“Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt. I just need some fruit,” I tell them, not making eye contact. “Jack likes to slice up his bananas in the morning and put a blueberry in the middle.” I walk to the counter and grab the fruit, but I’m stopped by Zack, who puts his hand around my shoulder. He pulls me to him and kisses me on the lips.
“I love you,” he whispers beside my ear, and I just nod at him.
“So why the sudden visit?” Zack looks at his parents, and his father’s eyebrow goes up.
“Are you kidding me?” Shirley shrieks. “After the whole web blew up.”
“Mom, since when are you on ZMT?” he asks.
“Your father has that alert thing on his phone, and when there is something with your name, it beeps him.” She turns to Arnold. “I can’t say anything in front of Jack, but that woman,” she says, shaking her head. “That fucking,” she says, lowering her voice, “bitch.”
We all laugh at her, and the fact she is swearing. “And to drag Denise in this is despicable.”
“It’s okay, Mom,” Zack says. “The good news is that because of that NDA that Dad threw in the prenup, she just lost everything that she wanted.”
“Really?” Arnold says. “You didn’t talk to me for a month for that.”
“You owe him,” I tell him, pushing his shoulder.
“Did you guys see the news this morning?” Arnold asks, and I literally hold my breath.
He shakes his head, laughing. “Gotta say it was funny seeing the picture of Chantal with no makeup.”
“Oh my god,” I say under my breath and grab the phone on the counter in front of Zack. Going online to ZMT.
“Zack Morrow’s soon-to-be ex Chantal Morrow is sent to the curb by her latest boyfriend, who is none other than Colton Woods.”
“Holy shit,” I say, showing him the tagline. The picture shows Chantal at the curb trying to flag down a cab, mascara streaks staining her cheeks. I read the article where it says they have been together for over a year; it also mentioned she hasn’t seen Jack since Zack found out and dumped her.
“Well, you know what they say,” Shirley says. “Karma is a bitch.”
I snicker, going back and checking to see if there is anything about me or Zack. “The original story got taken down,” Arnold says.
“Thank god,” Zack says, looking at me.
“Let’s sit and eat,” Shirley says, grabbing the plate of waffles and calling the boys.
We sit down and eat breakfast. I slice bananas for both Jack and Michael, and the two of them eat and rush out to wash their hands so they can play mini sticks.
“Be careful,” I say to them, and they both yell back.
“What time is check-in?” Shirley asks Arnold, and I look at them.
“Four,” he says.
“Check-in where?” I ask them, and Arnold looks at me.
“We booked the Marriott next to the arena.”
“What?” I ask, shocked. “Why would you do that? Zack has a spare bedroom upstairs.”
“Well,” he says, leaning forward. “We,” he says and then corrects himself when Shirley crosses her arms over her chest. “I didn’t know if we would be welcomed.”
“What?” Zack says, and I laugh.
“You’re his parents; of course, you’re welcome,” I say, laughing. “Oh my god.” I stop laughing. “Did you think that I would not be okay with it?”
He looks down and then looks up at me, and I don’t stop. “I’m so sorry that you thought that. I’m very, very close with my family, well, my tribe, I’m close with my tribe, so know that if Zack wasn’t the family person he is, I don’t think I would have fallen in love with him.”
“See,” Shirley says, “told you.”
“Now, if it makes you more comfortable,” I say, “I’ll stay at my place till you guys leave.”
“What?” Arnold and Zack say.
“If my staying here makes you uncomfortable, I will stay at my place.” I smile at him, then look at Zack. “It’s okay.”
“It’s not okay,” he says, throwing his napkin on the table. I put my hand on his knee.
“It’s not forever,” I tell him. “Besides, you snore.” I try to make light of the situation, but the stinging in my eyes hurts. “I’m going to go check on the boys. They are too quiet,” I say, getting up. I walk out of the room before I make a fool of myself and find the boys in the middle of the battle. “So who is winning?” I ask them, getting down on my knees. “How about we play two on one?” I say, grabbing a stick. Michael goes to Jack’s side, and they give each other high-fives.
