Match Penalty (Utah Fury Hockey Book 2)

by Brittney Mulliner

  It was silly, juvenile even, but I was dying to know.

  As soon as the cookies were done, I packed them up and slipped into some boots and drove to Erik and Chloe’s house.

  I was nearly bouncing when Chloe opened the door. “Hey! How are you.”

  She let me in and led me to the kitchen. “Good. I just made a treat for Erik and wanted to get them here before he got home from practice.”

  She smiled and peeked into the container. “Oh. He’s going to be so happy.”

  “Hopefully.”

  She leaned against the counter and crossed her arms. “You’ve made him happy. Thank you for that.”

  Hearing that meant so much. I hoped he knew it went both ways.

  “There’s supposed to be a press conference, do you want to watch?”

  “Of course.” I followed her into the living room and sat on the couch. The TV was already on the sports channel.

  “Has this TV been on any other channel?”

  Chloe cocked her head and laughed. “Probably not.”

  I didn’t think so. At least my mom liked to watch cooking and home improvement shows. Chloe was just as much into sports as Erik was, so they probably never strayed.

  After a commercial break, they cut to the team. The first line was sitting down with my dad at the end. Hartman, Reese, Erik, Howe, and Brassard. Our leading men.

  I smiled when the camera zoomed in on Erik. Someone asked him a question about how he was feeling.

  “I’m doing great, thanks for asking. I worked with a really great trainer.”

  Chloe hit my leg when I sat up, beaming. “That’s me.”

  She laughed. “Yes, it is.”

  The next few questions bounced around to all of the guys until a young woman stood up and addresses the group. “The female fans want me to ask the important question. How many of you are still single?”

  Chloe groaned. “I hate Holly Lange. She calls herself a sports journalist, but all she does is ask for gossip.”

  I recognized the name, but I didn’t follow her. I cared about the sport, not who was dating or who was caught in the latest scandal. It was part of being in the spotlight, and I understood it was something the guys had to deal with, but I didn’t care. I know it bugged them too.

  Hartman laughed and put on a charming smile. “I think you know the answer to that, Ms. Lange. We like to keep our private lives out of the headlines.”

  The reporter smiles like a villain. “Now, Wyatt. That’s what people say when there’s more to the story. More that your fans want to know.”

  Howe laughed. “I doubt they care as long as it doesn’t interfere with our game.”

  Holly glared at him. “I’ll take that as you’re single.”

  The guys laughed and heckled him, but Howe didn’t respond again. I knew he was single, but why was that a bad thing?

  Reese shook his head and leaned forward toward the mic. “They’re all single. Our focus is on our sport. Being the best we can be this season.”

  “They are, but are you?” She actually winked at him. I thought Chloe would be upset, but she was examining her nails.

  “No, I’m not.”

  Holly’s eyebrows shot up. “Tell us more? Who’s the lucky lady that’s captured the Boston Bachelor?”

  Reese actually rolled his eyes. “That’s an outdated nickname, Ms. Lange.”

  I smiled at how he dodged her question. Chloe still wasn’t paying attention. “Doesn’t this bother you?”

  She looked up and shrugged. “Not really. I mean, everyone on the team knows. Most of the fans that care know. It’s not like we’re trying to keep it a secret anymore.”

  I was impressed with her blasé attitude.

  “There’s enough articles and photos of us out there, so we’re old news. Even if she does announce it to her audience, it won’t change anything.”

  Holly turned her attention to Erik. “Well, then. Erik Schultz, we haven’t seen you out with any women lately? Have you settled down?”

  His smile never wavered. “You know the answer to that, Holly.” He then winked.

  He winked at her! He also called her by her first name. He’s the only one that did.

  What the heck?

  Chloe turned to look at me, but I didn’t take my eyes off the screen.

  Holly giggled like a school girl. “Oh, Erik. You’re such a tease. Will no one ever be able to tame you?”

  He shook his head with his wide grin. “I’m happy with my life and have no intention of changing it.”

  I was numb. The rest of the interview went on without me hearing a single word.

  “Madi?”

  I was shaking. No. Someone was shaking me.

  “Madeline?”

  I looked over to see Chloe’s eyes wide with worry.

  “Are you okay?”

  I shook my head.

  “Oh, honey, he didn’t mean that. He’s just trying to protect you. Keep you out of the media mess.”

  I opened my mouth, but my brain wasn’t connecting to the rest of my body.

  Could that be true? Could he just be protecting me? Was he just saying what they wanted to hear? Maybe.

  Or maybe he changed his mind. Maybe he realized what he was giving up. The single life came with freedom, perks that would disappear if we were in a relationship. Maybe he wasn’t ready.

  He said he loved me, but maybe he changed his mind.

  “Madi, don’t worry about it. He’ll come home and you guys can talk.”

  I shook my head and stood up. “No, I don’t want to see him.” I blinked. Trying to remember what I should be feeling. I should be mad. Sad? I should be crying. Screaming. Anything.

  There was nothing. I felt nothing.

  “I’m going home.”

