Chapter 13
CHAPTER 13
Willa
A frenzied excitement vibrates through me as we step into the arena to watch the Titans play. Well, to watch King play would be more accurate, and that’s probably what I’m most thrilled about.
Loud rock music pumps through the speakers and the crowd’s fervent cheers prickle my skin. Brittany, Izzy and I make our way through the concourse, the scent of popcorn, hot dogs, and pretzels wafting through the air.
“Look, Aunt Willa!” Izzy tugs at my hand, her eyes wide with excitement. “I want a pretzel!”
“All right, let’s get some snacks.” We stop at a concession stand and load up—two giant pretzels, a bucket of popcorn, and sodas to start, but then Brittany insists on getting nachos with extra cheese, and I can’t resist the temptation of a hot dog.
With our arms full, we find our seats with an usher kindly guiding us. When the tickets showed up this morning at my office via courier, I was surprised to see they’re front row on the ice. I was practically giddy when I saw they’re beside the penalty box for the Titans and I wonder if King will end up in there tonight. He’s not just a first line defenseman, he’s an enforcer too which means if there’s a fight to be had, there’s a good chance he’ll be involved.
It’s just one of the many details I’ve learned over the handful of dates we’ve had and I’m not sure how I feel about this role. On the one hand, it’s hot as hell that he’s a protector for his teammates and willing to knock heads to achieve his goals. On the other hand, it makes me worry about him as I don’t want to see him hurt.
In fact, we were talking about it last night as we lay in his bed together—after I definitely showed my gratitude for him putting Scott in his place—and we discussed the various zone defenses. Just thinking about last night and the wicked things we did causes me to feel a little flushed under the jersey, which was also delivered with the tickets today. And not just one for me but jerseys for Brittany and Izzy as well. Decked out in the Titans’ purple and gray, we’re all three wearing King’s name on our backs.
We settle into our seats. “This view is incredible,” Brittany says, handing napkins out to me and Izzy who sits between us.
The ice gleams under the bright arena lights and as I’ve got a mouth stuffed with hot dog, I see the Titans coming onto the ice for warm-ups. I hastily swallow and all three of us stand to cheer along with the rest of the crowd. The players skate around one half of the rink in smooth, powerful strides. My eyes cut back and forth but it’s Izzy who sees King first.
“There he is!” she screams and holds up the cardboard sign she made. In bold, colorful letters, it proclaims, “#1 King Fans.” She bounces with excitement, her eyes pinned on him.
My breath catches when King skates by and gives us all a broad smile. Izzy presses her sign to the glass and cheers as he circles around and this time, he notices it. Eyes warming and sparking a short glance my way, he comes to a crisp stop right before us. The fans to our left bang on the glass, beyond excited that one of the players is so close.
“Nice sign,” he calls out to Izzy and we can hear him over the cheers.
My niece’s face lights up with pure joy.
King looks over to where a bucket of pucks has been dumped out for them to use in warm-up drills. He issues a shrill whistle and yells, “Yo… Camden. Send me a puck.”
The player, who I recognize as Camden Poe as I’ve been studying the team roster, snaps a puck across the ice to King. He bends, picks it up and then tosses it over the glass to Izzy who catches it with a squeal of delight. “Thank you, King!” she shouts, her voice barely audible over the din of the crowd.
King shoots her a wink and then turns to me, putting his glove against the glass. I press mine on the other side, just for a moment, but I feel the connection down to my toes. He gives me the same charming wink and affection swells within me. Then he’s off to join the drills.
“Man, that was swoony.” Brittany sighs as we sit back down. “And he didn’t even seem to mind you have mustard on your chin.”
“Oh God!” I exclaim, rubbing with my napkin. Sure enough, bright yellow stains the white tissue and I glare at Brittany. “You could have told me.”
“Yes, I could have,” she says with an evil grin.
As the warm-ups continue, we devour our snacks, cheer on the Titans and jeer when the Ottawa Cougars take the ice. I soak in the atmosphere, wondering what it feels like for King. I’ll ask him tonight as he convinced me to go out with him and the team for a beer after.
