Chapter 11: Home Game: Chapter 11

I GOT BACK on the elevator and felt so pissed, I couldn’t speak. The thought of Zoey being humiliated and shunned by a fucking doorman turned my stomach sour.

I heard a sniffle and glanced over my shoulder at Zoey. Her lips trembled as she struggled with her tears.

Oh shit. “Zoey.”

She shook her head at me, unable to speak.

“He won’t ever disrespect you again. You have my word on that.”

“It’s not that.”

I leaned down, so my face was in front of hers. “What is it? Tell me.”

She swallowed, trying in vain to get her emotions in check. “No one’s ever done that before.”

“Done what?” What the fuck had the guy done to her?

“Stood up for me.”

Complete incredulous disbelief. What kind of life had she lived? I squeezed my eyes shut for a moment. “You’re killing me.”

She shook her head and looked mortified. “I’m not a crybaby. I never cry.”

If there was anyone that deserved to shed a few tears, it was Zoey. Without thinking, I promised her, “We will get you through this, okay?”

She nodded, as another wave of emotion crossed her face. “Can you stop being so nice?”

I stared at her, my expression serious. “No can do.”

She wiped her nose with her sleeve. “Who are you anyway?”

“Funny. I wanted to ask you the same thing.”

The door opened, and I ushered her into the apartment. “You need to get warm.”

Without saying another word, she disappeared into the bathroom.

My phone rang while I made dinner.

“Ryan,” Krista spoke in my ear.

“Krista.”

“How was practice? Are you guys ready for tomorrow night?”

“Probably not.” Our team had some of the best players in the league, but we weren’t even close to being a team. It would be our downfall.

“How is the bonding going?”

It wasn’t. “You know.”

“I gave this some thought. And you need to have a party. Invite the guys over.”

And risk having no one show up? These guys wouldn’t even go out for drinks with me. “I’ll think about it.”

“What about your house guest? Has she left yet?”

“Zoey? No. Why?”

“Well, what are you going to do when you’re gone? You leave tomorrow for Calgary’s game.”

“So?”

“So? You can’t leave her in your apartment alone for three days while you’re on the road.”

I shut my eyes momentarily. “I’m sure she’ll be okay.”

“I’m not worried about her. I’m worried about your apartment. What if you come home and she’s cleared the place out or there are five more of her friends squatting when you get back?”

I glanced over my shoulder. No sign from the washroom. “That will not happen.”

“You need to move her out before you leave.”

“Krista.”

“Ryan.”

I ran a hand through my hair, thinking about Zoey, soaked and standing in the rain. There was no way I was asking her to leave. Not yet. But what would happen if something went wrong? Who would look out for her? “I need to ask you a favor.”

“Ryan, no.”

“Krista, come on. You said so yourself. Just swing by here once. That’s all.”

A beat. “Fine. I’ll drop by once but that’s it.”

“Just make sure she’s okay.”

“I’m doing it to make sure your place is okay.”

“Thank you.”

“By the way, I’ve scheduled some interviews for a PA for you.”

Fuck me. The last thing I needed to deal with was a PA. “For when?”

“Next week. Even better, your PA can plan a party for you.”

I heard the bathroom door open behind me. “We’ll discuss that later.”

“Bye.”

Krista rang off. I turned to see Zoey standing in the living room looking at me. She had dry clothes on and she looked like she had showered.

“Are you hungry?”

She nodded and came forward. I put soup and a sandwich in front of her. Her face was ghost white.

“How many pain pills have you had today?” I asked.

“None.”

“Seriously?”

I handed her a pill and watched her wash it down. I rubbed my face and looked at her.

“You looked stressed,” she said without looking up from her plate. I did not understand how she did that. How could she read what I was feeling without even looking at me?

“I’m leaving for a few days.”

Her head lifted, but she didn’t speak.

“I fly out tomorrow morning, early. We have three pre-season games starting tomorrow night.”

“Oh.”

Silence while I studied her. She looked exhausted and like she was on her last legs.

“So, I will need to pack tonight quick before you head to bed.”

That blue unwavering gaze. Just staring at me.

“What time do you leave?”

I looked at my phone. “I need to be at the airport by 7 AM.”

She nodded.

How was she going to fare here on her own? If something like today happened, she would be screwed. I had a solution, but she wasn’t going to like it. “So, I’m just going to come out and say this.”

“You don’t have to. I’ll leave tomorrow when you do.”

Long beat. “I’m not asking you to leave.”

