Cage's Misconduct (NHL Scorpions #3)

by Nikki Worrell

  After taking a quick shower, I threw on some old, broken-in jeans and a well-worn t-shirt, then grabbed my cell phone out of my locker so I could call Kyrissa. A brief scan of the room confirmed that I was alone.

  “Hi, Cage.”

  “Hey, Kyrissa. How’s it going?” I hated this part.

  “Good. What’s up? We didn’t have plans for tonight, did we?” I could hear a man in the background calling out to her. Maybe she wouldn’t be too mad after all.

  “Actually, I was thinking that maybe we ought to call it quits.”

  “Oh, okay. Sure. Well, it was fun.”

  That was it? Kind of hurt the old pride. Where were the waterworks? Where was the begging? Maybe I wasn’t as big a player as I thought. Could it be? Nah.

  “You sure you’re okay?”

  I heard a lot of giggling and a muffled “stop that”.

  “Huh? Oh, yeah, I’m fine. See you around. Good luck in the playoffs!”

  And that was that. I looked at my phone and shook my head. Then I made another phone call.

  “Hi, Dalton.”

  Now that was a voice I wanted to hear on the other end of the line. “Hi, Karen. How are you?”

  “I’m fine.”

  Pretty stimulating conversation, don’t you think? My A-game had plain old disappeared.

  “Great. So I was wondering if it would be possible to forget the way I’ve been acting for the past week or so.”

  “Well, why were you such an ass? I certainly can’t remember doing anything to justify your anger at me.”

  As usual, she was right. I was really getting tired of being wrong. Maybe someday I’d learn to think before I acted. “I don’t have a good answer for that. Rush pissed me off after that game I lost. He said some things and I got my back up and it escalated. I’m sorry.” That was about all I had to give her. Unless she wanted me to tell her that seeing her with Dan made me want to bash his face in and then sulk in the corner. Nope, I wasn’t going to go there. “I really am sorry. You’re right; I had no cause to be an asshole to you.”

  “You’re forgiven. Don’t do it again.”

  “Thank you. Is there any chance you’d like to get together for dinner or something? I just got done a hard practice and I’m starving.”

  Her laugh calmed me. “It’s only a quarter to three. Not really dinner time. Actually, I’m just leaving Jody’s. Do you want to come over? We could watch a movie and order in.”

  Jackpot. “That sounds perfect. Can I bring Charlie? She’s been alone a lot lately.”

  “Oh, absolutely! I’d love to see her again.”

  “Okay. We’ll be over in about an hour. Is that okay?”

  “Yes. I’ll have food waiting.”

  What a perfect woman, huh? “You’re the best. Get a lot. I’m a growing boy.”

  ***

  I pulled up to Karen’s just before four, thinking about trying to give her another nudge toward a relationship more along the lines of friends with benefits. Nothing too serious, but wouldn’t that be ideal? We were friends now, so why not get some extra enjoyment out of the arrangement?

  She might be just what I was missing. I know she said she didn’t want anything more than friendship, but things do change. Maybe she’d reassessed our relationship. I’d seen her looking at me with interest. I didn’t misread those looks. Plus, she’d be great for me. She didn’t want my money, and she didn’t care that I was a pro-athlete. She saw me. And if that wasn’t enough, she also genuinely liked me. The real me. I could be myself around her, and I could almost guarantee sex with Karen would be incredible.

  But I was getting ahead of myself. I’d feel things out over dinner. Charlie and I walked up the steps and rang the doorbell. As soon as Karen opened the door, my senses were assaulted by some seriously heavenly aromas. They immediately made me think of my mom’s house growing up. It was a scent of comfort, love, and home. And pasta.

  Karen scooped Charlie out of her resting place on the blanket I was holding her on and cradled her close. “You know I abhor people who wear furs, but I can understand why they might want to. God, she is so soft.” She lifted Charlie so that they were nose to nose. “But your fur looks better on you, doesn’t it, you sweet thing?”

  “It certainly does. I am guilty of wearing leather, though. Is that really any better? Let’s save that discussion for another time.” I followed her into the house and set Charlie’s cage down in the living room by the fireplace.

