knew I wouldn’t be bothered. I opened my computer and wrote up a quick article and saved it so I could upload it once I had pictures. I sent out the ones on my phone to the guys so they could post them later.
There was more I could have worked on at the office, but I was mentally done. The more I thought about Reese the more frustrated I got. Sitting in my office stewing wasn’t accomplishing anything, so I gave in and went home.
This wasn’t anything a bath and pint of ice cream couldn’t fix.
By the time I settled into the warm water my mind was in overdrive.
Were those women what Reese wanted?
Rail-thin with a big chest?
Fake tan and blonde?
The complete opposite of me?
It was stupid. I shouldn’t compare myself to them. They were models. They were probably nice girls, too. Dang it. That made it a lot harder to hate them.
Not that they were the problem.
It was me.
It was Reese.
He was a superstar.
I was a nobody. The sister of somebody.
I blinked back the tears that were threatening to explode and leaned my head back against the porcelain.
Chapter Twenty
Reese
I didn’t need to talk to Chloe to know she was mad. Even Erik noticed, which was an accomplishment considering he was surrounded by models and enjoying himself far more than I was.
I’d wanted to jump off the float the moment I saw her, but that wasn’t really an option. I was there for work. I was representing the team. I couldn’t let my personal feelings distract me from my job. Was it my job to be on that specific float? No. Could I have found one without bikinis? Probably. Okay, yes.
But Erik had approached me and asked to pair up. We were supposed to have a few guys on each float, so I agreed. I didn’t know he’d already called dibs on the sunscreen float. He was in heaven and enjoying every minute while I was in my own personal hell. The girls were nice, but I wasn’t attracted to them in the slightest. Not that I could convey that to Chloe when she saw me.
I should have known better than to go anywhere with Erik. He was trouble.
No, he wasn’t.
He was a sing
le guy. He probably thought he was doing me a favor. As another single guy.
I couldn’t say anything. I couldn’t tell him I had a girlfriend. Was Chloe even that? We’d been out twice. Three times if you count the tour, which she didn’t.
If I’d said no to Erik, he would have asked questions. Questions I wasn’t ready to answer. Chloe was adamant about not telling him and I wasn’t going to take that choice from her, but there were consequences to that decision. Like having the guys on the team assume I was a single man who would enjoy the company of some single women.
As soon as I was able, I ran back to the arena to talk to her.
The front office was empty. Her office was dark.
By the time I got back to my car, I knew she’d likely gone home. Not just because she lived there, but because she’d think I wouldn’t show up. She thought Erik was enough of a deterrent.
She was wrong.
I cared more about her than about Erik rearranging my face.
I rode up their elevator thinking of an excuse to be there. If Erik opened the door, I’d have to say something. Give some explanation for being at his doorstep.
I needed to borrow something? What? I had everything he did when it came to gear. We didn’t have any formal events, so it’s not like I needed a tie or suit. A book? Ha! Like Erik was a reader. Maybe I’d just say Chloe asked me to come over. For an interview.
Yeah.
I knocked feeling more confident.
Erik opened the door and just a bit of that confidence disappeared.
“Hey.” He eyed me.
“Hey, I—”
“Who is it, Erik?” Chloe’s voice was like a sucker punch to my gut. She didn’t sound like herself. She sounded sad.
“Reese.”
She came around a corner and stopped. Her red eyes seared my heart. I’d done that. I was the one that caused her sadness. I wanted to run. I didn’t deserve to be near her.
“What do you want?” Erik pulled my attention away from the girl who had changed my life.
“I got a message that Chloe wanted to ask me some questions.” His eyes narrowed. “For the blog.”
Puck Drop: Utah Fury Page 11
