Grace on the Rocks: A Slapshot Prequel (Slapshot Prequel Trilogy Book 2)

by Heather C. Myers

  By the time she finished her lecture, she pulled into the Sea Side parking lot. She was able to catch her breath and let her words sink into Justin as she handed her parking pass to the attendant. By the time she parked, Justin still hadn’t said anything. When the engine was turned off and Emma unbuckled her seatbelt, Justin cleared his throat.

  “You’re right,” he told her. “I’m sorry, I” –

  Emma brushed him off. “It’s fine,” she said. “You wouldn’t know. And I’m glad for that.” She forced a smile. “Let’s just enjoy the game, okay? I don’t want to talk about my mom anymore.”

  “Fair enough,” Justin said with a curt nod.

  Emma would have enjoyed the game, save for the fact that Vince and his father were seated a couple of rows behind her and her cousin, and there was no way Vince didn’t notice her. She pretended to not have seen him as she walked down the steep, concrete stairs, leading Justin to their seats. But she did. He was ridiculously tall so it was hard not to notice him, and he must have gotten his height from his father for the same reason. Plus, he knew where she sat.

  Was this some kind of ploy to ask her out again or mere coincidence? He was a Gulls fan, his father even more so, and they came from money as well.

  Emma started to feel her head start to throb. Could this day get any more dramatic?

  The game was actually an intense, low scoring game. It was zero to zero for the duration up until Matt Peterson scored with five minutes left in the game. Kyle was just as brilliant, always standing on the crease of the opposing net, getting into the gritty places most players would shy away from. It wasn't long before she completely forgot about Vince and Eddie and even Justin. Instead, she focused all of her attention on Kyle and she just lost herself. Her heart did that little flutter, except every time she saw him, it got harder and harder, as though it needed to be noticed.

  Like her body's feelings for him had changed, somehow.

  Oh, shit.

  This was not good. She was supposed to be celibate, not crushing on some hockey player who had no interest in her whatsoever. She wanted to leave but she couldn't. Especially not when he gave Peters the little drop pass that inspired him to shoot the goal.

  She never should have responded when Kyle came over to her that day on the beach. She should have never agreed to that date. She never should have agreed to just be friends. There was no way men and women could just be friends, and those that could were just exceptions to the rule. Attraction would rear its ugly head at some point, and four weeks after that date, Emma was starting to realize that she didn't look at Kyle as just a friend.

  When the game ended and the team lined up to high five each other, Kyle - his helmet on the bench so nothing inhibited his view - shot a glance at Emma, a small smile on his face. She wasn't sure how she appeared to him, didn't know if she smiled or not. However, his eyes slid over to Justin and there was something that flashed in those crystal blue orbs, something... she couldn't quite put her finger in. But he didn't seem happy. Maybe curious mixed in with an edge. Which didn't make sense because he just wanted to be friends. Nothing more.

  When the stars were announced, Thorpe, Kyle, and Matt skated on the ice and dispersed their sticks. Emma waited until they were gone and Matt was being interviewed before she started to lead Justin out of the aisle and up the stairs. By the time she got out of her section, Vince was waiting for her at the top of the stairs.

  "Hey, Ems," he said, pulling her into a big hug. "Funny running into you here."

  It took everyone in Emma not to roll her eyes at his lame attempt at a joke. He knew she was a Gulls' fan thanks to her father. Hell, he was there when she told her girlfriends she had had a date with Kyle underwood. If anything, she would be the one telling him that because while he was a fan, she had never seen him at a game before. Especially not this close.

  "And who is this?" Vince was friendly enough but Emma could tell there was a jealous edge to his tone. He probably didn't even realize it.

  Was it wrong that a part of her wanted to pretend Justin was more than her cousin? Just to show Vince that she wasn’t interested?

  But no. That would be weird.

  “This is my cousin, Justin,” Emma said. “He and his dad stopped by unexpectedly so I decided to take him to the game with me.”

  “To introduce him to your new boyfriend?” Vince started laughing but there was a dark undercurrent to it that Emma wasn’t pleased about. “Ah, Em, don’t look at me that way. You know I’m only teasing you.”

  Emma clenched her jaw so she wouldn’t have to say anything. “You ready to go?” she asked Justin. She didn’t wait for a response as she stepped around Vince and started to head towards the doors.

  Luckily, Justin didn’t argue and he caught up to her without any problem. “That guy have a thing for you?” he asked, his hands in his pockets.

  Stepping out into the chilly October night caused goosebumps to litter the exposed skin on her body. Meanwhile, Justin was in his t-shirt without any sort of sweater and he seemed just fine. She nearly rolled her eyes. Men.

  “I guess,” she said dismissively. She barely liked to discuss Vince with her friends, much less her cousin she hadn’t spoken to in years. “How’d you like the game?” She was glad she could change the subject.

  He smiled like he knew what she was doing. “It was fun,” he said. “Way different than football.”

  At that moment, her cell phone chirped. They had just reached her old Mercedes-Benz and Emma unlocked the doors as she glanced down at the text. It was from Kyle, which was odd, considering he was probably still in the locker room dealing with the media. However, there it was, plain as day: I need to see you. Meet me at my place at 11:30pm.

