I think maybe I pushed too hard because I could actually see his anger surfacing. His mouth pulled into a thin-lipped, cynical smile, and even that faded quickly. He leaned his head back again, shutting his eyes, and I noticed the grip on his beer bottle was pretty tight. I was pretty sure it was me saying that Jody didn’t have a problem making friends.
“Well, I don’t know what to tell you. Maybe I’m just an asshole. So tell me why Jody’s so damn protective of you. It seems a bit of overkill, you know?”
I decided to let his comment go. If I had to guess, I’d say Cage didn’t take part in a whole lot of soul searching conversation. Our current talk was probably the deepest one he’d had in a while, but I didn’t love the change in the subject. My experience with Freddy was not something I talked about much. So, I took a page from Cage’s book.
“That’s just the way he is. You know, kids stole my lunch money when I was little—that kind of stuff.” Even though we seemed to have this connection, I wasn’t going to share all my baggage if he was going to withhold his, right?
“I call bullshit. Protective brothers are one thing. Jody’s singular mission in life to beat any guy who looks at you is another.” He gingerly touched his previously broken and now realigned nose. “All I did was say how nice your—never mind, it’s not important. Anyway, there’s more to the story. Your brother broke my nose so I think you owe it to me.”
I’d finished my beer, and now I wanted nothing more than to get back to the hotel and climb into bed. I was exhausted, but I started talking anyway. I still wasn’t sure why I decided to tell him about my time with Freddy, but I did.
“Fine. Here it is. I met Freddy in high school. He was on the football team, best friends with the quarterback and an all-around nice guy. I was on the cheerleading squad. The ‘B’ squad because everyone who tried out made the team, but I had more curves than was deemed acceptable by Bunny Monroe. Her real name was Matilda, but no one dared call her that.” I looked over to see Cage watching me closely. He shifted to a more upright position and gave me his full attention.
“I never understood why girls tried to keep themselves so thin. If a girl is made that way, then fine, but why starve yourself to be something you think others want? I guess we were all just trying to fit in at that age.” He reached over and pulled a KitKat out of the coffee table drawer. “Want one?”
I chuckled at another one of his stashes of chocolate, wondering if he had them scattered all around the house for easy access. “No thanks.”
We sat there in silence for a couple of seconds—me watching him lick chocolate off his fingers. I can’t say it was a hardship.
“Well, go on. I won’t interrupt again.”
“It’s a pretty typical story. We went together for two years before I got pregnant in my senior year. Jody doesn’t know that part, so if you could keep that to yourself I’d appreciate it, not that it really matters now.” Cage was now only the fourth person on the planet that knew about the baby I might have had. My mother and I had agreed that Jody didn’t need to know about it then. He would most assuredly have wound up in jail for murder. It was hard enough reining him in as it was.
Cage reached over and held my hand. “So what happened to the baby?”
That was the hard part—the part that I had such trouble even thinking about. I doubt you could find a seventeen-year-old girl who actually wanted to have a baby, but when that decision was ripped away from you, it left you a bit broken inside.
“I was three months along and knew I had to tell Freddy about the baby. He had already asked me if I was gaining weight. Even though he was the one who picked me to be with, he constantly watched what I ate. It got worse the longer we were together. He became like a drill sergeant, making me stick to an exercise program and taking food off my plate that he said I shouldn’t be eating. I was young enough and thought I was in love, so I did pretty much whatever he asked of me to keep him happy, even when he started pushing me around.”
Now Cage was gently drawing circles on my hand that was still clasped in his. “If this is too hard to talk about, we don’t have to, Karen.”
“No. It’s okay. I’ve forgiven myself and moved on.” I had. Really, I had, but that didn’t mean I didn’t feel sad or mad about that awful time now and again.
