Outside the Box

by Rochelle Paige

  As a season ticket holder, Lucy was able to get tickets to the tournament for both of us. We drove up on Thursday morning so we could go to Frozen Fest and play some games, catch the band, and just soak up the feel of the whole event. As a relatively new fan to the sport, I was amazed by how big it was and how many people were there. We left for dinner and then did the whole pep rally thing to cheer on Blythe College before we went inside for the game.

  The first game of the tournament had already been played, but Lucy and I opted to skip it so we had more time for dinner. That might have been a waste since our tickets covered all the games, but we really were just here to support the guys. As much as we enjoyed watching their games, it was more about cheering them on than a genuine love for the sport. And their game gave us plenty of opportunity to stand up and scream. I didn’t think any of the games I’d been to before had prepared me for the craziness of the semi-final game that night. The skating was faster, the hits were harder, and the shots seemed to move like lightning. I’d never seen anything like it before in my entire life. Watching Luka win that game and make it to the championship, knowing how much it meant to him, was just flat-out incredible.

  Since Lucy had me covered, Luka had given his tickets to his parents. His aunt and uncle had flown into Chicago to babysit his brothers and sisters, so his parents hadn’t made it into town until right before Luka’s first game on Thursday night. They’d spent Friday morning with Luka, and then they had taken both of us out to dinner Friday night. They’d invited me to join them during the day as they went sightseeing, but I had a big project due next week so I’d had to say no. The trip to see Luka play didn’t work well with my class schedule and everything that I had coming up soon, but it didn’t matter because I had to be here for him. But it did mean that I couldn’t do everything I wanted while I was here.

  It had taken a little while for his parents to warm up to me, and I worried that they were offended by my refusal to join them during the day. With my dating history, I’d never really had to worry about a guy’s parents liking me, because by the time the opportunity to meet them had come around, I’d been ready to end the relationship. But with Luka, I really wanted them to like me. Luckily, I’d felt like they had accepted me by the end of the dinner. It had been fun to listen to his father talk in his rumbling voice, his thick accent rolling over me. He was a boisterous man who loved hockey almost as much as he loved his son.

  His mom had watched us together with soft eyes that smiled when she’d seen how we acted together. It had been much easier to get her approval, but I thought that was partly because Luka had talked to her about me. She just wanted her boy to be happy, and I did my best to make sure that he was.

  Today was finally the big day for Luka’s team. They were playing in the championship game in his last time on the ice as a college hockey player. When I’d asked him why he wasn’t going to play hockey professionally after college, he’d laughed pretty hard before explaining how competitive it was. He had a couple friends from Chicago who might make it to the NHL, but they had delayed college so they could play hockey full time in the junior leagues in the hopes that they’d get picked up by a team. Luka was younger than a lot of his teammates, and apparently, it was because hockey was different than some other sports in that it wasn’t unusual for talented players to wait a couple of years before going to college.

  Luka was just happy that the sport he loved had paid for school and that he’d gotten to play another four years at this level. Once he graduated from college, he hoped that, wherever he lived, he could play in a men’s league, but this was it for him when it came to competitive hockey.

  Luka was busy with his team today as they got ready for the game, so I hung out with his parents until it was time to go to the rink. I hadn’t really ice skated much as a kid, but Luka’s dad talked me into going on the ice with him during the public open skate. I held on to the wall for dear life, afraid that I was going to fall, while he showed me where Luka had gotten some of his skating skills. Eventually, he skated over to take my hand and helped me around the rink, and I had so much fun skating around with him.

  We had an early dinner, and his mom regaled me with stories about Luka growing up. His first hockey game. How much he hated math in high school until his calculus teacher had told him that he was good at it. How he liked to embarrass his siblings but they adored him so much. She even told me about the time he’d crashed his car into the shallow end of the lake by their house when he was supposed to have been at home and he had to call his dad to come tow him out of the water in the middle of the night.

