Edge (10 page)

Still, I knew that once the old man was up and about, he’d be on my doorstep. I wasn’t up for the headache or the embarrassment.

“Hey,” a voice called. I looked up to see Niko turning on the shower next to me. “Wanna get a beer?”

I shook my head. “You don’t want to be around me right now.”

“You’re better than the crazy ass stripper waiting for me outside my apartment.”

I arched my brows at him. “Probably not.”

“She’s crazy, man. I can’t handle her tonight.”

“Tell her you’re not interested.”

He laughed and shook his head. “I already fucked her. And get this—” He looked around to make sure no one else could hear. “She bit my dick. Hard. I had to get up on the bathroom counter and run cold water on it.”

I couldn’t help laughing, even in my shitty mood.

“Did you ask her why she did it?”

“She said she thought I’d like it. I’ve got a bruise on my dick now. And she wants to make it up to me, but that crazy bitch isn’t getting near my dick ever again.”

“Hudson!” a voice yelled across the locker room. I looked over and saw Tanner standing with a guy from the team’s front office. With a quick turn of the shower knob, I grabbed a towel and wrapped it around my waist.

“What’s up?” I said, walking over. “That was my stick I broke, you know.”

“I don’t give a fuck about your stick,” Tanner said, holding a phone out to me. “The front office got an urgent phone call for you.”

I took it from him, confused. “Yeah, this is Luke.”

“So this is the only way your own father can get ahold of you. Ain’t that a hell of a note.” The familiar, gravelly tone made my skin prickle with tension.

“What the hell do you want?” I walked toward an empty side of the locker room that would allow me a little privacy.

“I need an attorney, Luke. Look, I know I screwed up, but I can’t go to jail.”

“You sure as hell can, and I hope you do. You’ve got a lot of fucking nerve calling the front office like this. You’re messing with my job now.”

He scoffed. “A job you wouldn’t have without me. Don’t forget who made you.”

“Who, you?” I shook my head. “You’re on your own from now on. I’ve got my own shit to deal with.”

“You cleaned out my bank account.” His tone was icy. “I’m laid up in a hospital bed. You picked a piss poor time to fuck me over.”

“You fucked yourself over.” I looked up and met Dell’s eyes across the locker room. “Don’t try to reach me again.”

“I’ll never forgive you for this, Luke,” he said in a threatening tone.

I laughed bitterly. “That makes us even, ’cause there’s a hell of a lot I’ll never forgive you for.”

I snapped the phone closed and carried it back to Tanner. Niko was dressing at his locker, and I walked over to him.

“Yeah, let’s get that beer, man.”

“Cool. Gimme five minutes.”

Dell was still here, though I couldn’t bring myself to look her way. I felt her presence. The guys were required to cover themselves because of her, but still, the fact that she was in a room of half-naked guys waiting for rubdown requests poked at me like the sharp tip of a sword.

I didn’t know what to do with this dark, unsettled anger. I’d lost hold of my game – again. My dad was a drunk who’d hurt other people. Why had I waited so long to turn my back on him? I wished I would’ve done it while my mom was still alive.

This kind of mood was rare for me, and I knew the tension of being near Dell but not being able to touch her would only worsen it. My instinct was to drink away the anger before it boiled over, and then fuck a woman whose name I’d forget by morning.

And Dell’s name … I wasn’t sure I’d ever be able to forget it. Tonight, I needed easy. And nothing about Dell was easy.

I avoided her gaze as I buttoned my white dress shirt and slipped into my dark suit. I grabbed my bag and followed Niko out of the locker room, tying my tie on the way.

We hit a downtown bar with a thick crowd. Before we even got our asses onto stools at a tall table, two women had approached us.

“You boys just leaving the office?” the blonde one asked.

“Something like that,” Niko said with a grin.

“What do y’all do for a living?” asked the other one, a redhead.

“Play hockey,” I said.

“Oh, really?” It was practically a purr, and she slid onto the stool next to me. She told me her name was Ava, and then a steady stream of shit I didn’t care about came pouring out of her mouth. What she did for a living, what turned her on, blah, blah, blah.

Half an hour later, I only knew two things for sure about the chick: her red hair was fake and she’d spread her legs for me in the alley out back if I asked her to. Her eyebrows were black and so were her roots. And she’d grabbed my dick under the table a couple minutes ago.

