Positives & Penalties: A Slapshot Novel (Slapshot Series Book 4)

by Heather C. Myers

  He ended up buying her a beautiful necklace and reserving a day at the Grand Californian spa - a Disneyland hotel that had one of the best spas Kyle could remember. He also got her twelve different lotion-body spray combinations, thanks to the help of a sales associate from Bath and Body Works.

  He was pretty proud of himself that Christmas.

  "Hey."

  He inwardly cursed himself for the lame greeting he gave her, rolling his eyes internally. He felt his body stiffen in her presence, always on his guard because he wasn't sure what to expect from her. Not necessarily that that was a bad thing but he felt as though she kept him at an arm's length away from him because...

  He didn't know. He didn't know why she was guarded with him at times.

  "Hey," she told him, picking up her eyes and locking them with his.

  Damn her penetrating gold-green eyes. He could never look away, no matter how hard he tried.

  He was an idiot.

  He assumed she was here to talk about his play.

  He had no idea why he would assume that. Maybe it was his own way of keeping her at a distance, to keep his guard up around her. The hurt that flashed in her eyes based on that assumption was enough to curse his name.

  Of course, he didn't show her that. He wouldn't reveal that part of himself just yet, not when he still wasn't sure where they stood. This whole thing was stupid, completely and utterly stupid. All he wanted to do was pull her in his arms and kiss her mouth with passion and fierceness. His body ached to be inside of her once again, to feel her writhe and move underneath him. To feel her slickness mold to his cock, to see her face turn up with ecstasy - ecstasy he was giving her and no other man could.

  Was it wrong to think about sex now?

  Maybe it was because he hadn't had it in the past few days and just smelling that flowery vanilla was making him remember her body's natural musk as it wafted over him when he was on top of her, surrounded his senses and put him under a spell as they were wrapped up in each other.

  He suppressed a shudder and managed to focus on what she was saying. And what she said was astounding, something he didn't quite believe he would ever hear from her: an apology. An explanation.

  And then, something happened. Something that caused his heart to stop. Her eyes fluttered before rolling in the back of her head and her entire body dropped to the floor. It was a hard thump; he knew she was unconscious.

  But why?

  No time for that. He immediately called nine-one-one. He probably could have taken her to the hospital himself but he wasn't sure if she should be moved or what he should do except let the medical professionals handle it.

  After that, he called Emma's father to let him know what was going on and to ask what hospital he should route the ambulance to. He couldn't believe he didn't know her health care provider. He should know this. He was her goddamn boyfriend, for crying out loud.

  The fire fighters arrived in the next five minutes. Kyle explained that she had been talking and then just dropped. They checked her vitals before moving her into the ambulance. Kyle climbed in after them.

  "Looks like a simple case of dehydration," one of them murmured to Kyle while keeping his eyes on Emma's unconscious frame.

  He didn't care. All he knew was Emma was on the floor and he couldn't help her. All he wanted to do was help her.

  "She's going to be okay," one of the fireman told him.

  That did little to reassure him.

  Chapter 13

  Her head hurt.

  Why did her head hurt so badly?

  She furrowed her brow, which only made it worse, and tried cracking open an eye but it was too bright, too much for her.

  "Emma?" a familiar, tentative voice asked.

  She wanted to open her eyes. She wanted to see if it was really him. But she couldn't. It was too bright.

  "K-Kyle?" she managed to say. Her throat was scratchy and she could taste how bad her breath was, causing her to grimace.

  Her head hurt. God, it hurt.

  "Yeah, I'm here, Em," he murmured, walking over to her - she could hear his footsteps on the tile before she felt his hands take hers. They were cool and clammy, the kind of hands one had when someone was nervous, or worried.

  "What's wrong?" she asked, tilting his head to the side. "Is everything okay?"

  "Emma, do you know where you are?" another voice asked.

  She furrowed her brow even further. "Dad?" she asked. "What are you doing here?"

