by Debra Kayn
Nobody paid him any attention. The women cheered for the team, not the man in the penalty box. He leaned back and hit the bench. He should’ve asked Diana to stay.
The whole morning he could tell she had something to say, and then he’d catch her walking away. He’d wanted to talk to her. She had one more day of vacation left. They could’ve spent it together. Maybe even taken the time to visit the local beach or go sightseeing. He hadn’t shown her everything he promised.
The buzzer rang. He left the box, skated toward the huddle of players, and went through the after game motions. His heart wasn’t in the game today.
He avoided Coach and hit the showers. All invitations to join the players at Julia’s Bar and Grill bounced off him, and he shrugged his way out of the locker room when his teammates tried to talk with him. He had nothing to say.
The fans gathered at the back door of the arena. He ignored the cheers and walked straight to his car. Truly alone and unbothered, he drove to the condominium.
The inside of the Porsche smelled of jasmine. He cranked the radio. The Top Forty station blared. Not wanting to listen to Diana’s favorite music, he switched the station and let DDT fill the car.
With another practice tomorrow and a game after that, he couldn’t leave. He ignored the road leading to the condominium, and kept driving. Not ready to go back to an empty house, he hit the highway.
Diana had woven herself into his life, and nothing remained the same. Not hockey, not his social life, and not his bed. He pushed the accelerator down, and wished she were here to laugh as he speeded along. She delighted in the smallest things, and made him enjoy every second with her.
Red and blue lights flashed in his rearview mirror. He slowed down and turned on his blinker. Shit.
Coach would not be happy over him getting a ticket and making the news. He shut off the engine and let his hands fall in his lap. He was falling apart.
Chapter Twenty-Three
The Quayside Lounge buzzed with the usual Friday night crowd. Diana sat next to the window in the back, across from Kate, Shauna, and a visiting Crista for their Girls’ Night Out. Her mood fought with the upbeat music playing, and the Cosmo she’d nursed the last hour only marginally made the night tolerable.
“Should we join the guys in the game room?” Kate took a compact mirror out of her purse and applied lipstick. “Maybe some testosterone will lighten the mood.”
“Shh.” Shauna elbowed Kate. “We’re doing fine out here. This is fun. I don’t want to watch no stupid game on television with the guys.”
The game room slash sports bar of the lounge was playing the San Jose Sharks game, no doubt. Diana shook her head. “Go ahead. I’m going to make it an early night.”
“Diana … ” Shauna leaned against the table. “Tell us what happened. You left town without telling any of us how you felt about going off with Dominic, and you’ve hid in your room at the hotel since you got back. We’re worried about you. I thought you and Dominic were getting together, or at least into each other.”
“There’s nothing to say.” She finished the rest of her drink. “I had a job, and now it’s time to get back to my normal life.”
Crista wadded her napkin. “I don’t even know what you guys are talking about. It seems like I miss all the gossip when I’m gone.” She crossed her arms. “Which stops now, because I’m supposed to be your friend. But if it has to do with Dominic, I can guess what happened. Diana fell for Dominic’s seductive ways. It happens every single time. I don’t know how many times I’ve seen women walk away from him with a broken heart. It’s a crime.”
“Why haven’t you ever ended up with him?” Diana sat up straighter. “I mean, you’ve known Dominic longer than I have.”
“I tried … sorta. Well, at least as much as Dominic allowed someone to get close to him emotionally. We hung out.” Crista shrugged. “We didn’t have sex, if you’re curious, but I made a fool of myself over him like all the other women. Dominic pretty much ignored me. Now I just make sure I’m never alone with him, because I don’t want to embarrass myself. It helps that when I do see him, I’m usually in training and all I have on my mind is the race. End of history.”
“Diana doesn’t do anything stupid. She’s the most secure, rational, organized person I know.” Shauna waved her hand at the waitress, waited for her to approach, and then ordered another round of drinks. “You can’t go to the hotel until we get the whole story about what happened between your phone calls to me, and arriving in Cottage Grove looking like you broke the heel on a pair of Jimmy Choos.”