“I’ve always wanted to see downtown Chicago,” she said. I glared at Niko, pissed he’d told them where I lived.

I was finishing my third beer, and my anger had receded. If I got laid, I’d be my old self by morning. But I had no desire to screw Ava. Maybe I needed to ditch her and find someone less annoying.

My phone buzzed in my pocket and I pulled it out, looking at the screen.

Dell: Are you okay?

A surge of guilt shot through me. What would she think if she saw me right now?

Me: Pretty much. Just a little drunk.

Dell: Good. Glad you went out. Have fun.

Was this fun? As I looked at the fake smiles on the fake women we sat with, I realized it wasn’t.

Me: Want to meet up with us?

Dell: I’m already home in bed. Thanks, though.

Me: I’m going home to bed soon. Guess playing like shit wears me out.

Dell: No one’s on every day. Just relax, get some sleep and tomorrow will be better. I promise.

Her words made the corners of my lips curve up in a smile. She was the kind of person who picked people up when they were down. I’d been an asshole not to go to her when I was feeling out of control earlier.

Me: I wish u were here.

Dell: Be good. See u in the morning.

I shoved my chair back and stood up, clearing my throat. “I’ve gotta go.”

“No,” Ava whined, laying a hand on my bicep.

“Yep. I can cab it, Niko.”

His eyes widened into an expression that said
what the hell, wingman?

“Nah, it’s cool,” he said, rising. “Great to meet you girls.”

We left the bar and he punched me in the arm before we made it to the street. “Were they not hot enough for a major leaguer?”

I rolled my eyes at him. “I’m just fucking tired.”

“Was that Dell texting you? Are you going to her place?”

“I haven’t touched Dell.” I glared at him. “Don’t even say shit like that. That’s how rumors get started.”

“So that wasn’t Dell, then?”

I flipped him off silently.

“We have to stay out later to avoid the crazy teething stripper,” he said. “Wanna go eat somewhere?”

“Shit, I have to go home to V and his sweaty fucking socks in the bathroom sink.”

Niko wrinkled his face.

“He’s a pig,” I said seriously. “He soaks his nasty socks and briefs from games in the only bathroom sink we have. And he listens to this crazy music that’s just people screaming. I almost punched him last night when he refused to turn it down.”

“I’d say crash at my place, but my roommate’s there, plus … Crazy.”

“Maybe your roommate’s banging Crazy right now and your problems are solved.”

“Doubt it. He saw me come running out of the bedroom when she bit my dick.”

“Let’s crash at a hotel. I need a decent night of sleep. I’ll get us a suite with two rooms.”

“Yeah? That sounds good. You want me to go back and get those chicks? You can have whichever one you want.”

I glared at him. “Hell no. We’re gonna order room service, watch some ESPN and go to bed. I’ve got to sleep so I can focus on tomorrow night’s game.”

“Alright, cool.”

I already knew I’d wake up ready to get back to work. Hard work got me to the top; I’d have to fight my way back there again.

Dell

I parked and checked my reflection in my rearview mirror. I arched my eyebrows, asking the me in the mirror if she was ready for this.

So ready.

Would I have volunteered to bring Vanderschmidt the prescription medication for his urinary tract infection if I didn’t know Luke was his roommate? Not likely. I’d put on a little makeup and a bright pink scarf, hoping Luke would answer the door.

Maybe he’d be shirtless. I couldn’t stare at his rippling muscles in the locker room, much to my disappointment. Even better, maybe he’d be fresh out of bed – unshaven and rumpled. The thought of seeing him that way made my pulse race. We’d seen each other in intimate situations, but that one felt particularly sexy.

I parked in front of the building that housed our team in several apartments. Luke was lucky he didn’t share with two or three players like some of the guys did. This place was like a fraternity house. A lot of the rooms stank of beer, old socks and cheap cologne. I usually avoided coming here.

I knocked and waited, tugging on an end of my scarf. Would it be Luke or V who opened the door? Tapping my foot in anticipation, I wondered if anyone was even awake as nearly a minute passed. I’d texted V that I was dropping by so I figured he was expecting me.