  Maybe it was a booty call. Maybe he needed to talk.

  Maybe you should go see for yourself instead of trying to decipher it out.

  “You okay?” Justin asked as she slid into the car. He glanced down at her phone and probably took in the stupid smile on her face. “Does this have to do with your boyfriend?”

  “Vince is just an ass,” Emma muttered, starting the car. “He’s my friend but he makes things weird.”

  “Do you need me to talk to him for you?” Justin asked.

  Emma shot him a look as she managed to pull out into line. “Listen,” she said. “I barely remember you. I’m sure you’re a nice guy but I’ve been without your dad and my mom for nearly twenty years. I’m not sure why she wants to be in my life now, but I don’t care. This is too much for me. I have one more year of college, applications to New York dance schools…” She let her voice trail off.

  “I get it,” Justin said, nodding his head. “I’m practically a stranger to you. But I miss you. And maybe we can start hanging out. Little by little. Regardless of what our parents want.” He paused for a long moment. “I’ve never stopped asking about you.”

  Emma felt her heart squeeze. Not in the same way it did for Kyle, but in a familial way. Maybe she could trust Justin. At the very least, she could give him a chance.

  “That would be nice,” she agreed in a soft voice, looking straight ahead.

  Chapter 11

  Emma sat in front of Kyle's home. Truth be told, she was surprised that he lived here rather than some gated community in Newport Coast, where the houses were several million dollars starting and were awarded with beautiful views. Her heart was hammering in her chest and her palms were sweaty as they held onto her steering wheel. She had told her father she needed to get out, and he was sweet enough to understand why. He never interrogated her or gave her a curfew; he trusted her, knowing her well enough to know that she wasn't about to go off and get into any kind of trouble.

  It wasn't as though she was lying, either. She really did need to get out. Even though Justin seemed nice enough and Eddie was just trying to be there for his sister, Emma needed time to herself. It was too much for her, and the large home she shared with her father suddenly seemed overbearing. She felt as though she had
been suffocating. Kyle's text had come at exactly the right moment and she felt a glimmer of happiness in a sea of stress at seeing him again.

  "If you don't get out of the car, people are going to call the cops on you," she muttered to herself. "He invited you over. You want to be over. You want to see him and touch him and kiss him and..." She let her voice trail off, refusing to finish that thought.

  Instead, she unbuckled her seatbelt and stood up, rubbing her palms on her thighs. Maybe she should have dressed up. She was in the same outfit she had worn to the game, with her hair thrown up into a quick ponytail, her bangs swept to the side of her face. She locked her car and put her keys in her purse and slid her phone in her pocket. She wasn't sure if she should knock, if she should text him to let him know she was here.

  By the time she reached the front door, she shook her head. "Just knock, you weirdo," she muttered to herself. "This isn't rocket science."

  She took in his modest home. There was a driveway with a two-car garage that wasn't connected to the home. It was modern, white with blue trimming. There was a gateless front lawn that seemed to be kept up nicely. The house was a single story - an older home but modernized and updated with current trends. If she had to guess, Emma would assume the house had four bedrooms and two full baths, maybe two and a half, and a sizable backyard. All the homes in the Westcliff/Dover Shores area were.

  Emma took in a deep breath and knocked on the door. For whatever reason, she held her breath - which was ridiculous, since they were just supposed to be FRIENDS.

  Except, the minute she saw him after he opened the door, his hair a strawberry blonde color thanks to the fact that it was still wet from a shower, wearing a long-sleeved, off-white thermal shirt that clung to his body with blue jeans that hung from his hips, and no shoes on his feet, she realized she didn’t want to be friends.

  Not anymore.

  Emma couldn’t explain what caused her to change her thinking, what inspired her to cast all of her carefully laid out plans out the window, but she was so taken with the fact that he looked absolutely beautiful standing before her that she wanted nothing more than to make him hers.

  Kyle must have seen something on her face, something different that revealed these new, sudden feelings, because before she could say anything, before even chose to, he reached for her face and brought his lips down on hers, claiming them as his. His fingers were territorial, and he brought her across the doorway into his place before kicking the door shut. He didn’t break the kiss and, for that, she was grateful. She needed this, needed him, and she was afraid if anything were to interrupt them, she might come down from this high at just being around him. Logic would creep in and then she’d back away and push him from her heart and pretend the feelings she felt for him were purely platonic.

  He seemed to know where he was going because she was backed into a couch and somehow, simultaneously, they both dropped on the couch, still clutching each other. The kiss turned passionate, his long fingers extending so he could tilt her head back and he could slide his tongue past her lips. He explored every inch of her mouth, while hers tried to duel with his for dominance.

  God, he was causing stirrings in her she hadn’t felt… ever.

  She wanted him.

  Was it too soon? They had only gone on one date and that had been a disaster.

  She didn’t care. She wanted him. They had been friends for a month.

  When they were finally required to breathe, Kyle was the first to speak.