  "Kyle called me," he told her. She tried cracking open her eyes and still couldn't keep them open. At least it wasn't as bright as before. "You fainted."

  Upon hearing that, her eyes sprung open despite the pain. She immediately locked onto Kyle, standing there in what he was wearing when she had been over at his place. Which was...

  Where was she? The beeping. The goosebumps on her arms. The scratchy material on her skin.

  She was in a hospital.

  Why was she in a -

  "Is-" she asked, her wide eyes snapping into her father's.

  He nodded, not needing any further explanation than that. Kyle glanced between them, an arched brow on his face, but he didn't ask what he clearly wanted to know: what was going on and what were they referring to?

  Which meant he didn't know.

  The doctor hadn't told him anything.

  "What happened?" she asked, trying to sit up but feeling a flash of dizziness overtake her senses.

  "Easy," Kyle murmured, instantly at her side, trying to ease her back down to her former position. "They're trying to hydrate you right now." He nodded at the IV attached to Emma's right arm. She must have been out to not feel the needle break through her skin. She always had a thing about needles.

  "The doctor says you're dehydrated," her father said, raising a brow. Emma read his look easily. She glanced away, looking out the window so she wouldn't have to make eye contact with him.

  "Which I don't understand because you're always on your students about keeping hydrated," Kyle said, slowly raising a critical brow. He crossed his arms over his chest and cocked his head to the side, waiting for an answer. "You get on my case about drinking enough during the game."

  "I..." She let her voice trail off, ignoring the wrinkled brow and the crossed arms and the look currently occupying her father's face. "I guess I've had a lot of things on my mind. And I just... forgot.... to hydrate."

  It sounded like bullshit even to her.

  Kyle looked like he didn't believe her and was going to push further on the matter when her father cleared his throat, interrupting him. "Do you need something to drink?" he asked. "I know the doctors are getting fluids into your system but you sound..." He pointed to his throat. "Your throat sounds raspy."

  "Yeah," she said, shifting her eyes to Kyle. "Would you mind getting me some water, Kyle?"

  Kyle seemed surprised that he was the one who had been dismissed but nodded his head regardless. "Sure," he said, his arms still crossed over his chest. It was only then did she realize he was still wearing that thermal, that shirt that made him look even more beautiful to her than he already was. He shook his head and she could tell he wanted to say something, but he kept it to himself. Instead, he walked to the door, softly asking if her father wanted anything. When her father replied in the negative, he was gone.

  "He still doesn't know, Em?" her father asked the minute the door was securely shut. "I thought you were going to tell him!"

  "I was going to!" Emma exclaimed. She realized how loud and shrill her voice sounded and she winced, looking at the door, as though Kyle was going to walk right in at that moment and somehow know everything. Which made no sense. She rubbed her dry lips together. "It's why I went over to his place in the first place. You were right. We needed to fix everything. Having a baby isn't going to make things right, especially not with the issues between us. I wanted to clear up those issues first because we have those issues whether or not I'm pregnant."

  "Yes." He placed his hand o
n his forehead, as though he had a headache and needed some respite for it. "Yes. That's good, Emma. But the boy is worried out of his mind about you. You should have seen him. He was frantic on the phone with me and he wouldn't sleep last night in your room. He refused to leave until just now, not to get any food, not to make a phone call. He has to board a plane tomorrow for game 3 up in Sacramento. But he's not going to be able to concentrate because he's worried about you."

  "You're telling me that this whole thing is my fault?" Emma asked, her face completely aghast that her father would even say such a thing.

  "Honestly, Emma?" her father said, raising his brow. "You need to take care of yourself. And your baby. And you're worried more about how Kyle is going to react than you do about how this could affect your dancing, the stress you're putting on yourself, on Kyle's play. Do what's responsible. You're afraid to talk to your mom because you don't want to deal with her even though it would benefit the baby and help your pregnancy.

