Las Vegas Sidewinders: Dominic (19 page)

“He knows that and he’s
already forgiven you,” Suze said. “All you have to do now is tell Tatiana how
you feel and ask her to be with you.”

“You should have gone to
Russia, not come here,” Cody said. “You need to talk to her.”

“I need to fix things with
my brother,” Sergei said. “Tatiana and I left for Boston without really talking
things out with him, and I have to fix something.”

“Toli and Drake are down at
some radio station doing press this afternoon,” Cody said. “You’ll probably
have to wait until after the game to talk to him, but you can come out to the
arena with me, if you want.”

“Yeah, maybe I’ll do that.
But I’ll stay out of the way until after the game—I don’t want to get in his
head before the game.”

“Why don’t you go up to the
guest room and take a nap?” Suze suggested. “You look tired. Cody can get your
bag out of the car and I’ll make sure you have something pressed and ready
before the game tonight.”

Sergei smiled at her
gratefully. “Thanks, Suze.”

“Go on upstairs. We’ll wake
you up in enough time to get a shower before we head out.”

“Thanks.” He nodded at both
of them and then trudged up the stairs.

Cody took Suze’s arm as soon
as they heard the guest room door close. “We’re not finished with our
conversation.”

“No.” She shook her head.
“But this isn’t the time—Sergei’s upstairs, you have your first public
appearance as a Sidewinder tonight and CJ is going to be home soon---he’s
bursting at the seams with excitement.”

“Suze.” He took her by the
shoulders and turned her to face him. “I need you to tell me what you want from
me. Just tell me that much. I can’t go into the game tonight if things aren’t
okay with us.”

She smiled wanly, looking up
at him. “I need to know if there’s a chance of us ever being a real couple? I
want to have more babies and I want—” She started when he bent his head and
kissed her, his mouth devouring hers in a way he’d never done before. His hands
dug into her hair and he pulled her so close she could barely breathe before he
abruptly released her.

“Does that feel like someone
who wants to be a real couple?” His eyes were blazing with intensity.

“Yes.” She blinked up at
him.

“Does it feel like a guy who
would want to have more babies with you?”

“Yeah.”

“Then there’s your answer.”

“Um, okay. You think you
could do that some more?”

He laughed. “I’ve been
waiting seven years to hear you say that.” He scooped her up in his arms and
carried her up the stairs.

Suze picked up Molly at six.
They were both wearing jeans and Sidewinders jerseys with Cody and Dom’s names
and numbers respectively. It would be Molly’s first live hockey game, not to
mention her first hockey game as part of the so-called wives and girlfriends
club. She was nervous about hanging out with some of these women, but Dom and
Suze had both promised her it would be okay. He didn’t give a damn what anyone
thought about their age difference, and Suze was a seasoned NHL wife who could
give as well as she got; she would have Molly’s back.

Pulling into the gate where
guests of the players parked, Molly looked around the large arena with
interest. Though she’d dropped Dom off and picked him up a few times this week,
this was a new arena that had only recently been built for the team, so it
wasn’t a place she knew much about. The building was large and imposing, and
she felt a moment of pride that Dom was a part of this historical team and
whatever they were about to accomplish.  She’d never felt anything like
this before and she had to admit she was starting to get into the whole idea of
being the significant other of a hockey player.

“What are you thinking?”
Suze asked her as they parked and she pushed the button that lifted the hood of
her convertible.

“That this is so cool!”
Molly almost felt like a teenager again.

“It is,” Suze nodded. “I’ve
just been doing this so long—since my freshman year of college—I’m not as
easily impressed. Although this new expansion team is a pretty big deal.”

“I’ve watched a ton of
YouTube this week while Dom was at camp, so I feel like I have a much better
perspective of the game,” Molly said, getting out of the car and following Suze
to the gate. “But you’re going to have to help me not say anything stupid and
give me a clue when I’m supposed to cheer, because I still don’t completely
understand everything going on.”

