BrickWall_Kobo (16 page)

Spread across him, she only wanted to stay there for the rest of the night.

“I should go,” she said instead.
“You need to be up early.
You can’t be late tomorrow.”

He stayed silent for a few more seconds.
“Stay.”

How could he ask that?

Blinking away the hot tears that popped into her eyes, she pressed a kiss to his left pec and forced a smile, even though she wasn’t sure he could see it.
“I can’t.
You need to get a decent night’s sleep.
Tomorrow’s a big day for you.”

“It’s not like I’m gonna be playing.
The only time I’ll see the ice’ll be at morning skate and warm-ups.
Then I’ll be on the bench for the entire game.”

“And you know it doesn’t matter.
You need to make a good impression and you won’t if you’ll be distracted by me all night.”

Now she did look up, forcing herself to smile and hoping he didn’t see the nerves behind it in the dark.
Then, because she couldn’t help herself, she rubbed her nose against his then pressed her lips to his for a quick kiss.

With a sigh she didn’t have to feign, she rolled to the side and slid off the side of the bed, grabbing her underwear from the chair next to the door.

As she dressed, she felt his gaze on her.

“I should be back day after tomorrow,” he said.
“Thursday.
We’ve got a game Friday.
I’ll leave tickets for you and Mike.”

“Sounds good.”

Even though she probably wouldn’t claim them.
Something would come up.
She’d make sure of it.

“Bliss.”

Shane was on his knees and leaning forward to catch her arm before she could get away.

“You’ll watch the game tomorrow night?”

Because he sounded as if he didn’t think she would, she turned, cupping his jaw in her hand and rubbing her thumb over the scruff he hadn’t shaved in days.
She had to admit she liked it.

“Of course I’ll be watching.
I wouldn’t miss it for anything.”

“And I’ll see you when I get back.”

She held her smile.
“Yep.”

Because she couldn’t help herself, she leaned in to kiss him again.

“Good luck tomorrow, even though you don’t need it.
You wouldn’t have gotten the call if they didn’t already know how good you are.”

In the dim light, she could just see the curve of his lips as she stepped away from the bed.

“Have fun, Shane.
And don’t forget to breathe.”

* * * * *

Shane woke the next morning with a knot in his gut and the most incredible urge to call Bliss and tell her he wanted her to come with him to Philly.

Which was stupid.
She had to work and he needed no distractions.

He ate, checked his gear twice, loaded everything into his truck then went back inside to make sure he hadn’t forgotten anything.

He knew he hadn’t but he needed to be sure.

He was at the front door, ready to head out with a second water bottle in his hand when he heard CJ.

“Hey, man.
Kick some ass today.”

CJ stood in the doorway to his room, boxer shorts barely covering his junk, hair standing up all over the place on one side and flat on the other.

“Not gonna play, you know that.
But thanks.”

“Yeah, I know.
But still.
And man, don’t take this the wrong, but I hope like hell they send you back for the weekend.”

Nodding, he held out his hand and waited for CJ to walk over and bump his knuckles.

“Did you actually set your alarm to see me before I left?”

CJ grimaced and Shane thought he might’ve actually blushed.

“Fuck you.”

“Dude.
I’m touched.”

“Uh huh.
Have fun.
I’ll see you when you get back.”

Shane turned back to the door but before he left, CJ said, “Wait.”

“What’s up?”

“Is Bliss in your room?
I mean, I don’t want her to, you know, catch a glimpse of me and throw you over.”

Fuck.
“Nah, you’re safe.
She went home last night.
Before you stumbled in.”

CJ’s eyes narrowed but he didn’t say anything.

“All right.
Safe travels, man.
And don’t let shit fuck with your head.”

Shane left with a smile on his face but it vanished minutes later.

His stomach ground in on itself as nerves started to hit him but he pulled on his years of training to steady himself.

By the time he reached the team’s training facility in northeast Philly, he had himself under control.

This was what he’d been working for since he was five.

Since he’d been down for pre-season training camp, he knew where to park.
After he’d checked in with the guard, he grabbed his gear from the back of the truck and headed for the locker room.

He wasn’t the first one there.

“Conrad.
Nice to see you.
How’s it going?”

Stanton turned away from his locker, where he’d been pulling up his compression pants, and came forward with a smile and his hand out.

Shane took it with a nod.
“Not bad.”

“The Reds are having a hell of a year and so are you.
Congrats.”

At six-three, Stanton was an inch shorter than Shane but the guy had almost twenty pounds on him, all of it muscle.
He’d come by his nickname Tank for his methodical play.

“Thanks.
The team’s come together this year.
We’re looking forward to the playoffs.”

Stanton’s grin turned lopsided.
“Gonna suck if you’re stuck up here riding the bench.
Between you and me, Gragnani’s injury’s not gonna keep him out longer than tonight so you’ll be back.
He’s being a pussy about pulling a muscle in his leg.”
Stanton shook his head.
“But you didn’t hear that from me.
Christ, the guy’s nearly thirty-three.
Guess I should cut him some slack.”

Shane nodded, smiling.
“Thanks for the heads-up.”