They put the foam puck on the floor and are about to take a shot when Arnold comes into the room to watch. I try to pretend he isn’t here, but it’s easier said than done, and the little punks score off me. I point my stick at them. “I was going easy on you.” I laugh, and so do they, and I finally score a goal. I’m so excited I get up and dance a little.
“I need water,” I tell them and go to the kitchen, and I turn and see Arnold there.
“I think I owe you an apology.” He puts his hands in his pockets. “I came in here, and I didn’t give you the benefit of the doubt.”
“I—” I start to talk, but he puts his hand up.
“No,” he says, “all you’ve done since I came in was try to make sure that I knew it was okay to be here, and all I did was wait for the other shoe to drop.”
“I’m not Chantal,” I tell him, and he laughs.
“Oh, honey, I know you’re not. No way would she have sat there and cut a banana for Jack or ate the waffle with syrup, for that matter.” I smile now. “No way would she have gotten down on her knees and played mini sticks with two little boys.”
“I like doing all that,” I tell him.
“My son is finally smiling,” he starts. “He finally found someone who will stand by his side through thick and thin and not cower.”
“Every step that he will let me,” I tell him.
“That, sweetheart, is another reason I need to apologize to you.”
“Forgiven,” I tell him, looking down, and then Zack comes in and just looks at his father and then me. He comes over, standing next to me almost like he’s telling him that he’s on my side.
“You okay?” Zack asks me, and I just put my arm around his waist.
“Yeah, we were just talking about who is going to win tonight,” I tell him, smiling. “I, of course, said you, and your father agreed.”
We spend the rest of the day lounging on the couch till Zack gets up from the couch and puts his hand out for me. “Come with me,” he says, and I just smile, taking his hand as he walks upstairs to his bedroom.
I close the bedroom door and walk to the bed that I came up and made while he spoke with his father and mother. “Are you sure you want to come tonight?” he asks me.
“Do you not want me to come?” I ask him as he pushes me onto my back on the bed.
“Don’t ask stupid questions. It’s just that the press will probably be there”—he kisses my neck—“and I just don’t want you to be”—he kisses the other side of my neck—“on edge.”
“I was thinking”—I say, kissing his neck now while I talk—“that Jack and I”—I kiss his other side of his neck—“could wear matching Morrow shirts.”
“What?” he whispers, and I wrap my legs around his hips as I thrust my hips up. “You’ll wear my jersey?”
“Yeah,” I whisper as he rubs his covered cock up and down my pussy. “Do you want to maybe take a shower with me?”
I close my eyes. “We can’t do this. Your parents are downstairs.”
“Yes, but they are watching a movie,” he says into my neck. “It’ll just take five minutes.”
“Wow,” I say, laughing. “A whole five minutes.”
He laughs and then moves off me, pulling me off the bed and going to the bathroom where he has his way with me.
Michael, Jack, and I hold hands when we walk into the arena three hours later. Michael we
ars a Horton jersey, and Jack and I along with his parents all wear Morrow jerseys.
“I’m going to take the boys down to the glass so they can see the guys warm up.” I look over at Zack’s parents, who just look at me with a smile.
We walk into the arena and down the steps, and I try not to look around too much. We get to the glass, and the boys start knocking at the players. Phil comes over and gives them a high-five through the glass as a couple of them come over, and they are all trying to give them high-fives. Then Matthew comes over with Max and Zack. I smile at them, and then Max knocks on the window. “What shirt are you wearing?” he yells, and Matthew puts his hand on his stomach, throwing his head back and laughing.
“Changing shirts,” Matthew says, laughing. “You know what that means, right? It means they are having sex,” Matthew taunts him.
“Shut up.” Max points at him, then turns to me. “Go change your shirt.”
