Wicked Games (Denver Rebels) (33 page)

Nelson frowned at Nadia. When he made a move toward the door, she vehemently shook her head, wordlessly begging him to remain silent.

His jaw tightened, lips flattening with displeasure.

“Please don’t do this, Nadia,” Reid entreated. “Don’t let a stupid misunderstanding come between us.”

It was all Nadia could do not to scream at him:
You screwed some random bar slut! There’s no misunderstanding about that!

“I fucked up, all right? I shouldn’t have let her sit on my lap. I was feeling shitty about the game and missing you. She came over and started flirting with me, and I flirted back. I’m not proud of that. But nothing else happened, I swear to God.” Reid pushed out a deep, heavy breath. “Please, baby. Don’t break up with me. Open the door and talk to me. We can work this out.”

Nadia closed her eyes, her heart breaking into a million pieces. She wanted to believe him, wanted to trust him again. But she’d learned her lesson. Never again.

She startled when another thud rocked the door. His shoulder?

“Fuck this,” Nelson muttered darkly.

Before Nadia could stop him, he stalked over to the door, slid the safety chain into place and yanked the door open just enough to scowl at Reid. “You need to leave, man.”

“I wanna talk to your sister.” Reid’s voice held a dangerous edge.

Nelson glared. “She doesn’t have anything to say to you.”

“Where is she?”

“She’s not here.”

“Bullshit. I saw her car outside.”

“One of her friends picked her up.” A malicious note entered Nelson’s voice as he improvised, “She left half an hour ago, pissed off and dressed to kill. I’d be worried if I were you.”

“
FUCK!
” Reid swore, banging his fist against the door.

Nadia jumped at the sound, then clapped a trembling hand over her mouth. Her heart was racing, and her eyes and throat burned with unshed tears.

“I was rooting for you,” Nelson told Reid with just the right amount of reproach, disappointment and disgust. “I thought you were different. Clearly I was wrong.”

“I didn’t sleep with that broad,” Reid snarled impatiently. “Nothing happened.”

“I don’t know, man. The photo was pretty damning. But I’m not the one you need to convince—my sister is.”

“I know that. But how the hell am I supposed to convince her if she won’t even talk to me?”

Nelson shook his head. “Face it, man. You blew it.”

“
No.
Fuck that. I’m not giving up that easily.”

“Dude—”

“Which club did she go to?” Reid demanded.

Nelson snorted caustically. “Like I’d tell you.”

“Dammit—”

“You need to leave before I call the cops,” Nelson warned. “I’m serious, man. This ain’t cool.”

Reid fell ominously silent.

Nadia held her breath, her heart knocking against her ribs. She could feel Reid’s white-hot anger, frustration and testosterone seeping through the door. Her mind flashed on an image of him using his shoulder to smash the door in, flinging Nelson aside like a Raggedy Andy. He was a big, tough, physical guy who steamrolled other big guys for a living. It would have been so easy for him to send the door crashing into the wall the way he checked opponents into the boards.

Nadia squeezed her eyes shut, desperately willing him to leave without causing even more of a scene.

After several interminable moments, he finally relented. Sort of.

“Tell your sister this isn’t over,” he growled fiercely. “I’m not giving up on us. She means too damn much to me.”

“Yeah? Good luck with that.” Nelson shoved the door closed in Reid’s face and secured the dead bolt, then looked over at Nadia. She put her finger to her lips, signaling him not to speak until they knew for sure that Reid had really left.

Nelson checked the peephole. After several moments, he announced, “He’s gone.”

Nadia breathed a sigh of relief mingled with regret. “Thanks for getting rid of him.”

“For now,” Nelson said grimly. “You heard what he said. He’s not giving up.”

Nadia shivered at the thought. “He’s wasting his time.”

“Is he?” Nelson countered quietly.

She didn’t respond.

He searched her face, his eyes gentle with concern. “Are you gonna be all right?”

She swallowed hard and nodded.

“Have you eaten? I can run out and pick up some dinner.”