  When we got to the rink, I left his parents to meet Lucy at our seats. She’d spent her day with Alex’s parents, sightseeing, and trying to stay calm since he was playing in net today.

  “I swear to God, Alex’s mom has nerves of steel,” she told me as I sat down.

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  “I’m a complete mess, freaked out about this game. And she kept telling me to calm down all day!” Lucy complained. “How the hell am I supposed to just relax and have fun when Alex is about to play the most important game ever?”

  I laughed lightly at the idea of Lucy ever being calm when she watched her boyfriend play, let alone in the NCAA championship game. “You’ve been dating Alex for years. Doesn’t she know that’s impossible by now?”

  “You’d think so. She’s certainly sat next to me often enough and watch me freak out,” Lucy agreed.

  I reached over and grabbed her hand to give it a squeeze. “No matter what happens tonight, it will be okay. Win or lose, Alex will always be able to say he played in this game. It’s something he can be proud of for the rest of his life.”

  Lucy sighed deeply. “I know. I just want him to win so badly,” she said as the buzzer sounded to signify the start of the game.

  We both watched with bated breath as the ref dropped the puck. Jason and Luka were on the ice, and the center passed the puck back for Luka to grab. I couldn’t stop myself from jumping up and screaming his name even though there was no way he could hear me.

  The game flew by so quickly, the teams evenly matched and playing their best games of the season. Their determination to win could practically be felt in the air. The first period ended without a single goal being scored, and I could barely wait until the intermission was over. Lucy’s nerves were apparently contagious because now I was fidgeting in my seat, my heart racing as I waited to see what the outcome would be.

  Luka’s team didn’t fare as well during the second period. Their center was called for slashing someone’s stick and Luka was on the ice for a penalty kill when the other team scored. I watched as Luka skated over to Alex, who had banged his stick on the ice in frustration. They spoke for a moment before Luka went to the bench and Alex swiped his stick over the ice in front of him, cleaning it in the same gesture he used any time a goal had been scored against him.

  Blythe held them off for the remainder of the period, but it felt like the momentum had shifted in the other team’s favor. I raced to the bathroom during the next intermission, knowing that there would be a long line, determined to make it back to my seat in time. There was no way I was going to miss even a second of this game.

  By the time the ref blew his whistle before dropping the puck again, I was a nervous wreck. Everything I had told Lucy at the start of the game applied to Luka too, but I knew how much he wanted to win. It was his last game, his dream. And I wanted him to get it.

  “Please, please, please,” I chanted under my breath.

  We’d come out fighting hard this period but hadn’t caught a lucky break yet. With ten minutes left to play, I was starting to get a little worried that they wouldn’t be able to pull it off. The clock kept ticking down the time, and every shot we had was stopped by the goalie.

  And then it happened.

  Luka was skating with the puck and had just crossed the blue line into the offensive zone. As he passed it to Jason, one of the player
s from the other team hit him from behind. I watched Luka as he went down hard, covering my mouth as I gasped in horror.

  The ref raised his hand to call the penalty, and I waited for the play to stop so someone could make sure Luka was okay. He was lying on the ice for what seemed like forever when I finally heard the buzzer sound and the crowd roar. Luka got up to his knees and shook his head. Jason skated over to help him to his feet. It wasn’t until he had made it safely to the bench that I realized we had scored a goal. It was now a tie game with a couple of minutes left to go and a power play for Luka’s team because of the dirty hit he’d taken.

  I glared daggers at the player who was now sitting in the penalty box before looking back at Luka on the bench. His eyes met mine across the rink and he flashed me the thumbs-up sign to let me know he wasn’t hurt. I was so relieved that I felt tears well in my eyes.

  “He’s okay,” I whispered, and Lucy grabbed my hand to pull me from my seat.

  We cheered wildly, stomping our feet and hoping they’d be able to score again. I wanted them to win even more now after having watched Luka go down. And I wanted it to be while that guy was stuck in the box so he knew it was all his fault his team had lost the game, too.