“Not a chance in hell,” Zack says, winking at me. “See you later,” he says, and then the three of them skate off, and I go to the boys who walked off to the side. We walk up the stairs and start to walk out when Jack sees Chantal. His hand tightens on me. She doesn’t even pay attention to him. Instead, she only spots me, not even noticing that her son is beside me.
“There she is, the home wrecker,” she says, her voice getting louder as people look around at us. “You think you could come up and take my man away from me?”
I push the kids behind me to shield them from her and her venom but don’t have to because Shirley pushes herself between us. “You have some nerve,” she says, her voice now going from low to high. “Coming here and doing this whole woman scorned when you cheated on my son.”
She rolls her eyes. “So dramatic,” she says, and now I step forward.
“I’m not doing this with you here. I’m not doing this with you ever.” I advance on her, and she suddenly steps back. “Because you see, I have something that you don’t have nor can you buy. I have class.”
She folds her arms over her chest. “Please. You smell like trailer park trash.”
I throw my head back and laugh. “That’s the best you’ve got?” I forward on her. “You’re a sad excuse for a woman. You are so filled with chemicals, you can’t see that you had the whole world in your hand, and instead of holding it and cherishing it, you decided to go for second best.” I shake my head. “I should thank you.”
“He isn’t that great,” she says to me.
“You’re right; he isn’t that great. He’s even better,” I say and then turn around to Shirley. “Take Jack to the lodge. I don’t want her to see him,” I whisper to her, and she just nods her head and turns, taking Michael and Jack. I then turn back to her. “You not only gave away the best man I’ve ever met, but you also gave away the sweetest, most loving, and strongest little boy I’ve ever met.”
“We’ll see about that,” she says, standing her ground.
“Yeah, what you’ll see is me standing by my man while I hold his son’s hand,” I tell her, “with a big smile on my face.”
“Bitch,” she says.
I laugh. “I’ve been called worse. Enjoy the game,” I tell her, walking away with my head high and my man’s shirt on my back.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Zack
I walk into the arena, and instead of dread, I’m holding my head high. I nod at a couple of people and make my way to the changing room when I see Colton walking down the hallway.
We come face-to-face, and he just shakes his head. “I had no idea,” he says. “I swear when I found out about her calling ZMT, I kicked her out.”
“Why?” I ask him.
“What she did is just wrong,” he starts saying, and I have to laugh.
“So you sleeping with a married woman wasn’t wrong, but her leaking a story was?”
“Listen,” he says. “I didn’t chase her; she chased me.”
“And what, you have no self-control?” I ask him. “Was it hard to fight off a woman who weighed a hundred pounds?” He tries to say something, but I put my hand up. “I mean, after all, if you hadn’t fucked my wife, I wouldn’t have met Denise.” I shrug my shoulders. “I think we can call it even. I get Denise, and you get to keep Chantal.”
“Listen, all I’m going to say is if you need anything, or if your lawyer needs any information, I’m willing to help.” He looks down. “Just watch it,” he says and walks away with his head down.
I shake my head and walk into the room. The guys look up when I walk in, but none of them bring up anything, when Mark finally comes in. “Jesus,” Phil says when he strips his shirt. “What the fuck happened to you?” he says, pointing at Mark’s chest, five hickeys all down his chest leading to his dick.
“Had a rough couple of days,” he says, smiling.
“Did she tie you up for that?” Matthew asks him, and he just shakes his head.
“You aren’t the only one who cuffs people to the bed,” he says, and Max hits his knee, laughing.
“Laugh all you want; she married me,” Matthew says to everyone.
“She’s so lucky,” one of the guys says, and Matthew glares at him.
“You boys get it all out of your system. We have to go out there and smoke those bastards,” Matthew says. “Losing isn’t an option tonight.”
I get dressed for my pre-game workout, and it goes smoothly. So does getting dressed and heading out to the ice. I skate on and do the turn of the net, then go to the ice where I see Phil giving Michael and Jack a high-five.
