Easy: A Chicago Blaze Hockey Romance

by Rothert, Brenda

  And with Larry, I just faked it. We only slept together twice and I couldn’t even get turned on enough to want to get myself off. I felt a little guilty, but what else could I do?

  Erik’s the only man who’s ever made me orgasm and he probably did it thousands of times.

  As a hot pro athlete, he can probably get any woman he wants. But there aren’t unlimited women in Greentree Falls, Wisconsin.

  God, I want him in my bed right now. I could easily put the past aside for a night with him.

  I shouldn’t though. It would just complicate things.

  I look at my cell phone, mentally running through who might have his number.

  Kayla Donovan, Cade’s wife. I know Cade has it.

  But Erik could very well tell me no, which would make things much more awkward than they already are between us.

  What if he says yes, though? What if he says yes and I get a taste of the mind-blowing sex we used to have?

  I look up Kayla’s contact and text her, asking for Erik’s number. I’m not even ashamed she’ll know it’s for a shameless booty call, seeing as it’s 9:30 p.m. on a Friday night.

  The dry spell has been long.

  I wait five minutes, then decide to take a quick shower just in case things go well. My bikini area hasn’t been maintained in a really, really long time.

  Kayla still hasn’t written back when I get out of the bathroom. I wonder if she asked Erik and he doesn’t want her to give me his number, but she doesn’t know how to say that.

  I’m tingling with hopeful excitement and nervous worry at the same time. I open the Facebook app on my phone, looking Kayla up. I’ll message her there.

  Her latest post deflates me, though. It’s from several hours ago, and it shows her all packed and ready to go into the woods with her daughter for a weekend Girl Scout camping trip. When I see #nocellservice, I want to throw the phone across the room.

  Shit. I don’t know anyone else who would have Erik’s number, and I can’t call his mom’s house this late.

  I grab the TV remote and get back under the covers, bummed even though I know it’s probably for the best. I’m just not a booty call kind of gal.

  I’ve just started the latest episode of Outlander when my phone dings with a text. I scoop my phone off the nightstand, my heart pounding with hope.

  Kelly: Girls night out tomorrow! You, me and some margs. Ross will watch the kids.

  I groan with disappointment. I wanted that text to be from Kayla really badly. But it could be worse, I guess. Girls night out does sound fun, and it’s much needed with Hurricane Jenna here.

  Me: Only if you wear your hooker boots.

  Kelly: Hooker heels?

  Me: Okay.

  Kelly: Hazel’s good. We’re watching a movie.

  Me: Good. Thank you.

  Kelly: I haven’t been out in forever. Take a nap tomorrow, we’re staying out late.

  Me: This better not be a setup with that guy you want me to go out with.

  Kelly: Bahahaha it’s not but that’s a really good idea.

  Me: I’ll pick you up at 6.

  Kelly: Wear hooker heels!

  Me: I don’t even own any. I’m not a hooker like you…

  Kelly: You can borrow some.

  Me: I’m not trying to pick anyone up. I’ll just wear my regular shoes.

  Kelly: You aren’t wearing mom jeans and Toms for GNO. I forbid it.

  Me: I don’t even own mom jeans and Toms are comfy.

  Kelly: Text me photos of potential outfits tomorrow and I’ll tell you what to wear.

  Me: Fine. I’m getting back to my show now.

  Kelly: Hey, do you mind if Ross and I have sex while Hazel’s staying here? We’ll be really quiet.

  Me: It’s your house, have sex whenever you want!

  Kelly: It just feels weird to do it with a kid here.

  Me: Lol, it’s up to you guys. Swing from the chandeliers if you want. She’s usually got her headphones on in her bedroom anyway, she won’t know.

  Kelly: Okay we’ll see…I’ll let you watch your show.

  Me: Goodnight

  Kelly: Night

  I put the phone back on my nightstand and switch Outlander back on. Tonight’s probably working out the way it should.

  A night of crazy good sex with Erik would only remind me of what I used to have.

  He really got to me when he came to my rescue this afternoon, and Hazel’s, too. I could see that look in his eyes I know so well. It said don’t worry, I’ve got this.