  Emma pressed her lips together and looked away. She wouldn't comment on that; she couldn't. What could she possibly say? He was right. She was being selfish because she didn't want to talk to her mother. And who had the potential to suffer because of it? Not Emma. Emma could care less.

  The baby.

  This baby that grew inside of her.

  She clenched her teeth together but forced herself to look back at her father. He continued to stare at her, unwavering in his gaze. She nearly flinched underneath it but refrained from doing so.

  Instead, she cleared her throat and forced herself to say, "Okay."

  His brows perked at the word. "Okay?" he said with surprise. "Okay? What does that mean, okay?"

  Emma furrowed her brow. "It means you're right," she told him, not bothering to keep the crankiness out of her tone. Her head still throbbed and her throat was raw and scratchy. "It means when I get out of here, I'd like you to give me her phone number so I can reach out to her and figure this out. It means I get what you're saying."

  "Oh." He seemed surprised by her admittance to that and cocked his head to the side, crossing his arms over his chest. "Okay. I... I think that's a great idea, Em. I know how hard this must be for you."

  She shook her head. "No you don't," she told him. "Dad, partners leave. Teams fall apart. It's no surprise marriages and partnerships and relationships would do the same thing. But you're not supposed to leave your children. You're not." Without realizing what she was doing, she placed a hand over her stomach. "And now, I have to go to her because I need something from her - the only thing I need that's going to benefit my child. And I'm going to do it for my child. Because she deserves it."

  Her father quirked a brow. "She?" he inquired, a teasing smile on his face.

  Emma shrugged. "It's just a gut feeling I have," she said. "Be careful, Dad. The females might soon outnumber you."

  "Hon, you outnumbered me when it was just you," he said, his tone sardonic.

  "So," she said, glancing around the hospital room. "Where do you think Kyle is? He's been gone for a while."

  "Probably because I sent him to the cafeteria, telling him what comforted you the most was Fiji water," he said.

  "I don't think they have Fiji water," she told him.

  Her father smirked. "Exactly," he said. "Buys us more time to talk."

  "How did you know he would leave just to get me Fiji water?" Emma asked, quirking a brow. It was a gentle gesture that didn't hurt her head too much.

  "Please," he said with a snort, rolling his eyes. "Anyone can see that the boy is clearly crazy about you. Especially since you were hospitalized, he would want to do all he could in order to ensure you were comfortable." He paused a minute. "Don't take that for granted, Em. Not many people would drop everything for their partner, even in time of need."

  Emma chewed her bottom lip, taking what he had to say into consideration. Her eyes were glassy but were not filled with tears. If they had been, it would have been easy to not let them fall.

  "I've taken him for granted, haven't I?" she asked in a quiet voice.

  Her father cleared his threat and looked away, which said enough. This wasn't what Emma wanted to hear but she couldn't help but listen. Maybe it wasn't what she wanted but it was what she needed. Kyle was a once in a lifetime guy and it wasn't just because of the fact that he played hockey professionally or had a sizable cock that fit her like a puzzle piece.

  It was more than that.

  He was a good man who treated her with respect and let her dictate the nature of their relationship. If she kept her guard up, he didn't push. If she started talking to him about private things, he listened. He stayed with her when she pushed him away, patiently waiting for the moment when she changed her mind and took him back in her arms. He knew she wasn't giving him her all and yet... and yet, he still stayed.

  And that made no sense to Emma because no one deserved that treatment in a committed relationship. Especially not him.

  "I tried making it right," she told him, "and then this whole mess happened."

  At that moment, the doctor walked in wearing a typical lab coat and a friendly smile on his face. "Looks like you had quite the scare, Ms. Winsor," he said, glancing at her chart for confirmation of her name. "How are you feeling?"

  "Better," Emma agreed with a nod, slowly trying to push herself into a sitting position.

  "Easy," the doctor said, gently placing his hand on her shoulder and easing her back to her position on the bed. "You need to rest. We're hydrating you right now with fluids but you need to make sure that you drink at least sixty-four ounces of water every day in your condition. The baby has started to hoard some of your liquid so you need to drink enough for both you and it."