  When I stood, Chloe jumped up and put her hands on my shoulders. “Madi, I know how that looked. I’ve been in a similar position. Don’t let it ruin anything. Don’t close him out. Let him explain.”

  If she’s been through the same thing she knew how badly I needed to get away.

  “I can’t.”

  I pushed past her and ran out the door. She didn’t follow. She let me go.

  Hopefully her brother would too.

  By the time I got to my car, I was shaking. I pushed away all thoughts, all emotions, until I got to my driveway.

  I picked up my purse from the passenger seat and saw my phone light up. He was calling. He probably didn’t know that I saw. He was probably just calling to let me know how his day went. To check in. To talk.

  How nice that would be. To still feel normal. To be in the happy bubble that had only lasted a day.

  We’d made it one day.

  How tragic.

  I ignored the call and went inside. Mom was sitting on the couch watching one of her shows when I walked in.

  “Hi, sweetie.”

  I walked past her without a word. How could I tell her?

  I heard her footsteps follow me into the kitchen. I took a handful of cookies and turned to go upstairs. She blocked me.

  “What’s wrong? What happened?”

  I shook my head.

  She sighed and stepped aside. “I’ll be here when you want to talk about it.”

  I nodded and drifted up to my room. I laid on my bed and shoved a whole cookie in my mouth.

  Chocolate was a problem solver. Most of the time. Right now, it was just reminding me of the one man I didn’t want to think about.

  He said he was happy. That he didn’t want to change. He realized he didn’t want to be stuck with me. He knew I’d be watching and that’s how he told me.

  I didn’t want to believe he lied to me. I wanted our moment to be real, and maybe it was. Just for that moment.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Erik

  I was being yelled at before I even had the door open.

  “How could you do that?” Something hit the door. I stepped halfway in and looked into the living room. Chloe was standing in the ce
nter, her face red, and armed with a pile of pillows.

  I set my bag down and held up my hands. “What did I do?”

  “You hurt her feelings!” She threw another pillow but I caught it. I didn’t know what her intent was, but pillows weren’t going to do any damage.

  “Who?” I moved closer to her, hoping to calm her down.

  “Who? Who?” Her voice was getting higher, bordering on a screech.

  “Yes, Chloe. What are you talking about?” I was speaking calmly, hoping it would rub off on her.

  “You’re an idiot.”

  “I don’t doubt that, but that doesn’t explain what’s going on.”

  She glared at me and I knew from experience she was murdering me in her mind. “Did you even think about what you were saying? How it would make her feel?”

  I thought back over what she could mean. I’d done dozens of interviews in the past few days. We had a press day today. There were hundreds of quotes she could be upset about.

  “You need to help me out here, Chloe. What did I say?”

  Her jaw flexed before she spoke. “You said you were single. That you were happy and wouldn’t want to change that.”

  I dragged my hand over my face. “That’s what this is about? Holly Lange’s stupid question?”

  She nodded.

  “I was trying to be as honest as I could without revealing anything about Madeline. The PR team still wants me to be the team’s playboy. I told them I’m seeing someone. They told me they’d start directing attention to one of the other guys, but that change will take time. Until then, they want me to keep up appearances. And I never directly answered her question. I never said I was single. And I am happy. I love how things are right now with Madeline. I don’t want things to change. Well, I wouldn’t mind us moving forward.”

  Chloe was looking at me like I’d grown a second head. “How are men so stupid?”

  I shrugged. “Just comes naturally.”

  “You need to fix this, Erik. She was really hurt.”

  “I tried calling her on my way home. I guess that’s why she didn’t answer.”

  She walked into the kitchen, but I didn’t bother following. I fell back on the couch and stared at the ceiling. I hated that I was forced to play a role, but it was good for the team and had helped my career. My fan base was widely female thanks to the PR team. I couldn’t be upset about that now. I just hated that I’d hurt Madi. That was the last thing I ever wanted to do. I promised her I wouldn’t.

  Only one day later and I broke that promise.

  It was a punch in the face.

  “Here.”

  I leaned forward to see Chloe standing in front of me offered me a plastic container. I took it and eyed her. She nodded toward it and I opened the lid. The smell hit me before I even saw them.

  Double-chocolate cookies.

  Of course.

  She was amazing. Spoiling me. Letting me know she’d been thinking of me, and how did I show her what she meant to me? I pretended she didn’t exist.

  A punch to the gut.

  “You have tonight to get your crap together. Make a plan. Decide how you’re going to deal with the PR team. How you’re going to let the public know, if you let them know. Decide what you want your future to be. Then tomorrow, you’re going to tell her. I don’t care if you’re busy. I don’t care if you’re scared. You’re going to deal with this.”

  She walked away before I could respond.

  “Fix this, Erik. It’s the best thing that’s ever happened to you.”

  She was right.

  She knew I was the type to push problems away. Ignore them and hope they disappear.

  That was the last thing I could do in this situation. I needed to fix it fast.

  It was too late to go over right now. I’d give her the night to hate me. Tomorrow I would explain it all. I would beg at her feet if I needed to. I’d buy her all the chocolate croissants she could ever want. I’d install a hot chocolate machine in the kitchen. I’d never speak of hockey again.