“Let’s change the subject,” she said. “Isn’t Grayson looking for you?”
“Probably, but we have a bet on who can go without sex the longest again. It’s been twenty-four hours and if I’m around him after I have a drink, I’ll lose.
“My God, that’s the stupidest competition I’ve ever heard of you two doing. I’d never do such a thing with Jackson. I’d be a bitch. A whole day? Give it up.” Kate zipped her purse, laughing. “I swear, you two make me sick. You can’t keep your hands off each other.”
“Why would you bet on that?” Diana asked.
Shauna rolled her eyes. “I read this article about how the longer between sexual activities you go, the more powerful it is when you finally do have sex. I want to find out if there’s any truth to the experiment. So far, we keep starting over because we screw up … literally.”
Diana waited until the drinks arrived and then appeased her curiosity. “What did Grayson bet you? There has to be more to the story.”
“There is, and since I don’t keep secrets like you, I’ll share with everyone. Maybe you’ll learn from my example.” Shauna grinned and softened her lecture toward Diana with a blown kiss. “If I lose, I have to go to Cancun with him. You girls know me better than that, right? Cancun was the prize the whole time. I just didn’t let him know it was my idea. He’ll think he won, and I’ll get my tan on somewhere away from the press and his fans.”
“Life of the rich and famous,” Diana muttered.
“Hey!” All three of her friends shouted.
She held up her hands, and smiled for the first time since sitting down at the table. “Sorry. I forget that I’m the only one in our group who lives for payday.”
“What about the money you earned from — ” Kate clapped her hand over her mouth and groaned. “I’m so, so sorry. Me and my big mouth.”
“It’s okay.” Diana leaned her head over on Kate’s shoulder. “My secret won’t be a secret after tomorrow.”
“What’s going on?” Crista scooted her chair closer to the table. “I might not get to visit with you all very often, but I care about you and want to know what is happening in your lives.”
How did she explain that she’d pimped herself out to Dominic for the sole purpose of buying her own bed and breakfast? No matter what she said, she came away sounding selfish.
“I stayed with Dominic to help him with a problem. You all know how all the women act around him. So I pretended to be his girlfriend and chased them all away. In return he paid me … a lot of money,” she whispered. “I’m not proud of the fact, but it was an honest job offer and he was satisfied with how I worked for him. By the time my two weeks were over, none of the women paid any attention to him.”
Her whole story was an understatement. So much more happened, but she wasn’t ready to share. The wound of losing him fresh in her mind, she still hurt. Even worse, not being around him all the time pained her, when he probably slid right back into his life of hockey with no problems.
Of course, by now, everyone knew she’d left him and he probably had a whole horde of women stalking him. Neither one of them thought about what would happen after she left and he no longer had her to use as his pretend girlfriend any longer.
The thought of him going out tonight after the game to celebrate and having women hang on him caused her stomach to ache. He probably wasn’t even thinking about her, because someone else occupie
d his mind.
Her phone on her lap rang. She jumped. “Excuse me.”
She walked away from the table and peered at the screen, frowning. How did she get my number?
She walked down the hallway to the bathrooms where she could hear better. “Stephanie?”
“Oh, good, you answered.”
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Dominic. Coach fined him twenty two thousand for excess penalties tonight at the game.”
She frowned. “What? He never gets more than two penalties a game. What happened?”
“He’s skating hot. Nobody can talk to him without him blowing up and starting fights.” Stephanie sighed. “That’s not the worst of it though.”
“I can’t believe this … ” She rubbed her forehead. “What else?”
“Bradley overheard Coach threatening to put him on the trading list … ”
“Oh, no.” She bowed her head. “Dominic doesn’t want to go somewhere else. He loves the Sharks.”