  “Fine by me. Did you bring the round kiddie gate so she can roam around a little?” Karen had seen the setup I had for Charlie one night when she stopped over my place to bring my KitKat sheets back.

  “No. She’ll be fine in her cage while we eat. I’ll bring her out again when we watch the movie.”

  “Oh, no. Don’t lock her in there. I’ll be right back.”

  Handing Charlie back to me, Karen ran out to the garage and came back with three large boxes. “There are about a half dozen more in there. If you bring them in, we can make a corral for her.”

  I glanced at her as I gently handed Charlie back into her waiting hands. By the soft look in her eyes, she gave me no choice but to believe that she was not as immune to me as she’d like me to think. “I’ll go get them.”

  After two trips to the garage and back, we had a satisfactory play pen of sorts for Charlie. She was contentedly checking out her new surroundings as we made our way into the kitchen to eat.

  I dug into Karen’s delicious dinner with abandon. My plate was piled high with baked ziti, sausage and garlic bread, with a chopped salad on the side. The sauce didn’t taste like it came out of a jar, either. “This is incredible. How’d you have time to make all of this in an hour?”

  “It’s really not a hard meal to make, which is lucky for you because I am not a good cook. Lacey helped me make the sauce over the weekend. The rest is pretty much just heating stuff and mixing it together.”

  “Well it’s better than what I usually cook.” Cooking was something I enjoyed, but it wasn’t so much fun doing it for just one person. My meals usually consisted of a steak thrown on the grill and some kind of frozen vegetable. And I only ate veggies because I knew my body needed them to stay in top shape.

  “You can’t cook either?”

  “Oh, I can cook; I just don’t go to the trouble too often just for myself. I cook a ton of stuff when Jaden and Ethan come to stay. Tell you what. Next weekend we’ll have dinner at my house. In the interest of friendship, you can even invite your brother and his family.”

  She looked up from her plate with surprise all over her face. “Now that would be interesting. Feeling brave, are you?”

  I snorted at the thought. “I’m not afraid of your brother, Karen. Besides, didn’t you order him to be nice to me? Maybe it’s a good way for us to bury the hatchet.”

  “Yeah, okay. I’ll see if they’re available.”

  I knew what that meant. “You mean you’ll see if you can get Jody to agree to come to my house.”

  We shared a smile and continued to eat. “Something like that.”

  ***

  After all of the dishes were put away, we took our spots on the couch to watch some comedy with Will Ferrell in it. He was one of my favorite actors, but for the life of me I couldn’t concentrate on the movie.

  At each funny scene, Karen would put her hand on my arm or push at my shoulder while laughing until she had tears in her eyes. The enjoyment she took from a simple movie was mesmerizing.

  Normally, Karen wore her hair in either a sloppy ponytail or a prim and proper up do. But tonight it was hanging loose; falling in straight panes well past her shoulders. Charlie was using it as a pillow and was asleep on her shoulder. I noticed her slipping in her slumber, so I leaned over, placing my arms around Karen, to grab her and gently put the sleeping chinchilla to bed. Being so close to Karen, my lips just about brushed her ear as I whispered my intentions. “I’m going to put Charlie back in her cage. She’s asleep and I don’t want h
er to fall.”

  She turned her head to look at me and our lips were mere inches apart. How much was I supposed to take? I closed the short distance between us and kissed …her hand.

  I bit the pad of her palm and she let out a tiny squeak. “Get Charlie down before she falls.” As soon as I had her in my hands, Karen got up off the couch.

  With Charlie back in her cage for the evening, I made my way back to the couch, looking at Karen with my brows raised in question. Would she let me sit back down next to her after my almost kiss? “Well? Can I sit back down here if I promise to behave?”

  There was a slight chill in the air and she grabbed a blanket off the back of the couch and patted the spot next to her. She covered us both up with it. I used that movement as an excuse to creep a little closer.

  Once more she turned to me, and I was much closer to her than she expected. “Dalton—Cage.”

  “Cage?”

  “It does seem to suit you better. Now stop that.”

