Chapter 10 Find a Way Out
Chapter Ten
Find a Way Out
~~Aria~~
I’m humiliated, but even worse, I’m disturbed by my reaction to Drakos.
Despite my mental state, my body’s response to him is unwelcome.
When he carried me to the locker room, I clung to him as if he were my lifeline, not my sworn enemy.
My body’s betraying me, and I’m betraying my sister and Noah.
I can’t conveniently forget his callous decision to walk away from his son.
Drakos has every right to call me out on that article, and so does Gardenia. I’m an awful person. I’ve sold my soul to the devil in exchange for a comfortable income. Is it worth it to trade integrity for dishonesty and self-loathing? If I weren’t responsible for Noah, I’d leave this job.
But I can’t tell Noah that he’ll have to give up playing an expensive sport because his aunt can’t pay the bills.
Hockey has helped him recover from losing his mom.
He needs hockey, and because of that, I need this job as much as I hate it and as much as it compromises the person I’ve always believed myself to be.
Drakos studies me with those deep blue eyes, and I struggle not to fall under their spell. I see concern, but I also see a guy who’d rather be somewhere else. Anywhere but with me.
“I’m sorry. I wasn’t pointing directly at you.” I sort of was, but I tried to be vague.
“Why not? You relish disparaging me and do it every chance you get. Why stop now?” Drakos eyes me warily. The sympathy previously in his gaze has been replaced by confusion, rather than repulsion, which I did expect.
I don’t have a comeback to his accusations because they’re true. I merely shrug. Drakos leans closer and narrows his gaze. “I want to be furious, but right now I’m having a hard time mustering up the hatred I usually feel for you.”
I blink a few times, and our gazes lock.
My body soars with pleasure at the closeness, and I hate myself for it.
I catch a whiff of the soap he used after working out today.
I feel his breath on my cheek. If he meant to intimidate, it’s not working.
In fact, it’s backfiring for both of us.
I want to touch him. I want to feel the roughness of his stubble.
I crave stroking his golden hair and feeling it slide between my fingers.
There’s a hunger burning inside me I can’t deny.
Maybe it’s always been there, and once Drakos showed some kindness, I hunger for him just like the steady parade of women in and out of his bedroom.
The next thing Drakos does is unexpected but not unwelcome.
He touches my cheek with such tenderness, I’m further caught off-balance.
He moves closer, and so do I. His face is only inches from mine.
His gaze drops to my lips, and I know exactly what he wants.
I want it too, even though I’ll regret this stupid thing I’m about to do.
He brushes his lips across mine, as if sampling to see if kissing me is worth it.
His answer comes a split second later when his lips press against mine.
He places one hand at the back of my head and buries his fingers in my hair.
I grip to his shoulders, holding him to me.
His tongue slides across my lips, and they part, inviting him inside.
We’re kissing as if our lives depend on it.
What started out as a quick peck turns into a make-out session.
He’s an incredible kisser. In fact, the best. No surprise there.
He’s had tons of experience. We’re both getting worked up.
I feel a familiar wetness between my legs, and I hazard a guess that he’s getting hard judging by the way he’s devouring my lips. I can’t get enough, and neither can he.
My head spins with the power of the unexpected connection between us. Hate is a powerful emotion, and we’re currently channeling it quite well into lust.
“Excuse me.”
We jump apart as if we’re suddenly being held at knifepoint. I run my fingers through my hair in an attempt to tame it somewhat. Drakos blinks a few times before turning toward the voice.
“Hi, I’m looking for the coach.” I recognize this person. It’s Carla, the PI and Michella’s boss. She’s playing it cool, pretending she didn’t walk in on the make-out session between two sworn enemies. Of course, she probably doesn’t know any of that.
“He should be in his office.” Drakos’s tone is husky and thick with lust. He frowns briefly before standing and moving away from me.
“I looked, and he wasn’t in there. I’ll try a few other places.” Carla glances in my direction and smiles. It’s not a warm, friendly smile, nor is it hostile, merely businesslike.
I’m grateful she interrupted us. What the hell was I doing?
Carla leaves the room without another word.
“Not much for small talk, is she?” I quip in an attempt to break the tension in the room.
“Not at all.” Drakos swings his attention back to me. He’s disgusted, but I’m not sure if he’s more disgusted with me or himself. “That shouldn’t have happened. Now you’ll write a fucking exposé on how well I kiss.” He embraces his anger and annoyance toward me once again.
“Don’t flatter yourself. It’s not worth writing about, but I appreciate the effort.” I brace for a hostile comeback. Instead, he throws back his head and laughs his ass off. I stare at him as though he’s gone mad. I’m confused. I expect him to be offended, not amused.
“You just keep telling yourself that, but you know as well as I do that I’m the best you’ve ever had.” He leans closer and smirks, slipping into our usual dislike for each other. “And if you’d like to sample more of what I have to offer, I understand sex with an enemy is the hottest sex out there.”
Is this jackass propositioning me? I open my mouth, but nothing comes out. I’ve drawn a blank when it comes to an appropriate retort. A naughty part of me is already visualizing fucking this man’s brains out, while another part is appalled at such a thought.
“I think I’ll take my chances and pass.”
“If you ever change your mind, you know where to find me.” He winks and saunters from the room as if he hasn’t a care in the world. I stare at the closed door long after he’s gone.
Lifting my hand to my face, I place a finger on my lips. I can still taste and feel him there. And I like that sensation to the point where it’s dangerous.
What kind of Pandora’s box did I open this time?
As if this day isn’t confusing enough, my phone rings. My boss is calling. Charles is the definition of persistence. If I ignore the call, he’ll blow up my phone until I answer out of self-preservation. I sigh and answer the phone, resigned to my fate.
