Frozen Barriers (14 page)

Making my way toward the kitchen area, I see Jeremy standing there, fully clothed, and making coffee and buttering the toast. He’s moving around my kitchen as though he’s lived here for years. It’s kind of nice, but I’m still nervous about actually having a guy here in my place. It’s all new, and I don’t know how to act. Clearly, I’m not off to a good start after my showing last night.

“You need to eat this. How do you take your coffee?” He asks, handing me a plate of toast.

“Cream and one Equal, thanks,” I say. He makes his way over to the fridge and glances around in there before grabbing the carton of creamer and turning back to me, giving me a look.“This is not cream. There is no such thing as fat-free cream,” he says with a straight face. “Hey! It’s cream, and it all tastes the same once you put it in the coffee anyway. I can’t have fatty foods,” I say more sternly than I should have, considering my head is pounding again.

As I’m rubbing my temples with my fingers, I see Jeremy make his way into my bathroom again, coming back shortly afterwards with a bottle of Advil. “Here, take these and eat the toast. You’ll feel better.”

Popping the painkillers and eating a few bites of the toast, I notice Jeremy making his way back over to the kitchen table. When he sits down in front of me, I sigh, as I know I have to ask, “Okay, tell me. How bad was I last night?”

Letting out a full-belly laugh, he responds, “Well, let’s see. First, you consumed what I can only assume was a total of four martinis. You were talking to Sue about pole dancing when Court called me for help. Once I arrived, the minute you stood up, you passed out and then threw up in the parking lot before I drove your car home. Once I got you here, you proceeded to try to seduce me and kiss me before I told you I wasn’t going to allow myself to be the guy who took advantage of you in that state when I knew you wouldn’t remember any of it. I slept on the sofa, and then, well, you basically saw the goods this morning, and now here we are. That about sums it all up.”

Shit, I really made quite the impression with everyone last night.

“Can you please give me Courtney’s number? I need to seriously apologize not only to her, but also Sue. I can’t believe I let myself act that way. I was so nervous, and I don’t know what I was thinking. Then, trying to come on to you, I’m so sorry. This is such a disaster.” I flush in embarrassment and drop my face into my hands. I mumble into my hands, “If you drove me home, where is your truck?” All I need is for my mother to see someone else’s vehicle in the driveway, and she’ll be over here knocking down my door.

“My friend Dave came with me to Eavesdrop last night, because as it turned out, Sue also needed a ride home. Courtney took Suzanne’s car back to her house, and Dave took my truck and Suzanne back to my place. He’s been kind of staying there a couple of days for some reason or another. I don’t even want to think of what he and Sue got up to after I left with you. Dave may be my best friend, but he’s definitely more of a one-night stand kind of guy,” he says as he stands to put his coffee cup into the dishwasher. I look up at him, thinking at least I’m not the only one out of control, but I feel I owe him more than just a thank you.

“I can’t really thank you enough for what you did for me. I’m just glad Courtney made the call because I don’t know how I would have made it home. I hate that I was even in that state to begin with. I hardly drink, so having more than two drinks was not a good idea. I must owe someone some money since I can’t remember paying the bill.”

He stares back at me as he leans against my counter. “The bill has been taken care of. Don’t worry about it.” Glancing down at his watch, he checks the time. “I’ve got to actually call Dave soon to see if he can come pick me up. I’ve got a meeting with the Monarchs this afternoon.”

I check the time on my phone on the table in front of me, seeing it’s already ten, and remembering I’ve got ballet and strength training later. “Shit! I’ve got to get ready, too. Thank goodness I’m not skating this afternoon. I’d probably be sick all over the ice.”

It’s clear that Emily has never been hungover before. I’m glad that I stayed the night with her. Somehow I don’t think she would have been able to handle waking up alone and feeling the way she does without thinking a million other thoughts. I just really didn’t think she’d see my naked body and then throw up afterwards. No, I wasn’t expecting that. I have feelings too, and it wasn’t even cold after I got out of the shower. I’m not huge, but I can still hit the right spot when it counts. I can’t say that the minute Emily walked in and saw me I didn’t think about pushing her up against the bathroom wall, unclasping her bra, freeing those lace bound breasts of hers, and forcing myself to have her right then and there. Oh, I did, but the vomiting put a wrench in that thought.

She feels a lot better since she has showered, so I check in with Dave, but whenever she walks by me in the kitchen and the smell of vanilla hits me, it is me that is feeling light-headed. The fifth time I ring Dave with no answer, I go to find Emily, who is down in the garage loading up her car with her bag for this afternoon.

I find her just as she is closing her trunk, and she looks up at me, as she must have heard me coming down the stairs. She looks stunning in her dance clothes with her hair pulled back into a ponytail. “Did you get a hold of Dave?” she asks.

“No, I’m not sure why he’s not answering his phone, but I really do need to get back to my place to get to work,” I say with a slight hesitation in my voice. “You think you might be able to drop me off on your way out? I’m still in Tewksbury, so it won’t be too far.” I’m afraid of what she’ll think once I show her where I live, but she might understand, considering the kind of apartment she lives in.

“Yeah, sure, it’s the least I can do since you helped me this morning and last night. Let me just head back upstairs and grab the rest of my stuff, and we’ll leave,” she says as she runs up the flight of stairs. Shortly after that, I hear the sounds of a locking door upstairs and garage doors opening behind me. Once she comes into view, she gives me a look and then tosses her keys at me. Sweet, a girl that has no problem letting me drive. I give her a glance as if asking if she is sure. She shrugs her shoulders and says, “It’s just easier for you to drive the car to your house instead of giving me turn-by-turn directions.” She does have a point, but at least this way I can have the next few minutes in the car trying to get this girl to go out with me for dinner this weekend.