“Look at him go,” Brittany says, nodding at King as he deftly maneuvers around other players. “He’s incredible.”
“He really is,” I agree, following his every move.
Izzy is back at the glass, her eyes glued to the action. Brittany leans over her seat and says, “He’s so into you.”
My stomach flips, mostly with a touch of angst, because that speaks to emotions and we’re not supposed to be going there. Admittedly, butterflies also happily zoom around because I really like King.
Izzy glances back at us. “I can’t wait for the game to start.”
“Me neither, sweetie.” I laugh, my eyes looking past her once again to watch King do a two-on-one drill. “It’s going to be spectacular.”
I take a deep breath, savoring the excitement that thrums through my veins. This will be a night to remember, and I can’t wait to see what happens next.
?
The energy is still buzzing through me as we walk into Mario’s, a popular hangout with the post-game hockey crowd who eagerly await the arrival of players coming over for a beer. The crowd is lively and loud after the Titans’ win. Watching the man I’m dating play a crucial part in that win is indescribable. The depth of pride I have in him startles me, another sign that keeping this casual might be a bit harder than I thought.
King holds my hand possessively, his strong grip reassuring as we push through the throng of excited fans just inside the doorway. The smell of fried food and beer hits me immediately, mingling with the sounds of laughter and clinking glasses.
King is a magnet for attention and I don’t know how much of that is because he’s a Titan or because he scored a short-handed goal tonight. It was in the third period and the Titans were a man short due to what I personally felt was a bad call against Rafferty for tripping. King intercepted a pass and took off down the ice with two Cougars hot on his heels. I jumped out of my seat, banging on the glass as he zipped by, and with an incredible juking move, he faked out the goalie and scored. It was one of the most thrilling things I’ve ever witnessed and my hand hurts from high-fiving all the people around me.
The best part was after his teammates finished congratulating him, his gaze swung over to me. He already had a smile in place, but his eyes lingered a moment before he skated to the bench. I felt flushed again, both with an importance that I’ve never felt with anyone and a little desire that he’d single me out.
Fans, eager for autographs and pictures, swarm us as King maneuvers me through the restaurant. I can’t help but feel a bit overwhelmed as women step into his path, some aggressively touching him to get his attention. I don’t push away the flare of jealousy as I recognize it as natural. King handles it all with grace, brushing them off nicely and promising to make himself available later.
“Thanks for coming out, everyone!” he says, his voice friendly but firm. “I’ll be around to sign autographs and take pictures, but for now, I want to celebrate with my mates.”
Surprisingly, the fans are gracious and step back to give him room. King leads me into a roped-off area in the rear of the bar where the team and their significant others are gathered. The area is slightly elevated, granting a bit of privacy from the rest of the patrons. It’s clear this is their regular spot, a comfortable and familiar space where they can unwind after games with a bit of protection from the masses.
As we approach, I see Rafferty, North and Atlas at a high-top table and they wave us over. On the way, King stops by other tables and introduces me to everyone. I know some of the players by face since I’ve become a Titans fan. I recognize the names of their significant others from the stories King has told me.
Stone and his beautiful fiancée Harlow sit with Camden and his girlfriend Danica. At another table are Bain and his girlfriend Kiera, Boone and his fiancée Lilly, and Foster and his girlfriend Mazzy. They’re all chatting and laughing, drinks in hand, clearly celebrating the win. When King introduces me, I’m greeted with warm smiles and general statements that equal “Welcome to the club.”
As King pulls me over toward Rafferty and crew, I lean into him. “I hope there’s not a test on all the names later.”
“Just wait until I take you to a full team event. There’s a lot more of us, you know?”
Take me to a team event? That smacks of something far more than casual, though I’ll admit, it sounds fun. I haven’t had much of that in recent years.
King stops and turns to me. “Actually, there’s a team dinner next Monday. Think you can swing that with me?”
I try to envision my schedule. “I think I’m good that evening work-wise but we have an Ice Pups practice. I’m guessing now will be a good time for Brittany to put her money where her mouth is and help out. She can handle one practice.”
