The Tao of Hockey (Vancouver Vice #1) (19 page)

Maybe it was the post-orgasm high, the pain meds, or the fact she was semi-conscious. But she loved me, no matter how cool she acted. I hadn’t thought I could feel any happier, but now I did.

I closed my eyes and relaxed into that good feeling.

T
wo months
later

“
A
nd the third
star of the game, from your own Vancouver Vice—Eric Fairburn.”

I skated out to the faint cheers of the remaining fans. Most of the crowd had left early, reasonably assuming that we weren’t going to come back from being down four. And we hadn’t, but I had scored both our goals. Being a star in a 5-2 loss wasn’t a huge personal achievement, but tonight’s game was a special one for me.

Back in the dressing room, the guys weren’t particularly upset about the loss. Unfortunately, losing was something we had gotten used to. And it was only December. Coach Panner came in and ran down all the issues we’d had tonight. I wasn’t really listening because he’d repeat the same speech tomorrow while we watched the game lowlights.

I got changed quickly. I was sitting beside Marty Devonshire. At one time, I was going to live with Devo, but I hadn’t needed to. I managed to parlay my stint looking after Josie into permanent roommate status. My regular road trips gave her all the time alone that she needed.

Or maybe it was sex. Luckily, Josie’s ribs had healed quickly and we hadn’t had to wait that long to have intense sex again. We had tried to achieve the Tantric ideal of long sex sessions without male orgasms, but being inside Josie felt too good and I’d never succeeded. But we were having fun trying—trying all kinds of new things. Sex with total trust was the best.

Still, between road trips and Josie’s convalescence, this was the first time she’d been to one of my games. Her first hockey game ever, and I could hardly wait to hear what she thought of it.

I hurried out to the concourse where I’d asked her to meet me. No way I was putting her anywhere near where the players came out.

“Eric! Eric!”

A couple of preteen girls spotted me and wanted autographs. I signed their jerseys and then they wanted selfies with me too. As I posed with one, my eyes were drawn to Josie. She was leaning against the counter of the closed concession. We smiled at each other, and then I noticed she was wearing these high black motorcycle boots with buckles that I hadn’t seen before. That looked really hot, and my cock started to harden.

Click.

The shutter sound of the phone brought my attention back to the young girls. Shit, I hoped my hard-on wasn’t in the photo. Oh, what the hell, maybe that would bring more fans to the games.

They continued to talk non-stop. “Oh my God. This is incredible. Thank you so much, Eric.”

“You’re our favourite player.”

“You’re welcome. Thanks for supporting the team.”

As I walked towards her, Josie immediately noticed my excitement and smirked.

“Hey, beautiful.”

“Hey, handsome.”

I kissed her on the cheek.

“You can do better than that.”

I kissed her on the mouth, parting her soft lips and pushing my tongue inside. She tasted like artificial spices.

“Josie, you didn’t eat a hot dog here, did you? They’re filled with chemicals.”

“Oh no. It’s the food police. Arrest me, officer.” She held her wrists up mockingly, but I grabbed them in one hand and raised them above her head. Then I kissed her again, this time with an open-mouth and a lot of passion. I heard giggling and a click behind me.

Josie looked up at me, with eyes clouded with desire. “Mmmm. Tastes better than a hot dog.”

“Yeah, I’m jealous. I don’t want any hot dogs in your mouth but mine.”

She laughed. “You’re bigger than the one I ate tonight. You’re a smokie, at least. Maybe a Jumbo.”

I put an arm around her, and we started walking towards the player parking lot. Josie looked over my shoulder.

“So, is our photo going to be reblogged on a hundred Tumblr sites tomorrow?” Her voice went up an octave. “Eric Fairburn is such a hottie!”

“A dozen sites maybe. We’re not that big a deal. Does that bother you?”

“Naw. I’m getting to go home with the third star of the game.”

“That is impressive.”

“Yeah, I got an offer from the first star, but he’s not that good-looking.”

“What! Really?”

She cackled. “No. I sat alone at the game, and the only person who talked to me wanted to sell me 50/50 tickets, whatever they are.”

“You shouldn’t have been alone. Next time I can seat you with some of the wives and girlfriends.”

“Eric. Really?” It was kind of hard to imagine Josie making nice with the other women. “I like being alone. If I want company, I’ll bring Cyn and Zach.”

“That’s nice of you.”

“Not really. When you guys started losing, I learned some new words. I can hardly wait to see what Zach can pick up. He’s at that stage where he repeats everything. Cyn will have a fit.”

Josie had already bought a drum kit for Zachary’s Christmas gift, so it was exactly the kind of thing she would do. I still didn’t understand her family dynamics.

“So, if you’re coming back, that means you liked the hockey game, right?”

“Meh.”

“A meh from you equals five gold stars from anyone else.”

We got her bicycle from where it was chained up and put it in the back of the truck. Once we got in the cab, I turned to face her and held both her hands.

“Okay. Tell me what you thought of the game.”

Josie’s eyes widened, and she actually hesitated before blurting out her opinion. She was definitely getting sweeter these days.

“You guys sucked.”

Well, maybe not that sweet.

“I’m sure that’s not news to you. But watching the other team, I think you need to move the puck around between each other more.”

