by Mandy Baxter
“I don’t give a shit about tonight’s press conference.”
Travis kept his gaze straight ahead, his massive arms folded across his wide chest. His nostrils flared and his jaw squared. He was truly intimidating when he was angry.
“If you’re not upset over the press conference, then what are you upset about?”
His eyes widened with incredulity as he turned to face her. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
Reily’s heart beat triple time. “Travis, I—”
“You know what,” Travis said with a sneer. “Just forget it.”
“I did what I thought was best for the both of us.” Reily had to explain herself, though she didn’t know why it mattered. It’s not like she meant more to him than a couple nights of fun. “We’re both on thin ice with Bob. We agreed to lay low until after the championship. Neither of us could afford to slip.”
Travis snorted. “Is that what I am? A slip?”
“You know what I mean.”
He cocked a brow. “Do I? Sounds to me like you got off on slumming it for a night with the dumb jock. And now that it’s over, you’re ready to move on to somebody who’s worthy of your overeducated, uptight ass.”
Reily’s temper flared. “I’m not the self-proclaimed man-whore!” she spat. “Uptight ass? Better than not caring about anything!”
“How would you know what I care about?” Travis shouted. “You haven’t taken a single second to even try and find out!”
“Are you really mad that I didn’t hustle up to your room like one of your anxious groupies?” Reily’s voice escalated. She rarely shouted, but Travis pushed her buttons like no one else could. “Should I have strolled through the door and dropped my panties for you?”
“I’m mad because you seem absolutely oblivious to the fact that I’m fucking crazy about you!” Travis turned to face her, every muscle in his body rigid. “And instead of recognizing how much I want you—how much I care about you—you treat me like everyone else who doesn’t know shit about me! Like I’m nothing but a vapid, horny asshole who doesn’t care about anything but getting off.”
The elevator door slid open to the sixth floor. Travis reached down and jerked his large duffle bag up from the floor before stalking past Reily. The doors began to slide shut and her arm shot out to stop them. He was crazy about her? Since when?
For a moment, Reily stood there, gaping. Travis’s angry stride down the hallway drew not only her attention but her admiration. Never in a million years could she ever imagine that someone like Travis would give her a passing look. She’d made snap judgments based on what she’d learned about him from the press, despite his declarations that she meant more to him than a one-night stand. She knew better. Reily had seen Travis with his family. Had heard him talk about his love of hockey and disdain for the picture people painted of him. She knew how his father’s legacy haunted him and how he and his brothers had fought to make their own way. He’d trusted her, confided in her. He wouldn’t have done that if he’d felt nothing for her. Travis wasn’t a superficial jock in search of a quick fuck. There was so much more to him. And his perceived rejection had cut him to the quick.
She’d done that. She’d hurt him.
“Travis, wait!”
He didn’t stop. Didn’t turn around. His step didn’t even falter as he headed down the hallway toward his room. Maybe it was best to let him cool down. Reily took a step back into the elevator and let the doors shut Travis from her sight. This was what she’d wanted, wasn’t it? To put distance between them before she was too far gone for him to break her heart? She forced her finger to press the button for her floor. Her stomach gave a lurch but she didn’t know if it was from the movement in the car or her tumultuous emotions that made her feel as though she was on a rollercoaster.
Either way, she wanted off.
The long trek back to her room seemed to span miles. Reily’s feet were lead weights that grew heavier the further from Travis they took her. I’m mad because you seem absolutely oblivious to the fact that I’m fucking crazy about you! She should have gone after Travis. Chased him down the hallway and thrown herself into his arms. She should have apologized for being such a closed-minded jerk who really wasn’t any better than the public who made snap judgments about him every day. How could she have been so stupid as to walk away from a chance at something great? Something real. Travis was smart, funny, sincere. He’d let her see the caring side of him. The serious and determined side. He wasn’t just a pretty face, he was the entire package. Everything she’d ever wanted and more. She was crazy about him, too. And damn it, she was going to tell him.
Reily raced back to the sixth floor. There was nothing ladylike about the way she sprinted down the hallway to room 626. Her breath raced in her chest and she sounded like she’d just run a marathon, but she didn’t care. She banged on the door just as he had the night he’d followed her into her townhouse. She’d pushed him away again and again, but it wasn’t going to happen anymore. She’d find another career. She wouldn’t find another Travis.
He jerked open the door and Reily had never seen him more enraged. His brows were drawn down sharply over his clear hazel eyes and his mouth formed a hard line. A muscle at his jaw ticked with agitation and his muscles were taut. The words that formed on Reily’s tongue died there as she looked past him, over his shoulder, to the naked woman sprawled out on his bed.
A sharp pain shot through Reily’s chest. The hurt she felt speared her heart and left it eviscerated. Her gaze met Travis’s and the anger dissolved into shock in an instant. His jaw fell open on its hinges and he lurched forward. He cared about her? He was crazy about her? So crazy that it had only taken him ten or so minutes to replace her. God, she was so stupid to have believed his bullshit and her own hopeful heart! She spun on a heel so he wouldn’t see the tears that spilled from her lids, and rushed back down the hallway. She’d been willing to risk her career, her livelihood for him. And all along, Travis had her snowed.