  Anything to prove to her how much she meant to me.

  I took a bite of the cookie and let it sit on my tongue. It was perfect. Happiness.

  I couldn’t lose her. The possibility made me sick. She had to know how much she meant to me. I wanted her, for forever.

  A crazy idea came to me.

  It was too much. Too crazy.

  She’d never go for it.

  But people said you should make grand gestures.

  Would it work?

  Would she shut the door in my face?

  I pulled my phone out of my pocket and called Ollie. He had the longest relationship of all of us, which made him the master of this topic.

  “What’s up?”

  He sounded like he was in a good mood. I almost let him go, not wanting to ruin his night, but I was too selfish. I needed him. “I messed up.”

  He laughed. “What did you do this time?”

  “Madi saw one of the stupid press conferences we did.”

  “The one I was on?”

  I had to think back. Had he been there? The whole day had been a blur from practice to the press. “No, it was after that.”

  “What happened?”

  “Holly Lange.”

  He cut me off. “Of course, she was involved. Emma and I have had multiple fights over things Holly took out of context or twisted.”

  “I wish that was the case this time.” I sighed. “She was asking us about relationships.”

  “Oh no.” Yeah, he was smart enough to figure out where this was going. If only I’d been able to see it in the moment. I told him what I’d said and what Chloe yelled at me when I got home.

  “I don’t know what do to, Olli. The words came directly from me. It’s not like I can say that things got twisted. She watched it all.”

  “Well, you never said outright that you were single or not. You let Holly to believe you were single and living it up, but you never said it.”

  “I know. I hurt her. That’s the worst part. With everything she went through with her ex, that was the one thing I promised.”

  “That’s a stupid thing to say.”

  “What? Why?” I figured he would say that kind of thing to Emma on a daily basis. Wasn’t it a vow or something?

  “You can’t make a promise like that. Of course, you guys are going to hurt each other. The part that matters is what you do next. Do you fix it? Do you try to do better? I know this wasn’t intentional, and once you talk to Madi, she’ll know too. That’s the part that matters most. You were trying to protect her. You just went about it the wrong way. That’s what you need to apologize for. That’s what you need to work on.”

  I took a deep breath and hoped he was right. It made sense and seemed less daunting. I couldn’t promise I would never hurt her again, but I could promise not to make the same mistake. To always try harder.

  “Thanks, man.”

  “Don’t thank me yet. You need to talk to her. She needs to know how you feel about her.”

  “When did you know?”

  He paused. “Know what?”

  “That you loved Emma? That you wanted to marry her?”

  “Um. I think I knew I loved her within a few weeks. I knew I wanted to marry her within a few months.”

  “How long had you been together when you proposed?”

  “Erik, you’re not thinking—”

  “No, I’m just curious.” I interrupted him before he could tell me how crazy I was.

  “I asked her after six months. We got married a year after that.”

  That sounded normal. “Okay, thanks.”

  “Sure. Look, Erik. I know it feels like a big deal now, but things will work out.”

  “I know. I appreciate your help.”

  After I hung up I grabbed another cookie and ate it in a few bites. Tomorrow, I would talk to her. I would make things right. She would never doubt how I felt again.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Ma
deline

  It was snowing. It was freezing. The gray skies matched my mood. I hadn’t bothered with makeup or even brushing my hair. I put on a polo and pair of yoga pants, then slipped on my coat. I had a long day ahead of me. Back to back patients.

  I walked into my office without speaking to anyone and closed the door behind me. I fell into my chair and checked my phone for the hundredth time this morning.

  I expected him to have called me already. Did he not know I was upset? I ignored his call, and I never did that. Plus, Chloe knew. She would have told him. She probably fought with him. Maybe he just didn’t care.

  I mean, he was happy. He didn’t want anything to change.

  I was a change.

  He didn’t want me.

  I shook my head. How had I let myself sink so deep so fast? I was getting ahead of myself. Maybe he was tired last night. He had to have been after the day he had. He probably crashed and wasn’t awake yet. Plus, he’d be busy all day. Practicing. Training. Warming up for the game. He didn’t have time.

  Right.

  I took three deep breaths and stood up. No matter how badly I wanted to leave work and call in for a personal day, I couldn’t. I had a full client list and I couldn’t pass that off to someone else. Definitely not while I was still new.

  I greeted my first patient, a soccer player from a local high school. She was on a competitive team outside of school as well, so getting her back into playing shape was critical.

  “Hi, Ana.”

  “Hi, Madeline.”

  I led her to the main floor and sat down with her to stretch.

  “Long night?” She looked up at me and bit her bottom lip. She looked like she was trying to keep herself from laughing.

  “Sort of.”

  She nodded. “Hopefully your day is better.”

  “Thanks.” I thought about that while we stretched and warmed up. That was a good point. I shouldn’t let a bad night ruin my day.

  I was pouting. I knew it. It wasn’t attractive, and I knew it was affecting everyone around me. My parents had basically hidden in the kitchen when I left this morning. I didn’t want to put that on everyone else today.