Head Games (16 page)

All at once, his eyes closed of their own volition, as his cum began to spurt out of his cock, filling the condom. Vaguely, he heard Leo start to come, and then Kelly tightened down again and he let out a guttural groan as his orgasm went on and on. It was almost painful, but Scott was loath to pull out of the clenching grasp of Kelly’s body. Finally he couldn’t handle it anymore and just put his arms around Kelly, drawing her to him as he pulled them both to the side, collapsing against the tangled, sweaty bedsheets.

“Woman, you’ve killed me.”

“Me, too,” Leo echoed, stumbling to his feet. Scott tipped to the side just long enough to tie up the condom and toss it in the trash next to the nightstand. Turning to Kelly, he pulled her back against his chest, as Leo ran a washcloth over her breasts and then lower to clean her. Throwing the cloth in the general direction of the bathroom, he then crawled into bed.

“Sleep, baby,” Leo told her, trailing his finger down Kelly’s cheek. “We’ve got you.”

Scott watched as her eyes fluttered closed. Looking over her body, he regarded Leo, who looked back at him with the same mix of wonder and satisfaction on his face. Relaxing, Scott fell into a deep sleep.

Chapter Thirteen

The next day, Kelly called Bonnie a few hours before she was due in. “Okay, so I’ve got a question…”

“Uh-oh. This is rarely good news.”

Kelly laughed. “Such a pessimist!”

“That’s me, Ms. Pessimist,” Bonnie answered. She was actually one of the most positive people Kelly had ever met, and she was the perfect complement to Kelly’s sometimes paranoid and fretful existence.

“I was thinking of trying to go see the guys play tonight—”

“And you want me to work alone? No problem.”

“Really? Are you sure? I’ll make sure everything is ready by the time you get in, and if it gets too busy you can call me and I’ll leave the game to come help.”

Bonnie snorted. “I’m not going to call you at the game. We’ll handle whatever comes our way. And I have no doubt that every little thing will be done by the time I walk through the door. I’ll probably be bored.”

“I doubt that. It is a Thursday night, after all. Are you sure you’re okay with me taking the night off?”

“Honey, you work, what, sixty plus hours a week? Yes, it’s fine to take one night off. Now stop worrying. I’ll be in at four.”

“Thanks. I appreciate it.”

Stowing the phone in her pocket, she went back to her prep list for the day. Pulling out the tomatoes from the walk-in fridge, she put them into the slicer, one after another. Doing work like this and coming out with a large bowl of something that was ready to use always gave Kelly a sense of satisfaction.

She then turned to the bacon. One of the specials today was a bacon cheeseburger. Mostly she tried to make everything to order, but she’d found that precooking the bacon partway made it crispier, which was always popular. After cooking each batch, she separated them into groups of three and placed them between pieces of paper towels so Bonnie could just scoop up a portion later. Turning back to the stove, she stirred the soup of the day—a garden vegetable with a dollop of pesto on top that was one of her favorite recipes. With that task completed, it was time to make the pesto for the soup.

A few hours later, she had everything ready to go. Bonnie came in and shooed her out of the kitchen, and she ran home to take a shower before the game started at seven. She’d called the guys earlier, and they had been thrilled to hear she was coming to watch them play. They hadn’t known who would be starting, but she won either way. Both of them had insisted on leaving a ticket for her at will-call. The thought of surprising them had sounded good, but since they’d never even know she was at the game, what with the nineteen thousand other screaming fans, she figured it was a better idea to tell them of her plans. They’d given her instructions about how to get down to the locker room after the game was over, too. She was both nervous and excited. She hadn’t been to a game since she’d gotten involved with them and knew it would be a very different experience now that her heart was engaged.

Kelly thought about stopping in the Intimidators store to buy a personalized jersey, but which guy’s name would she put on the back? She already had a blank jersey and decided it would be a better idea to wear that. Maybe she could get one of each of their jerseys at some point, but buying two personalized jerseys in the team store would cost almost as much as she took home in a week of work, and she just couldn’t justify the expense.

With a pair of comfortable jeans, her black leather boots, and her jersey on, she made her way to the arena, parking in a lot close-by, since she was alone. Joining the throngs of fans, she made her way inside and picked up her ticket. It was closer than she’d ever sat—around six rows behind the players’ bench. Her heart turned over in her chest at the thought of seeing her guys play.

Kelly arrived in time to watch warm-ups. After she settled into her seat with a slice of pizza and a cola, she looked down at the ice. Scott’s goalie mask was perched on the top of his head, and he was staring up at her. When they made eye contact, he gave her a slow, sexy smile and her insides melted. Leo was taking shots, but when he left the net a few moments later, Scott skated over to him. Leo’s gaze zeroed right in on her, and she felt a little thrill at knowing both of these gorgeous men were hers. Despite how many times they’d told her they loved her, she could still hardly believe her luck.

The teams went back to the locker room before the start of the game, and Kelly took the opportunity to finish her pizza and relax a little. When the game started, she found herself perched on the edge of her seat, watching the game with rapt attention. Leo had started in net and Kelly knew both from watching the team and from talking to the guys that unless there was an injury or a problem, he would play the entire game. She vowed to come to another game see Scott play.