  “Hmm?” I had picked up a piece of her lovely, golden hair and was running it in between my fingers. How did you girls get your hair so soft? Damn, I loved women.

  I moved another inch closer to those enticing lips. “Just once.” Before she could resist, I claimed her lips with mine. And I knew it. It was even better than I’d imagined. For about six seconds. Just when I felt her lips part to allow me entrance, she pushed me away.

  “Do you know what platonic means, Cage? It means friends without benefits. No sexual relations.”

  I wasn’t discouraged at all. See, even though she pushed me away, her body gave me all the right signs. Her fingers had curled into my shirt involuntarily. Her breathing was most definitely not even, and if I wasn’t mistaken, her eyes were a tad on the dilated side. All signs of sexual attraction.

  “Kissing isn’t sex.” I reached for her again and she moaned in the back of her throat. Resistance was futile. She gave me almost ten seconds the second go around. I had just swept my tongue against hers when she pushed me back once more.

  “Platonic, Cage. Do I need to write that on your body so you’ll remember?”

  “Depends. Do I get to pick the body part?”

  She wanted to be mad at me. I could tell, but her smile broke through with a shake of her head. With one final, not entirely heartfelt push, she scooted away from me. “You’re incorrigible.”

  “Incorrigible. I had a teacher who used to call me incorrigible in grade school. She also said I was wayward. I had to look up both of those words.”

  Karen laughed, and I laughed along with her. How could I not? I was incorrigible—and wayward—and willful, headstrong, stubborn. “Watch the movie.” She didn’t give me another glance as Will Ferrell, dressed as an overly large elf, sang in the bathroom of a department store.

  And that was how my night ended. No more kisses for Cage, no booty for good behavior, just a movie. I wasn’t so sure about this friends-without-benefits thing.

  Chapter 10

  Karen

  Zoe and Lacey had arranged a girls’ night out for a bunch of the wives and girlfriends of the players and me. I tagged along with Zoe and Lacey pretty much everywhere they went, and I was having a blast.

  “So, Karen. Tell us what’s really going on between you and Cage. Rush said Cage has got a real thing for you.” Kelly, Keith Lambert’s girlfriend, refilled our wine glasses while I tried to ignore the stripper gyrating in my general area.

  “Do you guys always come to strip joints on girls night out?” I’d never been to one, and aside from the hot bodies all around, I didn’t really see the appeal. I absolutely enjoyed the scenery, but I could have done without the guys trying to stick their dicks in my face. Gross.

  “No. Lacey said you needed to be around some hot testosterone, so here we are.”

  “Lacey! What on Earth would make you think I need to be here?”

  “Come on, Karen. How much excitement do you have there in Nova Scotia living with your mom? I just thought you might want to let it loose, you know?”

  I could see the corners of her lips turning up. This all had to be some kind of joke—or a test. “You’re full of it. Why are we really here?”

  She sighed, looking guilty. On second glance, Zoe looked pretty guilty too as she grabbed Lacey’s arm to get her attention. “Tell her.”

  Lacey turned back to me. “Okay. Jody and Vlad hate our girls nights out. They’re idiots, but we love them. In a million years, they’d never show up here so this is where we decided to come with Jody’s little sister.”

  I was impressed at with their cunning minds. “You know, it’s actually friggin genius! You’re right. There’s no way Jody would step foot in a place like this.” The two margaritas I’d had so far were making themselves known. I pulled out a dollar bill and stuck it in my gyrating strippers g-string. He thanked me with a pelvic roll, and I smacked his ass in appreciation.

  “Karen!” Lacey was pleasantly shocked with my actions. “Jody always says what a good girl you are.”

  “I am, for the most part.” Turning serious for a moment, I asked the girls for ideas on what I could do while I was in San Diego. I was starting to get a little bored. “Do any of have any suggestions of what I can do with my time here when I’m not visiting with my family?” I grabbed Lacey’s hand across the table. “You know I love being with you and Addie while Jody’s at work, but hell, you have things you need to do, too. I need something to fill my time. So, any ideas?”