“According to Bradley, Dominic told Coach to let him know what he decides on his future. When Coach yelled at him, Dominic walked out of the meeting. Bradley tried to stop him, but Dominic said he’d rather go back to Russia than play where he’s not wanted.”
Diana’s chest tightened. “Hockey’s his life. He wouldn’t walk away.”
“You haven’t seen him lately, Diana. He’s broken since you’ve left. His game is off, he’s pulled away from his teammates, and he’s basically giving the coach the finger when he shows up at practice,” Stephanie said.
“What are you saying?” she whispered.
“Everyone thinks he’s falling apart because you left him.” Stephanie paused. “You can fix everything. Talk to him and tell him he’s ruining his career. He’ll listen to you, I know he will.”
“I didn’t — ” She clamped her lips closed.
“Call him. Please?”
“I-I can’t.” She swallowed over the lump in her throat. “Steph … we were never together, for real.”
Stephanie remained silent. She closed her eyes for a moment to stop the tears from coming. “Whatever’s going through Dominic’s head, it has nothing to do with me. Honest. He let me go. We had an agreement, and my time there ended. We went our separate ways as friends.”
Or, she’d thought they had. Her head pounded. Something was going on, because Dominic would never give up hockey without a fight.
“I thought better of you, and I really liked you.” Stephanie cleared her throat. “I gave it my best shot. I thought you’d care, but it’s obvious you don’t. All the Sharks were depending on me to find a way to help Dominic, and … never mind. You weren’t a real fan anyway. All you did was pretend to love Dominic and hurt him.”
“Steph. Don’t say that. I do care about him, and you, the team,” she said.
“I better go. I need to fill the guys in and let them know I failed to get you to help. Goodbye.”
The phone clicked in her ear. Diana dropped her arm. Dominic had let her walk away. It was just a coincidence that he was having trouble on the ice. He’d pull through. Wouldn’t he?
Or she could call him. She peered down at the screen of her cell. No. It was over between them. He didn’t want her, because he let her walk away. It wasn’t her job anymore to interfere in his life. He could handle whatever trouble he got himself into by himself.
She headed down the hallway, caught a glimpse of Grayson and Kate’s boyfriend Jackson at the sports bar, and stopped. The television played the Sharks versus the Rangers pre-recorded game on the big screen television above the bar. Without making a conscious decision, she walked inside and claimed a spot at the end of the bar. She’d see for herself what kind of trouble Dominic caused on the rink.
At first, she couldn’t spot him on the rink, and then he skated out of the penalty box. She gripped onto the edge of the counter, leaning forward. The graceful flow of the moves she was used to seeing when he was out on the ice were jerky, hurried, and tense.
“Hey, Diana … ” Grayson touched her arm.
She glanced between him and the flat screen television. “Hi.”
“Why don’t I walk you back to the women? You don’t need to watch the game. As hockey goes, it’s the same old thing.” He cupped her elbow.
She jerked away. “No. I want to watch.”
“Hon.” Grayson sighed. “I won’t lie to you. Dominic’s off his game. It’s not pretty.”
She flinched as on the television screen, Dominic landed against the wall in a bone-jarring hit. “Have you talked to him?”
“Yeah. I called him. He’s home. The game’s recorded.”
“Is he okay? I mean, does he sound fine?” She pressed her hand against her stomach, not taking her eyes off the screen. “I don’t understand what he’s doing. He’s back in the penalty box. Dominic never gets a temper on the ice.”
“He says he’s fine. I couldn’t get him to talk about the game. He said he’s making everything right, though,” Grayson said. “You have to understand the life of a professional athlete. A lot goes on behind the scenes, and he’ll survive. He loves the sport.”
She shoved her hand into her purse and extracted her phone. “I’ve got to call him. Stephanie was right. Something huge is wrong with Dominic.”
“Why don’t you give him some time?” Grayson motioned over her head. “Shauna’s coming in. Talk to her.”
