Razors Ice 04 - Hot Ice (24 page)

“Because I know you’ve been hurt and betrayed by a woman in your past and I wanted to be honest with you. I couldn’t stand the thought of keeping it a secret and then you finding out somehow and it ruining us.” She threw her hands up in defeat. “But, I guess it was too late for that. By being honest with you, I revealed that I’d been dishonest with someone else.” To save herself, she tossed the grenade away, but it ended up landing smack dab in her lap.

“I appreciate your honesty with me, but I really think you need to try some of it on yourself.”

* * *

The next day, when a package of USDA Choice Filet Mignon was delivered to his door, Jace was pleasantly surprised to discover he had been enrolled in the Meat of the Month Club compliments of Patricia Liles.

Chapter
Fifteen

The Doctor Is In

Jace had a full day of doctor’s appointments ahead of him. In the afternoon, he had an appointment with the team doctor to reevaluate his shoulder and if—no
when
—he got the all-clear, he could play in Thursday’s game.

But first, he had an appointment of a more personal nature.

Weeks ago, after meeting Violet for the first time, Jace had done something stupid and out of character—well, besides falling for a woman he couldn’t have. He’d made an appointment with a urologist to inquire about a vasectomy reversal.

After marrying Simone, Jace had made choices—one in particular—that had permanently affected his future. Things were different now—or so he thought. Maybe it was time to see about reversing that choice. But maybe that was just his dick talking.

Making the appointment was a silly thing to do, but he’d been doing a lot of silly, uncharacteristic things lately. Why stop now?

The way Violet talked about Patricia’s son Carter had him imagining them with a little tike of their own. But that wasn’t what he wanted. And Violet wasn’t even technically his woman anyway. It was just a stupid mistake like sending her flowers. Those mistakes seemed to be happening a lot lately. The longer he was away from the game, the more his brain got scrambled.

He easily could have cancelled the appointment and went about his own business, but curiosity had him by the short hairs. Jace had used his professional athlete charm to weasel an appointment with Dr. Krandall. He was the best urologist in town and Cody had recommended him.

And he just so happened to be the man who Violet was engaged to.

Jace stopped and looked at the name etched into the glass door. Phillip Krandall, MD. This was great. Just great. Jace had made yet another mistake to chalk up with the growing list of others. But he’d already made the appointment and figured he might as well find out about the procedure anyway. For the future. It couldn’t hurt to get a little information, right? At least that’s what he told himself.

Violet was obviously clouding his judgment. The woman had him bamfoozled to the max. First, she had him buying flowers and then she had him visiting a doctor to inquire about a vasectomy reversal so that he could have children he didn’t even want.

Now that he knew the doctor was engaged to Violet, he was just too damn curious about Violet’s fiancé to let it go. Was Phillip anything like him? Did Violet have a type? Was he tall and athletic or did he look like most of the white coat-wearing, middle-aged, gibberish speaking doctors Jace had encountered over the years?

Seated in an uncomfortable chair in the plush waiting room, Jace scraped his hand over his face and stood up to leave. This was ridiculous. He shouldn’t be here. What business was it of his to see what Violet’s fiancé was like?
He was supposed to be breaking things off with her not nosing his way deeper into her life.

“Jace?
Jace McQuaid?”

Jace looked up to find the nurse looking expectantly at the crowded waiting room.

“Yeah, that’s me.” Jace obediently followed her down the hall. There was no turning back now.

Since he was just there for a consultation, the nurse led Jace into Phillip’s office instead of an exam room.

“Dr. Krandall, this is Jace McQuaid,” the nurse told Phillip.

The two men shook hands and sized each other up.

“He’s here about a reversal.” She handed Phillip Jace’s file and left the room, closing the heavy door behind her.

Phillip Krandall looked exactly how Jace had imagined him.
Medium height, thin build. Sure, he probably had the IQ of Einstein, but nothing about him screamed “I’m good enough for a woman like Violet James.”