“I waited until Valentine’s Day to tell him. I thought that I could make it be a special event, you know? I had been noticing that he was getting quieter around me, and made excuses sometimes when I wanted to see him. I started to wonder if he was seeing someone else. Anyway, we went out to eat at a local place, and I reached over to grab his hand across the table while we were waiting for our food. He allowed it, but not for long. When he pulled his hand away, I knew. He was done with me. Of course, being the teenager I was and all those extra hormones going crazy, I was devastated. So I just came out and asked him point blank what was going on with him. I’ll never forget that moment. I was both so very proud of myself for addressing the subject and scared as hell of his answer.”
I fidgeted on the sofa and took a breath before I continued on. “He told me that he wanted to break up, so I decided not to tell him about the baby. I guess in my head I pictured me telling him and us getting married. You know, the whole happily-ever-after scenario? But what did I know? I was just a teenager in love. Pretty stupid, huh?”
“No. Not stupid. Naïve maybe, but not stupid.”
“Yeah, well he thought I was pretty stupid. We didn’t finish our dinner and when he drove me home, I’d changed my mind about telling him again and decided he needed to know. I invited him in.”
“It took me a minute to convince him to come in, but he agreed. I thought maybe if we had sex, he’d re-think leaving me. I guess I was desperate to hold onto him. When I finally told him about the baby, after we’d had sex, of course, he went ballistic. He said I’d ruined the rest of his life. I’d never seen him like that. He’d been angry at me—pushed me a few times, but I’d never seen his rage take him over so completely. The first hit landed right on my cheekbone. I was literally shocked into silence. I didn’t even scream. The second and third hits hardly affected me because I was still reeling from the fact that he’d actually hit me.”
Both of my hands were now encased between Cage’s. “I’m so sorry, Karen. God, no man should ever hit a woman.”
I took a deep breath, letting the memory go, and finished the recount of my story with quick sentences, just wanting to get to the end. “Let’s just say he continued to beat me until I couldn’t get up off the floor. He’d kicked me in the stomach so hard and so many times that I knew I’d lose the baby. There was just no way a baby could have withstood that kind of violence.” My lips curled up in one of those smiles that people show when they’re trying to forget the pain. “Hopeless and helpless. That’s how I’d felt. So hopeless and helpless; I curled up in a ball just praying he would leave before he killed me, too.”
Cage was trying to comfort me, but I could hear the raw anger in his voice. His grip on my hands tightened to the point of discomfort. “Where is he now?”
I didn’t answer right away. I shook my hands a little to loosen his grip, and took a cleansing breath. He looked down at our hands and let mine go. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay. He’s long gone. He left me lying on the floor that night as soon as he heard the front door opening. My mother came in and he went out, saying goodbye to her like everything was right as rain. I never saw him again after that night. He just disappeared. The police came to me in the hospital and we filed a report. About a year later I got a call telling me that Freddy was killed while evading police when he and some of his buddies tried to rob a store. And that was that.”
“I doubt it was as easy as ‘that was that’. Have you had many boyfriends since then?”
A loud snort popped out before I answered. “No. I’ve tried dating now and then, but apparently the new way of dating is to sleep together after one or two nights out. That’s just not for me. I
guess I’m holding out for the guy who thinks I’m worth getting to know.” That was one of the reasons I liked Cage. Even though he flirted with me, he wasn’t a threat to me in any way. I knew he’d never seriously be interested in me. He wanted the fast girls—the ones who were pulling their clothes off before they even entered the house.
“You’re definitely worth getting to know, Karen.”
We talked well into the early hours of the morning, and I fell asleep in his arms on the couch. He never tried anything, and even tried to position himself so that I couldn’t feel the tell-tale proof that he was, at the very least, attracted to me.
Anyway, my whole point was that I knew Cage had a sensitive side. I knew he cared so much more than he let on. What I still didn’t know was why he wouldn’t put some of his attitude aside and put some effort into making a friend or two.
Chapter 7
Cage
I hadn’t seen Karen in over a week, and I found myself thinking about her almost constantly. It was her fault, too. She was very flirty over the phone via texting (okay, maybe that was more me). Since I’d been deprived of seeing her beautiful face or hearing her sweet voice, I found myself looking back at some of our texting.