  Even after what I did, dumping him in such a hurtful way, he still cares. That’s just who he is.

  And it’s who I miss. God, sometimes I miss him so much it hurts.

  Eleven

  Easy

  Alexei’s larger than life personality fills Aunt Jo’s living room.

  “Mama Z,” he says to my mom, grinning as he opens his arms for a hug.

  I swear she likes him more than me. My mom’s face lights up as my Russian teammate wraps her in a warm embrace. She’s met him a couple of times, but only briefly. Our team is a family, though, and Alexei’s become my closest friend on the team.

  “And you must be Aunt Jo,” Alexei says, hugging my aunt next.

  By the time Graysen, Mia, Anton, Jonah, and Kit are inside, it feels like there’s no room left in the house. Mom tries to offer everyone drinks, but no one will let a woman with a fractured ankle get them anything.

  “Just sit down; we can help ourselves,” Mia says. “And I have something for you.”

  “For me?”

  “It’s for you and Aunt Jo. Graysen and I got you a few things to help through your recovery.”

  Mia passes Mom a big, flower-patterned canvas bag. Mom pulls out a puzzle and smiles.

  “How thoughtful of you girls,” she says. “Thank you.”

  She keeps taking more items out, and by the time she’s done, the table is laden with three puzzles, two board games, several word search and coloring books, packages of pens and markers, fuzzy socks, candy, a Blu-ray player and several movies, and lots of the good coffee from Puerto Rico our team owner Olivier Durand has an endless supply of.

  “We’ll have lots of things to do tonight,” Mom says, beaming.

  I look over at Mia and Graysen and bring my hands together in front of me, sending them a silent thank you for their kindness. I can’t believe they both came all this way just to look after my mom and aunt so I can go out with the guys.

  “Happy birthday, man,” Alexei says, giving me a quick embrace.

  “Thanks.”

  “Big 3-0,” Kit says, shaking his head and grinning. “It’s all downhill from here.”

  “I’ve had my fun,” I say, shrugging.

  Jonah claps me on the back. “Bro, you won’t believe where we’re staying tonight.”

  I turn to look at him in confusion considering there aren’t many places to stay in Greentree Falls. “Has to be either that little strip motel or Marnie’s.”

  “Marnie’s Holiday Inns?” His words are half-statement, half-question. “That place is a trip.”

  Marnie’s, run by a family who gives zero fucks about copyright infringement lawsuits, gets press from travel magazines from time to time for being a quirky Midwestern destination. It’s made up of around a dozen little cabins built around a lake, each with a different holiday theme.

  I’ve never actually been to Marnie’s. It’s way overpriced for the everyday budget of a high school kid, and anyone at Greentree Falls High School who forked over the cash ended up getting ratted out to their parents anyway. But Allie and I did spend a few steamy nights at the strip motel her senior year, including prom night. It was only maybe a month after her parents passed and she had been taking care of the kids herself, and I came home for her prom. I still remember so much about that night, from how hungry she was for me in bed to how hard she slept afterward. She must’ve been exhausted.

  “Which cabin are you in?” I ask Anton.

 
“Thanksgiving. You’ve never seen so many turkeys in your life, I swear. Turkey towels, turkey rugs, turkey bedsheets. Even the toilet seat has a turkey cover on it.”

  “I’m in Halloween,” Jonah says, eyes wide. “Can you believe that? When you open the kitchen cabinets, ghosts pop out at you. Can you say creepy.”

  “We got Valentine’s Day,” Alexei says, winking at Graysen.

  She shakes her head and her cheeks flush pink.

  “I’m in New Year’s Eve,” Kit says. “The bedspread is blue with red sequins sewn all over and there are cans of Silly String placed throughout the room.”

  “Might be fun later,” Alexei quips.

  My mom gives him a stern look and he turns his face down, not able to hold her gaze. Clearing his throat, he says, “Sorry. I meant like…just for him. Obviously, since he’s staying all alone.”

  The corners of Mom’s lips quirk up and she breaks into a wide smile, making everyone laugh.

  “I know how you boys are,” she says. “Just make sure you have condoms, that’s all I’m saying.”