“Sure. That’d be fine.” She forced a small smile of gratitude.

“What would you like?”

“Doesn’t matter. I’m not very…” She trailed off.

Nelson took a step toward her. “Nadia?”

“Excuse me.” Abruptly she turned and hurried to her room, slamming the door behind her just as the dam burst, releasing the flood of tears she’d been holding at bay.

Wracked by the pain of Reid’s betrayal, she slid to the floor, pulled her knees up to her chest and wept with longing for what might have been.

Second Period

20

W
eeks passed.

Three long, torturous weeks of sheer heartache and misery.

On the night of their breakup, Nadia blocked Reid’s number so he couldn’t call or text her, then unfollowed him on Instagram. The next day, she boxed up the Chanel purses he’d given her and shoved them deep into the back of her closet. She couldn’t bring herself to burn them or give them away.

She cut up the credit card she’d never used, then packed up his jersey and headed to the post office to mail it back to him. But halfway there, she broke down in tears and had to turn around and go back home. She cried herself to sleep that night while listening to Alicia Keys’ “Try Sleeping With A Broken Heart” and Meshell Ndegeocello’s “Fool Of Me,” two of the many sad songs she now had in constant rotation on her playlist.

True to his word, Reid made several more attempts to see her. He stopped by her loft twice, but she stood firm and didn’t open the door. He tracked her down at a high school where she was giving a recruitment presentation. When the excited crowd mobbed him afterward, she made her escape.

When he showed up at her job one afternoon, the department secretary at the front desk informed him that Nadia was off campus that day. Thankfully he left without causing a scene. Once the coast was clear, Nadia snuck out from her office to thank the secretary for covering for her. The older woman, a diehard Denver Rebels fan, admitted that she’d almost broken down and asked for Reid’s autograph before sending him on his way.

“I hope you know what you’re doing,” she told Nadia. “Not many girls would throw away a man like that, cheater or not.”

Jess, of course, had been telling her the same thing.

“I think you should give him another chance,” she’d advised over lunch one day with Nadia and Scarlett. “You know how furious I was when you first showed me the picture of him with that Canadian bitch. I wanted to cut off his balls on your behalf. But the more I see how heartbroken and miserable you are without him, the more I’m wondering if you did the right thing by breaking up with him. I mean, what if he was telling the truth, Nadia? What if nothing happened between him and that bimbo?”

Nadia didn’t want to admit that she’d been second-guessing herself. So she got defensive. “Whose side are you on?”

“Yours, of course.” Jess’s voice gentled. “I just want you to be happy, Nadia. Reid made you happier than I’ve ever seen you. Honestly, I don’t know if any other guy will come close to measuring up.”

Nadia already knew none would.

Scarlett reached over and squeezed her hand on the table. “I hate seeing you like this, girl. I really wish there was something we could do for you.”

Nadia gave her a grateful smile. “Just being here for me is enough.”

“What about Reid’s teammates?” Jess suggested. “They were at the bar that night. What if they vouched for him? What if they came to you and confirmed that Reid didn’t go home with that hockey hooker?”

Nadia scowled. “I wouldn’t believe them. You know those guys tend to stick together and cover for one another. They probably live and die by the guy code ‘Bros before hoes.’”

Jess made a face. “True.”

Scarlett looked angry and grim. “I’ll tell you one thing. Seeing what you’re going through has made one thing crystal clear to me.”

“What’s that?”

“I could never date an athlete,” she vowed. “Under no circumstances could I put myself through this kind of bullshit.”

Nadia sighed. She figured now wasn’t the time to tell her cousin that Viggo was interested in her. Which was just as well. She wasn’t in much of a matchmaking mood anyway.

During one of her weaker moments, she checked out the gossip blogs to see if Reid had been spotted with other women since their breakup. As much as her stomach churned at the idea of him hooking up with random puck bunnies, what she dreaded even more was the possibility of him finding her replacement—a woman he connected with.