  “C’mon,” I mumbled, eyes glued to Luka’s teammates as they zoomed around the offensive zone, shooting the puck back and forth to each other. Their center wrapped around the net, drawing the goalie to the side before he zipped it over to one of the wings, who snapped his stick back and shot the puck toward the net. The buzzer rang right as the whistle blew.

  “Goal!” Lucy shouted. “Holy shit! It went in. Did you see that?”

  Blythe College had managed to win the game with no time to spare. The team piled off the bench, over the wall, and onto the ice to celebrate. I pulled out my phone to snap a few pictures, knowing that Luka would want them for later.

  ****

  We knew it was going to take forever for the guys to get out of the rink, so after we managed to find them to offer our congratulations, we headed back to the hotel. Lucy had done the room-key-exchange again, and I’d never been happier that we’d gotten the hang of the room swap earlier in the season than now when his parents were here. I desperately wanted some alone time with Luka, but I didn’t want to be too obvious about my desire to jump his bones in celebration of his big win.

  “Papa, I’m going to run up to my room and change before we go out for drinks. Okay?” Luka asked his dad.

  “Yes. Go do what you need to, my boy. We will meet you there,” his dad agreed. “Aubrey, you want to ride with us?”

  “No, thank you,” I answered. “I should probably check in with Lucy to see if they want to join us and will head over with Luka when he’s ready.”

  If the looks on his parents’ faces were any indication, I didn’t think they were fooled much by our story, but they let us get away with it. Luka and I headed to the elevators and rushed to the room as fast as we possibly could.

  “Do you think they believed us?” I asked, giggling because I knew that the answer was no.

  “God, no,” Luka replied, chuckling with me. “But it doesn’t really matter to me as long as I get some time with you right now.”

  He practically dragged me to the room in his rush to get there. We both stripped out of our clothes right as the door shut behind us.

  “I need you,” I whimpered as Luka pushed me against the wall.

  “Thank fuck, because you’re about to get me. Hard and fast,” he promised as his fingers thrust inside me without any warning.

  “Oh God,” I mewled as I felt them stretch me.

  Luka twisted his hand back and forth, his fingers stroking my inner walls while his thumb circled my clit. “Hold on,” he commanded as he lifted me up, gripping my ass with his big hands.

  His cock found my entrance and he surged inside with a deep stroke. I wrapped my legs around his waist, hooked my arms around his shoulders, and held on the way he’d asked. Each thrust of Luka’s hips drove my back into the wall. There wasn’t anything for me to do except hold on and enjoy the ride.

  “Harder,” I groaned in his ear, and I felt Luka’s hands clench against my ass.

  “Yes,” he hissed out and shoved me harder against the wall on his next thrust.

  I could tell he was close, and I wanted to send him over the edge—and me along with him. I moved one of my hands down his body, holding his shoulders tighter with the other. I lightly scraped his skin as I reached his abs, my hand getting trapped between us each time he slammed into me. I fisted the base of his cock for a few strokes and then fingered my clit.

  “Need to come,” I pleaded with him. “So badly.”

  “Then do it,” he urged. “Come for me. Now.”

  I flicked my clit on each of his thrusts and felt my body tightening. I needed him deeper to get there, so I moved my hand around to grab his ass and dug my nails in, knowing that he loved the feeling.

  “Oh God!” I screamed as it hit me hard and fast. “Fuck, Luka. Come with me too.”

  Luka surged to the hilt, filling me deep inside as his cock began to twitch and spurt. His climax lengthened my own, and I hung on to him for dear life as wave after wave of pleasure hit me. We stood there, panting against each other, my legs and arms wrapped around him and my body pressed to the wall while we both tried to recover.

  “A quickie against the wall, huh?” I gasped when I was finally able to catch my breath.