A photo of Violet sat on the desk like an ominous reminder. So, it was really her and not a twin sister who just so happened to also be engaged to an urologist as well.

The gold nameplate next to the photo read
Dr. Phillip G. Krandall, MD
. Christ, Red Valley was a big enough city. How come the doctor Jace had chosen just so happened to be the fiancé of the woman he was bangin’? Because. Krandall was the best board-certified urologist in the North State and if anyone was going near Jace’s junk, it was someone qualified to do so. But no one was going anywhere near Jace’s junk. Especially not Phillip G. Krandall.

While Phillip was enveloped by his giant padded executive office chair, Jace teetered on the chair across from him like Donkey Kong sitting on a child’s Hot Wheels car.

Before today, Phillip was just a first name that Jace knew of and Violet never talked about. But here, here he was, a real flesh and blood man. A successful doctor with a fancy office, a cute, perky receptionist, an office with shelves full of thick medical books behind an expensive looking desk, and a shiny metal nameplate on said expensive looking desk. This sure changed Jace’s perspective of the situation. Jace was betraying this guy and he didn’t even know it. Sure, he looked like a geek who wouldn’t know the meaning of the word fun if it slapped him in the face, but that didn’t change the fact that Jace was doing something morally wrong and unjustified. Shit, this was a crappy time to grow a conscience.

Oh well, the Doc was probably sleeping with his perky receptionist anyway, Jace thought to himself.

“You have a beautiful wife,” Jace commented about the photo, gauging the doctor’s reaction.

“Oh, uh, fiancé,” Phillip stuttered and followed Jace’s gaze to the photo. “Violet is my fiancé.” He said her name without a flicker of emotion.
Like she was just another name on a chart to him.

Competitiveness ran through Jace’s blood and right down into his bones, but he knew when he was outmatched. There were always instances when the other team had the advantage and this was one of them. This wasn’t a fight Jace was going to win. A face-off he could win. A
sudden-death overtime he could prevail. But he couldn’t win a match that was already stacked so heavily against him. Vivacious, beautiful Violet was going to marry this robot of a doctor and there was nothing Jace could do about it.

Phillip’s phone vibrated and he looked at the screen. “Excuse me, Jace. I need to take this call.”

While Phillip was on the phone speaking nothing but medical jargon, Jace tried to relax. Unfortunately it just wasn’t possible in unnerving surroundings such as these. What in the hell was he doing here anyway? Preparing for a future he didn’t want with a woman who wasn’t his? Jace didn’t want kids. Even before Simone came along he had no desire to become a father. Sure, she was the one who encouraged him to get the vasectomy, but he was completely on board with the decision.

This wasn’t him. This wasn’t Jace-Did-She-Sign-A-Prenup-McQuaid. This was someone else. Someone who was…who was
in love
. Dammit.

Jace swore under his breath and Phillip must have heard him because he frowned.

Jace was in tune with his feelings, hell, hockey was the most emotional sport on the planet, but this…this
love
thing had him doing the craziest, most irrational things. If only his teammates could see him now. He’d told them there was no such thing as just sex, but did they listen? Noooo.

By the time Phillip finished his phone call, Jace had made a decision.

“I changed my mind, Doc,” he blurted before the good doctor could speak. “Thanks for your time.” He shot up out of his chair and bolted for the door.

Jace walked out of Phillip’s fancy shmancy office and winked at the perky receptionist on the way out.

* * *

The next morning when Violet knocked on Jace’s front door, he opened it slowly, like he wasn’t sure he wanted to or not. It was cold outside
, the spring freeze gripping tight to the thermometer, and Violet could feel the warmth rush out from inside the house. He made no move to invite her inside.

Her smile fell. “How are your stitches healing?” she asked and reached out to touch him.

He shrugged away from her hand. “Don’t fret over me, Vi.”

“Sorry,” she said softly, dropping her hand to her side. She leaned in for a much-needed kiss, but he pulled back and shook his head.