King then surprises me by dipping his head and touching his lips to mine. It’s a public display of affection that catches me off guard but is so genuinely sweet, I lean into it. When he pulls back, several of the players I’d been introduced to stare in shock.
Is that because I’m older than him?
No, certainly not.
“People are staring at us,” I whisper.
King chuckles and kisses the tip of my nose. “They’re so used to me blowing off women that this is probably a bit of a shock to them.”
“King… Willa,” Rafferty calls, and we turn that way. “Come sit with us.”
We gather around a high-top that doesn’t have stools and I meet Atlas for the first time.
“You guys played a great game,” I say as King rubs my lower back.
“Your man played a phenomenal game,” North says pointedly. “Short-handed goal.”
Rafferty claps King on the shoulder. “I’ll never have a shot at making first line with you playing so good.”
King snorts and shakes his head. “You have to work on getting from third to second before you can even think about taking my spot.”
Laughing, Rafferty opens his mouth to retort, but his gaze catches something behind King. His eyes widen and he ducks his head. “Shit.”
“What?” King asks, looking behind him.
“Don’t look,” Rafferty hisses and ducks lower. “It’s Tansy Carmichael.”
“Brienne’s cousin?” North asks, stretching up high and craning his neck.
“You know Brienne’s cousin?” Atlas asks, whipping back to Rafferty whose head has practically disappeared into his shoulders.
“Who’s Tansy Carmichael?” I ask King.
He leans over, puts his mouth near my ear. “Brienne’s cousin who is now the director of marketing for the Titans. Rafferty had a one-night stand with her a few weeks ago and let’s just say she’s actively pursuing a relationship with him and he doesn’t want any part of it.”
“Why not?” I ask, looking in the general direction North is. I see a stunning blond walking toward the VIP area where we’re sitting.
“Because—”
“Well, fuck,” Rafferty mutters, standing up straighter, his gaze pinned on the woman. “She saw me.”
Tansy stops short of approaching our table though because of the rope cordoning off the area. She waves to Rafferty. “I’ll be right back,” he says glumly.
We all watch as Rafferty goes to the woman. She’s animated, all smiles and touches to his forearm. She thumbs toward the door but Rafferty shakes his head. We all watch as they speak for a few moments and then she turns away with a jaunty wave and knowing smile.
When Rafferty returns to the table, King says, “Please tell me you told her you weren’t interested.”
“Interested in what?” North asks.
“Did she ask you out?” Atlas queries.
Rafferty takes a long pull on his beer, eyes going back and forth between his friends. “Short story is we went out, we hooked up…” He looks at me and offers a sheepish smile. “And now she wants to go out again, but I’m not interested.”
“And he won’t just tell her he’s not interested,” King adds with a chastising look.
“I’m trying,” he bemoans. “But the lady won’t listen. She’s convinced I don’t know what’s good for me and point-blank just said so before she jetted off to have drinks with friends. That’s crazy, right?”
Sounds a little crazy to me but I keep that opinion to myself.
“I told her I’d call her later just so she’d leave,” he says.
“Dude…” King punches him on the arm lightly. “The fact you told her you would call her left the door open and she’s going to think you’re interested.”
“Yeah, man… I know. But I don’t want to hurt her feelings either. Besides, I have no intention of calling her. That will give her a hint, right?”
“You are an idiot.” Atlas laughs.
“I should have pretended to be your new girlfriend,” I pipe up. “That would have made things clear.”
Rafferty slaps his palm to his forehead. “I totally should have put on a show with you. Maybe a passionate kiss so that she would be mad and leave me alone.”
“Yeah, that’s not going to ever happen,” King says with a pointed look at Rafferty. “Figure out your own stalker problems and leave my girlfriend out of it.”
I’m not prepared for the rush of warmth when he calls me his girlfriend. While it’s clear we’re together, he just proclaimed it to his buddies and that seems like kind of a big deal.
I wait for that tiny kernel of anxiety to flare brighter, but it doesn’t. Weirdly… I kind of like being known as his girlfriend and I realize so many of my walls are tumbling down without any control. Before I can analyze it anymore, someone tugs on my arm. I look back to see the red-haired woman—Stone’s fiancée, Harlow.
