Ravishing Rebounds: A Slapshot Novella (Slapshot Series Book 10)

by Heather C. Myers

  Dimitri pressed his lips together. He should have been horrified that Amanda was about to walk in on not only his children but his ex-wife completely unprepared. And he was—on Amanda's behalf. But there was some primal part of him that reveled in the fact that he finally had someone he could count on. He had someone in his corner who—he hoped—would stick with him no matter what.

  "She's none of your concern," he said with a grin.

  14

  Amanda thought Dimitri was watching something family-friendly when she heard loud giggles outside the bedroom door and decided it was probably time for her to wake up. Her stomach rumbled. She was hungry—she was always hungry after a night of sex and wanted to go down to the kitchen to make a parfait. She stood up and stretched her back before tilting her head to the left and to the right, stretching her neck. She let out a groan before padding into the bathroom to wash her face.

  She saw her clothes on the floor and decided the best thing for her to wear was an old T-shirt of Dimitri's. She considered pulling on a pair of his boxers, but the morning was colder than it had been so she opted for a pair of his sweats that she rolled up so they hung on her smaller frame with ease.

  When she opened the door—she hadn't remembered it was closed, to be honest—the laughing got louder until she heard voices. Amanda scrunched her brow. This did not seem like a television show. It sounded like people—tiny people with big voices—were in Dimitri's house early in the morning, who seemed completely awake and full of energy despite the early hour.

  What time is it, anyway?

  When Amanda found out where this noise was coming from, she would be sure to come back upstairs and grab her phone.

  Amanda should have looked before heading down the stairs. She knew that now. Regardless, she hadn't been expecting people, and she was pretty sure Dimitri hadn't either. It wasn't her fault she decided to come down the stairs. In her tiredness, she hadn't noticed the front door open, hadn't noticed Dimitri blocking it with the majority of his solid body, hadn't heard feet running up and down the foyer.

  Until they noticed her.

  "Daddy," a little girl said, probably no more than eight, tugging on Dimitri's robe and looking at Amanda with curiosity and a hint of fear. "Who's the strange lady walking down the stairs?"

  Amanda froze.

  Kids.

  Dimitri's kids.

  What the fuck were they doing here? She thought Rita was purposefully keeping them away from Dimitri as a way to control him. And now she was at his door, dropping them off? Had Dimitri known this and just not told her? Had Rita called while she had been asleep and Dimitri just didn't wake her up to let her know this?

  Dimitri turned to lock eyes with Amanda, and she was instantly able to read everything in that glance. They were filled with insistence that he never meant for this to happen and slight frustration, probably at the woman outside, the woman he refused to let into the house. His face asked her for her patience, for her forgiveness, even though he really hadn't done anything wrong.

  "I'm your daddy's friend," Amanda said, walking down the stairs and extending her arm in the girl's direction. "My name's Amanda. What's yours?"

  "Don't touch my daughter," a voice said from the other side of the door. "I don't know where you've been. You will not touch my daughter."

  "Don't talk about her that way," Dimitri snapped.

  "Who is this, Dimitri?" Rita asked, her attention focused only on Dimitri, as though Amanda didn't exist. Amanda wasn't sure whether to be relieved or offended.

  "I'm Tawny," the little girl said in a low voice and placed her hand in Amanda's. "Are you Daddy's friend? Because my daddy needs a friend. Him and my mommy aren't friends anymore. Mommy has lots of friends but my daddy doesn't. He just has his hockey team, and I think he needs one friend that's a girl."

  Amanda felt herself smile despite her best effort to keep herself from reacting at all. "I am your dad's friend," she repeated.

  "She is none of your business, Rita," he said. "You call an emergency meeting about how you aren't going to let me see my children again and then you drop them off, first thing in the morning, without so much as letting me know? You know I have a game today, but you don't seem to care. Or you purposefully sabotaged my sleep schedule, knowing I had a game, trying to throw me off."