“No worries,” Suze nodded.
“I know this game inside and out—it’ll be fun watching with someone who isn’t
jaded!”

“I really appreciate you
passing CJ off on Andra so you could have my back tonight!”

“He’ll be around,” she
laughed. “But he’ll be up in the owner’s box, so it’s actually a little safer.
Andra is so excited to have him in her life, she practically bounced up and
down when I asked her if she wanted to take him to his first Sidewinders game.”

Molly laughed too. “I can’t
wait to squish his little face when I see him,” she said. “I’m sure he’s
excited.”

“He makes you look tame. He
talked from the minute I picked him up from school until I dropped him off at
Andra’s. He was sad he didn’t get to see his Dad, but I think Andra’s taking
him into the locker room before they play so he can give Cody his usual
pre-game hug. It’s a thing they’ve done for as long as he’s been going to
games.”

“That’s awesome.”

Suze smiled at the
attendants as they walked through the underground area of the arena and into
the VIP elevator. Molly looked around, taking everything in even as they
talked.

“So this elevator takes us
where?”

“Up to the level where our
section is. We also have access to the owner’s box, but not all the players’
wives do—we do because Cody is going to be the Captain, plus my kid is up there
with Andra.”

“So when will they announce
the alternate captains? Do you know?”

“Cody thinks at the first
regular season game. In the interim, there are four of them wearing A’s. Coach
already told Cody he was going to name him Captain, but they won’t make it
official until opening night.”

“Do you think Dom will get
to wear an A?”

“I think so,” Suze nodded,
stepping out of the elevator and looking around. This was obviously her first
time here too, but she’d been to so many of Cody’s games, at so many different
arenas, and they were all set up similarly.

“Okay, so who do think I
have to watch out for?” Molly asked her. “You must know at least a few of these
women.”

“Actually, not really. We
don’t have anyone from Toronto here and I never really made friends with too
many wives. I know a lot of them by sight or reputation, but I’m not really
friends with them. Sergei will be sitting with us, though, so that should up
the fun factor.”

Molly frowned. “He’s back?
Does Toli know?”

“Toli knows because he got
him the seat, but Sergei purposely didn’t talk to him because he didn’t want
them to argue before his first game.”

“Is Tatiana here?”

“No.” Suze shook her head
and told her what Sergei had told them.

“So she just left and went
back to Russia?” Molly scowled. “I really dislike her!”

“I think she’s just as
confused as Sergei, and probably a little scared too since she’s pregnant by a
guy who hasn’t exactly given her the warm fuzzies about the baby. She might be
financially able to care for a kid, but that doesn’t mean she wants to do it
alone.”

“The thought of getting
pregnant again kind of scares me,” Molly admitted as they walked. “The longest
I’ve ever carried a baby was 15 weeks. That was my second pregnancy, which was
a really long time ago, and since then it’s never been more than 10 weeks. Now
that Dom and I are trying, I’m as scared as I am excited.”

“Well, this time no one is
going to hurt you, and you’re going to have the best care possible.”

“We’re going to L.A. to talk
to a doctor about harvesting my eggs in a couple of days. Dom already told Brad
that he would need a day off and although he grumbled, Brad understands that I
can’t wait until next summer at my age.”

“If you can’t carry a baby,
I’ll carry one for you,” Suze said with a grin. “I just need to have one of
Cody’s first.”

“You will?” Molly asked.

“Sure. Why not? I didn’t
mind being pregnant, and although I had about four weeks of morning sickness,
my pregnancy was pretty easy.”

“What about giving birth?”

Suze shrugged. “Ah, what’s a
few hours of pain for a beautiful baby at the end?”

“You’re a good friend!”
Molly felt tears threatening as she hugged her.

Suze hugged her back. “Come
on, let’s go meet these bitches and see what’s what!”