“Come sit with us girls,” she says, nodding toward an empty high table. “We want to get to know you.”
While that’s about the sweetest thing ever, I’m actually a little disappointed. I’d been looking forward to spending time with King, seeing him interact with his teammates and really… our time is limited and I don’t want to give it up.
King saves me though by saying, “Go on over with them and I’ll grab us some beers.”
“Oh no,” Harlow says with a gleam in her eye. “We want girl time.”
“Have your girl time,” King says, his own twinkle out-sparkling hers. “But I’m going to sit in on it. I don’t get enough time with Willa as it is and this is officially a date.”
I have to choke back a laugh as Harlow isn’t the least bit offended. Instead, she flutters her hand over her heart and sighs. “God, that’s so romantic. You need to teach Stone some moves.”
King grins. “Whatever. You’re marrying the man in a few weeks. I’m sure he’s got all the necessary moves.”
Harlow’s expression turns slightly dreamy. “Yeah… he really does.”
Shaking his head in amusement, King nudges my shoulder. “What do you want to drink?”
“Just a beer. Surprise me.”
“Anyone else?” he asks the ladies.
“Another water for me if you don’t mind,” Harlow says.
“Gotcha covered.” Before he leaves, he leans into me and whispers, “Oh, and I want you to be my date to Stone and Harlow’s wedding. It’s on December 22. Mark yourself out that evening.”
“Bossy,” I say with a push to his shoulder.
“Merely strategizing,” he replies with a chuckle. “Getting you to commit to future events is part of my nefarious plan to keep you by my side.”
“Mmm-hmm,” I say noncommittally, but yeah… I’ll be his date to that.
King leaves and Harlow pulls me over to a rectangular high top.
“So you and Stone are getting married soon?” I ask.
“Yup. We wanted a Christmas-themed wedding, but there’s not a lot of downtime in the schedule for both a wedding and a honeymoon. So we’re getting married on the twenty-second, which is the day before an away game to Florida. After that, the team has two days off for Christmas, so after the Florida game, we’re going to hop a plane over to the Bahamas for a short honeymoon. We’ll do a longer trip in the summer.”
And if that doesn’t summarize what it means to date a professional athlete, I don’t know what does. It takes fortitude to accept a relationship where your partner doesn’t have a lot of flexibility during the season for important events… like getting married.
When we reach the table, everyone welcomes me, but I hold up a hand. “Let me go around and see if I remember your names.”
They’re good sports and I do pretty well, though I do get Danica and Mazzy switched. At least I remembered which Titan they’re paired with.
Harlow leads the early assault. “Okay,” she says, tapping my arm, and I turn back to her. “While King’s occupied, tell us all the details about him that we don’t get from our honeys.”
Laughing, I wag a playful finger at the woman I know is an attorney. “I don’t kiss and tell but I will share all the non-private info you want to know.”
“Excellent,” Harlow says. “First, how did he ask you out? Because the scoop we have is that he’s never been interested in the women who come on to him. He blows them off.”
“We’re talking about the hottest women around,” Kiera says with a licentious wink, which doesn’t set all that well with me. I’m very well aware of how gorgeous King is and so I know women would be drawn to him. “But you’re as gorgeous as they come, so we can’t really extrapolate data from that.”
“I’m guessing you did the opposite of coming on to him and actually played hard to get,” Harlow muses, tapping a finger to her chin.
I shake my head. “It was a little more benign than that. We met at the ice rink and he offered to help me coach my niece’s team. After the first practice, we grabbed a bite to eat to discuss scheduling and that led to him asking me out on a date. I decided… why the hell not?”
“Why not indeed,” Danica says with a firm nod.
“Clearly something about you grabbed his interest,” Mazzy says. “Tell us how in more detail so we can figure it out.”
“How about I just tell you,” King says as he walks up behind me, reaching over my shoulder to set my beer on the table and slide a water glass toward Harlow.
No one looks abashed he walked in on the interrogation and King isn’t put out. I think he expected this. Positioning himself to my side, his hand resting on my lower back, he tells the ladies, “Obviously, I saw her while she was coaching and who wouldn’t think she was beautiful? But it was her taking on an asshole father berating his son that did it for me. She was magnificent and I knew I had to meet her. The offer to coach was a ploy to eventually ask her out on a date.”