She held her breath as she scoured the contents of the blogs. To her relief, there were no recent photos of Reid anywhere. All she found was a short blurb that quoted anonymous teammates who claimed that Reid was nursing a broken heart over Nadia. She felt a twinge of petty satisfaction at the thought of him suffering as much as she was.

She couldn’t bring herself to watch him play. If she walked into the living room where Nelson had the game on, he’d quickly turn the channel until she left. But one night when she was feeling particularly masochistic, she’d plopped down beside her brother and forced herself to watch the game.

The Rebels had lost only once since they got thrashed by the Canadiens, and Reid was a big part of their success. That night against New Jersey, he played like he was out for blood, channeling his raw emotions into a singular intensity that made him an even more formidable competitor. He was both electrifying and terrifying to watch as he dominated at the blue line, forcing opponents into the corners and aggressively shutting down the Devils’ top scorers. He seemed unstoppable as he blasted around the ice, passing the puck to his forwards or leading rushes on the goal himself.

Nadia cringed every time he viciously checked an opposing player, using his body like a battering ram. He talked plenty of trash, clearly spoiling for a fight. When it happened, Nadia sat there perversely hoping he’d get his ass kicked or at least get a tooth knocked out. It’d serve him right.

When the camera panned to him in the penalty box, he wore a brooding expression as he scanned the arena, as if he were searching for someone in the crowd. Nadia wondered if that someone was her.

When a sharp pang of regret shot through her heart, she called herself all kinds of an idiot. She felt like an even bigger fool for getting choked up when Reid scored the game-winning goal. As she sat there watching him celebrate with his teammates, it saddened her to realize that she wouldn’t be around to congratulate him when he scored his three hundredth career goal.

Since Nelson was still covering the hockey beat, he saw Reid after every home game. Nadia knew how hard it was for him to do his job when he sorely wanted to kick the star player’s ass. Fortunately, Reid had gone back to shutting out the media, so he and Nelson barely interacted with each other. But whenever Nelson came home from a game, it was all Nadia could do not to ask him questions about her man.

Ex-man.

At work, she and Emily were two miserable peas in a pod, both of them dealing with their own baggage. After much soul-searching, Emily had decided to keep her baby. But she dreaded the prospect of motherhood, and she wasn’t looking forward to raising a child with her irresponsible boyfriend.

Seeing what she was going through made Nadia feel a lot less sorry for herself.

That is, until she was lying alone in bed at night, her heart and body aching for Reid. She couldn’t sleep, and even when she managed to catch a few restless hours, he haunted her dreams and was on her mind first thing the next morning. She missed having him in her bed. Missed the feel of him inside her, hot and hard, bringing her to an earth-shattering orgasm.

But it wasn’t just his unforgettable lovemaking that she ached for. She missed his company, missed their conversations and warm laughter. She missed meeting his blue eyes across a room or over a candlelit table. She missed hearing his deep voice whispering her name as reverently as though he were reciting poetry. She missed the way he walked, a lazy saunter that contrasted starkly with his explosive speed on the ice. She missed snuggling with him, savoring his masculine scent and the protective strength of his arms around her.

She didn’t feel whole without him. She walked around in a state of numb misery, disconnected from her body and the people around her. She felt like she was missing pieces of her heart. Pieces of her soul.

She wished she’d never met him.

But that was a double-edged sword, because she’d experienced some of the happiest moments of her life with Reid.

And it was because he’d given her so much pleasure that she now felt so much pain.

*              *              *

Late one night
when she couldn’t sleep, she crept out of her room and headed to the kitchen to get a glass of water.

As she passed the living room, she saw Nelson sitting on the sofa. The television was on, but the volume was turned down low. He was staring intently at the screen of his MacBook Pro.

“Hey,” Nadia murmured.

Startled, he quickly slammed down the lid of his laptop and stared at her. “What’re you still doing up?”

“Couldn’t sleep.” Nadia hitched a chin toward the MacBook. “What were you doing? Watching porn?”

He snorted. “Of course not.”

“Yeah, right.”

