Melting The Ice (24 page)

Chapter Thirty-Nine

“You will never defeat me,
mon ami
.” Max grinned broadly at Cian as he dribbled the basketball with his left hand.  They had taken advantage of the gym facilities in the Barracks since it was almost impossible for them to come and go without an armed escort.   The press was still camped at the gates, but Cian had hired extra security so that was as close as they were getting.  Max feinted to his left before changing direction and crossing over to his right.  “I am like the great Michael Jordan…” Cian had been playing one-on-one with Max too long not to know his tricks.  He easily defended his position and stole the ball from Max, heading down the court to dunk at the other end while Max swore the air blue behind him.

“You’re full of shit, Max.”  Max was one hell of a hockey player but he pretty much sucked at basketball.  Cian laughed as he jogged to the side of the court where he had left his towel and phone.  The screen of the phone lit up indicating he had a text message from Macy.  He hit the button to check the message while he ran the towel over his face and hair and let out a loud whoop, interrupting Max’s running commentary on his non-existent basketball skills.

“What is it?” Max inquired, taking a long drink of his Gatorade.  Max had been Cian’s best friend for a lot of years but his tireless support of him throughout this whole ordeal had really shown him the kind of friend he had.

“Macy got Ava to agree to talk to me this evening at seven.” Cian’s wide grin exhibited his happiness at this turn of events.  Max slapped him on the back with a loud laugh.

“Do you know what you will say?” Max inquired as he slid down the wall to set with his knees drawn up, towel drying the sweat off his face.

“Not exactly.” Cian seemed uncertain for a moment before shrugging it off. “I’m gonna do my damndest to make her see when I told her I loved her, I meant that shit.”  Max looked impressed.

“How does one go about that?” Max asked with avid interest.  Cian let out a snort of laughter and looked embarrassed.

“I’m not sure but my guess would be lots of begging being involved.” Max burst into laughter at Cian’s words.  They adjourned to the weight room for some serious lifting and relaxed in the sauna before heading to the showers to prepare for their evening.  Max had made plans with Macy to get some dinner and hit a few clubs while Cian talked to Ava.  They took off around six leaving Cian with an hour to kill alone.  He fixed himself a glass of Johnny Walker Black Label and sipped on it while he flipped channels in the media room before settling on a Red Sox game.  His eyes were on the screen but he wasn’t actually seeing anything.  He was a nervous wreck waiting to talk to Ava.  He had never been in love and the thought he might not be able to make it right with her scared the hell out of him.  He didn’t even want to contemplate not having her in his life.  He had to fix this.  Finally, it was time to leave.  He had dressed in jeans and a pale blue button-down shirt that he knew Ava liked on him.  It had always seemed to turn her on to unbutton his shirt and he wanted to be prepared in case she became so moved.  He stood at her front door, running his hand through his hair nervously as he rapped his knuckles against the wood.  The door opened and she stood in the doorway looking more beautiful than ever in snug jeans and a lavender halter top.  It was obvious she had taken extra care with her appearance which he took as a sign of hope.  If she wanted to look good for him, she couldn’t be completely set against him.

“Hey.” He said softly, his smile looking uncertain.  She smiled back at him warily and opened the door wider to let him in.

“Hey.” She responded.  He walked past her and stood in the foyer looking around while she shut the door.  She hadn’t changed anything, he thought to himself appalled at his own ignorant thoughts.  He’d only been gone for forty-eight hours but it felt like he had been gone for months.  She led the way through the house to the main living area she rarely used and offered him a drink as he settled on the edge of the massive leather sofa.  When he requested the scotch he had been drinking earlier, she raised an eyebrow in surprise since he rarely drank anything stronger than beer.  She placed ice in a highball and reached for a bottle of rare Johnny Walker Blue Label and poured it over the ice before handing him his drink.  She sat on the sofa across from him with a glass of wine in her hand, looking nervous.  The silence continued for long moments before he took a long drink of his scotch and cleared his throat noisily.

“I play hockey for the Boston Blaze.” He stated unnecessarily since Ava knew that and had spent over an hour on her laptop today reading through some of the thousands of entries on the Internet but she remained quiet and let him talk. “I get invited to a lot of events and I met Lani Mason at one of those.  She was in Boston for some reason and attended a game and asked Tate Ross, my team’s owner to introduce us later that evening.  She’s a beautiful woman and all the guys wanted to meet her after drooling over her pictures in Sports Illustrated and Victoria’s Secret ads but she only wanted to meet me.  Needless to say, it was a real boost to my ego to be seen with the biggest supermodel in the world and for people to refer to her as my girlfriend.”  He continued the story as if he were an uninvolved third party, telling her about discovering Lani’s drug use, how he had dumped her and the lies she had told to gain an invite to Miami.  Ava never said a word but listened intently, her facial expressions showing her interest in his words.  When he told her about being arrested and the raft of shit that followed, she actually appeared to feel sorry for him.  He told her about the media stalking him no matter where he went and how she came into the story.  “My parents were going crazy with the press everywhere; I was ashamed to even face them and needed to get away badly.  Jay called and said his mom was going to Cancun for a few weeks and I could stay at his home without anyone the wiser.  I could work out and get in shape for the season without reporters harassing me every moment plus who would look for me in West Virginia?  Lani had started making the rounds of the talk shows and was portraying herself as the innocent while I ended up looking like some drugged out, dumbass hockey player that thought he was above the law.”  He took a deep breath and let it out, staring into Ava’s blue eyes. “So I took Jay up on his offer and ran like a chickenshit.  Jay and I discussed it and decided it would be best to not tell you the entire truth because of your aversion to the media.”  He looked down at the glass of scotch in his hand before looking back up at her. “You know the rest of the story.  We kept things from you that ended up hurting you and that was never the intent.”  He set his glass down and moved to set beside her on the sofa.  Her eyes widened in alarm but she didn’t try to move away when he picked up her hand and looked deeply into her eyes. “Ava, if you believe anything, believe me when I tell you I love you.  I never lied to you about that.  Please believe me.”  His deep brown eyes gazed pleadingly into hers.  She seemed to be studying him before she gave him a wry smile.