I swing my head to look up at him. “Really?”
“Really,” he admits with a charming grin. “I was too shy to just approach you and ask.”
“God, he’s so freaking adorable,” Mazzy mutters.
I feel a blush creeping up my cheeks and try to ignore the way my pulse races when he says I’m beautiful and magnificent and that he offered to coach only to ask me out. “King’s been great with the kids,” I commend. “I didn’t know what the hell I was doing.”
“What do you do for a living?” Danica asks, but before I can answer, there’s a commotion and then someone is squeezing in between me and Harlow.
“I’m sorry I’m late. Got stuck doing press interviews.”
I turn to look at the woman on my left and am dumbstruck to see Brienne Norcross sitting there. I look around the private area and spot her fiancé, Drake McGinn, over at Rafferty’s table.
“Hello,” she says, causing me to look back her way. Her hand is poised before me and I shake it. “I’m Brienne Norcross.”
“Willa Montreaux,” I reply as I smile. “It’s an honor to meet you.”
Kiera snorts. “Please don’t treat her as overly important. It will go to her head.”
I’m appalled that Kiera would say that, but I know she’s Drake’s sister, so maybe she can get away with being disrespectful to the team owner.
Brienne laughs though and nods. “It’s true. It will go right to my head.” Her eyes flick to King, down to his hand at my back and then up to me with a wide smile. “Oh my God… someone landed King.”
“No,” King corrects. “I landed her.”
“Totally swoon-worthy,” Harlow says. “Am I right, ladies?”
They all nod but it’s Brienne who commands the convo now as she swivels my way. “What do you do, Willa?”
“She’s a doctor,” King replies before I can get the words out, and it touches me the pride I hear in his voice.
“I’m a partner in a family medicine practice here in Pittsburgh,” I add.
“Part of her work is visiting underserved communities, so she and her partners rotate days to drive to other towns.” I look up at King and he raises his eyebrows. “What? Just providing info.”
Kiera laughs, her gaze coming to me. “I think it’s adorable how smitten King is with you. The question though… are you just as smitten with him?”
“All right,” King says, cutting in over the other ladies who are all nodding in agreement that they must have the answer to this question. “Let’s stop trying to get Willa to agree she’s head over heels for me. I know the truth of things.” I’m touched that he’s intentionally taking the spotlight from me because he knows I want to keep things casual and then I’m stunned when he looks back to Brienne. “I know you already donate a lot of money to some very good causes, but perhaps the Norcross Foundation could do something for Willa’s practice. They donate their time and pay for a lot of supplies out of their own pockets. I’ll even volunteer myself for a fundraiser.”
“King,” I exclaim, slapping my hand backward to catch him in the stomach as chastisement. “You don’t just come out and ask people for money, and most certainly not on my behalf.”
“Yes, I do,” he replies, his smirk telling me that he’s unrepentant.
“Actually,” Brienne drawls, “that sounds like a very worthwhile project to take on. I’ll get my people on it and we’ll come up with something.”
“Oh, Brienne,” I say with apology. “You don’t have to do that.”
“Nonsense,” she says, patting my arm. “We’re family here and if I can help out King’s girl, I’m going to do it.”
King beams proudly and I look around at the other ladies, all nodding their agreement.
Touching my hand to my heart, I say to Brienne, “Thank you so much. That’s really kind and generous. I promise anything we get will be put to such good use.”
“Of that, I have no doubt.” Brienne pushes up off the stool. “And now, I’m going to go hang out a bit with a hot goalie.” She punches King playfully in the arm. “That short-handed goal was amazing. I’m really glad we got you on this team.”
As the evening progresses, conversation isn’t focused on me and I have a wonderful time getting to know the other Titans women. We don’t all stay together, mixing about in the private area as King introduces me to more of his teammates. He steps out at one point and poses for pictures and signs jerseys and napkins and even one man’s bicep who said he was going to get the signature tattooed. Even with the women making brazen pushes for his attention, I’m really impressed by how generous King is with his time and how thoughtful he is to those fans who want to talk hockey. It’s a side of him I’m still getting used to, but I find myself falling for more and more.