“I’m sorry, Vi, but I can’t do this anymore.”

“Do what?” she asked, her stomach tightening.

His brow furrowed and his jaw clenched. “I can’t be the guy you run to when you don’t like how your life is turning out. And I certainly won’t keep doing it when you belong to someone else. I’m not gonna be
that guy
anymore. We can’t see each other anymore.”

He started to shut the door before she stopped him. “Jace, wait,” she pleaded. “Let’s talk about this.”

“You’re engaged,” he said flatly. That was all that needed to be said. The end.

“They were just words a long time ago. Jace, you have my body and my heart. You know that.”

“Baby, no matter how you look at it: You. Are. Engaged. To
him
. You made a pledge, a promise.”

His eyes were dark and she didn’t like what she saw there. The finality of the situation finally dawned on her and she hugged her arms around her waist. Her body felt numb, but not from the cold.

“I may just be some dumb hockey player,” he added, “but I know a thing or two about contracts.”

She shook her head, tears burning at the back of her eyes. “Please don’t do this,” she whimpered.

He worked his jaw and shook his head again. “Phillip may be a schmuck, but he doesn’t deserve this. And I don’t want to share you with someone else. Especially with someone who doesn’t appreciate you. I won’t do it. I’m sorry. Goodbye, Violet.”

“But, Jace, please listen,” she cried, but the door had already slammed shut and the latch clicked. She stared at the wood grain, her eyes pooling with tears.

“But I love you.”

* * *

Jace switched off the TV and tossed the remote on the coffee table.

Bitter
.

Was that what his teammates had called him?

Screw those guys. Being bitter was a damn good defense mechanism that had helped keep his heart out of a blender. Up until now at least. That first day he should’ve just walked past Violet and gotten into his car without a second glance. Who was he kidding? A blind man would have been able to sense that the woman was something special.

Jace’s gut told him Violet was different. She had nothing in common with his ex-wife Simone. She had different priorities and passions.
A completely different personality. And Jace always listened to his gut. It was the compass to his soul. But he couldn’t get past his own stubbornness. He had blindly leapt into love before and all he had to show for it was an empty bank account and a bulging folder in his file cabinet marked “Divorce.”

He already missed Violet and he couldn’t believe he’d left her standing on his doorstep with her mouth hanging open like that. The house echoed, his bed was too damn big, his shoulder and knee ached in tandem. He leaned back in his recliner and wondered what he used to do before Violet came along. Figuring he must have watched a lot of television, he turned the TV back on and sighed.

It was time to accept the fact that he’d gotten what he wanted. That wouldn’t be so bad except for the fact that his heart was telling him he wanted Violet and wouldn’t settle for anything less.

Chapter
Sixteen

H-E-Double Hockey Sticks

NorCal Center
crackled with excitement as the fans filed to their seats and waited for the greatest show on earth to start.

Jace sat in the locker room, taping up his sticks
, only half listening to the chatter of his teammates. Usually he’d be the one bustin’ somebody’s balls or telling a dirty joke, but today he had too much on his mind.

Jace McQuaid was back and he had the chance to be better than ever. If he was able to play another season, then he’d play the game of hockey like it was meant to be played:
hard, fast and with no fear.

His knee felt good for the time being and his shoulder felt decent.
Maybe not one hundred percent, but good enough to play. And since when had he ever been one hundred percent? At one point or another in his career he’d been injured in one way or another for as long as he could remember.

“How’s the knee?” Coach Baker asked.

“It’s good,” Jace told a half lie. It wasn’t his knee he was worried about.

Coach eyed him suspiciously.

“I mean it, Coach. If you put me out there tonight, I’ll bring it home.” Jace pleaded with his eyes.

Coach paused.
“All right. I’m putting you in with Lambert and JD.”

“Thanks, Coach. I swear I won’t let you down.”

