“He asked me to come and pick you up. Get changed and I can take you to him.”
“YOU DON’T ALL have to stay with me all day, you know,” Nicky said. He passed his gaze from me to Colesy and finally to Babs as he spoke. “I don’t need three babysitters. I swear, one of you will be more than enough.”
“Tough,” Babs said. “You’ve got three.”
And soon, he’d have two more. At least I was fairly certain Brie was coming with Shane. That would make five. The three of us had been the only ones still hanging around after practice this morning when Babs noticed Nicky sitting in his stall and visibly shaking.
His first thought—and mine, too—had been that Nicky had taken something and was high. It turned out he hadn’t taken anything at all; he was really fighting the urge, and having a pretty big struggle with it.
Babs had been staying late to do some extra reps on the weight machines in the gym. He’d taken to doing that this year, and I couldn’t say it was hurting him. Colesy and I had been in Bergy’s office, talking about our goals for the rest of the season since he’d told us he intended to keep the two of us as a defensive pair as long as we didn’t take any steps backward. Since he’d made our pairing official, he’d decided that meant it was time to set more goals for the future. I was starting to get the feeling that Bergy had a goal for what time of day he took a dump. It was a little unreal.
Anyway, Colesy and I had walked into the locker room about a minute after Babs had found Nicky like that, and the three of us had decided right then and there that we were going to stick with our goaltender for the rest of today. We were all going to be at the Light the Lamp Foundation event tonight, anyway, so it wasn’t a big deal. The only problem was that I still hadn’t seen Brie, and I knew she’d been expecting me, but she hadn’t answered any of my text messages all day.
I wasn’t worried about her—I knew exactly where she was and why she was too busy to respond—but I was worried about Nicky. He had to take precedence right now, and I knew Brie would understand. Or at least I hoped she would.
Once it was decided that the four of us were going to spend the day together, I’d suggested we all go back to my place to hang out. I had a grocery service drop off food whenever I returned from a road trip, so the kitchen was well stocked and we would have plenty of things to do all day until we needed to head out for the event. On top of that, it would keep us away from bars or any of the other typical New Year’s Eve haunts. I didn’t want to offer Nicky any more temptation than he already had.
At the moment, he was looking around at the three of us like we’d all lost our minds. “Don’t you boys have something better to do today?”
“Nothing I can think of,” Colesy said. He put his feet up on the ottoman and stretched his neck to the side. Pepper took his change in position as an invitation to help herself to his lap. He let out an “Oof!” and shifted to better accommodate her.
I really needed to figure out how to convince her she was far too big to be a lapdog. Not that I had a clue how I’d go about that. Maybe I could find a dog whisperer somewhere.
“So what was it?” Babs asked, broaching the subject that we’d all been skirting around since that moment in the locker room. “What set you off?”
“We need to know so we can try to help you out better,” Colesy added, when Nicky gave Babs an odd look.
Nicky shrugged. “I don’t know, honestly. I felt good last night. A little shaky at first, but it had been a long time since I’d been in the net. By the time I had to stop that penalty shot, I had really settled in and everything had started to feel right. My adrenaline was pumping. Maybe that was it,” he said, a circumspect expression clouding his eyes that made me think there was a lot more he wasn’t telling us. He shook his head. “Maybe it was too much adrenaline when I hadn’t had much of it lately, and my body wanted something…more. I had a hard time sleeping last night, too. Really hard. I was up, pacing and sweating, desperate to take something that would calm me down and put me to sleep. But I didn’t. I called my sponsor even though it was the middle of the night. Talked about it. I managed to get through the night without taking anything, but I hardly slept, and the itch hadn’t left me. Then we had practice…”
What he didn’t say was that he’d had a particularly bad practice this morning. He hadn’t been on his game at all. None of us had worried about it too much, not even the coaches, because we knew he was just returning and struggling to get his timing back. Plus, we didn’t have another game for a couple of days.
