Chapter 10
Lorelai
“Sorry about that,” Aurora said, shoving her phone back into her purse and focusing her attention on me. “How are things going with you and Knox?” she asked as I looked down at my phone once again, only to see there were no messages waiting for me.
“Hmmm, okay I think.” I shrugged, shoving the last piece of steak into my mouth.
“Just okay?”
I’d been waiting for the next stone to drop. It seemed things between us were a little too good to be true from what I was used to in a relationship.
“It’s hard, I know, dating someone who’s always on the road.”
I smiled, swallowing the last of my wine. Just as I set my glass down, the server appeared and poured each of us another glass before taking our plates away.
“If it makes a difference, it will get easier,” Aurora added, giving me a soft smile.
When I didn’t smile, Aurora looked at me with concern. “What is it, buttercup? Why so glum?”
My stomach did that nervous little flip, and I took a deep breath. Aside from a handful of text messages and a couple of calls since the guys had left, that was all I’d heard from him. I knew that he’d been stressed with hockey, and I’d hoped I was just reading into things a little too deep. Aside from the date last night Knox had been distant since we’d returned from Hawaii, and after the woman who approached him at the restaurant, I was now questioning things.
“I feel like something is lacking. Can I ask you a question?”
“Of course.”
“It’s rather personal,” I muttered, feeling embarrassed for even attempting to ask her. “As if we’ve never shared personal information before,” I added.
I looked at Aurora, then leaned across the table. “How do you guys…um…handle the intimate parts of your relationship while you’re apart?”
Aurora’s cheeks turned red, and she looked away from me for a second. “Ah, well, Dylan, he bought me a…he took me to a sex shop and bought me a vibrator.”
“What?” I questioned, not sure now that I really needed to know the answer.
“Hell, we share pretty much everything, so why not tell you the truth?” Aurora shrugged. “Besides, I have nothing to be embarrassed about.” “What about you guys?” she asked. “You haven’t…have you?”
I shook my head, my stomach doing that nervous little flip again.
“We did, while we were in Hawaii.”
Aurora looked at me, shock on her face. “What? You never told me that!”
I knew she was going to start asking me all kinds of questions. “Anyways, it’s just now, we haven’t since we’ve returned. I thought we would have last night, but all he wanted to do was cuddle, claimed he was exhausted.”
“Maybe he really was tired. The games take a lot out of the guys, and I know Dylan has been stressed. He also mentioned Coach Tompkins had increased the length of their practices.”
“I don’t know.”
“Has something happened?” Aurora asked, bringing her glass to her lips.
I shook my head, the words on the tip of my tongue to ask her if she ever thought Dylan would cheat on her, but I stopped myself.
“No. Nothing. What did you want for dessert?” I asked, wanting to take the eyes off myself for a moment so I could regroup.
“I’m having that double fudge chocolate cake. What about you?”
“Same.” I shrugged, closing the menu, not even looking at it.
Aurora was my best friend, and she knew I loved dessert. She also knew I never chose based on what someone else was having. She looked at me with that questioning glance of hers and tilted her head to the side.
“What’s going on?”
“Can I get you anything else?” the server asked.
“Two pieces of the fudge chocolate cake, extra whipped cream, please,” Aurora said.
“Two coffees,” I added.
Once the server was gone, Aurora looked at me, waiting for an explanation.
“Have…have…has Dylan…”
“Has Dylan what?”
“Do you ever worry about Dylan cheating on you?” I questioned.
Aurora looked at me, concern in her eyes. She knew exactly where this was coming from. Hugo had me convinced he wasn’t messing around on me, and then I’d caught him. I was certain she could understand. Hugo wasn’t anywhere near as good-looking as Knox, nor anywhere near as popular. He also didn’t have women falling at his feet every time he turned around. Knox did.
“Dylan cheat? No,” she said, laughing, but stopped the instant she noticed I wasn’t. “I don’t think you need to worry about Knox.”
“You don’t?”
“No, I don’t. Dylan and Knox, Phil, Lucas, and hell, even Clay, no matter what some might think, aren’t guys like Hugo. For them, the thought of us being unfaithful to them, according to Dylan, is a worry as well.”
I nodded, still not sure I believed what she was saying.
“Why do you ask? Has something happened that is making you question his loyalty?”
I shrugged, not wanting to divulge what happened last night as we left the restaurant.
“If it was some crazy fan, you better get used to them.” Aurora shrugged, smiling. “They are everywhere. In my case, it wasn’t a fan, but his ex. You’ll probably get those as well. Apparently, some people have a hard time letting go,” she said, rolling her eyes.