I spot Denise standing next to them, and Matthew ribs Max for her wearing my shirt. I stand here just smiling, thinking she’s fucking mine.
I laugh while I skate off the ice from warm-up and spot Olivier who just nods at me. “I’ve already informed the media you aren’t giving interviews even after the game.”
“Thank you,” I say to him, “for everything.”
“It’s what I do,” he says. “Now, don’t give me any more work.” He winks at me and walks away.
I walk into the room, sitting down and drinking some water. I get up when they tell me it’s time; we all line up, and I have Matthew in front of me and Max behind me. Matthew looks behind him. “Whatever you do, try to keep your head in the game.”
“Always,” I say, zoning out the media, Chantal, and Colton. I zone out everything when my skates touch the ice. I skate to the blue line and go around in a circle; the banging of the crowd fills my mind as the puck drops, and Matthew wins the face-off.
He passes to Max, and I slowly skate up, my eyes never really leaving the puck. He skates across Arizona’s blue line where he tries to pass it to Phil on the other side, but it gets intercepted, when Darryl, the right-wing, poke checks it. Colton and Drew both now skate forward. When Nathan gets tripped up, and it’s now a two on one with Colton and Drew skating up on me. Drew skates up with the puck while I skate backward, and he passes it to Colton.
Colton drives up the ice, and I know he’s an asshole puck hog, so I know there isn’t any way he’s going to pass that puck, especially if he can take one up on me. I move backward, but at a slower pace, and when I skate over the blue line, he’s so concentrated on my speed he doesn’t realize I’ve given my team time to get back. Max surprises him from the back, picking up his stick as I move forward and grab the puck, zipping past their defense as I make my way to the net, the adrenaline in me pushing and pumping through me as I swing up my arm and just shoot on net, not expecting anything but my shot catches him on his blocker side as he tries to raise his arm, but it slides under his arm, hitting the back of the net.
The red siren goes off in the back of the net, and the crowd goes wild, jumping to their feet. Max is the first to get to me followed by Matthew and Phil.
“Well, that shows them,” Max says to me as we skate to our bench and celebrate by high-fiving everyone. The rest of the game is smooth sailing. Colton doesn’t even get a shot on net, and we skate off the ice, giving Mark a shutout.
>
I get back to the room, grabbing my phone when I see that Denise sent me a text.
I’ll wait for you by the car.
I smile at the text and hurry up; the press comes in and a couple of them ask me the dreaded question.
“How did it feel to face your old team?”
I smile at the question. “It was good to touch base with a couple of them. I enjoyed my time in Arizona, but my home is now here.”
“There has been talk about a divorce,” one of the female reporters starts asking me, and I just nod my head.
“Thanks for your time,” I tell them and walk to the shower, and when I peek my head in, the reporters are all gone. I say goodbye to a couple of the guys who are still here.
Walking in the hallway, I pass a couple of my old teammates. They are all cordial, which makes what I have here in New York so much more. It’s such a different type of team, and I’m thankful that I got the better end of the stick. I walk down to my car and spot Denise talking to Max.
“Hey,” she says when she sees me coming over. I bend and kiss her lips.
“Enough of that,” Max says. “I’m right here.”
I laugh at him and lean down and kiss her again, just to fuck with him, but also because I want to and because I can. “Where is Jack?” I ask her, and then she looks at me.
“Your parents took him home and said to enjoy the night,” she tells me. “They don’t expect us home until tomorrow.”
“Really?” I tell her, bringing her closer to me. “Well, then.”
“I’m out,” Max says to us, leaning forward and giving Denise a kiss. “Call me tomorrow,” he says and turns to walk away.
“So how about we grab some food and then take it home to the loft.” We walk toward the truck, and I open the door for her as she gets in. I walk around the truck, getting in, and we stop by the deli on the corner by her house, and we walk into the loft.
We watch television, or we try to, but we end up getting naked, and I make her come on my tongue, my fingers, and then I slide into her.
SOMETHING SO SERIES Page 87