  “Who was that guy?” he asked, furrowing his brow. “The one you went to the game with? And the bozo who kept staring at you five rows back?”

  Emma needed a moment to realize what he was asking.

  She stared at Kyle, taking in the slight wrinkle in his brow, the narrowed blue eyes, the thin lips pressed together in a somewhat tight line. She knew he wasn't angry with her. She knew he was curious and, quite possibly, a teensy bit jealous. Which meant that, perhaps, he had feelings for her that weren't quite platonic, either.

  "Why?" she asked, slowly raising her right brow.

  "Don't start," he told her. "Don't start playing games with me. Not you."

  Emma felt her stomach pull apart. He was right. She wanted to hear that he was jealous and instead of simply being upfront with him, she decided to tease him and act coy, hoping he would reveal his true feelings for her that way.

  "You're right," she said. "The guy I went to the game with is my cousin. It's the first time I've seen him since I was three, when my mother left and never came back."

  There was a slight flash of recognition in his blue eyes and she remembered telling him something similar about not knowing what it was like to have a mom when they first officially met each other that day at the beach.

  "Why was he with you?" His tone was clipped and she realized it was because he was being protective of her. He seemed suspicious of Justin motives. It might be because he dealt with long-lost friends that suddenly needed financial help once Kyle made it as an NHL player.

  "My uncle brought him by," Emma said. This conversation wasn't conducive to setting the mood for intimacy, but as she talked to him about this, she realized she hadn't really spoken about this with many people, not even her circle of girlfriends. They all knew her mother took off and she wasn't too traumatized by it, but they didn't realize all of the feelings she had on the subject below the surface. There was something special about Kyle, something that made her feeling comfortable with him enough to open up in this way. "I guess my mom wants to see me."

  "Do you want to see her?"

  Emma shook her head. "No," she replied. "I like the life me and my father have together. I don't know how to add someone else into that mix. Especially not someone who left when I was a toddler and made no move to reach out to me for practically twenty years. People forget she didn't just leave me, she left my father who suddenly became solely responsible for his only child. I can't even imagine what he went through, but he held it together for me."

  Kyle nodded his head, taking in her words, keeping silent throughout it all. "And that guy who kept staring?" he asked. "Did you know him?"

  Emma rolled her eyes at the mention of Vince. "Yeah," she told him. "He's my friend but..." She let her voice trail off, not quite sure how to finish.

  "He's into you and you're not into him," Kyle guess, quirking a brow.

  Emma nodded once. "Exactly," she said. Now that she had answered his questions, she felt it was only fair for her to turn the tables and ask him a few of her own. "Why are you suddenly interested in who I go to the games with and who's staring at me?"

  Kyle shrugged nonchalantly. "No reason," he said.

  Emma smirked. "No games, remember?" she asked.

  Kyle's lips turned up and he locked eyes with her. "Fair enough," he told her. "I don't want to be just friends with you."

  Emma's heart catapulted to her throat and she hissed in a tight breath. She couldn't believe it. He said the words she wanted to say to him. She didn't think he would, truth be told. Kyle seemed to enjoy the fact that he didn't have to commit to anyone, that he didn't have to call anyone when he got home after traveling or coming home to someone. He was only twenty-five and had his entire life ahead of him. He was a top line player, had tons of money, and no reason to put his bachelor life on hold because he wanted to explore what being in a relationship was like.

  "You aren't saying anything," Kyle said slowly, cocking his head to the side and furrowing his brow.

  "Oh, oh my god," Emma said, shaking her head. "I want that, too. I want that, too."

  He chuckled, reaching out and curling a stray strand of blonde hair behind her ear. "If you're sure," he teased. His blue eyes suddenly became serious and he let his fingers linger against her throat. She wondered if he could feel her throat vibrate against him due to how hard her pulse was beating. "I knew there was something different about you when I first met you. But I didn't know what that meant, exactly. I just liked being around you. There'
s no pressure to act a certain way or to put on a show. I can be myself around you. Most people see a hockey player, money, something that's part of who I am but isn't me. But you see me for exactly who I am, and you're not afraid to call me out on my bullshit."

  Emma giggled. Her face was warm due to how happy she was, which meant she was probably red. She was acting like a stupid school girl who brushed shoulders with her crush. This was why she was still single: she was awkward, focused, and could never find the right words.

  "When I saw you tonight with your cousin," he said, "I couldn't concentrate. I've never reacted that way to a girl trying to make me jealous. Not saying you were," he added quickly, locking eyes with her, "but I didn't know. I was missing every shot, couldn't get the rebound. Even my checks were off."

  "I didn't mean" - Emma began but she cut him off.

  "I know." His thumb extended to reach the point of her chin. "But I still couldn't get my shit together. All I could think about was you being with someone else, someone who wasn't me, and I couldn't think straight."

  Emma felt her lips twitch up as she continued to stare at him.

  I feel the same way as you," Emma said. "I can't take my eyes off of you when you play. I didn't want to get into a relationship with anyone, let alone a hockey player but... I can't help wanting to be with you."