“I believe you love me, Cian.” She said softly, her hand squeezing his back. “And I love you…”  He cut off her words with his mouth capturing hers in a hard kiss, his arms dragging her onto his lap, hands wandering over her body trying to relearn all he had forgotten in the last two days.  She was shocked into inaction at first but quickly got into the spirit of things and returned his hot, wet kisses.  His mouth moved across her cheek to her ear and down the column of her neck, murmuring love words all the way.  It took him a moment to realize Ava had stopped responding and was pushing against his chest.  He immediately released her, not wanting her to move from his lap but unwilling to keep her there against her will.  She quickly scooted off his lap and put some space between them on the sofa, breathing hard as she regarded him warily.

“Was there a
but
to that statement?” He asked, leaning his head back against the sofa, his own breathing erratic while he tried to bring his body under control.  She sighed and nodded her head.

“I love you
but
I don’t trust you.” She said softly, her eyes looking big and sad.

“I would never cheat on you, Ava.” He stated his voice and expression irritated. 

“How am I supposed to know that?” She asked derisively, her eyes questioning.

“Because I’m telling you, that’s how!” He bellowed angrily, moving to the edge of the sofa again. “I’m not a liar.”

“Really?” she asked skeptically.

“Yeah really!” he growled. “I never lied to you about anything important.”

She regarded him as if he were stupid. “You don’t call lying to me about who you really are
important
?” her words were laced with disbelief.

“I didn’t lie to you about who I really am!” He gritted out, his eyes flashing with his anger.

“Then what would
you
call it?” the sarcastic tone of her voice had him coming to his feet and striding towards her.  He reached out and gently gripped her chin despite his anger and turned her face up to his.  When he saw the tears in her eyes, his expression changed to one of sorrow.  He leaned down and kissed her mouth softly.

“Baby…if I had it to do over again…I would do it all differently.” His voice whispered across her lips. “I love you.  I never meant to hurt you…you’ve gotta believe me…Please, Ava.”  She moved away from him and crossed to the bar to refill her wineglass.  She stood staring out the wall of windows for long moments.

“I Googled you today.” She stated matter-of-factly without turning around. “You’ve won an Olympic gold medal and a Stanley Cup, dated lots of models and actresses…”

“I wouldn’t say lots.” He muttered under his breath.  She turned quickly and glared at him, her hand making a slashing movement through the air.

“One or a hundred doesn’t make a damn bit of difference.” She snarled at him.  “How the hell am I supposed to compete with that?”

“It’s not a damn competition!” He roared, incensed at her words. “Damn it, I love you!  Not any models or actresses or anyone else! You!”

“You have groupies, for God’s sake!” She yelled back at him.  “You are one of the top hockey players
in the world
…these women just throw themselves at you…”

“I haven’t messed with groupies since my third year in the NHL so don’t try to use that as an excuse not to trust me.” He was becoming more and more frustrated with her questions.

“And where do you see this relationship going, Cian?” She crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow as if she had just had the last word.  He looked momentarily dumbfounded before shrugging.

“We could date…live together…get married or any combination of the three that appeals to you.” He stated without blinking an eye. Her jaw dropped in shock causing him to laugh wryly at the look on her face. “What were you expecting me to say?”

“Not
that
.” She murmured, taking another drink of her wine. She regarded him thoughtfully.  “Doesn’t the hockey season start soon?”

“I have to report to training camp in a month.” He responded, wondering where this line of questioning was headed.

“And how long does the season last?”

He shrugged. “Depends on if he we make the playoffs.  We could be playing until June.”

“Hockey season is ten months long?”  She asked incredulously. 

“Actually it’s more like nine because we’re only playing half of September and June.” He responded, settling back on the sofa to watch her agitated movements.  His answers to her questions seemed to be upsetting her more than anything else.

“And how much of that time are you on the road?” She questioned quietly.  Cian sighed heavily, having a strong feeling he wasn’t going to like where this was leading.

“About half.  Road trips generally last anywhere from a few days to a couple of weeks depending on the schedule.”

“Are there groupies in every city?” She asked as she turned to look out the window again.  He ran his hand through his hair, trying to keep his cool so he could answer her questions calmly, though what he really wanted to do was grab her and shake some sense into her.  Why couldn’t she believe him when he said she was all the woman he needed or wanted?