Me: Hey
Karen: Hey
Me: What’s up?
Karen: Nothing.
Me: Are you deliberately being short with me?
Karen: No
Me: Karen…
Karen: Getting your panties in a twist again, Dalton?
Me: Didn’t we already have this discussion? I don’t wear ‘panties’.
Karen: Oh yeah. Guess I don’t think too much about what you do or don’t have under your jeans.
Me: And what a shame that is.
Karen: Dalton…
Me: What? It is a shame. You should think about it. A lot.
Karen: I’m going to bed. Goodnight, Dalton.
Me: Eureka! I knew it. You have to go take care of business now, don’t you? I’m too sexy for my phone, too sexy for my texting, too sexy for my ‘panties’.
No reply.
Me: Karen? You there?
Me: Am I in trouble now? :(
Me: Goodnight
Then there was this one. This texting session I’d reread a lot.
Karen: Good game tonight. Team looks good.
Me: Agreed. Did you see how awesome the goal tending was?
Karen: You have got to learn some humility, Mr. Number One.
Me: No I don’t. I kinda rock.
Karen: Thanks a lot. You just made soda come out my nose.
Me: That’s hot.
Karen: LOL. Did you sign a lot of autographs after the game?
Me: Tons. Playoffs get like that. I don’t mind though. The kids are great.
Karen: You realize you’re not half the badass you think you are, right?
Me: I absolutely do not realize that. I am 100% badass. How about if I come over there and show you just how badass I am?
Karen: I don’t think so. I’m soaking in the tub right now.
Me: Gah. Change of plans. How about if I come wash your back for you? All that wet skin…
Karen: Dalton…
Me: Karen…
Me: So, what are you wearing?
Karen: What do you think I’m wearing? I’m in the tub!
Me: So …nothing, right? Am I right?
Karen: You’re crazy, you know that? But you do make me laugh.
Me: I could make your toes curl too, if you’d let me.
Karen: Just for arguments sake …how exactly would you do that?
Me: Really? You want to play this game? I’m all in, darlin’.
Karen: Go for it.
Me: Let’s see. I’d start on your neck. I’d gather that lovely hair of yours in my hands and hold it aside while I explored every inch of your creamy, smooth skin. My lips would lightly brush against you right beneath your ear, trailing a path to your collarbone and back up again.
Karen: Never mind. This is a bad idea.
Me: Oh, no. You started it. Now where was I?
I didn’t expect to hear anything back again. As a matter of fact, I figured she’d call it a night like the last time. The ding from my phone sent a rush of blood to parts south. She wanted to play.
Karen: My neck.
Me: While my lips are busy, I’d let my hands slide down through the water, over your breasts, lavishing attention on them too. Still with me?
Karen: Yeah. No. I was right the first time. This was a bad idea. Goodnight, Dalton.
I thought it might be in my best interest to let her off easy. At least I knew she was thinking about me. It was a step in the right direction.
Me: Sweet dreams, darlin’.
So yeah, I’d been thinking about her a lot. It was actually kind of annoying. Luckily it hadn’t affected my game. I hadn’t had any more back-to-back shut outs, but I was still holding my own.
Since I’d become friendly with Karen, I realized that I liked and possibly needed to be spending time with other people, so when Keith asked me, as he always did, to go to The Pub with them I said yes. Don’t get me wrong, Charlie was fine company, and I was glad that Karen brought her back to me, but a chinchilla wasn’t a very good conversationalist. I was actually thinking of asking Karen to take over babysitting Charlie when I was out of town while she was here. I don’t think the coach’s wife was in love with watching her.
“Hey, Booker. We’re heading over to The Pub. You want to come?”
“Sure. Why not?” Keith’s look was comical. He had already been halfway out the door of the locker room, assuming I’d say no as usual.
“Yeah? Cool. You want to ride with me or drive over yourself? If you want to ride with me, I can drop you off here later to grab your car.”