The server returned and slid our cake and coffee down in front of us and instantly, we both dug in.
“You are right. I guess I was just letting my insecurities get the best of me,” I said, shoving the ideas off to the side and forgetting about it.
“You aren’t. I remember you telling me Candace worried about that sometimes. It’s probably natural, but I don’t think you need to worry about it at all. Once you guys find a rhythm and start experimenting with things while they are away, you’ll get a feel for just how devoted he is. Now, eat up, we’ve got to get to the game.”
* * *
We got to the arena three hours before the game, so we could get our seats and possibly see the guys. Tonight, they were doing a meet and greet with young fans.
We stepped inside, showed our passes, and made our way over to where Dylan and Knox were busy signing some things for a couple young fans.
Knox gave a small smile the second he saw me and quickly finished up with the young kid he was signing a jersey for, then turned to Pamela, whispered something to her, then got up and let Lucas take a seat.
“Where is he going?” I asked, whispering in Aurora’s ear.
“Not sure, bathroom break? They have been at it for a little over an hour already,” she said, glancing at her watch.
Dylan looked over at the pair of us and gave a wave before turning his attention to the young boy in front of him.
“Maybe it was a bad idea to come early?” I said, whispering to her again.
She shook her head and glanced over my shoulder, a small smile on her lips. “No, it’s perfect. I enjoy watching Dylan with young kids, makes me think about having them with him one day. I think he’d make a great dad.”
I looked over at her to see her all dreamy eyed as she watched him and shook my head in disbelief. I was about to say something to her when I felt a light tap on my shoulder. I turned and came face to chest with Knox. I looked up as he looked down at me.
“Been waiting for you to get here,” he whispered.
“Oh?”
“Come with me for a minute. Aurora, we’ll be back in a moment,” Knox said, taking my hand in his, heading down the hall toward the guy’s locker room.
Knox left me out in the hall while he entered the change room and in moments returned carrying something behind his back. He smiled, bent down and met my lips, and then handed me an Evans jersey.
“What is that for?” I questioned.
Knox shrugged. “I’d like to know where my girl is tonight.”
I frowned. “How are you ever going to pick me out of the crowd? I doubt I’ll be the only one wearing an Evans jersey.”
“No, you are correct, but you’ll be the only girl wearing my old jersey. Plus, it’s not that hard to pick out the most beautiful girl in the stands,” he said, tugging at the fabric of his old worn jersey.
“Evans…let’s go,” I heard Pamela’s assistant call. “You have fans out here waiting for you.”
Knox gave a wave, letting him know he’d be there in a moment, then rested his arm against the wall.
“However, I have my biggest fan right here,” he muttered to me as he leaned down and placed a kiss on my lips. “See you later tonight?”
I loved kissing this man, and I slowly opened my eyes to see he was watching me. I nodded, softly smiled, and kissed him one more time.
“What time will you be finished and home?” I questioned, knowing it was probably going to be late since they had interviews to give tonight after the game.
“Not sure, just be in bed waiting for me. I’ll come by with Dylan.”
He met my mouth one more time before he left me.
“Knox?”
“Yeah?” he said, turning back to me and smiling.
“I’ll be waiting, perhaps wearing nothing but this,” I said, holding up the jersey.
He closed his eyes, then smiled. “I can only hope, but I can promise you I’ll hurry home.” He winked before disappearing out of sight.
* * *
The boys won their game. The stands went wild as Aurora and I started climbing the stairs to exit the seating area. Out of all the games I’d seen, this one had been different. I’d not been able to take my eyes off Knox the entire night. I flinched each time he got hit or shoved into the boards. Aurora found it hilarious. She’d even covered my eyes at one point to see if I’d flip out. I did, which made her laugh harder.
“Wait up!” I yelled to Aurora, who was almost at the top of the stairs, as a woman stepped out in front of me, stopping me.
She looked over her shoulder and nodded but continued to climb anyway.
I shoved past the woman and had just reached the top of the stairs and stopped to see if I could see Aurora through the crowd when someone bumped into me from behind.
I shrugged it off and went to step forward when I was shoved again. This time, though, the person still had a hold on me.
“What do you think you are doing, bitch?” I heard a woman’s voice say behind me.
I turned around and looked up to see who had a hold of me. I was shocked to see the woman from the restaurant. Before I could say anything, she delivered the blow to my face. My head pounded as I tried to digest what had just happened.
“He’s mine!” she growled, hitting me again.