  “Hell yeah,” Luka sighed. “Best damn way to celebrate my win that I could think of.”

  “I couldn’t agree more,” I said as I let go and he placed me gently on my feet. Walking past him on wobbly legs to grab the clothes I’d thrown on the floor, I slapped his ass. “Get a move on or we’re going to be late meeting your parents and they’re going to know exactly why we disappeared like that.”

  “Like they don’t already,” he joked.

  ***

  The game hadn’t started until seven thirty, so by the time we met his parents at the bar, it was pretty late. Lucy, Alex, and his parents had decided to join us as well as Jason with his family. Luka’s parents had managed to get a table so we could sit down, and his dad had ordered bottle service to celebrate. Vodka, of course.

  It didn’t take us long to polish off a couple of bottles, doing several rounds of shots. Luka’s dad insisted that each one begin with a toast.

  “Each of us must toast. It is tradition,” he’d insisted.

  With the group we had surrounding us, that meant there was a lot of drinking to be done. Most of the toasts were very short. Some of them were very touching as each family celebrated the team’s big win. But it was Luka’s toast that truly touched my heart.

  “Mama, Papa, Aubrey. Thank you for all being here this weekend. It wouldn’t have meant nearly as much without having the people I love near,” Luka began. “It’s been a great year. I’m going to graduate soon. I have an amazing girlfriend. And now my team just won the Frozen Four—something I’ve dreamed of doing since I was a little boy. I feel like I have the world at my feet and anything can happen.”

  We all tapped our glasses together and quickly drank our shots. Once we were done, Luka’s father beamed across the table at his son, clearly proud of all he had accomplished.

  “Now the only thing left is for you to find job.”

  “Geez, Papa,” Luka sighed. “Let me enjoy this for a moment, okay?”

  “And give me grandbabies,” his mom teased him with a sly look my way.

  “Enough!” Luka barked out. “I’ll do my best to get a job lined up by graduation, but don’t expect babies any time soon.”

  epilogue

  aubrey

  Today was graduation day. Time for me to leave my college years behind and head into the real world—or so my dad liked to say. Luka had talked to him about a job at the bank, and my dad convinced had him that he really could use his help, so Luka had accepted his offer. Little did my dad know, that meant the plan now was for us to move in t
ogether and work together. I didn’t think he’d thought about that part of it, and we hadn’t told him yet.

  My parents had invited everyone over to my house for a cookout to celebrate our graduation. I looked around at the crowd and was happy to see so many people I loved. Lexi and her dad were here, just as they had been for any major celebration since we were little. Drake and his family joined us as well since he and Lexi were practically inseperable. My oldest brothers and their wives were here, and Jackson and Kaylie were due to arrive any minute. Luka’s family had joined us as well, so I’d finally gotten to meet all his siblings.

  “Hey, baby sis,” Jackson whispered in my ear.

  “Jackson!” I shrieked as I gave him a huge hug. “Where’s Kaylie?”

  “She’s in the house, resting from the trip,” he answered.

  “Well, let’s go inside so I can say hello, silly,” I teased. I pulled his arm and dragged him towards the house until he stopped just inside the door.

  “We actually have a surprise,” Jackson told me.

  “A graduation surprise?” I asked.

  Jackson shook his head. “Not exactly.”

  “So what is it then?”

  “We already told mom and dad, but I wanted you to be the next to know,” he started. “Kaylie’s pregnant.”

  Holy shit, that’s not what I expected him to say. “Ohmigod!” I shrieked. “I’m going to be an aunt! Where is she? I can’t wait to tell her how excited I am.”

  “She’s up in my room, but you also need to know this means we are moving back to town. I talked to dad about working at the bank, and I want to make sure you know that I’m not trying to step on your toes with this. I know you stepped up when I decided to move to New York, and Dad said you’re doing a great job. There’s plenty of room for both of us. I just want to do what’s best for Kaylie and the baby.”