“I don’t know,” he said. “It was such a letdown after the big rush of being back in the net last night. And once I’d showered and sat down for a few minutes, I started shaking.”
I thought it over for a minute, and then I leaned forward, making sure he was looking at me. “Sounds to me like you need to figure out a way to channel the adrenaline of the game. Because without that big rush, there wouldn’t be the huge drop-off afterward.”
He chuckled. “Yeah. Sounds great. Any suggestions?”
I didn’t have any, but Shane and Brie came through the door before I could answer him, and then he clammed up. I guessed he didn’t want to talk about it in front of Brie. That was all right. We could talk more when she wasn’t around.
I got up and pulled Brie in for a kiss, taking it deeper than I’d initially intended to because it had been too damn long since I’d had her in my arms.
“Hi,” she said a little dreamily when we finally broke apart. I loved that I was able to make her go goofy like that with nothing more than a kiss.
“Hi, yourself. Sorry I couldn’t come pick you up today.”
She shook her head with a tiny glance over at Nicky. “Don’t be. I understand. But later…there’s something I need to tell you.”
“We’ll find time. I’ll make time.” I didn’t know when—maybe not until well after I’d finished my taxi duty for Kally’s charity tonight—but I would find a way to get her alone.
She smiled and nodded, and then she went and took a seat next to Colesy. Pepper seemed to think that was her cue to spread her canine body across both their laps, so she flopped her head down on Brie’s legs. Brie rubbed my dog’s ears, and they both let out contented sighs.
I watched for a minute, again thinking that there was nothing more perfect I could imagine than having Brie here all the time. She fit here. She belonged in my life.
I just had to figure out how to make it happen.
IT WAS WELL after two a.m. by the time I finished taxiing people home and Jessica Lynch gave me the go-ahead to call it quits. I’d missed the ball dropping in New York, being otherwise occupied with entertaining Kally’s guests. No one here was drinking, even though it was New Year’s Eve. Light the Lamp was all about helping addicts turn their lives around, so having alcohol present wouldn’t work out. So I wasn’t acting as a designated driver—only a celebrity driver.
My last stop of the night was at Nicky’s house. I pulled up in his driveway and put the car in park. “You sure you’re all right here alone tonight?”
“I’ve got to figure out how to do this on my own sometime,” he said.
“Sometime doesn’t have to be tonight. I’ve got lots of room. It wouldn’t be an imposition.” I knew Shane wouldn’t mind, and I was sure Brie would be fine with it, too. I’d taken her back to my place a couple of hours ago. She needed to rest up for her performance tomorrow, and it had become clear really early that I wouldn’t be done until the wee hours of the morning. I couldn’t ask her to stay with me that late, but at least she’d agreed to spend the night at my place. I couldn’t wait to crawl into bed with her.
It was the simple things that I’d missed more than anything while I was gone, like holding her while she slept or waking up with the sun gleaming off the red in her hair and making it spark like fire. It was starting to make sense why Soupy and Rachel were acting like teenagers now that they were married. They couldn’t get enough of each other. I supposed that was just
how it was when you were with the person you were meant to spend your life with.
“I know it wouldn’t bother you,” Nicky said. “But I need to do this. I need to do it for myself. To know I can be okay.” He still wasn’t talking about whatever else it was that had set him off this morning, but I didn’t know how to get him to do that. Lord knew I’d been a tough nut to crack—I still wasn’t sure how Brie had gotten me to talk about Garrett—but there didn’t seem to be a guidebook that would explain how to get him to talk about his demons, whatever they may be. I supposed that meant we’d have to be patient.
I reached over and gave him a punch on the shoulder. “All right. But call if you change your mind. Or just show up. Whatever.”
“I will.”
“Remember, you’re not fucking in this alone, man. You’ve got twenty-two brothers here to help you through.”
“You boys all made that very clear tonight. Thanks, Burnzie.” He reached for the door handle, then looked back at me. “I’ll call if I need help.”