Another long stretch of quiet between us. “So what were you going to say?”

“I’ve asked Krista to drop by.”

“To check up on me.”

“To make sure you’re okay.”

I was expecting a fight or something, but she only nodded. “Okay.”

THE FIRST GAME was one big ugly brawl which was unusual for a pre-season game. Calgary took a lot of dirty shots and tempers flared on the ice. I got into a tangle with one of their defensemen. O’Hara was a big bruiser who was gunning for a fight, looking for a way to show off his fighting skills. Lucky me, he picked moi to try and take down. It wasn’t pretty, but I managed to stay on my skates and knock him off his. Once I had him on his back, it didn’t get easier, but at least I had a fighting chance. He got his fair share of shots in before the ref pulled us apart. I felt like I had gotten a break when I skated away with just a cut lip.

Despite our best efforts, we lost 5-3. The bus ride back to the hotel was silent.

Krista called as I let myself into my hotel room.

“Hey.”

“I really like her.”

“Who are you talking about?”

“Zoey.”

I looked at my phone for a second to make sure I was actually talking to the real Krista. “What’s going on?”

“Well, I dropped over there after work and guess what she was doing?”

“What?”

“She was scrubbing under your kitchen sink. One hand in a sling, on her knees. When I asked her what she was doing, she said she was trying to find things to do to repay you.”

I stood there frozen. “Seriously? She doesn’t have to do that.”

“That is what I told her. So I ended up ordering dinner and watching the game with her.”

“You did?”

“Yes.”

“At my place?” I tried to imagine Zoey and Krista sitting on the couch over takeout, watching the game. I couldn’t imagine it.

“She doesn’t know a thing about hockey, but when you were in that fist fight with O’Hara, she got upset.”

I was having trouble keeping up with this conversation. “What do you mean upset?”

“Well for a few moments, no one was sure how you would fair in your fight with Goliath, and it glued her to the television. Then, after the fight, when you went to the box, she repeatedly asked me if I thought you were okay.”

Indifferent, prickly Zoey concerned about my well-being. “Really.”

“Yeah, I tried to tell her that this was just part of the hockey world, but she didn’t like it.”

Silence hung between us while I tried to process this conversation. “So, she’s okay?”

“She still looks like shit. I could tell she was in pain so when I left, I made her take a pain pill, but she’s doing okay. I think she was happy to see me.”

“Really?”

“She’s hard to read. But she wasn’t opposed to hanging.”

For the first time since I had left Vancouver, something in my gut seemed to thaw. “Thanks Krista.”

“So, you off to LA tomorrow?”

I yawned. “Yeah. Early flight.”

“How is the team bonding going?”

“Could be better.”

“What did Gordon say about your fight?”

I snorted. “He told me next time I need to skate away.”

“This isn’t LA.”

“You don’t have to tell me that.”

“Okay. Have a good night.”

WE BEAT LA on Thursday night and tied with Edmonton on Friday. By the time our flight rolled into Vancouver it was almost midnight, and it was almost 1 AM before I walked into the apartment. I was expecting Zoey to be in the bedroom, and it wasn’t until after I turned on most of the lights, dumped my luggage and walked towards the kitchen, that I realized she was asleep on the couch.

She was dead to the world. She lay curled up on her side, knees up, her hand tucked beneath her head. I studied her. I had the inexplicable urge to wake her, to talk to her, to ask her how she was doing. Instead, I turned off most of the lights and moved into the kitchen as quietly as possible. There was a plate of plastic-wrapped pizza slices in the fridge, with a note in loopy handwriting.

“In case you’re hungry.”

I put the entire plate in the microwave and reached into the fridge to grab a beer. When I straightened up, she was standing on the other side of the fridge door.

“Shit,” I said, trying not to show that she had spooked me. “I thought you were sleeping.”

Her hair was sticking straight up on one side, like she had gone to bed with wet hair, but this time, two blue eyes stared at me.

“Your eye opened.”

“Did you find the pizza?”

I nodded, and took a sip of my beer, looking her over. She wore black leggings and her hoodie. Her arm was still in the sling. “Sorry I woke you.”

She shrugged and continued to stare at my face. “Is your lip okay?”

My tongue smoothed over the cut on my bottom lip. “No biggie.”

She took a deep breath and let it out, in annoyance.

I set my beer down and grabbed the pizza, putting it on the island. “Want a piece?”

She shook her head.

“Do you want a beer?”

She looked conflicted for a moment and then shook her head. “No thanks.”

“So, you watched one of my games.”