“Nah. Thanks though. I’ll meet you there.” I was looking forward to hanging out with the guys, believe it or not, but that didn’t mean I wanted to be dependent on anyone to get home. Baby steps, you know?
For the first time, I thought about blowing off the fans who waited out at our parking lot for us in order to get over to The Pub. As I slipped into my car, out of the corner of my eye I caught sight of a little girl in a wheelchair holding my jersey and looking as if she were going to cry watching me leave. No way in hell could I do it. So I backed out of my parking spot and drove closer to the fence.
“You know, I was going to leave, but then I saw this beautiful girl and I couldn’t do it. I’m a sucker for the pretty ones.” I winked at her as I reached out for her jersey. Her lopsided smile lit up the night. I wasn’t sure what was wrong with her, but she had very little muscle control, and there was a bit of spittle at the corner of her mouth. I gently wiped it away with my thumb before taking her jersey to sign it.
“What’s your name, beautiful?”
She grinned again and said her name, which I couldn’t quite understand. Her face contorted into a frustrated frown and she tried again. I had nothing.
“Wait. Let me guess. Can you give me the first letter?”
She closed her eyes, like she was thinking really hard. “Uhhhh….” She put one finger up and I waited. “P.”
“Ah, P. Must be for Precious?”
She laughed and shook her head.
“Perfection?”
“N..nn…no.”
“Hmm. Pretty?”
She made an effort to swat my hand and giggled.
“Okay. Let me see.” I glanced at her mother who was smiling at me in approval. She mouthed “Patty.”
“There are only a couple of names that begin with P that I can think of that are good enough for you.” I scratched my head, deep in thought. “I hope I have the right one, because it’s one of my very favorite names. Ready?”
She bounced a bit in her chair, leaning perilously to the side in her effort. I reached out a hand to steady her and said, “Patty?”
Her squeal was overly loud, and drew looks from the other people waiting impatiently. Most smiled at the girl, but a
few looked disgusted as again, a bit of drool escaped out of the side of her mouth. I grabbed the tissue out of her mother’s hand this time and dabbed it away.
I signed her jersey “To Patty. The prettiest girl at the rink.” I wasn’t sure if she could read it or not, but before they left, she ran her fingers over it as if it was her most prized possession. I kissed her cheek as her mother thanked me for stopping.
Those were the moments that touched me most. Yes, I was a Class A jerk sometimes, and yes I’d slept with more women than I should have. And no, I did not respect people as I ought to, but I never lied about it. Girls knew what they were getting into before I got into it with them, and I didn’t kiss ass or sugar coat things. But give me an innocent child, and I was reduced to a puddle of goo. For some reason, Karen seemed to be the only one who saw that side of me, but as I’d said before, people saw what they wanted to see.
***
There were plenty of parking spots left to pick from in The Pub’s parking lot when I arrived. It was almost ten-thirty on a Wednesday night, but Wednesday’s not a big partying night, you know? We had a rare day off tomorrow so I didn’t have to worry about being out late.
It was obvious that the gods decided to reward me for my decision to hang with the guys. One of the first people I saw when I walked in the door was Karen. She was standing at the bar with big brother and Lacey. Almost as if we were connected, she looked right at me within seconds and gave me a charming smile. I hadn’t had any contact with her yesterday and I had no idea she’d be there.
I saw her elbow Jody and heard her mumble “be nice” as I got up close to them. “Hi guys.” And you know what I did? I held my hand out to that son of a—to Jody, and fucking smiled. Victory! “Nice to see you all.”
Jody reluctantly shook my hand and allowed me to give Lacey a quick smooch. She didn’t hate me like Jody did. I had kind of saved her from her ex one time in the parking lot of the rink. Jody was in the building when her ex hit her in the parking lot as I was walking into the rink, and quite honestly, I saw red. There was one rule that all men should live by with zero exceptions. You did not hit women. Period. So, I knocked the bastard out.
Cage's Misconduct (NHL Scorpions #3) Page 6