I nodded, and he got out. I waited until he got safely inside before backing out of his driveway and heading for my own house. Shane and Brie had left a couple of lights on for me, but there wasn’t any sign of either of them downstairs. I let the dogs out one final time for the night so they wouldn’t bother me too early in the morning. Pepper’s barks were loud enough she was probably going to wake Mrs. Stephenson, but I couldn’t make myself care. I wanted to get up to bed—to Brie—as soon as possible.
Once I’d ushered them all back inside and locked up, I bounded up the stairs and into my bedroom.
Brie’s eyes popped open when I came in, and she gave me a sleepy smile while I stripped down to my boxers. “Did you get everyone home safely?”
I crawled into bed, resituating the blankets so they covered both of us. Almost immediately, she snuggled against my side and put her head on my shoulder as though that was where it belonged. I couldn’t say I disagreed with that sentiment, either.
“Everyone’s home safe. And now I’m here with you.”
“Good,” she said, placing a kiss on my collarbone that only made me want more, even though neither one of us needed to be up even later tonight.
There was one small piece of business I thought maybe we could handle before she fell back to sleep, though. “Earlier,” I said, “you mentioned there was something you wanted to tell me?”
“Mmm-hmm.” Her breaths were warm against my chest, tickling my skin as the air fanned out over me.
“And it was…?”
“Oh.” Brie yawned, and her grin was so big then that I could feel it against my skin. “I just wanted to tell you that I love you, too.”
Almost as soon as it was out of her mouth, she was asleep. I doubted I’d sleep for hours, though. I could understand, to some extent, what Nicky must have been going through last night, because the adrenaline pumping through my veins made it feel as though my heart might explode at any moment. Or maybe it was simply love making me feel that way.
Either way, it didn’t matter. Brie loved me. That was the only thing that seemed important right now.
I WOKE THIS morning in the warm cocoon of Keith’s arms with only the vague memory of him coming in last night, and the even more ambiguous recollection of having told him I loved him. The words had been hovering on my tongue for a few days, so there was little wonder they’d slipped free without my conscious permission.
As soon as I woke, though, everything kicked into high gear: a new day, preparations for this afternoon’s performance, and the dawn of a new year—heck, maybe even a new era. Because I loved Keith, and that had to mean things would change. I didn’t know what those changes were going to be. All of this change had excellent timing, but with it all coming at once, things were a little stressful.
Even though it had been an extremely late night for all of us, Keith and Shane both got up when I did and helped to get me out the door. The show was scheduled to start at two, but I had to get there for costume, hair, and makeup, and I’d promised Devin I would help him out by making sure all the dancers were present and accounted for—not to mention help Stacey and Tanya in sorting out the last-minute issues they might have, which always popped up during an event like this—so he could oversee the other changes to staging, lighting, and sound. It was going to be an all-day affair and that meant I needed to get there ASAP. I wasn’t sure if Tanya had agreed to be part of this because she wanted more opportunities to flirt with Devin or if she really wanted to be involved, but either way, I was glad she was here. There couldn’t be too many familiar faces around, as far as I was concerned. The elation I’d felt after how well my part of the show had gone over yesterday had long since worn off, and now all the dread was back.
Instead of dropping me off and going off to do whatever brotherly thing they might have done today, they parked and followed me inside. It was a good thing, too. The dressing rooms were already a zoo. The second I walked into the backstage area, Tanya grabbed my arm and pulled me into my private dressing room. Keith and Shane followed us inside and closed the door.
“It’s a madhouse back here. I swear, so many of them are just divas. My zipper broke. I can’t find my other shoe. She stole my stockings. This shit never ends.”
“Where do you want me to start?” I asked.
“Your makeup and hair person will be here any minute, so that’s where you’re starting. In this chair.” She pushed me—unceremoniously, I might add—down into it. “That’s why I pulled you in here, because at least with you, I know you’ll do what you’re told and be where you’re supposed to be.”
