The Publicity Stunt

22. Chapter Twenty-One

Sitting at the dining room table at his father”s house, Kace stares at the bottle of bourbon in front of him. He hasn”t had a drink since college. With his extreme workout and diet, he refuses to waste any calories on the mind-altering substance. That”s what he tells everyone anyway. The truth is, after he got so wasted he hooked up with a random girl his freshman year of college, he cut all alcohol cold turkey. The reality hit him that there could have been STDs or a pregnancy. He could have lost his entire future because of a drunken mistake.

No good decision has ever been made while intoxicated with anyone he”s ever known. But with him being benched until the New Year because of the bad press makes him question whether it”s necessary to keep his conviction to staying sober.

”What would it hurt? It”s not like I”m playing anyway,” Kace says.

”Where”s everyone at?” Victor asks and walks in to sit down next to him, both still in their red, plaid flannels.

Kace points over his shoulder towards the window. ”The kids wanted to play outside. They almost destroyed their presents because of the unleashed energy. It”s probably safest for all of us for them to get some of it out of their systems.”

The doorbell rings, and his heart races. Did Bri finally read his messages and decide to talk to him? Did she show up to have the conversation in person like he”s begged her in the various texts and voicemails? He rushes to the door, but he deflates the moment he sees a delivery man holding a red Santa sack of gifts.

”I have a package for Kace Lyons.”

”I didn”t think anyone delivered on Christmas morning,” Kace says and signs for it.

”There was a substantial payment made to make sure it was delivered today. Thank you.”

The man walks away, and Kace carries the giant sack of gifts into the house. Setting it down, he opens it to find an envelope and reads the note.

”Who are those from?” Victor calls.

Hanging his head, he sighs. ”Bri.”

”What?”

”She sent a note saying they were bought before this shitstorm took place. She says Happy Holidays and hopes you like the gifts.”

His father joins him and raises his eyebrows. ”She must”ve bought for the whole family.”

Based on her note, there”s nothing for him. Not that he expected anything. They start grabbing presents, pulling them out one by one, and they quickly realize everyone has two gifts from her. Including Kace.

”She could”ve returned these instead of having them delivered. That”s a good sign, right?” Victor asks.

Kace”s stomach drops as he shakes his head. ”That”s not her style. Besides, I bet some of them are engraved or signed or something. Things that would make it difficult to return. Do we call everyone inside to open the second round of presents?”

”Do you want to open yours first before they all barrel inside?”

”That might not be a bad idea. If it”s a glitter bomb, it”s best if no one else gets hit as collateral damage.”

He reaches for the larger of the two, a twelve by eighteen box, and he gasps as he opens it.

”What is it?” Victor asks.

No wonder she couldn”t return them. Tears fill his eyes, as much as he hates to cry, and stares at a painting of the picture taken of Kace with his father from the game Bri flew Victor out to see. Next to them stands an older version of his mother. ”Something I never thought I”d have again.”

He walks up behind Kace and gasps. ”How”d she do that?”

”She got a picture of Mom from my place.”

Victor quickly opens one of his gifts to find a similar image but without Kace. Just Victor and his deceased wife. ”Oh my God, this is the most beautiful present.”

Letting out a breath, he puts the smaller box in his pocket. ”I”ll open the other one later. In private.”

The doorbell rings again, and Victor shakes his head. ”How many deliveries can we get on Christmas?”

Kace chuckles and opens the front door, slamming it quickly, seeing who stands on the porch. ”Do me a favor, Dad, and take the presents outside to have the kids open them.”

”Who is it?”

The doorbell rings again, and Brett shouts through the door. ”Come on, Kace, let us in!”

”Just remember, if you get blood on the carpet, you”re cleaning it up,” Victor says and stands to carry the presents in the sack outside.

Opening the door, Kace leans against the doorframe, blocking them from stepping inside. ”Did you come to ruin Christmas even more for me? Haven”t you done enough?”

”We were in town, and it didn”t feel right not seeing you,” Brett says. ”Can we come inside? I feel like a salesman.”

”No.”

Rudy hangs his head. ”Kace, man, please?”

”It”s Christmas,” Victor says from behind Kace, surprising him. ”Plus, it”s my house.”

The phrase used since Kace was a kid annoys him. One day, he”s going to buy the house just so his father can”t say it anymore. Well, he likes to imagine he will.

”Fine,” he growls and steps back.

”Merry Christmas, Mr. Lyons,” Rudy says and steps inside.

”Merry Christmas, cheater.”

Kace whips his head to his father with wide eyes, and Rudy looks equally shocked. Even though his father made a comment after their game in Canada, this comes out of left field, even for him.

”Maybe this was a mistake,” Rudy says.

”I think a lot of what you”ve done lately has been one giant mistake. How do you look at yourself in the mirror?”

”He screwed up, and no one argues that,” Brett says. ”But-”

”No!” Victor shouts. ”No, you don”t get to end that statement with a ”but.” Especially you. Regardless of what goes on between these two, you were supposed to be Kace”s friend. And you knew Bri, too, from what he says. So, you know what? Rudy may have pulled the trigger, but you loaded the damn gun. Who the hell raised you, because you should know better than anyone that anything that happens between men should never take down a woman. Never!”