When the door finally opened, it wasn’t Luke or V standing in the doorway. It was a dark haired woman wearing only a team jersey. My heart leapt into my throat. What the hell had I been thinking? There was a 50/50 chance she’d just crawled out of Luke’s bed.

“Hey, can I help you?” she asked with a yawn.

“Um … yeah. Is V here?”

“He’s in the shower.”

“What about Luke?”

She furrowed her brow. “No one’s here but me and V.”

A male voice called from inside the apartment and she turned her head.

“I don’t know who it is!” she yelled, turning back to me. “Who are you?”

“Dell.”

“It’s Dell!”

V came through the living room and approached the door, a towel around his waist. “Hey, Dell, what’s up?”

“I’ve got your …” I held up the bag from the pharmacy. “Sorry, I texted so I thought you knew I was coming.”

“Didn’t see it,” he said, grinning. “I was distracted.”

The woman turned and I saw ‘Vanderschmidt’ lettered across the back of the jersey she wore. My relief was overshadowed by a nagging worry. Where was Luke?

“I could’ve left it with Luke,” I said, handing over the bag. “You didn’t have to jump out of the shower.

“He didn’t come home last night.” V scratched his balls through the towel. This was the downside to being one of the guys. “Bet he gets unlimited ass, being rich and looking like he does.”

“Right.” I tried to smile. “See you at the rink.”

He waved the paper bag in the air. “Thanks for getting this.”

“Sure.”

I turned, sighing when I looked down and caught a glimpse of my scarf. I pulled it off and tossed it on the passenger seat of my car when I got in.

Stupid. I was stupid and naïve for thinking the flirting between me and Luke Hudson was enough for him. Of course he’d screwed a random last night – that was what most of the guys did after playing lousy.

He’d told me he was drunk when I texted him last night. And how did drunken nights always end for hot hockey players? I of all people knew the answer to that.

I wiped a single tear from the corner of my eye and took a deep breath. Fortunately, no one but me knew I was stupid enough to think a hot, multimillionaire pro athlete would be wowed by my lip gloss and pink scarf.

With a glance at the parking lot of a fast food joint, I braked hard and turned in. I drove up to a garbage can, threw my car in park and tossed the scarf in. Why had I let myself think our hands-off flirtation would compare with the dirty sex other women were dying to have with him?

I had to get my head on straight. With his sporadic play, Luke could end up with our team for a while. And I couldn’t afford to be emotionally unbalanced in his presence. I needed to distance myself from him, and from the way he made me feel. Right now the scarf wasn’t the only thing I never wanted to see again.

Luke

The dull ache in the back of my head wouldn’t fucking go away. It was worse than getting hit in a game because those hits hurt like hell and then went away. This pain had been with me since this morning, and the aspirin I’d swallowed hadn’t made a dent.

So much for my plan to be sharp for tonight’s game. I was hungover. When I’d told the guy at the front desk of the hotel I didn’t need a receipt for the room, Niko had asked me on the elevator ride upstairs just how much money I made. When I told him, he’d flipped me off and said he was cleaning out the entire stock of booze and food in the room – along with the robes and towels.

And that was how we’d ended up doing several shots while we waited for our food to arrive. He was a cool guy who told me about his Russian immigrant parents and his hope to one day make the kind of money that would allow them to retire.

We’d eaten steak and passed out in our rooms. It was the best night of sleep I’d had since getting here. And even though I was hungover, I felt recharged. Hanging out with Niko reminded me of Ryke. And it was damn good to get the hell away from V for the night.

The rink was empty when I passed it on my way to the locker room. I was early to the pre-game skate because I wanted to see Dell. Somehow I knew she was right – today would be better than yesterday. Her encouraging words from last night made me wish I could sweep her up in a hug of thanks. I wasn’t normally a hugger, but something about her made me want to. I’d be able to smell her and feel her body against mine. This not touching thing fucking sucked.

Only Mikey was in the locker room when I walked in. He was lining up equipment, slow and meticulous as always.

“Hey, man,” I said with a wave.

“Morning, Mr. Hudson.”

“Luke. What’s new, Mikey?”

He shrugged and laughed nervously. Poor guy seemed to be afraid of me. He was about half my size, but I wasn’t an intimidating asshole or anything.