Rush: The Season (Austin Arrows Book 1)(118)

“Can I take her to my room?” my daughter asks me.

“Of course. Make sure you set up the litter box and get her some water and food.”

Noelle giggles. “Probably don’t want the litter box in your room, though. Maybe put it in your bathroom and teach her where to go.”

Bianca nods but never takes her eyes off the tiny bundle of fur. A minute later, she’s carrying everything up to her room, her smile no longer on her face.

“Oh, my goodness,” Noelle whispers when Bianca is out of earshot. “She looks so heartbroken.”

I stare at my best friend. “I know.”

“When are you going to tell her?”

I shrug. I really don’t know. James is coming back to town after the first of the year so we can talk some more. I figure we’ll make plans at that time. We should have the test results back.

I don’t tell Noelle any of this because I can’t stop thinking about how sad Bianca looks. She still doesn’t know that I know about the post. I haven’t brought it up because I don’t want to get her hopes up. If I tell her I know, she’ll want to know if I’ve heard from her dad. I can’t lie to my kid, so I haven’t said anything.

I guess technically that’s a lie by omission.





48

Kingston

Saturday, December 31st

I’m not sure how I got talked into going to the Penalty Box tonight, but here I am. They’ve got some sort of New Year’s party going on. Nothing fancy, but the place is crowded. A lot of my teammates have arrived, many of the single ones already with puck bunnies on their arm.

Not me.

However, I have had quite a bit to drink tonight, and I’m not ashamed to admit it.

“You got a girl to kiss at midnight, Rush?” someone asks from my left.

I shake my head, focusing on the drink in front of me. I know Ellie’s around here somewhere, and if there is any girl I would kiss at midnight it would be her. Only, I seriously doubt it will be. She’s been much too busy to pay attention, and every time I do catch her looking at me, I manage to look away quickly.

And now, I find myself watching Ellie in the mirror above the bar. I see her stopping at several tables, chatting with the customers, a radiant smile on her face. I want to grab her and hold her and never let her go. It’s killing me to sit here, but I can’t make myself leave. I don’t want to be at home alone when the clock strikes twelve, so sitting here and having a pity party seems relatively harmless to everyone except me.

“Hey, ladies,” I hear Ellie say as she stops at a table full of women. It looks like the ladies have pulled several tables together, and there are quite a few empty shot glasses sitting on top. “Everything all right?”

There is an eruption of yeses, followed by some giggles. Ellie nods and turns back toward the bar. She finds my eyes in the reflection and I hold her stare.

“Hey, Ellie!” a woman calls out. “Wanted to see how those services were coming along. From where I sit, it looks to me like it’s all fizzled out.”

I spin around and search the tables until I find her. Cheryl.

Goddammit. Why does she have to go and ruin a completely shitty night? Then again, it’s not like it can get much worse than this.

“Hey, guys!” Noelle hollers. “Two minutes until midnight. If you’re gonna be playing tonsil hockey, you might wanna find a partner!”

Great.

I watch Ellie, who is holding Cheryl’s amused gaze. “What in the world gave you that idea?” she taunts.

Cheryl glances over at me. I do my best to keep my face clean of all expression. I’m not sure which direction this is about to go, but I don’t want Cheryl starting shit with Ellie.

“Seeing that the hot goalie is over there all by his lonesome … it didn’t take much deductive reasoning.”

“I assure you, he’s not lonely,” Ellie says, then turns to look at me.

“One minute!” Noelle yells.

And all of a sudden, the room erupts with people counting down. I don’t take part. Hell, I don’t do anything except watch Ellie as she moves toward me. I can see the determination in her eyes. My heart is beating to the repetitious countdown, but my lungs have ceased to work. I haven’t seen Ellie in ten days. Since the night I walked out of her house after I dropped Bianca and Gabby off. We haven’t talked in all that time, either.

“Get ready, ladies and gentlemen. Ten seconds!”

The countdown gets louder, and Ellie stops directly in front of me, forcing my legs wider so she can stand between them. I never break eye contact, willing her to see everything that’s going on inside me.

Five…

Four…

Three…

Two…

I can’t resist. As the cheers erupt, I reach up and pull Ellie to me, slamming my mouth over hers. The desperation I feel claws at my insides. I’ve missed her so goddamn bad. I could kiss her like this all night, never letting her go. She kisses me back with just as much heat, as much pent-up passion. It’s a damn good thing I’m sitting down.

“Happy New Year!”

Those irritating horns sound, and everyone is laughing and talking over one another when Ellie pulls back. She leans in close to my ear.

“I’m sorry,” she says sweetly. “I just didn’t want her spreading rumors. Thought it would be best to prove that I’m still in desperate need of your services.”