Kace leans back against the wall and watches the scene play out. Only a handful of instances where his father has gotten this angry comes to mind, and every single one of them has been aimed at Kace.

”This is my fault, not Brett”s,” Rudy says. ”Please don”t be angry with him.”

”You and Kace weren”t friends because you”re an immature jerk. But Brett and Kace were still buddies. If anything, he should have done everything in his power to keep his mouth shut because it”s clear you, Rudy, cannot be trusted. With anything.”

Pushing off the wall, Kace looks directly into Brett”s eyes. ”You destroyed someone who never deserved that. You proved to her that people are just out to hurt her, except it”s not you two she sees hurting her. You took me down with you, and I will forever regret telling you anything, Brett. In fact, I regret ever deciding to build a friendship with you two. If I hadn”t, Bri wouldn”t be hurting and humiliated right now.”

Brett looks at Rudy and back to Kace. ”If you hadn”t befriended us, we might not be in the NHL living out our dreams.”

”What dreams?” Kace shouts. ”In case you”ve both missed it, I”ve been benched because of the shitstorm you caused. You did shitty things, and I”m the one penalized. But that”s how you want it, isn”t it, Rudy? But forget the NHL. I don”t even care about the game anymore. I had something I wanted more than the game, and I lost it. I lost it because I shared a secret with someone I thought was my best friend.”

”I know you”re angry,” Brett says and shakes his head, ”but the NHL has been our dream since middle school, Kace.”

Biting his lip, Kace looks at the ground. ”I do. I mean every word because all I can hear at night when I try to sleep is the cry of pain Bri let out while her security team literally threw my ass out of the stadium after we saw your interview. No matter how much I tried to tell her and everyone else you”re a fucking liar, it didn”t matter. The pain is on me because I trusted someone I shouldn”t have, but I won”t make that mistake ever again. My dream changed the moment I fell in love with Bri, and now I have no dream. You helped take that from me.”

”How do we fix this?” Rudy asks. ”Maybe we can go to the press and tell them our side.”

“Well, Rudy”s side. He can publicly tell them the shitty things he”s done to you this past year, and that he was just trying to get back at you,” Brett says.

”You don”t get it,” Kace says. ”You can”t fix this. There is no fixing it. She won”t talk to me. Her team has been told to keep me away from her. I lost her. I lost everything.”

”Kace-”

”I”m... I”m just done,” he says and walks upstairs to his old room. Punching men out on Christmas seems wrong no matter how badly he wants to do it.

Sitting on his bed, Kace pulls out the second present and quickly unwraps it to see a media player and headphones. He chuckles sadly at how much it feels like she made him an old school mix tape. Hitting play on the only playlist on there, his breath hitches as he hears her voice.

”Merry Christmas, Kace. I wanted to give you the first few songs from my new album because you inspired me to write them. When we aren”t together, and I”m not on stage, I”ve been writing like a mad woman. It”s been a long time since someone has inspired me to write like this, and I”m so thankful. Thankful for the inspiration but also thankful I met you. It”s been a whirlwind the past however many months, but I wouldn”t change a thing. I hope you like what I have so far. Oh, and I love you.”

Lying on his back, he plays her message on repeat, wishing she was right next to him rather than just on the recording he plays. Tears sting at his eyes every time ”I love you” sounds in his ears.

”I love you, Bri. I never got the chance to tell you, but I do.”

He listens to the five songs, all talking about new love and desire she never knew before. She sounds so happy and in love, and it breaks his heart knowing the woman who wrote this isn”t here anymore. She”s been replaced with someone as brokenhearted as he is, and it kills him. This carefree, happy, and in love version of her should be the way she feels every day for the rest of her life.

Victor knocks and walks into his room. ”Are you okay?”

Kace wipes his eyes, pulls out the headphones, and sits up. ”No. The second gift she gave me is the first five songs on her new album. Songs inspired by me when we were solid. The message says she loves me, and I was waiting until this morning to tell her I loved her.”

”Did you get her a gift?”

Reaching over the side of the bed, he pulls out a wrapped jewelry box. ”I brought it with me just in case she wanted to show up and talk. Deep down, I knew she wouldn”t, but I wasn”t ready to give up hope.”

”What is it?”

What can it hurt to unwrap it? He”ll never get close enough to give it to her anyway. He shows his father a platinum chain with a heart-shaped sapphire. ”It cost a pretty penny, but it was worth it. Plus, I sold the ring I bought Sasha last week, so I got some money back.”

”How big is this thing?”

”Six carats. The moment I saw the stone, it reminded me of her eyes. And the heart shape just seemed fitting considering how big her own is. It was the step before buying an engagement ring.”

Victor sighs. ”You really love her.”

”It”s killing me, Dad, that she won”t talk to me. I don”t blame her, but I need her. It doesn”t feel like life without her.”

”I”ve been there. I know how it feels.”

”What do I do with this? Take it back? Keep it and hope she gives me another shot? I”m so fucking lost right now.”

Closing the box, he just stares at it until his father takes it from his hands. ”Let me hold onto it while you figure out what to do. The last thing you want to do is make any rash decisions.”

”Yeah, okay. That makes sense.” But even as he says it, nothing that”s happened makes any sense. None at all.