  "Mom wouldn't do that," the boy said, coming in from the kitchen, a bowl of cereal in his hands.

  Amanda couldn't help but be impressed by his resourcefulness, even if he was defending Rita. She watched as Dimitri sagged, almost as though he could not say anything just yet. Not in front of Braden. From where Amanda stood, she noticed a smirk decorating Rita's face, as though she was well-aware of the type of effect Braden had on Dimitri. This must not be the first time Dimitri's son defended his mother.

  "You should not look so pleased with yourself," Dimitri told her in a low voice. "He is ten. He should still be allowed to be a kid. And yet, you have him defending you like he is your protector when that is your job."

  "It's not my fault my son feels the need to protect me," she said.

  Amanda hadn't realized how badly she wanted to claw Rita's eyes out until she felt a pinch in her palms and noticed that she was clenching her fingers into tight fists.

  "Come on, kids," Rita called, the smirk still on her face. "Looks like Daddy's too busy for visitation. We'll try next week, okay?"

  "You purposefully did this, knowing I could not take them because of my game—"

  "I'm not the one who had company over," Rita said as both kids grumbled to themselves.

  "Bye." Tawny waved before turning and giving her dad a hug. Braden didn't even look at Amanda and stepped around his father without looking back.

  In an instant, the three unexpected guests were gone, leaving Amanda and Dimitri alone.

  15

  Dimitri wasn’t sure how Amanda was going to react once he closed the door and it was just the two of them. He held his breath as though he was waiting for the other shoe to drop, waiting for her to realize that this wasn’t what she wanted and walk out the door.

  He couldn’t blame her if she did that. She would have every right to leave. Rita had snapped at her, insinuated there was something dirty about her when there absolutely wasn’t. More than that, Rita had come out of nowhere, no warning, which meant that they were left with what happened as Amanda’s first meeting with the kids. Tawny seemed to be okay with it even though she really didn’t know what was happening, but what was frustrating was Braden wouldn’t even give Amanda a chance, especially after Rita asked about Amanda being dirty.

  “It’s okay,” Amanda said, her voice ringing through the silence between them.

  “It’s not.” His voice was crisp with an edge of insistence and he curled his fingers into fists, physically restraining himself from going over to her. He did not want to overwhelm her. He did not want to make her feel as though she was forced to be affectionate with him when she was upset just to reassure him. “That shouldn’t have happened. But that’s the type of person Rita is now.”

  Amanda nodded. She pressed her lips together and wrapped her arms around her chest as though she was protecting herself. Hopefully, she wasn’t protecting herself from him.

  He relaxed his fingers and shifted his shoulders. He hadn’t realized how stiff they were. Clearing his throat, he glanced down the hall. He could see Braden’s bowl of cereal on the kitchen counter, spoon sticking out of the bowl, from where he stood. Dimitri was certain the cereal was soaking up the milk, barely touched. Rita couldn’t even let him after finishing—and somehow, Dimitri knew that would also be his fault.

  “Did you want to get back to sleep?” Amanda asked, thrusting her thumb over her shoulder to point behind her at the stairs. “I know you have a game tonight and I know morning skate is an hour and a half from now.”

  Dimitri’s eyes widened slightly and he held his breath once more. “You don’t,” he began, hesitating only because he worried the mere idea of her vanishi
ng from his life wasn’t something he wanted to speak out loud. Yet he also didn’t want to continue to hold on when the hope was going to be dashed away at any moment. He would rather know than not know. “You don’t want to leave?”

  “Why would I leave?” Amanda asked. She played with the hemline of his heather-gray shirt and looked down so her red hair fell into her face, masking her profile from him.

  “I imagine what just happened wasn’t the most pleasant experience you’ve had,” he pointed out. He took a step toward her, gentle and hesitant. He still waited for the other shoe to drop, for her to realize it would probably be better if she did leave after all. But she continued to stay on the third stair from the bottom, toying with his shirt.