“I know, McQuaid. That’s why you’re starting the period. I know how hungry you are for this win.”

Jace and the rest of his teammates
took to the ice with a renewed burst of energy.

* * *

Violet turned down her mother’s invitation to watch the Razors game with her father and brothers. Instead, she opted to watch alone from home where no one could see her tear-stained cheeks and puffy eyes and nose.

The hoopla for Jace’s return was well-deserved. He had made a name for himself as a skilled player and a fierce opponent and deserved the praise. Not only was he talented on the ice, but Violet knew the man beneath the red and white jersey was everything the media said
and more. He was passionate and giving and she’d ruined any chance she had with him.

During the third period when the camera zoomed in on his face, Violet could see the intensity in his eyes.
They were the eyes of a fighter. A warrior. Sweat covered his face and his mouth was set in grim determination. She knew he would stop at nothing less than victory.

He was a
man who would give everything he had for the sport he loved. He would have probably given everything for Violet, too, but she’d taken that choice from him before they’d even met.

He was everything Violet wanted in a man.

And everything she couldn’t have.

* * *

After three periods, the game was still tied and the Red Valley Razors and the Pittsburgh Piranhas were headed into a five minute sudden death overtime. If the Razors won, they’d move on to the playoffs. If not, they had to wait until the end of summer for another shot at the Cup in a new season.

Jace, along with every other player
wearing a red jersey, was determined to make history.

Coach Baker didn’t give Jace as much ice time as usual and was obviously trying to ease Jace back into the swing of things. But when he was on the ice, Jace made his time count.

There were two minutes left on the clock. Sebby was being bombarded at the net with shot after rapid-fire shot. The Piranhas were hungry and more than ready to put an end to the Razors’ season.

After battling in the corner, Cody
cleared the puck out of harm’s way and passed it to Jace. Jace skated up the wing and lined up the shot.

He
knew as soon as he pulled back his stick that the shot was going to be more than his shoulder could handle. He also knew that if this was going to be his last game anyway, he was going out with a bang. Or more like an agonizing rip. Because that’s what his shoulder did when he followed through with the shot. His muscle ripped to shreds and Jace yelped in pain.

It was a beautiful play
though. The puck glided right by the Piranha’s defenseman, through the goaltenders legs and into the back of the net. Jace McQuaid had won the game with thirty seconds left in overtime.

The building erupted and the fans began chanting his name.

* * *

The prognosis was bleak. At the doctor’s office, more x-rays confirmed what Jace already feared. Surgery to repair his torn rotator cuff was scheduled for the following week and he’d be out of commission for at least
four to six weeks. Hockey players had surgery all the time, but at Jace’s age, he didn’t know if he could get back into playing shape after surgery and rehabilitation by the time training camp rolled around in September.

After that thrilling bit of news, he’d met with his agent
, but Jace had already made his decision. His body might have made it for him, but now his mind had finally caught up. He knew what he needed to do—what he
had
to do.

He might be forced to leave hockey, but hockey would never leave him.
He’d always love this game. It had been good to him and yet it had also taken everything he had to give. Mentally and physically. His body was telling, no,
screaming
at him to quit. He couldn’t ignore it any longer. After dozens of broken bones, bruises, cuts, stitches and sprains, it was time.

That’s part of what made hockey such an exclusive club.
Because you couldn’t do it forever. New batches of draftees filed in every season to replace the battered and the broken like Jace.

It was time to give the spotlight to someone else. It was time to let it go.

Somehow, he’d find an identity outside of being a hockey player. He may be forgotten eventually, but one thing would remain. His name was etched on the Gordie Prince Cup and it would remain there forever. He’d been a champion once. He’d hoisted the most coveted trophy in all of sports over his head. He’d kissed it while millions of people watched and thousands of flashbulbs went off, capturing the glorious moment in time. These were the memories that would sustain him when he no longer wore the jersey. These were the thoughts he would hang on to. He’d been someone once. No one could take that away from him.