Having her heart broken by Travis Christensen shouldn’t have hurt as badly as it did. But as she stuffed her keycard into the slot in her door, Reily could no longer stem the flow of tears as a sob rose up in her throat.
He’d said she mattered to him. That he was crazy about her. That he cared. And she’d bought into the lie.
Wow, Reily. You are so stupid.
* * *
Travis’s heart dropped to the soles of his feet as he stared at the closed door. He released the gust of breath he’d been holding in his lungs and turned slowly away as he headed deeper into his room. Rage scalded a path up his throat as he rounded on the woman he’d found in his bed when he’d come into the room. He had no idea who she was, or how she’d gotten there, but when he found out, someone was going to lose their fucking job.
“Get your clothes on and get the fuck out of my room,” Travis said in a barely controlled burn. “You’ve got thirty seconds before I call the cops.”
Her expression fell in an instant and went from hopeful anticipation to worry. He stalked back to the door and yanked it open. A harsh gust of air left his lungs as his head dropped between his shoulders. Travis counted out the seconds as he waited for her to drag her ass out of bed and get dressed. She skittered past him as she hurried out of the room, her own head hung in shame. Travis let the door slam behind her and he slumped against the door before sliding down to the floor.
His heart hammered in his chest and he felt like he might throw up. Nothing—not his previous fuckups, not tonight’s shitty game, or even the post-game press conference—could compare to the hurt and regret he felt right now. The look on Reily’s face … Jesus. She’d been absolutely gutted. After he’d shouted at her that she was no better than everyone else who made snap judgments about him, he’d opened the door and given her reinforcement for every doubt she’d felt about him. He hadn’t even had an opportunity to try to explain before she’d bolted. And rightly so. After tonight, she’d probably never speak to him again.<
br />
A couple of hours passed and Travis finally pushed himself up from the floor. He’d never not known what to do before. He was always the one with the plan. Cool under pressure and ready to take action, no matter what the situation. He was the one who doled out advice, even when it looked from the outside as though he were the last person who should give it. He crossed the room and from the bedside table, he scooped up his cell. Travis selected Carter’s name from the list of contacts and hit send. After a couple of rings, his brother answered and said without preamble, “Rough night?”
“You have no fucking idea.”
“I have a pretty good idea,” Carter replied. “I watched the game. And the post-game media circus.”
“Remember when you were up at Nacogdoches and you called me so I could shake some sense into you when you were acting like a dumbass with Tess?”
“Yeah,” Carter said.
“Well, I need you to return the favor.”
“The image consultant?” Carter laughed. “Who would have thought that all you needed was a woman who was willing to whip you into shape.”
Not Travis, that’s for sure. “I remember how you said it was with Steph before she died. That you knew the second you laid eyes on her that she was the one.”
“It was like that with Tess too,” Carter said. “I told you that. Sometimes you just know.”
“I knew.” Travis raked his fingers through his hair. “The second I walked into her office, I knew.”
“So? What did you do to fuck it up?”
What didn’t he do? “Basically? I acted like my usual charming self.”
“Yeah,” Carter’s tone was about as dry as a box of saltines. “That oughtta do it.”
“There was a woman in my room when I got back here tonight. I don’t know who let her in. Reily saw her and made some assumptions.”
Carter sighed through the line. “Not hard to make assumptions based on your track record, brother.”
Didn’t he know it. Jesus, what a clusterfuck. Travis swallowed down a groan. “How do I fix it?”
A space of silence stretched between them. “So, you love her?”
He’d only known her for a few weeks. Hardly enough time to form any sort of deep, meaningful relationship. But that didn’t mean that he couldn’t love her. That he didn’t love her already. All he knew was that he couldn’t think of a tomorrow that didn’t have Reily in it. “Yeah, I do.”
“Then quit acting like a douche and do something about it,” Carter said. “Explain the situation, and you’d better make a damned good case for yourself. Do it before she decides that you’re not worth the trouble.”
“You coming to the next game?” Travis asked.
“Wouldn’t miss it. The girls said if you play like you did tonight, though, they’re going to kick your butt.”
Travis chuckled. Those little rugrats were way harder on him than Reily, Bob, and his coach combined. “Tell them, point taken.”
“Listen, if Reily is as great as you say she is, she’ll understand. She seems like she’s got a good head on her shoulders.”
Just another reason Travis loved her. He’d lay it out for her, no nonsense. She’d have to listen to reason, right? “Right. Let’s just hope I don’t fuck this up.”
“You never fuck up when it matters,” Carter replied. “Call me if you need to talk.”
“Yeah, yeah. Don’t get all Lifetime Original Movie on me.”
“Forget the girls,” Carter remarked. “I’m going to kick your butt. Later, brother.”
“Later.”
Travis tossed his cell onto the bed. He’d never thought much about the consequences of his actions. He always did what he wanted, when he wanted, and with whom he wanted. He never gave any consideration to what anyone thought about him. He’d never worried about his actions hurting anyone but himself, and he’d always been okay with that.