“All three.”

I didn’t see that answer coming. I tried to keep my face neutral. “So, are we going to make a hockey fan of you?”

She shrugged. “Why doesn’t the referee stop the fights?”

“What do you mean?”

“They stood there watching you fight.”

“They are trying to see who gets the penalty and they’re trying not to get hurt.”

“They should have helped you. That guy was bigger than you.”

“He wasn’t that much bigger.”

She rolled her eyes. “He looked huge. I thought he was going to severely hurt you.”

I had to work to not laugh. “Easy. I thought I held my own.”

“What did you say to him to make him want to fight you?”

“I didn’t say or do anything, he’s just their enforcer and he’s trying to prove himself.”

“What’s that?”

“Paid bodyguard. If someone does something to his teammates, he does the fighting for them.”

“Oh, are you the enforcer for your team?”

I almost choked on my beer. “No.”

She was serious when she said, “That’s probably a good thing for you then.”

This chick was slaying me.

“So, how are you doing?”

“Good.”

“Yeah? Did you do anything or go anywhere?”

She sighed and looked like she was debating answering. “I went to the library but without ID, I can’t take any books out. So, I went there a couple of times to read.”

Who was this chick? “They still have libraries?”

She snorted, sarcastic. “Yeah.”

“I thought everyone read books electronically now.”

“Some of us still read the old-fashioned way.”

“What do you like to read?”

“What do you think I like to read?”

I studied her. “I don’t know. Maybe books about serial killers or murder books?”

“Murder books?” she almost looked indignant.

“I don’t know. You look edgy, like you would be into that shit.”

“Huh,” she said. A long pause. “Well, I’m going to bed.”

She was halfway back across the room when the words blurted out of me. “You got plans tomorrow?”

Her shrug was almost indiscernible.

“I could use your help tomorrow.”

“What time do you want me to be ready?”

“Let’s say 9?”

She nodded. I dumped the empty plate and my beer in the sink, not letting myself look at her as I picked up my bags and walked to my bedroom. It took me a few minutes to realize that someone had washed the sheets.

I WOKE up at 8:55 AM.

I sat on the edge of my bed and rubbed my face. It was silent outside my bedroom. Why had I thought I would want to go shopping today? Hopefully, Zoey had also slept in. I pulled on a pair of shorts and walked outside. I wanted to chill out today. Watch some TV. Have some downtime.

Zoey sat at the island, watching my bedroom door. Waiting for me.

“I slept in,” I said as I walked into the kitchen. I needed a coffee like an addict needed his next hit. She would probably be okay if I told her we would go out another day.

“I’ve got your smoothie stuff ready.”

The kitchen was immaculate. She had filled the blender with my smoothie ingredients. I stood there looking at the blender and noticed that she had her boots on. Keeping my word with this chick was suddenly important.

The words tumbled out of my mouth. “Give me 15.”

I TOOK my smoothie to go. We walked down to my SUV. As we got in, I looked over at Zoey.

“Aren’t you curious about where we are going or what kind of help I need?”

“Where are we going?”

“I need furniture.”

She brightened. “We’re going furniture shopping?”

So there was normal female DNA in her. “We are.”

I didn’t want to tell her we were buying bedroom furniture for her. Zoey had weird hang-ups about money. I wanted her unfettered view on what she wanted, regardless of how much it cost.

I pulled up my phone, looking up high-end furniture stores. I wanted to be served an espresso while some very professional sales person organized everything for us.

Curious. “Zoey, if you were going to buy yourself some furniture, where would you go?”

“IKEA.”

I wanted to laugh, but she sounded so serious. IKEA wasn’t even on my radar. I continued to scroll through my phone, “Really? Why?”

“It’s so stylish and modern.” Longing traced her voice.

I looked up at the dreamy look on her face. I rubbed one eye. IKEA on a Saturday morning. With all those people. Not a chance.

“You know, they make you put your own furniture together.”

She giggled. Like a full on, joyful noise. “Yeah.”

I realized that I hadn’t heard her laugh before. “Why do you like IKEA so much?”

“It feels so homey in there.”

“Homey?”

A small shrug. “It feels like a home should feel.”

Oh fuck. Without even knowing it, this chick was hitting all my soft spots. IKEA it was. I glanced in my backseat to make sure I had a baseball hat. “I’m going to need some coffee.”

“They have a cafeteria there. They have every kind of food. Swedish food.”

Again, I wanted to laugh, but her earnest expression had returned so I refrained. “Okay.”