And as I look around at this group of people, I realize that I’m not just dating King—I’m being welcomed into a new family of sorts. While that pressures me to face the truth that I’m not sure I can be casual with King, I can’t help but bask in its warmth. It’s a feeling I haven’t had in a long time, and I’m grateful for it.
We leave Mario’s at around one a.m., although I was more than willing to stay a bit later. King insisted we go since I have my first patient appointment at eight a.m. He has a fairly easy day, but they’ll be leaving in the early evening for a road trip to Chicago and Dallas.
And as he said as he whispered in my ear, “I need to get you home and have my way with you since I won’t see you until this weekend.”
The shivers that took my spine hostage spelled out that he’s already become master of my body and that’s fine by me. I’ve never experienced such a deep desire for a man before. It should shame me that I never even felt that for my husband, but I realize… Scott never did anything to earn that. Not even the early blush of love and excitement when we first started out had me feeling such sexual attraction to him and Scott is incredibly handsome in his own right. It goes to show you that desire, passion, lust… there’s more than just what happens on the outside that fuels it.
For me, it has everything to do with who King is on the inside. Whether it’s him gallantly offering to help coach little kids, protecting me from Scott, the pride in which he speaks about me to his friends and even squeezing Brienne for money to help my clinic, he’s proving himself to be everything that Scott—and my father—wasn’t. Hell, he’s even moderate in his drinking, stopping after two beers over the hours we were at Mario’s. When I mentioned it to him, thinking he might be holding back for my benefit and in deference to my experiences with an alcoholic father who lost his shit when he was drunk, King said, “I’ve never been much of a drinker.”
On the way to his place, he holds my hand, confidently navigating the highways and roads with his other hand on the wheel. There’s even something sexy about his ease in managing a car and showing affection to me at the same time and I find myself idly stroking the back of his hand with my thumb.
“Could you go into obstetrics if you wanted?” he asks, and it’s such an off-the-wall, out-of-the-blue question, I’m not sure I hear him right.
“Obstetrics? What do you mean?”
He glances over at me, the glow of the dashboard highlighting his near-to-perfect bone structure. Such a Greek god. “That was your dream career. You gave up your residency. I’m just curious if you’re allowed to go back and do it now.”
That gives me pause while I ponder the answer. I mean, yes… I can go back and attempt any residency for a new practice area as long as I can get accepted. It’s not an infrequent occurrence in the medical field. But it’s never once crossed my mind. “Yes, I could switch to obstetrics, if I could get into a residency program. But I’m not sure it’s right for me to do that now.”
“And why’s that?”
“Well…,” I falter, trying to prioritize all the reasons why. “I’d probably have to move to a different state as options would be limited, there would be a salary reduction and I’d be starting all over again. I’d have to leave my practice and while it’s not my passion, I do enjoy the work and my partners. And… it would be hard. I’ve been out of the learning environment for a few years now and not sure I can get back in the groove of things.”
“Those are all legit. I’m wondering if those weren’t concerns, though, would you do it?”
Wow is he making me think hard tonight. I wonder what it means that the only true hang-up I seem to have about that list is leaving Pittsburgh.
Leaving him.
“I honestly don’t know,” I reply, understanding that sounds evasive, but it’s too complex a question and would require a lot of in-depth thinking. More than anything, I’d have to analyze why this man has already tied me to Pittsburgh because of the way he makes me feel, and that feels an awful lot like me giving up a residency in California to stay with Scott.
“I’d hate to see you go, but I’d support it if you did. It’s not forever and we could visit each other. I know a long-distance relationship can work. Hell, I’m gone fifty percent of the season.”
“But yours failed with Emily,” I point out.
“That was on her,” he counters. “She didn’t have the strength to be alone. You don’t have that problem.”
It’s a compliment and I bask in it. It’s something I’ve worked hard on since the divorce… to be my own person and to put me first. To be okay without having a significant other to lean on.
And yet, King offering to cut me free does nothing more than make me want to stay with him.