  "Baby?" a voice said at the door.

  Emma's eyes shot to Kyle, who was standing there with a bag of three large Fiji waters, his eyes wide, his skin unnaturally pale. She looked to her father who glared at the doctor who had his own mouth dropping open, surprised.

  "You haven't told him?" the doctor asked. "Perhaps I should leave you two alone."

  "I guess so," she muttered under her breath.

  Her father and the doctor stepped out, leaving Emma alone with Kyle.

  Chapter 14

  Emma watched Kyle from her bed in her hospital room. His hands were shoved in his pockets and his entire body was tense. But the look on his face wasn't angry. If she had to define it, she would say it was... contemplative.

  "You're pregnant." His voice was flat but there was a touch of disbelief in it, as though he couldn't quite believe it. As though it was hard for him to wrap his mind around the concept. This, of course, didn't tell her if that was a good thing or a bad thing. It didn't reveal how he felt about this. The fact that he was still here after finding out about it was a big deal to her, though. That could only be a good sign.

  Right?

  "Yes," she said with a tight nod. She wanted to look at him but he wasn't looking at her and she didn't want to stare at him when he was occupied elsewhere.

  "How long?" he asked, reaching up to cup the back of his neck with his hand.

  "I'll be six weeks and four days today," she said. "If you mean how long have I known, I've known the past week. I think it happened when we were in Vegas. If you're asking how long until the baby comes, we're due November ninth."

  "So you're keeping it?" he asked, locking eyes with her. "The baby?"

  The word sounded so foreign in his mouth. Strange. Like even he didn't know what it meant let alone how to say it.

  "I -" She was going to say she didn't know. But that would be a lie. And if she wanted things to be better between her and Kyle, she needed to be upfront and honest. She bit her lip from saying anything else and then nodded her head. "Yes. I am." She pressed her lips together. "I know we need to talk about all of this. I'm just not sure where to start."

  "Let's start at the beginning," Kyle said as though it was the obvious thing in the world. He reached for the chair at her bedside but then
thought better of it and continued to pace up and down the small room. "Where do you see us in a year, Em? In five years? In ten? Because I love being with you. But I can't half-ass relationships. It's why I've avoided them for so long. I've never found anyone worth my time. If I'm in, I'm all in. I want the vacations in the off-season. I want marriage. And yeah, I want a few kids."

  Her brow pushed up, surprise on her face. "A few?" she asked.

  He nodded. "A few," he told her with certainty. "And I want them with you, Emma. And I know we didn't exactly plan for this child but I'm really looking forward to raising it with you." He stopped pacing and threw her a tentative look, something out of character for him. He was always good at being confident - or, at least, appearing that way. "If that's what you want. I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable or force you to do something you don't want to do."

  "Kyle," she told him. Her eyes were filling up with tears and she cursed this new ability to cry at every damn thing. "Of course I want you to do this with me. I-I don't know if I'd be able to do it alone."

  Kyle gave her a disbelieving look. "You're stronger than you realize, Emma," he told her, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. "The first six months of our relationship, I was paranoid that you were going to leave me because I know I'm not good enough for you. I am nowhere in your league. You're intelligent, beautiful, and graceful. And the crazy thing is, you don't even know it. You have this crazy fear that you aren't good enough, but the fact of the matter is, you're perfect just the way you are. You don't have to try and be the perfect girlfriend because you already are." He reached up to cup the back of his neck. "Honestly, I wished we talked more. Not just about hockey or dance but about us. I want to be more romantic but I worry because you don't really seem that much into it. I want to buy you flowers for no reason and go out to dinner and fancy restaurants. I've wanted to take you home to my family after a week of being together. I want to know what you're afraid of. I want to know more about your mom and what she did to you - just so I can hold you in my arms while you tell me, so you know I'm never ever going to leave. Not now. Not ever."