I covered my face, shocked and scared, not knowing what to do, as this woman continued to hit me.
“How dare you touch my man!” she screamed, grabbing hold of me.
I covered my face, praying that someone would see, and that was when out of nowhere I heard Aurora shout, and suddenly the woman let go of me.
When I opened my eyes, I saw Aurora shove her away, and that was when I saw her, looking at me as if she wanted me to die.
“Back the fuck up!” Aurora shouted as she shoved the woman again and then came over to me.
“What the fuck was that?” I questioned, looking over at the woman who was standing there with her friends, glaring at me.
“You’ve just been introduced to a crazy-ass fan. Aren’t they fun?”
“Not really.”
Aurora grabbed my arm and was about to spin us around when the girl came back at me.
“Knox is my man! You stole him from me!” she screamed, grabbing my shirt.
Almost immediately a man stepped in between her and me and kindly separated us. “You should call the police.”
I stood there, frozen, not knowing what to do, but Aurora grabbed her phone and quickly dialled the police.
Forty minutes later, we both sat in the hallway of the Vancouver Police Department waiting for the officer who had taken our statements.
“Here is a coffee,” Aurora said, glancing down at her watch before sitting down on the bench beside me.
“Thanks. I can’t believe what happened.” I sniffled, snuggling down into Knox’s jersey a little more. I was still shaking from what had happened and my stomach was in knots.
I was cold and tired and happy to have had something a little warmer than the cute T-shirt I’d worn for dinner.
“Miss Barlowe, could I speak with you for a moment?” the officer who’d taken our statements asked as he stepped out into the hallway, looking at both of us.
Aurora looked at me, softly smiled, then got up from where she was sitting and followed the officer. When the door closed, I sat up and glanced over my shoulder through the window to see her cover her mouth. Anxiety and worry filled my body as I watched her hang her head and then make her way slowly to the door.
“What’s going on?” I questioned.
“You best make that call,” the officer said, coming out of the office and heading down the hall.
I glanced at Aurora. She looked like she was going to be sick as she sat down beside me.
“Aurora?”
“They have pressed charges against psycho bitch, but psycho bitch is going to be pressing charges against me.”
“What for?” I questioned, sitting up, getting defensive as my best friend sat there with worry on her face.
“She is pressing assault charges on me for shoving her.”
“It was self-defense!” I exclaimed.
“Not according to her.”
“I think it’s time we call Dylan,” I said, slipping her phone from her hands and getting ready to call him.
Aurora shook her head and placed her hand over mine. “No, I shoved her.”
“What about your mom, or Walker?” I suggested. “We could call them?”
“Lorelai, what is my mother going to do? She’s living in that tiny little place, barely making enough to live off. I can’t go to her for money.”
“I have savings,” I said. “I could also call Phil.”
“No way, we are not calling your brother after all he’s done for us. I’ll just have to face the music.”
Just then, the officer returned and asked Aurora to step back into his office, once again closing the door. I sat there worried about my best friend and the trouble she was in because of me. I could barely sit there knowing that she was probably going to lose her job because of me.
I looked down at her phone sitting in my hand and pulled up Dylan’s number from her contacts. I hesitated for a moment and then pressed the call button, listening to the phone ring as I sat there straining to hear anything that was going on in the room behind me.
* * *
“Everything okay?” Dylan questioned the moment he picked up the phone.
He knew that we’d have left the game and made our way back to our condo while they were doing their interview thing. If I had calculated the times correctly, they were probably just getting showered and would leave the arena soon to come to the condo.
“It’s Lorelai. Don’t let on that it’s me,” I said.
“Hey, Aurora, what’s going on?” Dylan questioned, doing as I’d said.
“Whatever you do, say nothing to Knox. We are at the police station.”
“What? Food Poisoning? Is she okay?”
I knew almost instantly that this was why Aurora was head over heels for this man.
“I had a crazy fan attack me after the game, and Aurora stepped in to protect me. I’m pressing charges, but the crazy fan is also pressing charges on Aurora.” I sniffled.
“How sick is she?” Dylan asked. “That bad? She just wants to sleep it off then?”
“Can you please come down here? I’m worried about her. She said she didn’t want any help, she said that she did what the girl is saying, and she needs to own up to it.”
“Yep, no problem. Give me half an hour?”
“Thanks, Dylan.”
I ended the call, shoved Aurora’s phone back into my pocket, and then sat back against the bench. A wave of nausea rolled through me as I sat there waiting for Dylan to arrive.