“I wasn’t,” he insisted.

She gave him a knowing look. “Then why did you close your laptop when you saw me?”

He shrugged. “No reason.”

His evasiveness aroused her curiosity.

“Nels,” she said, her eyes narrowing as she made her way over to the sofa. “What were you looking at?”

He scowled. “Nothing. Damn, why do you have to be so nosy?”

She grinned. “Boy, what’re you hiding?”

“Noth— Hey!” he protested when she snatched his laptop. He jumped to his feet as she quickly backed away, lifting the lid before he could stop her. Her jaw dropped when she saw what was on the screen.

Pictures of engagement rings.

“Oh my God…” She lifted incredulous eyes to her brother’s face. “Does this mean what I think it means?”

Nelson looked sheepish. “Maybe.”

“
Oh. Em. Gee!
” she squealed excitedly. “You’re gonna propose to Bianca!” 

“Hold up,” Nelson said with a laugh. “Don’t get carried away. I didn’t say I was ready to run out and propose to her right this instant. I’m just thinking about it, that’s all.”

“
Seriously?
You’re looking at engagement rings at one o’clock in the freakin’ morning! I’d say you’re
way
past the ‘thinking about it’ stage!”

“Maybe I am.” Nelson chuckled, taking back his laptop and returning to the sofa.

Grinning, Nadia plopped down beside him. “This is so exciting! I knew you and Bianca were getting pretty serious, but I didn’t realize you were ready to take the next step in your relationship.”

“I want to. I really do. I love Bianca. She’s…” Nelson trailed off with a luminous smile that conveyed more than any words could.

Nadia’s heart melted into a puddle of warmth. “Aww,” she cooed, leaning over to kiss his cheek and give him a hug. “I’m so happy for you and Bianca.”

“Thanks, Nadi. I really appreciate that.” His smile turned rueful. “But you might want to hold off on the congratulations until I’m ready to propose.”

“And when will that be?”

“I don’t know,” Nelson admitted. “The timing has to be right. I mean, good things are starting to happen for me. I’m supposed to be having lunch next week with the sports editor at
The Denver Post
. And I made a few contacts at ESPN and
Sports Illustrated
, so I’m hoping to get an interview with one of them. Both would be even better.”

“So, basically, you’re waiting to land a better job before you propose to Bianca.”

“Well, yeah.” Nelson sighed. “You know she makes more money than me.”

Nadia nodded wisely. “And that intimidates you.”

“Yeah, low key. I want to give her nice things, but I’m not in a position to do that right now.” He grimaced, gesturing to the laptop screen. “I can’t even afford a nice engagement ring. They’re so damn expensive.”

Nadia snorted. “Well, duh, if you’re trying to buy one from freakin’ Tiffany.”

“It’s not just Tiffany,” Nelson said wistfully. “I’ve been looking at a bunch of other places, and their rings are pretty expensive too. For places like Harry Winston and Tiffany, they don’t even list their prices. You have to make an appointment. But I was on a forum where people were talking about some two-carat diamond ring from Harry Winston that cost $140,000!”

Nadia made a face. “That’s ridiculous.”

“Tell me about it! I almost swallowed my damn tongue. And that was just for two carats. Imagine how much more expensive the bigger diamonds are.” Nelson shook his head dejectedly.

Nadia felt a surge of pity for him. “C’mon, Nels. You’re a sportswriter at a small newspaper. No one expects you to give Bianca an engagement ring from Harry Winston.”

“I know,” he said glumly, “but I don’t want to give her just any ol’ basic ring with a microscopic diamond. I want her ring to be amazing. Special.”

Nadia smiled softly. “It’ll be special because it came from you.”

“I guess.” Nelson didn’t look or sound convinced. “Too bad I’m not balling like—” He caught himself, cleared his throat and glanced away from her.

She swallowed hard. “It’s okay, Nelson. I’m not going to fall apart if you say Reid’s name. See? I just said it, and I didn’t break down sobbing.”

Nelson was silent.