Both of us get into the Audi, and I start up the engine, proceeding to pull out of the garage and down around the driveway. It’s not as though I’m complaining or even want to ask, but I feel as though I ought to. “How is it I never had the pleasure of running into your parents at all while I was here last night?” I look over and see Emily scrolling through her phone before she glances up at me to respond.

“Daddy mostly stays in Boston these days or is out of town, and then Mother, well, she’s got the entire house to herself, and outside of polishing off multiple cocktails before noon, her only other chore in a day is to make a few phone calls for my
benefit
and let me know when and where I need to be. I hope you didn’t expect me to sugar coat any of that.” She chuckles while turning on the radio. “I try to avoid them at all costs these days. Once I finished college, I moved into the garage because I couldn’t take a lot of the madness in the house.”

“Not to sound mean or anything, but what’s keeping you holed up still at your parents’ house?” I ask, even though I really have no right. She stares out the window, scanning the passing houses and pushing a stray piece of hair behind her ear. God, she’s gorgeous. She really has no idea how much natural beauty she possesses.

She sighs and turns to me. “Some things are still beyond my control. Everyday I try to be a little stronger than the last in the hope that one day my life won’t involve training, competitions, and my parents hounding me about success and making the family look good. I’ve only ever been a marketing tool for Daddy’s company, and well, you know how my mother is. I just want to wake up and have it all gone, but then I think to myself, what the hell do I do afterwards? I’m afraid when it’s all over and I’m finally able to walk away, I’ll have nowhere or no one to walk toward.” She turns her head and begins sniffling and wiping her eyes with the backs of her hands.

I am really at a loss for words, because in some ways, I can say the same for me. Granted, I still coach the kids during the summer, but what happens to me when that contract doesn’t come, or I get traded? I’ve been lucky so far, but the AHL is a business, and they can drop you whenever they feel like it. An injury can put you out for life, and then what? How do you move on when the only thing you know, you can no longer do?

Gazing over at Emily, I grab her hand in mine and begin rubbing her knuckles. Her soft eyes meet mine, and she smiles slightly, but it becomes genuinely larger when I bring her hand up to my mouth and kiss it. Pulling the car over to the side of the street and turning it off, I move to face her and reach out to rub the side of her face. “If and when you’re able to walk away, you can always walk toward me. Got it?”

Tears form in her eyes again, and she nods back at me. “Is this where you live?” she asks, facing the house we’re parked in front of.

Looking at the old cape-styled home with red shutters on the front windows and then over to where my truck is parked in the driveway in front of the huge garage, I begin laughing. “Funny thing. You’re not the only one who still lives with their parents,” I say, thinking she’s probably wondering how much of a mamma’s boy I really am.

In all reality, after college when the AHL finally picked me up off an amateur tryout agreement and then signed me to a one-year contract, I didn’t know if it would last. Renting or buying wasn’t really a feasible option for me, so with the money I earned from some of my first contract, I renovated the entire top level of the garage into a two-bedroom apartment. It also helps when I go on the road with the Monarchs to know that my parents will take care of Aspen for me. Road trips aren’t long, but it’s long enough that he needs taking care of. Either way I love coming home to this place. It’s always been filled with loving people and great memories.

Emily turns back at me and laughs. “Oh my gosh! I think you and I might have more in common than we think! Do you have time to show me your place? I mean, you don’t have to, but I see Sue’s car is still parked up there, and I need to apologize for last night anyway. I mean, that is still the same car she had years ago, right?”

Wait. Why is Sue’s car still parked in the driveway?
Maybe Dave didn’t take her home, or Courtney came here after leaving Eavesdrop. Dave did say she was asleep on my sofa last night, and he didn’t answer his phone at all this morning. Something isn’t adding up. Now, I need to find out what the hell happened last night. Grabbing the keys and going to open the door, I nod to Emily to come along. This may be a bad idea. All I need to add to this morning is my mom to come out the front door before I make it safely into my place.

Emily keeps up with my pace, and once we get to the stairs, I urge her up in front of me as I place my hand on the small of her back. I unlock the door and open it, letting Emily walk in first. Immediately upon entering, she turns around, pulling her hands up to her face, muttering something along the lines of, “Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Please tell me I am not seeing what I think that is.”

Pulling her into my chest and rubbing her back, I scan my living room, and my eyes fall upon what can only be described as a conjoined pile of naked flesh surrounded by most likely my entire liquor cabinet. Leaving Emily facing away from the sight, I walk over to lay my hands on the back of my sofa, looking at the two sleepyheads that are starting to stir on the floor. Oh, hell no! This is going to be fun. With all my might, I suck in my breath and scream, “Cock-a-Doodle-Doo!”

Dave shoots straight up, while his partner in crime comes into view and raises her arm to block the bright light. He rubs his hands over his head and then stares up at me, clearly hungover. “Fuck, dude, what are you yelling for?” He still hasn’t processed the fact that his dick is hanging out or that Emily is in the room, so I help him out a bit.

“Well, let’s see. It could be because I tried calling five times earlier, and you didn’t answer, probably because you drank my entire stash of Patron. It could be because Emily just walked in to see your twig and berries hanging out on my living room floor, or it could be because I told you to take Suzanne home, not back to my place and screw her on my floor.” At my last statement, his eyes go wide, and he looks down next to him to see Sue’s eyes bugging out of her head just as wide as his. Well, I guess neither of these two expected to be hooking up with each other last night. Sue shoots up off the floor, grabs a blanket from the couch, and runs down the hall to the bathroom. I turn to Emily. “Emily, can you maybe just go try to talk to her? She might feel better having it come from you.” She nods my way and makes her way down the hall toward the bathroom.