  “It was definitely unexpected,” Amanda said, a small smile on her face. She stopped playing with his shirt, smoothing the material down and placing one hand on the smooth oak staircase. “But from everything you’ve told me about her, I’m not entirely surprised.”

  “No?”

  Amanda shook her head. “Look, I’m only a psych major, I’m not actually a marriage counselor—yet—but I feel that Rita acted the way she did in order to get your attention,” she explained. “Even if it is negative attention, at least she gets your attention. It’s a way for her to continue to stay relevant in your life.”

  “She was the one who cheated on me—”

  Amanda shrugged and tapped on the handrail. “I don’t know,” she said. “Maybe she felt she wasn’t getting enough of your attention? Maybe being a mom to two young kids while you’re traveling nine months on the road was too much for her? I don’t know her well enough to give you my semi-professional opinion on the matter but I’m sure she acted out the way a child might when a new baby is born or they don’t feel like they’re getting enough attention. At least she has your attention.”

  “But that isn’t going to make me want to take her back.”

  Amanda shook her head. “I know it sounds crazy but I don’t think it’s about that,” she said. “I think it’s more about how even though she’s not an intimate part of your life, she still has an effect on you. Like, in her head, she’s still able to get a reaction out of you, which means she has power over you.”

  Power? He didn’t like the thought of Rita having any sort of power over him. “What do you suggest I do to keep her from thinking that way?” he asked.

  “Oh.” Her face suddenly turned red and it was difficult to keep himself from smiling. “It wouldn’t be right to tell you what to do. My best suggestion would be to keep doing what you feel is right without letting her know she’s getting to you. Like with what she pulled today, let her know you know what she’s doing and just roll with it.”

  “You think that’ll work?” he asked. He didn’t want to give Rita any sort of reaction, but what Amanda suggested sounded almost too simple. And how was Rita going to know he wasn’t going to tolerate petty behavior if he didn’t react?

  “Honestly, I have no clue.” She extended her arm out in his direction. “I think as long as you’re consistent and you aren’t afraid to call her out—even in a respectful way—she might realize that she can’t treat you like that, but you never know. Some people are too miserable and all they want to do us bring everyone else down with them so it doesn’t matter what the other person does.” She forced a smile. “Now come on. We can probably get another hour of sleep before you have to leave.”

  16

  Amanda stepped out of the locker room, looping her arm with Madison Montgomery’s. She wished she could tell Madison everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours, but she knew ears were listening. As much as she loved being an Ice Princess for the Newport Beach Seagulls, there were women ready to throw anyone under the bus in order to get attention and help their career. Not that Seraphina Hanson cared about petty drama, but Amanda could get fired for dating Dimitri because it was against the rules. The last thing that Amanda needed was to be fired when it helped pay for her college tuition, and if she was planning to be a marriage counselor—which she was—she needed to plan for another two years in a master’s program as well as a thousand unpaid counseling hours.

  She headed to the ice in her own car, driving down Pacific Coast Highway. The ocean was on her right, various shops with well-maintained landscapes and chic buildings on her left.

  The Ice Palace was up a curve, near Newport Coast and across the street from Crystal Cove. Currently, the sun was high in the sky, causing the ocean to sparkle a deep blue. The sky was clear but the palm trees that lined up the streets were swaying thanks to a gentle sea breeze. It was the perfect southern California day. She breathed in the air, smelling just a hint of salt, and smiled.

  Madison was already in their designated locker room and they quickly changed into their assigned outfits for the evening—tonight was the crop tops and the skirts, which Amanda didn’t particularly like because of the cut of the skirt—before they stepped through the door that led to a press room. The press room was never used for press when it came to the Ice Palace. Rather, Katella Hanson, the Ice Princess coordinator and Seraphina’s older sister, held meetings just before the games, handing out assignments and going over any necessary announcements.