“I don’t want to talk to anyone but Dominic.” She cussed and pulled the cell away from her ear to look at the screen. “He’s not answering. Why wouldn’t he answer the phone if he told you he was home?”
“He’s okay — ”
Voicemail clicked on. “Dom. It’s Diana. Call me … please. It doesn’t matter when, but soon. I need to talk with you.” She disconnected the call and stood. “I have to get out of here.”
Shauna stepped in front of her. “Come back and have another drink first. You should hang with your friends.”
She shook her head. “I want to go to the hotel and see if Dominic called and left a message there. Maybe he forgot my cell number.”
“I’ll walk with you.” Shauna slipped her arm under Diana’s elbow and nodded at Grayson. “Pick me up in an hour at the hotel, okay?”
“Yeah, babe.” Grayson kissed Shauna’s cheek.
Diana walked back to the hotel with Shauna. Deep inside her head, she didn’t worry about not talking. Shauna gave her room to think.
Whatever was going on with Dominic wasn’t about his female fans bothering him again. Over the television, she would’ve heard the cheering when he skated out on the ice. Instead, the Sharks’ support sounded normal. Something else was going on, and the thought that he’d go back to Russia scared her.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Dominic drove the Porsche out of the garage and hit the remote button, locking the condominium. He had three days off and orders from Coach to get his head back into playing hockey before he’d be allowed to play in the next scheduled game against the Rangers.
In the past twenty-four hours, Dominic had completely turned his life around. Never one to put stock in money, except as a means to help support his family back in Russia, he was glad for the added pull a pouch full of money could buy him.
Once he’d gotten down to business and set a plan in his personal life, he sucked it up and met with his coach in a three-hour meeting. He explained what happened the other night at the game and promised on his home country of Russia it wouldn’t happen again. He turned onto the main road. Luckily, Coach gave him another shot.
Twenty minutes later, he parked the car and climbed into the private charter plane. He sat in the rear seat of the Cessna, heading north to Cottage Grove. He owed Grayson a beer.
Most importantly, he wanted to talk with Diana.
She’d left three messages. His phone rang. He looked at the screen and grinned. Make that four.
What he had to say was too important to talk about over the phone. He ignored the ringtone
and let the call go to voicemail. She deserved more than a thank you over the cell.
Diana stole from him. Without even telling him, she took something of his without asking first, and he wanted it back. He tapped his thumb against his thigh. There was no other explanation for how his jersey came up missing. She must’ve taken it.
“We’ll be landing in five minutes,” said the pilot.
He buckled his seatbelt and peered out over the wing. He couldn’t wait to see Diana. She’d brought normalcy and enjoyment back into his life. He inhaled deeply, trying to calm his racing heart. He missed her slow smile and quick laugh. She’d become such a major part of his life in such a short time — without her, he realized, a part of himself was missing.
Independence and success often meant a lonely life. For him it was true, especially when people pushed their way into his life. Not Diana. She’d dragged her feet and put up a good fight, but once she’d made up her mind, she gave her all to him. Fierce and determined, she showed him her soft, vulnerable side and hooked him.
The plane came to a stop. He followed the pilot out the door, spotted Grayson leaning against his car, and headed in that direction.
Always the calm and cool athlete, Grayson stood stoically out on the runway. “Right on time.”
“Everything go okay?” Dominic threw his bag into the truck. “You didn’t run into any troubles getting everything done for me, did you?”
Grayson slapped him on the shoulder. “Nope, everything went smoothly. I set everything up, just like you asked. But you left a hell of a mess. Shauna tried to do damage control, but you even have her confused.”
“You didn’t mention anything to Shauna, did you?” he asked.
Grayson shook his head. “I’ve kept myself busy at the tennis center and tried to stay away from her and the girls. You know I can’t keep anything secret around Shauna … and she is asking me what is going on, but lucky for us, she went to Kate instead. Last I heard they were going to converge at the hotel and plot an intervention or burn voodoo dolls in replicas of men they know.”