  Anton gives me an amused look. “Sound advice. And on that note, are we ready to kick off the festivities, guys?”

  Mia and Graysen say their goodbyes to Anton and Alexei, and seeing Anton holding his wife close while he says something in her ear hits me hard. That was me and Allie once upon a time. We never tired of saying how much we loved each other. No matter how long our separate days at school had been, we wanted to fall asleep on the phone with each other.

  Jonah drove everyone who was visiting up to Greentree Falls in his Escalade, and we all pile in it to drive to Bruiser’s, a downtown steakhouse my mom recommended. As soon as we walk inside, a couple guys recognize us and ask us to take photos with them, which leads to more attention, and it takes us fifteen minutes before we’re actually sitting at our table.

  “You get a lot of that here?” Alexei asks me as we sit down.

  I shrug. “Mostly from people who already know me or have heard of me.”

  Jonah says, “I was in Florida last week and not one person recognized me. I liked it at first, but then it started to feel strange.”

  “Hockey’s huge in Wisconsin,” I remind him.

  A man rushes through the front door, looking around the restaurant until his eyes land on us. He makes a beeline for our table.

  “I’m sorry for interrupting, but I’m Gary Denton, the owner of Bruiser’s. I heard you guys were here and I wanted to thank you in person for coming by.”

  We all shake his hand and take some more photos. He’s a super nice guy, and after he leaves our table, he heads in the direction of Bruiser’s kitchen.

  “Think he’s telling his staff not to fuck up our food?” Anton asks, arching a brow.

  “Hope so,” Kit says. “I’m fucking starving.”

  “You sound like Knox,” Alexei says, doing his impression of our team enforcer. “I’m fucking ravenous, goddammit. I could eat the ass out of a rat.”

  “Is he in Kauai?” I ask, laughing.

  “Yep,” Alexei says. “Those fuckers did a charter fishing trip yesterday; you wouldn’t believe some of the fish they caught. I’ll show you pics later.”

  Anton raises his glass. “To the cool cats hanging out in Greentree Falls instead of that shithole Kauai, and to Easy turning thirty.”

  We all sip from our beers, except Alexei, who is drinking water. As a recovering alcoholic, we don’t like to make him uncomfortable, but he’s adamant that he doesn’t mind if we drink.

  After a dinner that rivals any Chicago steakhouse for less than half the price, we head to a sports bar called The Dugout.

  “Look at this shit,” Alexei says, gesturing to a framed case with one of the sweaters I wore during our high school team’s last championship season inside. “It’s like they think you’re a big deal or something.”

  “Bigger than you, man. In more ways than one.”

  He balks and says, “I was gonna make you do two shots as soon as we got here, but for that, you’re doing three. All Fireball.”

  I groan. “Fuck no, dude.”

  “Fuck yeah.”

  Alexei goes to the bar, where two women immediately sandwich him on either side and vie for his attention. He mostly ignores them, just giving polite nods, as he waits for the bartender to pour him six shots of Fireball.

  Anton shoots his brother a look as he gets back to the table and starts passing out the shot glasses to me, Anton, Kit and Jonah.

  “What, the rest of us can’t get anything better than this shit, either?” he asks.

  “Just drink it, pussy.”

  We all do the first shot together, and then I do the other two quickly to get them out of the way. But the other guys start buying me drinks, too, and I’m tipsy after less than an hour in the bar.

  There’s now a small crowd gathered around the high-top table we’re sitting at, mostly female.

  “I’m married,” Anton tells a blond in a pair of denim cutoffs so short her ass cheeks are hanging out. “You want to talk to this guy; it’s his birthday and he’s single.”

  “Nah, I’m good.” I shake my head as the blond turns my way and scowls.

  I rub a hand down my face and say, “It’s not you.”

  “You’re Erik Zimmerman, right?” A woman standing nearby asks.

  I nod and push away the fresh mug of beer our waitress just sat down in front of me.

  “We went to high school together. I’m Rina Barton. Do you remember me?”

  “I don’t, sorry.”

  “I was a year behind you.”