For the first time, he felt true regret. If that woman hadn’t thought she could get away with it—if she hadn’t thought he’d be into it—she never would have found a way to sneak into his room. The bad-boy of hockey, wild and irreverent, it was obvious that no one had bought his new image, Reily included. Travis had no one to blame for that but himself. He might have played along for the benefit of the press, but he hadn’t really made a change. Clothes and a new haircut only got him so far. If he wanted the world—and especially Reily—to believe he was more than the rumors, he needed to make a real and visible change. From the inside out.
He wanted to be a man worthy of Reily. He’d meant what he’d told Carter: he was in love with her. And he wanted her to not only know it, but believe it.
Travis called the front desk and asked to be connected to Reily’s room. Maybe he could get her to listen to him. Going to her room only invited a door to be slammed in his face.
“I’m sorry Mr. Christensen, but she checked out an hour ago.”
He pulled the phone back and stared at the receiver as though he’d heard her wrong. “Are you sure?” He cleared the rasp from his throat. “She’s gone?”
“Yes, sir. Is there anything else I can do for you?”
Travis’s heart dropped into his gut. It wasn’t too late. He refused to believe it. There was no way in hell he’d let Reily go without a fight. Nothing mattered more to him than her. He just had to make her believe it.
Thirteen
“I can’t, Bob. I’m sorry,” Reily said into the phone.
She wasn’t Travis’s handler anymore. He wasn’t her responsibility.
“The car should be pulling up to your place in about thirty seconds,” Bob replied. “I told the driver to drag you out of there kicking and screaming if he has to.”
Reily exhaled slowly. She had no idea why Travis was refusing to take the ice, but it had nothing to do with her. Whatever attention-getting scheme he’d orchestrated, it was apparently working. Because Bob sounded like a man on the edge.
“I’m not sure what I can do to help you. If you can’t get him on the ice, I doubt I’ll be able to do a better job.”
“He asked for you specifically. It’s game seven and the only way we’re winning that cup is with him in the net. Do me a solid here, Reily, and I’ll throw as much work your way as I can manage.”
Bribery, huh? Reily’s bank account would thank her, but she didn’t know if her heart could take seeing Travis face-to-face. “Why did he ask for me?” He’d sent her a pretty clear message just last week that she didn’t mean anything to him.
“I have no idea. But I told him I’d get you down here and that’s what I’m going to do.”
A knock came at her front door. The driver Bob had sent. She didn’t doubt he’d have her kidnapped if she refused to go. “Fine. I’ll go.”
“Thanks Reily. I owe you one.”
“Yeah you do,” she replied. “Big time.”
* * *
Reily made her way toward the locker room that Travis had basically barricaded himself in. Warmups were scheduled to start in twenty minutes and if Travis wasn’t on the ice by then, he’d have to be scratched from the roster. She knocked on the locker room door. Waited. Knocked again. Ugh. Stubborn ass. Reily swallowed down a growl of annoyance as she jerked open the door with enough force to take it off the hinges. It looked like she was going to have to go in without an invitation. At the back of the locker room, she found him. And sweet Jesus, what a sight he was.
Travis stood in the center of the locker room, clad in nothing but a pair of skin-tight compression shorts. Her gaze raked over every inch of heavily muscled perfection from his strong arms, across his wide chest and down the ridges of his abs, to the narrow taper of his waist and the trail of crisp hair that disappeared into the waistband of his shorts.
“What do you want, Travis? And make it quick because Bob needs you on the ice. Now.”
Her barked words hung in the air between them. Travis’s brows came down sharply over his hazel eyes and his lips thinned. If it was possible, he was even bette
r looking angry. Damn him.
He raked his fingers through his thick hair. “I didn’t bring that woman to my room,” he said without preamble. “I didn’t even know she was there and I don’t know how she got in. I was in the process of throwing her out when you showed up. You didn’t even give me a chance to explain. Instead, you ran.”
This was about an explanation? “You didn’t have to play games to get me down here. It’s none of my business why she was there or how she got there. Your conscience can rest easily.”
“Reily, can’t you even give me the benefit of the doubt that I’m being honest with you right now? You couldn’t even wait to hear me out after you showed up at my room. You haven’t answered any of my texts or phone calls. Haven’t given me an opportunity to explain. I had to get you to listen to me any way that I could. I don’t give a single shit what Bob expects or is waiting for. Nothing matters to me more than you do. Not even hockey. And I’m not setting foot on that ice until you hear me out and I know that you believe me.”
“It doesn’t matter, Travis,” Reily sighed. “What I think doesn’t matter.”
“Jesus Christ, Reily,” Travis said. “Don’t you get it? Your opinion is the only one that matters. I’m in love with you! I’ve been in love with you since day fucking one!”
Reily’s jaw hung slack. He was in love with her?
“I’ve been trying to prove to you that I’m not the man you think I am. And let me tell you, it hasn’t exactly gone very smoothly. But damn it, I’m willing to do whatever it takes to make you believe me. I’ll give up hockey. I’ll never play again. Never do anything to raise another eyebrow ever again. But I need you to be able to believe me. To trust me. Reily, I love you.”