Molly laughed. They stepped
out into the aisle next to their seats and Molly’s eyes widened at the fabulous
view of the ice. It was huge, bigger than she expected for some reason, and
there were already tons of people in the arena, talking and cheering. Lights
flashed from the ceiling and the scoreboard, showing pictures of the team and
support staff. Music was blaring from the speakers and there was an electricity
in the air that she’d never felt before. Thinking back, she’d never been to a
professional sporting event. They didn’t have any major league teams here in
Las Vegas and of course she’d never travelled, so this was the most exciting
thing she’d ever seen.

“Wow,” she breathed, looking
at Suze. “This is awesome.”

“Yeah, it’s pretty
impressive.” Suze looked around too. “Hey, there’s Tiff!” She called out her
name and Tiff waved them over.

“Hey, you guys!” Tiff got up
and hugged them both. “I’m so glad you’re here! It’s going to be so much fun
tonight!”

“This is my first-ever
hockey game,” Molly told her. “I have no idea what to expect.”

“Well, it’s just an
exhibition between everyone who was invited to camp, but since this is an
expansion team and it’s supposed to be a full house, I think it’ll be a lot of
fun.”

“I’m psyched.” Molly looked
around again, taking everything in.

“You guys, this is Jeannie,”
Tiff motioned to the woman sitting next to her. “She’s engaged to Matt Forbes,
who’s going to be on the team with us.”

“Hi!” Suze gave the woman a
friendly smile, always willing to give someone a chance, although she usually
remained aloof. You just never knew what you were going to get when you met the
other wives, and you had to be careful who you got too close to. She’d learned
that the hard way her first year in Toronto. “I’m Suzanne—Suze to my friends!”

“Hi!” The woman looked to be
in her late twenties, with curly brown hair that fell to her shoulders and light
blue eyes. She was pretty, but didn’t appear to be overly concerned with her
looks, as she wore jeans and her fiancé’s jersey, minimal makeup and no jewelry
other than her engagement ring.

“I’m Molly,” Molly took her
cue from Suze and smiled too.

The women all sat down again
and began chatting about the game. Tiff seemed to know everyone and everything
going on around them, and she would either call out greetings or whisper
something to their group. One of the women, Rachel Kennedy, was a fairly well-known
actress now dating a player named Jamie Teller. They’d been all over the
tabloids after a video of them having sex made its way around the Internet.
Supposedly, Brad had warned Jamie that if there was so much as another hint of
that kind of scandal, he wouldn’t be in Las Vegas next season. However, while
he was a center who didn’t score a lot of points, he had amazing record winning
face-offs, and that was something the team needed.

They watched Rachel move to
her seat and sit down stiffly. She was obviously not comfortable in this
atmosphere and seemed anxious to stay off everyone’s radar. She was incredibly
beautiful, Molly thought. Petite and probably a size zero, her auburn hair was
swept back away from her face and parted on the side, showing off her big
violet eyes. She had flawless skin, refined features and wore her makeup
effectively. She was dressed down, though, in jeans like the rest of them,
although she wasn’t wearing Jamie’s jersey. Instead, she wore a generic
Sidewinders t-shirt.

“Should we invite her to sit
with us?” Tiff whispered to Suze, who shrugged.

“Why?” she whispered back.

“Why not? Her fame doesn’t
scare me!” Tiff got up and approached the other woman. “Hi!” She sank into the
seat next to her. “I’m Tiffany Marcus, Coach Marcus’s wife.” She held out her
hand.

Rachel turned to her slowly,
making no attempt to conceal the way she looked her up and down. Apparently she
passed muster, because after a moment, she shook her hand and nodded. “I’m
Rachel.”

“Would you like to sit with
us? We’re all new to the team and Las Vegas, so I’m trying to make sure
everyone gets to know each other.”

Rachel glanced back at the
others and then back at Tiffany. “I’m trying really hard not to call any
attention to myself. Jamie is already in deep shit over that sex tape, and my
job is to support him without making a nuisance of myself.”