“No problem.”
Stanton turned back to his locker and began pulling on his pads.
“When you get back, tell Coach Scott I said hello.”

That’s right.
Stanton had been the Redtails’ top goalie before being called up to the Colonials two years ago.

“I will.”

“Good.”
A voice came from the door.
“You’re here early.
You and me are gonna spend a little time together this morning.
I caught up on your tapes last night.
Got a few things to go over.
Get dressed and I’ll see you on the ice.”

Shane turned to see goalie coach Gary Ellis.
The five-foot-eight bulldog had produced some of the best net minders in the league.
A former goalie, he had a Stanley Cup ring and a reputation for being gruff, uncompromising, and arguably one of the best ever.

Then he disappeared back into the hall.

And Shane took a deep breath.
And another.

Then he started to shed his clothes so he could get ready for his first practice in the NHL.

* * * * *

“Lissy, hurry up, the game’s starting!”

“I’m coming, Mike.
And my apartment’s not that big.
You don’t have to yell.
Besides, the game doesn’t start for another half hour.”

“Yeah, but they’re talking about the players and they might say something about Shane.”

Her heart fluttered at the thought.
She was so damn excited for him.

And so damn sorry for herself.
Something she would never admit to anyone else.

As she sat next to her brother on her couch in front of the TV, listening to Mike’s almost breathless chatter about everything from how the Redtails’ uniforms used the same colors as the Colonials to the way the announcers were dressed.

“And with Gragnani out, backing up Stanton tonight will be Shane Conrad, brought up this morning from the AHL Reading Redtails.”

As Mike let out a whoop, Bliss turned up the volume to make sure they didn’t miss anything.

“Conrad’s been having a great year, but I doubt we’ll get to see him at all tonight as Stanton will be in net…”

And that was all they heard about Shane.
But she couldn’t help the tears that pooled in her eyes hearing his name.
She actually had to take a deep breath and hoped like hell that Mike wouldn’t look over and see her trying to brush the tears away.

Damn it.
She’d broken her own damn rule.

That whole not-getting-involved thing?
Hadn’t really worked, had it?

Now she had no one to blame but herself.

And what if he’s the one?

She slid a glance at Mike.
What happened if she and Shane actually did try to make a relationship work?
His career might take him anywhere in North America.
What happened to her when he got called up?
If they traded him to Winnipeg or Los Angeles or Dallas?

Did she give up her apartment, her job, her life, and follow him?

And aren’t you jumping ahead of yourself?
The guy hasn’t even asked you to move in with him, much less spend the rest of your life with him.

And was that part of the problem?
Is that what she expected him to do?
Is it what she wanted?

Maybe she needed to figure that out for herself first.

* * * * *

“Hey, Bliss.
I’ll be home tonight.
I missed you.
What are you doing for dinner?
I’d really like to see you.”

Bliss had missed Shane’s call.
She’d been with a customer and hadn’t been able to get to her phone.
That customer had been there until fifteen minutes after closing and Bliss had been late for her dinner date.

Which didn’t explain why she hadn’t texted him back last night.
Oh, she’d congratulated him after the game.
She’d called and left him a message right after the game.
When she knew he’d still be in the locker room and unable to answer his phone.

Coward.

But she hadn’t responded to the call he’d left around ten-thirty last night.
She could easily explain.
She’d been in bed early.
And she had been.
And if she’d also maybe been trying not to cry, well, no one needed to know that.

Tonight, she had the perfect excuse.
She was “out with friends” and if he was smart, he wouldn’t interrupt.
That was part of the guy handbook, wasn’t it?
Rule No.
1: Don’t interrupt a girl when she’s out with friends.

“Whoa.
I know why I get blamed for resting bitch face, but I can’t say I’ve ever seen that look on your face.”

Faith lifted an eyebrow at her across the table at the Greek tavern down the street from the bridal salon.

Bliss sighed and took a sip of her wine.
“I know.
But can we wait for Sophie so I don’t have to repeat myself?
She and her dad should be done arguing in a minute.”

Bliss had helped Sophie Tsoukalos, the tavern owner’s daughter, find a dress for the tavern’s grand opening a few months ago, and since then, Bliss stopped in for a glass of wine whenever she could to talk to Sophie.
The other girl’s sunny personality drew people to her like bears to honey.

The only person Sophie ever fought with was her dad, Spiro.
They were arguing in the kitchen in Greek, which they did at least twice a day.
That might’ve been an exaggeration but Bliss didn’t think it was.
And when it blew over, as it did in a matter of minutes, life went back to normal.

Bliss could never live like that.
Sophie seemed to thrive on it.

“That bad, huh?”

Bliss winced, knowing her problems were nothing compared to Faith’s, who’d made it perfectly clear if she caught even a whiff of pity from Bliss, she was leaving.

So she sighed again.
“It’s just—”

“I swear that man is going to have a coronary and my sisters will all blame me.”
Sophie pushed through the swinging door from the kitchen then hurried over to lean on the bar in front of Bliss and Faith.
Her long, dark hair fell over one shoulder, dark eyes wide and inquisitive.
“Now, what’s going on?
I can tell you’re not happy.
What’d the man do?”