  “How are you?” Madison asked, sliding into her chair in the press room. She reached up to start playing with her hair but stopped herself, as though remembering that they just spent an hour curling her hair and couldn’t touch it right now. “How is...he?”

  “A lot has happened,” Amanda said, shaking her head and taking the seat next to Madison and close to the window. “Apparently, that woman showed up this morning.” She stopped herself from saying any more as more Princesses walked through and she was reminded she couldn’t speak as openly as she might have wanted to. “She didn’t even recognize me. I talked to her five or six times when she still—when she was still with him. We coordinated an event one time. And then she has the gall to insinuate I’m dirty in front of her kids.”

  “What?” Madison snapped.

  The rest of the room looked over at them and Madison mouthed a ‘sorry’ to Amanda.

  “It’s fine.” Amanda shrugged, glancing out the window. “I should have expected it. I mean, I wish I had more of a chance to prepare for meeting them but it’s the nature of the beast, I suppose.”

  Before Amanda could say anything else, Katella walked in just as the rest of the team arrived.

  “Well, ladies,” she said with a grin, setting her purse in the nearby podium and turning to the whiteboard. “We’re in the home stretch. Three more weeks, and we could know whether we’ve officially made playoffs. For now, though, let’s take this one game at a time.”

  - - -

  The game was fast-paced and hard-hitting. Despite Dimitri’s age, he played a seventeen minute game, and picked up an assist. He seemed to be checking a lot more than usual and Amanda wondered why that was. Did Rita affect him more than he was willing to admit? Was he blowing off steam after everything that had happened today? They never got a chance to really talk about what happened, or even what they planned to do next. As far as Amanda was concerned, they would figure it out as they went along—especially with a home game tonight.

  However, as the game went on, she realized she wanted to know what the plan was. What was the appropriate way for her to feel about everything? A woman in her forties was trying to control her ex and Amanda’s current boyfriend through the manipulation of her kids. She made a disparaging comment about Amanda in front of the children, and she completely ignored Amanda like she was nothing just after. Even as a psych major, she had no idea what the right way was—but, she supposed, that was what psychology was all about.

  By the time the game finished and the Gulls kept the lead they acquired early in the first period, Amanda still hadn’t figured out just what she thought about everything. She was supposed to take space for herself yesterday and then Dimitri had called her back—and she chose to return to him.

  But now?<
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  Now she needed time because Amanda doubted what Rita pulled today would stop. If anything, now that Rita knew about Amanda, Amanda had a feeling that this was only the first shot in a long battle over Dimitri, the kids, and their roles as women in his life.

  The problem was, Amanda didn’t want to fight. She didn’t think she should have to.

  As such, after the game, instead of waiting in the parking lot in her car the way she normally did, she sent Dimitri a quick text about being tired and headed back to her dorm. This time, she was going to think, because once she made a decision about Dimitri, there was no going back.

  17

  In all fairness, he couldn't blame her for heading back to her dorm room after the game. What happened today, the situation she was forced to be in, wasn't exactly something she asked for or wanted to participate in. And it wasn't as though he could promise it would never happen again because, in all honesty, he had no idea if it would happen again or not.

  The Gulls ended up winning the game, thanks to secondary scoring from Xander Vane, a fourth-line goon who actually played decent hockey when he wasn't told to get out on the ice simply to go hit someone on the other team. Dimitri showered and changed and headed back to his place. Because it was Sunday, the game had been early—five pm—so he got home just after eight thirty. He didn't talk to the press that evening, managing to sneak out before the press decided they wanted to speak to him at all.

  When he stepped into his house, he realized how empty it felt. There were rare occasions when he was alone in his own home but it never felt like this. It never felt like he wouldn't see Amanda again. It never felt like his kids didn't want to be here. He headed up to his bedroom and changed into pajamas. He had another early morning in court and wanted to get to sleep as quickly as possible. That, and he wanted this day to be over.