It soon became apparent that the game wasn’t going to be an easy one. The Bronx Empires were a new team in the league, but they played a scrappy style. After a defensive breakdown in front of him, Leo was left out to dry on the first goal. He tried to make a diving save, but with no one between him and the opposing player, the puck was in the net before he was able to get into the proper position. Kelly sat back in her seat, chewing her lip. She had no idea she’d feel like she was living and dying right beside him. Her pulse was racing, as she wiped her sweaty palms on her jeans.

Play resumed, and Leo made save after save. Near the end of the first, the shots read fifteen for the opposition and only four for the Intimidators. Leo was gesticulating to his teammates with his goalie stick after every whistle, and even from the stands she could see how tense and frustrated he was. The buzzer sounded to end the first period, and Kelly let out a breath she hadn’t even realized she’d been holding. Scott met Leo on the ice a few feet from the bench and bopped him on the head, before both of them trundled into the locker room.

The second period wasn’t much better. Leo continued to get pummeled with shots, as the team scrambled in front of him. One of the enforcers for the Intimidators fought one of the Empires players, and both ended up getting tossed out of the game. There were only a few more minutes to go, but rather than rallying the Intimidators, the fight seemed to have the opposite effect, and score was three to nothing at the end of the second period.

The third period went even worse than the first two, and the score was five to one at the end of the game. When the horn sounded, Leo turned around and broke his goalie stick over the crossbar. Kelly winced. She couldn’t blame him. The team had played reckless, disorganized hockey, and the Empires had taken full advantage. After watching the fans file out around her, she made her way down to ice level. There was a man in an usher’s uniform holding a clipboard near the entrance to the locker room area. She gave him her name and he let her inside. Leo had told her to wait for them in the friends and family room, but she felt strange sitting there with the wives and children of the players, so instead she stood outside the room, watching the hustle and bustle of the postgame activity. She had been so swept up in watching the action that she didn’t even notice when someone stopped next to her.

“Hello, Kelly.”

She turned to him, confused. “Hello.”

“I’m Roger, from the
Courier
.” She instantly felt the need to shower. “Waiting for the guys?”

“What I’m doing is none of your business.”

“Oh, but it is. Leo had another bad game, and here you are.”

“I told you. I have no bearing on how Leo plays.”

“I disagree. A distracted hockey player, especially a goalie, is a problem for everyone.”

Kelly sighed. It was apparent he was trying to bait her, and much as she tried to rein in her temper, she could feel the flush of anger working its way from her chest up to her face. She turned to him. “Look, I know you have a job to do, but I don’t appreciate being accosted in the hallway and asked about something that I have nothing to do with.”

“Maybe I should ask Leo again.”

“Maybe you should,” a voice snarled. Both Roger and Kelly whirled around, coming face-to-face with the angriest person she’d ever seen. Leo stood before them, his fists clenched at his sides, towering over Roger and glaring down at him, his face mottled and his eyes filled with hate and disgust.

To his credit—or stupidity, Kelly couldn’t decide which—Roger didn’t back down. Instead, he smiled like a snake charmer and said, “Ahh, now you’re ready to talk? Excellent. Your”—he glanced at Kelly with a sneer—“lover and I were just discussing the game tonight.”

“Was Kelly on the ice? I didn’t notice her playing.” His words were laced with sarcasm, and Kelly hoped he wouldn’t cause more of a scene than he already was.

“No, but since you two—and let’s not forget your teammate and fellow goaltender, Scott—got involved, your game has gone to shit. How else do you explain it?”

Through clenched teeth, Leo replied, “My game has not gone to shit. A goaltender can’t have a Vezina-winning season every year.”

“But you have to admit that a lot of professional athletes lose their edge after they become involved with a woman.”

“I haven’t lost a damn thing, and you know it, asshole.”

“Name-calling. Interesting. I disagree about that, by the way, and it’s my job to find out why.”

“Leave Kelly out of this,
Roger
. I’m warning you.”

The other man snorted, and Kelly began to wonder if he had a death wish. “I go where the story is. And this little piece of ass certainly seems to be the—” The rest of his sentence was truncated when Leo hauled off and punched him. Kelly gasped as Roger’s head snapped back, blood flowing from his nose. “I’ll have you arrested for that, dick,” he managed to get out, as he held his obviously broken nose.

“Just try,” Leo snarled, and Kelly grabbed his arm. He turned his stormy eyes to her.

“Leo, calm down.” Looking into his eyes, she repeated, “You need to calm down.”

A guy Kelly had seen in the background at various press conferences for the Intimidators came sprinting out of the locker room. Kelly assumed he was the director of their media relations staff. “What happened here?”

Leo answered, his eyes still blazing with anger. “He insulted my friend. I want him out of here. In fact, I want him banned from the arena. If he shows his face around here, I’m not gonna be responsible for what I do.” Kelly buried her face in her hands, as the full force of what Leo had done sunk in. Tears threatened to escape, but she ruthlessly tamped them down. One way to make the situation worse would be to cry, she was quite sure of that.

“All right, let’s everybody just settle down.” He turned to the crowd which had begun to assemble. “Nothing to see here, folks.” Motioning to Leo, he said, “Why don’t we all go to my office and we’ll talk about this.”

Scott pushed through the crowd. “What the fuck happened?”

“I punched him.”

“Good for you.”

The media guy rolled his eyes and let out a sound of exasperation. “You guys aren’t helping here.”