  I look around for the waitress, needing a glass of water bad. The guys are buying me an insane amount of drinks tonight and I can’t keep hydrated. My gaze stops at the bar, where I see the side of Allie’s face, her dark hair hanging straight and loose around her shoulders.

  Craning my neck to get a better view, I notice that she’s wearing tight, worn-in jeans, sandals and a gray V-neck T-shirt.

  She’s talking to someone, and judging by the fact she has on makeup and her hair looks like she spent lots of time on it, I assume it’s a guy.

  “Fuck this,” I mutter, looking away.

  But not two seconds later, I’m looking again. Allie’s laughing and tucking her hair behind her ear. Her nails are painted bright red. I bet she smells good. Maybe she still wears the same perfume.

  “You guys good?” the waitress asks as she breezes past our table.

  “Hey, excuse me,” I say, motioning her over.

  “You need another one?”

  “Do you know Allie Douglas?” I ask her.

  She furrows her brow, confused. “Yeah, dark hair, works at Fox Foods?”

  “Yeah. She’s at the bar right now. Do you know who she’s with?”

  The waitress shrugs and I take out my wallet, pulling out a twenty-dollar bill. “Would you see who she’s with, please?” I push the money into her hand.

  She takes the twenty and gives me a nod. She makes a show of checking on customers as she walks past the bar and circles back to our table.

  “I don’t know her name, but she’s with the lady who works in the bakery department at Fox Foods,” she says.

  I relax with relief. “Hey, thanks.” I take another twenty out of my wallet. “Will you bring them both another drink for me?”

  “You got it.”

  She pockets the money and walks over to Allie. I move my chair over a little to hide behind Kit so she has to look hard to see who just bought her a drink. She gets off her barstool to locate me and I grin.

  Allie flushes and breaks into a huge smile, mouthing “Happy Birthday.”

  She remembers. I mouth back, “Thank you.” She holds my gaze for a few seconds before turning to sit back in her seat. Her friend looks over to get a glance at me and I wave at her.

  “Someone you know?” Kit asks me, looking over at them.

  “You might say that. The dark-haired one, anyway.”

  “She’s prett
y.”

  “Don’t get any ideas,” I warn.

  “I’m not letting all that Silly String go to waste, man. You want her, you better go stake your claim.”

  “Who?” Alexei asks, snooping on our conversation. “Allie?”

  He turns to look around and I groan. “Leave it alone, man.”

  “Is she here?” Alexei asks.

  “She might be.”

  “Did you invite her to hang out with us? I want to meet her.”

  “You’re not meeting her.”

  “Which one is she?” Alexei asks Kit.

  “That brunette at the bar,” Kit says as he points in Allie’s direction.

  “You’re not meeting her,” I repeat.

  “Who?” Jonah asks.

  “No one,” I say.

  “Easy’s ex,” Alexei says. “The one he’s still in love with.”

  “You fucker,” I mutter.

  “I’m gonna ask her to come over,” Alexei says.

  I slide my chair back and stand up. “You better not fucking follow me,” I tell him. “I’ll kick in your one remaining ball and you’ll just have an empty sac between your legs.”

  “You only have one ball?” Kit asks Alexei.

  Alexei scowls. “No, I have two enormous ones, but Easy’s always telling people I’ve only got one.”

  “Uniball,” I say, grinning. “Nothing to be ashamed of.”

  “Speaking of balls,” Alexei arches his brows. “Go talk to her, will you?”

  I pick up my beer and take a few swallows of liquid courage.

  “Just tell her she looks beautiful,” Kit offers.

  “And tell her you want to show her your pork sword,” Alexei says.

  I glare at him as I leave the table, my heart racing. This is my chance. I’ll never be as brave as I feel right now. Thank you alcohol. This time, I won’t just make polite conversation with her. I’ll say something real, even if she rejects me. Again.

  I approach her from behind, and she doesn’t notice me until I’m a few feet away.

  “Hey,” she says, smiling. “Thanks for the drinks.”

  “Hey. You’re welcome.”

  With her eyes made up and her fitted jeans outlining her curves, she looks so sexy I can’t keep my eyes off her. From the way she’s biting her lip, I think the expression on my face says it all.