  Kelly raised her hand. “Well, Cage—”

  I laughed, knowing where she was going with her comment. “Ideas that don’t involve getting naked with a random hockey player!”

  Zoe spoke up next. “You know I could use some help chaperoning a group of girls on an overnight camping trip. I volunteer with our local Big Sisters chapter.”

  “Seriously? That sounds great. I miss working with my kids.”

  “And if you have any afternoon hours available during the week, I have a colleague who is looking for a fill in for one of his therapists for the next two weeks. I could talk to him for you. See if you have the background he could use.”

  She had no idea how much I would love that. Everyone liked getting a break from work now and then, but I was really missing my work. Filling in for someone, helping out wherever I could would be amazing. “For sure. I would love that.”

  The rest of the night consisted of me listening to more smack talk about how hot Cage was for me and questions about why I didn’t just drop my panties for him. I understood their confusion, but I was a bit confused about why they didn’t understand my reasons for not taking Cage up on his very obvious offers.

  When Zoe dropped me off, I invited her in and we talked some more about working with kids. She and I had a lot in common in that area. We both certainly loved what we did.

  “Don’t we have the best jobs?” Zoe was munching on some pretzel crisps while we talked on the deck.

  I got such a feeling of accomplishment for both myself and the children I was helping when they were able to accomplish something new that previously was too hard for them. They had to work so much harder at things that were simple for other children. Something as easy as hearing them say their own name correctly or being able to grasp that ten minutes was shorter than an hour could make my whole week. It sounded like a small thing, but it wasn’t. Not to me and not to the child. “I think we do, but I understand why others couldn’t do it. Have you ever lost a child to depression?”

  “I haven’t, but remember, I haven’t been working with children for that long. I was a sports psychologist for years.”

  “That’s right. That’s how you met Vlad.”

  “Yup. And it wasn’t an easy courtship.” Vlad, being the Scorpions’ goalie at the time was not allowed to date the team’s doctor, but he didn’t care and pursued the hell out of her. She never broke, though. Eventually Vlad had to retire due to a bum hip and things worked out, but when Vlad’s daughter had some serious issues to work t
hrough after her mother died and being bullied at school, Zoe decided she wanted to go into the field of child psychology.

  “Hockey players are stubborn. Obstinate. Headstrong. Not to mention persistent.”

  Zoe laughed and gave me a pointed look. “Are you reading dictionary definitions now or are you actually talking about someone in particular? Another goalie perhaps?”

  I hadn’t known Zoe all that long, but she was pretty damn insightful. Although maybe it wasn’t such a stretch—I mean all the girls had questioned me about Cage at the club.

  “I don’t know. I didn’t think so, but now I’m not so sure. Jesus, if I ever went out with Cage as anything other than a friend, Jody would flip his lid!”

  “The way I see it, that’s Jody’s problem.” She laughed again. “And maybe Cage’s. Since when do you call him Cage, anyway? I thought you called him Dalton.”

  “Just recently. The more I get to know him, the more I think of him as Cage. Dalton is utterly too docile a name for him. It’s a good name, but Cage fits him better.” Besides, I thought it was a pretty cool name, him being a goalie and all. I always wanted a nickname like that. The closest I’d ever gotten was Brat—you could probably guess who called me that.

  I went on to tell her about our dinner and even admitted that he kissed me. “In my defense, I did push him away, both times, but …”

  “Both times? Oh do tell.”

  “This is just between us, right? I don’t want Jody busting a blood vessel for no reason. I know it probably seems silly to you and Lacey that I allow him to be so overbearing with me, but believe me, he has his reasons.” I wasn’t going to go into detail about my past with Freddy again. I figured she probably knew about it anyway.

  Zoe put her hand on my arm in a comforting gesture. “Yes. I know about Freddy, and I’m so sorry you went through that, Karen. I’m sorry Jody feels like he failed you too, but again, that’s his issue, not yours.”

  “I know. I guess I just don’t want to stress him out about Cage for no reason. Speaking of which, he wants me to invite them over to his place for dinner. Cage, that is. He thinks it’s a way to break the ice with him and Jody. Maybe he’s right. At the very least, Cage and I are going to be friends.”