Shane cleared his throat. “Point me in the direction of the broken zipper.”
“You can sew a zipper?” Keith asked.
Shane shrugged. “I learned a lot of useful skills back when Garrett was dancing.”
“I can sew zippers and buttons and things like that while they’re dealing with me,” I put in.
Tanya gave me a look that plainly said I was to stay put and do what she’d told me to do. “Come on,” she said to Shane, taking him by the arm. “And you, too,” she added, looking back at Keith. “Your brother can teach you. I’m sure this isn’t the last wardrobe disaster we’ll have today, and I need all hands on deck.”
They both went out with her. I debated whether I should go ahead and get into my costume, but we still had hours to go before that was going to be necessary. The last thing I needed to do was burst my own zipper, so I decided against it. I did strip down to my undergarments and put on a robe, though, and I’d barely finished doing that when my makeup artist came in.
For the next several hours, I was primped and primed, poked and prodded, while they tried to make me presentable. Every now and then, some dancer or another would race in with some new problem, or Tanya would come to gripe about how Stacey was handling things, or Keith and Shane would carry some random piece of costume in to ask me how best to go about fixing whatever problem it had. The zoo apparently extended into my dressing room.
Right around the time my stomach was loudly protesting everything, a caterer wheeled in a cart of food and pushed it against one of the walls. “I’ll be back to clear things away in about an hour,” he said. “Enjoy!”
Ignoring my hair stylist’s protests, I jumped down from my chair and piled food high on a plate before going back. “You’d better do the same, if you have any sense,” I said to her. “It’ll be hours before you get another chance, otherwise.”
Grudgingly, she went over and picked at a few things before continuing her torture on my hair.
Right around the time the caterer came back to remove the cart, Devin poked his head in. “Everything all right in here?”
Tanya whisked past him and flopped onto the chair next to mine. “She’s managing like a champ. I, however, am ready to throttle Gina Martin. Do you know what that—”
Devin cut her off with a sharp look, and then he pointedly looked at me and then back.
Tan
ya pressed her lips together into a thin, white line.
“What?” I demanded.
Neither said a word.
“I swear, one of you two had better tell me whatever it is.” The name was somewhat familiar, but I honestly wouldn’t know Gina Martin even if she was standing right in front of me.
“It isn’t important,” Devin said, which only confirmed my suspicions that whatever it was, it was important enough for them to think they needed to keep it from me.
Keith pushed into the room with Shane on his tail, just as my stylists finally cleared out. He closed the door and met my eyes. “She’s trying to put it off that you’re behaving like some high-and-mighty star, like you think you’re better than the rest of them and bossing everyone around.”
Devin glared at Keith. “Which is my fault, if anything. I’m the one who put you in charge of things back here. I’m the one who gave you the private dressing room. But you are the star of this show, and if Gina has a problem with that—”
“I’m not the star,” I cut in. “You are.”
“That’s why Stacey and I kept you in here all day, anyway,” Tanya cut in, giving Devin the evil eye. I’d never seen her look at him with anything less than googly eyes, so I knew she was hot about it. She met my gaze dead-on. “We wanted to keep you busy so they wouldn’t talk like that, but it seems to have had the opposite effect than we’d hoped for. And now Gina is calling—”
“She doesn’t need to know the specifics,” Keith cut in.
“Now, Gina’s calling you a fat bitch and saying you have no business being involved anyway,” Tanya finished, raising her voice so she would be heard. She turned her eyes on Keith, flashing fire. “This is a catty business, and Brie deserves to know the whole truth about what they’re saying behind her back.”
“It could have waited until after the show,” he came back.
“No.” I shook my head. “No, it couldn’t have.”
“It’s just jealousy, Brie,” Devin said. “They’re envious because you’re the one closing the show. You’re the one dancing with me. That’s all.”
In the Zone (Portland Storm 5) Page 27