“It’s called passing, and yeah, you’re right.”

Great, someone who had never watched hockey before was able to identify that we needed more teamwork.

Josie squeezed my hands. “But, Eric, you were the best player out there. I love the way you skate. You’re so smooth and fast. You’re flying—just like a butterfly!”

She
was
sweet. I kissed her. I ran my fingers through her short hair, and she leaned into my touch.

“It may be time to quest for a new spirit animal,” I said.

“Why? I like that my spirit animal can eat yours as an appetizer.”

“A butterfly symbolizes movement and change. I’m becoming more settled.” With hockey, trades meant that there could be change at any time. But whatever happened, Josie and I would find a way to be together, and that grounding made me comfortable.

“Well, if you get something bigger, I want something even bigger than that.”

I laughed and kissed the top of her head. “Thank you for coming to my game. I hope you’ll come to some more.”

“Maybe next time, I can come to a game against a bad team and you’ll win.”

“We
are
the worst team in the league.” I didn’t talk hockey much at home. It was better for me to have a place to get away from the rink.

“Oh.” Josie cleared her throat and changed the subject. “You didn’t even notice that I dressed up for the game.”

“Really?” I looked over. She was wearing her usual uniform of leather jacket, faded jeans, and tiny t-shirt. Today’s accessories were those boots and a low-slung belt that looked like a medieval weapon of torture. When I looked closer I noticed that her t-shirt had a Vancouver Vice logo on it. It was really worn out and looked like it had been sized for a five year-old. The logo was our old one, a rip-off of the Miami Vice logo that looked a lot less lame across Josie’s chest. I reached out and ran my fingers over the logo and felt her nipples rising to meet my touch. “Looks hot on you.”

Car headlights swept over the truck, and I stopped feeling her up. No point giving Panner a reason to insert a morals clause again. I liked fucking Josie everywhere, but not in public. I was beyond the days of post-game blow jobs. I started up the truck.

“How did you get that old t-shirt anyway?”

“The fact that you’re the worst team explains why there are so many Vancouver Vice t-shirts in Value Village.”

“Hmmm.”

“Does it suck to lose all the time?”

I nodded. “Yeah. Winning feels good. Not only the points, but the room feels good afterwards—like you’ve done something together. That’s what can bring even a dysfunctional team together. Whereas our team is splitting further into cliques because all we get is negativity. And that doesn’t lead to better teamwork.”

“So, a vicious cycle.”

“Yeah. It’s tough to break.”

I had ideas on how to break it, but they were never going to happen under Panner. He had never forgiven me for forcing him to take me back on the team. He felt I had humiliated and undermined him, and he had tried to get back at me in a hundred ways. I’d been healthy-scratched, demoted to the fourth line, played out of position, blamed, and constantly harangued.

But what he didn’t realize was that this treatment was exactly what I wanted. The Vice were the perfect team for me. We were going to go through a ton of pressure, with none of the highs of success. There was going to be temptation to drink with the guys, most of whom were major partiers. I figured that if I could make it through a season here, I would be genuinely healed and ready for the next step. Besides, I was already the leading scorer on the team even after all of Panner’s antics.

And there were a lot of advantages to living in Vancouver. The city was beautiful and exciting. And it wasn’t that far from Nelson. My mom and Dino had come out at Thanksgiving and stayed at Joe’s place in his newly reno’d suite. Then all of them, including Margie, had come to my games. My mom loved Josie, but then my mom loved everyone. It didn’t matter though; all that mattered was how Josie and I felt about each other.

My dad had come to our first games, and he was coming back soon, but he’d be staying in a hotel. And Gary and the boys were coming—as soon as I broke the news to Josie that there’d be guys sleeping all over her sectional. Or maybe it was a better idea to see if Joe’s place was free for a weekend.

I had mentorship going in Vancouver as well. I could still train with Tony and get his guidance on my playing and my mental game. I was keeping in touch with the other guys from training, and we had plans to see each other when they were in town for games.

Of course, there was Josie. Beautiful, unpredictable Josie. I reached over and held her hand. I lifted it up to my mouth and kissed it.

“I love you, babe,” I said.

“Of course you do,” she replied.

T
hank
you for choosing this book. I hope you enjoyed it and will consider posting a review on Amazon. Your reviews help readers discover new authors like me.

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I want to thank the supportive community of writers and readers who help me create every book. For
Tao
, the lovely Kate Willoughby and Jaymee Jacobs both beta-read this novel and listened to me brag or whine—depending on my mood swings. They also write wonderful hockey romances that you should check out.

To make my books as realistic as possible, I need all the help I can. Thanks to Jamie Plume, who read over the medical sections of the book for me. Any medical errors are my fault and not hers! And thanks to Daisy M., who became a lawyer just in time to read over the legal bits and tell me What Would Richard Do.

W
hen not assuming
Cat Pose with actual cats underneath her, Melanie Ting is watching hockey in beautiful Vancouver, B.C. She began writing hockey romances during the 2010 Olympics, inspired by both the extraordinary athleticism and the crazy party atmosphere. Her aspirations include winning the Stanley Cup of hockey romance writing, finding the perfect little black dress, and world domination.

Keep in touch with Melanie:

• @MelTing21
  
• melanie.ting.31