“Good news. I’m sending you to Colorado on Sunday to cover the first two playoff games.”
“Why?” I’m confused. Charles has never done this before. “Can’t Colorado’s reporter handle both teams?” Being a cheap bastard, Charles usually has the home team’s writer report on their games.
“It’s a big deal, expansion team in their first playoff. I want the scoop, everything you’ve got. The team arrives in Colorado tomorrow. I want you there. We aren’t going to miss a thing. I need a provocative story. Follow the young guys around, or Drakos, and uncover a scandal.”
“What if I can’t?”
“You will. I know you. Those kids will be partying it up. No good comes from that. They could be arrested, hire prostitutes, do drugs. I want you there. We’ll unearth something.”
“We?”
“You will.”
“I have a child to take care of and no one to leave him with.”
“Find someone, or I’ll find another sportswriter. They’re a dime a dozen.” He abruptly ends the call with that threat.
I sigh. Mrs. Martin, who watches Noah in the evenings if I’m at a game, isn’t an option. She’s in her eighties. While in good shape, three hours keeping up with Noah takes her a day or two to recover.
If Gardenia was still speaking to me, she’d be an option—my only real option, but I don’t have her. In fact, I don’t have anyone.
I also don’t have a choice.
Reluctantly, I call Gardenia and pray she doesn’t hang up on me. The phone rings so many times I fear she won’t answer, but she does.
“What do you want?” She’s making no attempt to conceal her disgust. All I can do is grovel and appeal to her for Noah’s sake.
“Please hear me out.” I explain the position my boss has put me in without detailing the types of news he’s forcing me to report on. “I know I’m asking a lot. I also know you’re a fair person, and you like Noah. He can’t help who his aunt is and shouldn’t be punished because of my behavior.”
She’s silent for an uncomfortably long time. Fearing she’s going to say no, I begin blabbering. “I know I have no right to ask you this, but I’m desperate, and I can’t afford to lose this job. I’m—” In debt up to my eyeballs, but I don’t say that.
“Okay, enough.”
I do know to shut up when necessary, and I lapse into an anxious silence.
She’s not happy being put in this situation, but she’s a good person and doing the best for her boys.
I’d probably ban me from their lives if I were her.
The sad thing is that her decision affects Noah, Rowen, and Ryder the most, and it can’t be an easy one to make.
“I’ll make you a deal. Rowen and Ryder miss Noah. I hate the idea of punishing the boys for adult problems.”
“Anything. Name your price.”
“You’re going to be sorry you said that.” Her words are ominous, but I won’t back out now.
“I’ll do what it takes short of breaking the law.” My laugh is hollow and does nothing to calm the tension between us. She befriended me, and I betrayed her trust. She’s the last person I should be asking for a favor, yet the only choice I have.
“I’ll take Noah if you—”
“Oh, thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” I’m gushing and realize too late that I’ve interrupted her. I snap my big mouth shut.
“If,” she repeats with a degree of irritation, “you agree to my request.”
I don’t say a word but nod as if she can see me.
“You’ll only write the truth about the guys. You’ll report accurately and professionally. No embellishments, no fabrications, no sensationalism. Write like a true sports journalist.”
I go cold inside. That’s exactly what Charles doesn’t want. If I’m the person she thinks I am, I’ll accept her conditions, then I’ll write the stories Charles wants. Only I’m not that person, even if the entire Icehawks organization believes I am.
“I agree to your terms.”
“Good. Drop him off tomorrow before you go to the airport.” She’s brusque and businesslike, making it painfully obvious that she’s not forgiving me, and we aren’t friends.
“I will. Thank you so much.”
“Don’t thank me. I’m doing this for the boys and the Icehawks. Not for you.”
Her words are like a knife to the heart, and I swallow my tears. I’ve been crying too much lately, and it’s all related to my job and my sister. We end the call, and I face my next issue.
I’ll be around Drakos for the next several days.
If I’m lucky, I won’t be in the same hotel and will be able to avoid him.
I’m appalled that he kissed me, even worse I kissed him back.
Not that that means anything. Drakos is a womanizer.
He’ll kiss just about any woman with a heartbeat.
In the beginning, writing about him was easy because he gave me so much scandalous fodder for stories, I never had to make anything up.
My mission to ruin him had been relatively easy.
Lately, it isn’t as easy, and I’m not sure why other than he’s behaving better than before.
I check my watch and realize Noah’s practice will be over any minute. I hurry through the door of Rink Three and take a seat on the bleachers in a poorly lit area. Gardenia is sitting down several rows and must’ve answered the phone from here, but she ignores me.
Thankfully, hockey practice ends shortly after I arrive. I escape before anyone else and wait for Noah in our usual place. I swear all the hockey moms and some of the dads give me scathing glares as they make a wide berth around me.
Is any job worth this hatred?
Maybe not for me, but for Noah. I provide him with everything he needs, which wouldn’t be possible if I weren’t being paid well for the garbage I spew out of my keyboard every day.
Do I like it? No. Will I do it anyway? Yes.
I’ve considered spilling my dilemma to Gardenia, but it almost makes things worse in some ways.
I vow to keep the promise I made to her, no matter the pressure from Charles.
Perhaps the rookies—or even Drakos—will provide real drama on this road trip that I can utilize without lying.
Regardless, I long to write real stories with substance about the team, its triumphs and struggles, and the personalities and how they mesh.
I’ve read similar stories on sports news sites, and they do well, though I’m aware All Hockey News doesn’t attract those kinds of serious readers.
I sigh in resignation. I’m in a tough spot, but I’ll find a way out. I always do.
As far as that little mishap with Drakos, I’ll pretend it never happened, and I suspect so will he.