Frozen Barriers (26 page)

The crackle of the pea stone under tires diverts our eyes to the black Lexus pulling around the driveway toward the exit. It keeps moving, never acknowledging either of us. “Anyone you know?” Jeremy asks, nodding his head in the direction of the Lexus.

“That’s just Daddy. He must have needed to confirm my schedule with Mother for the next month. Can’t have bad press for Daddy’s company, now can we? Enough about my sperm donor, I’ll be down in a minute.”

Picking up my bag and jacket, I make my way out the garage door and meet Jeremy at the passenger side of the truck. Reaching around my waist, he pulls me into his body and gives me a soft kiss. Grabbing his flannel shirt, I pull him in closer, trying to intensify our kiss until he pulls back, saying, “I’ve missed you so much this week.”

He takes my hand in his, leading me into the truck. Walking around to get in the driver’s seat, he starts up the engine and Florida Georgia Line blasts through the speakers.
Really, country? Oh, Jeremy, no, no, no.
After turning down the speakers, he grabs something from the backseat. Leaning forward again, he hands me a gift bag. Well, not so much a gift bag as it is a plastic bag with the Monarchs logo on it. Giggling to myself, I unroll the bag on my lap and pull out a Manchester Monarchs jersey with his name and number on it.

“Thank you. Perhaps the necklace would have been enough, but add in the jersey, and the next thing I know, you’re Tarzan and I’m Jane. Or, you’re pissing circles around me, making sure you mark your territory.” I laugh and look over at him as he gives me a narrowed eyed glare. “Not funny. You haven’t met these guys. They will try to make a pass at you tonight if they don’t know you’re mine yet,” he says deadpan.

“Fine, let me just take off my sweater.” Lifting my sweater over my head, I reach over to grab the jersey to put it on as Jeremy’s eyes burn holes in me. “What?” I ask, pushing stray hairs out of my face.

“These bruises on your arms. Are they from Sue’s pole class?” he asks, running his fingers over them.

“Yeah, I told you they were bad. I’m just hoping they go away before Thursday.” I think I’ll need a lot of concealer if they don’t.

Jeremy leans down, placing delicate kisses over the spots and then pulling back to put the truck in reverse. “Might be a good idea to keep the sweater on under the jersey. Just sayin’.”

I let out a frustrated sigh. Guess I’ll be sweating all afternoon now.

The drive to the arena only takes about a half hour. As we make our way into the players’ entrance, a security guard checks our ID’s. Jeremy says it’s all right that I don’t have a pass since I’m with him. Since it is still early, hardly any of the players are here yet, so Jeremy takes it upon himself to give me the grand tour. He shows me the family seats, which his parents and Courtney, will be sitting in later. Josh is working, so I have his ticket.

When it is time for Jeremy to start getting ready for the game against the Devils, he walks me up to the seats and tells me after the game to head down to the security desk, where we entered, and wait for him. He leans down to give me a subtle kiss, and I wish him luck, and in true cheesy Jeremy fashion, he replies, “I don’t need luck; I’ve got you.”

“Har-Har,” I fake laugh.

As he takes off down the stairs toward the players’ bench that leads to the locker room, I hear him say, “Love you, babe.” My breathing hitches. We haven’t seen each other or even mentioned the
love
confession from last week. Sitting down in my seat, I glance up and see Jeremy still standing there, waiting with his arms crossed.

“Love you, too,” I say barely above a whisper. He knows I said it, and he also knows as he walks into the tunnel that it will take more time for me to be comfortable enough to say it in public.

Standing on the ice as “The National Anthem” is about to get underway, I glance up to see my family and Emily engaged in conversation. Courtney is being her usual animated self and flailing her arms about. She’s weird. I’ll never deny that, but it suits her. I’m just uncertain how she’s blood-related. Mom is seated next to Emily, and I can’t tell what they are talking about, but Mom is giving her a long hug and running her hands over her back. Perhaps Emily just told them she’d be leaving tomorrow for three weeks. Almost a whole fuckin’ month. I thought I would be okay with this. I mean, I really didn’t have a choice either. I’ll be on the road with the Monarchs until a few days before she gets home. The situation sucks; there’s no denying any of it. I just hope both of us are strong enough to make this work.

The final words of “The National Anthem” are sung, and as I make my way toward the bench, I get a nudge in my side from Dylan. “Hey, who’s the hot piece of ass with your sister up there?” And, here we go. It’s a good thing I play hockey. If I didn’t already have on my gloves and wasn’t making my way to center ice for the puck drop, I’d check him into the boards and make sure he knows Emily is hands off. So, instead I have to keep my top from blowing off right now.

“That’s my girlfriend, Emily. Hands off. She’s not available,” I scowl as I lean over onto my stick next to the Devils player.

“Dude, she’s Grade-A meat. After you’re done riding that, send her my way, and I’ll show her just how good it can be,” he says dead serious, staring into my eyes. Dylan is a man-whore, and normally I couldn’t care less what sloppy seconds he gets, but my blood is boiling at the moment. I’m also pretty sure it’s against the rules and player conduct to check your own teammate. Guess I’m going to find out soon enough.

The puck drops, and everyone starts racing after it, except me. I have another agenda. The puck sails toward the Devils end of the ice, but I only notice Dylan. Gaining speed, I see him trying to free the puck with his skate against the board, and that’s when I check him in the back. His face hits the glass hard, and he’s lying on his back instantly. I hear whistles in the background. Looking down at Dylan, I kneel and stare him dead in the eyes. “You’ll be smart to know Emily is mine and isn’t going anywhere near you. You so much as breathe in her direction, ever, I’ll have no problem checking you into the glass again. Understood?” Dylan rapidly blinks his eyes and nods in agreement as I rise to my feet and make my way to the players’ bench, hearing Coach yell something at me, but I’m not paying attention. I’m only looking in one place. Emily stares at me with her hands over her mouth as if she’s praying. Giving her a quick nod and smile, I wink and she sits in her seat, knowing it’s all good and normal. I see Dad talking to her, as Mom rubs her back again. She’s in good hands for now. After I’m done making sure all the guys on the team know she’s off limits, it will be my hands she’s in.

At the end of the period, we are winning 2-0. While we make our way back to the locker room, Dylan finds me in the group. “Dude, I’m sorry about before. I swear, had I’d known that girl was a keepa’ I wouldn’t have said anything.” We exchange fist bumps, silently accepting our momentary truce as I make my way over to my locker. For some reason, the words above my locker mean more to me now than they ever have before. “Embrace Your Future.” Emily has always been a part of my past and my present, and I’ll be damned if she’s not going to be there in my future.

Coach walks in as we all are seated on the bench, and although we may be winning, he still looks mad. As he is giving an animated pep talk about things we need to improve for the next period, it doesn’t register with me that everyone is staring at me. I must have been lost in my own head.

“What?” I glance around, thinking I missed something.

At the other end of the bench, I hear Dylan clear his throat. “Don’t mind him, Coach. His girlfriend is in the stands today.” There’s a group groan and a few coughed “pussy whipped” thrown in there for good measure. Coach laughs, realizing that explains a lot as he walks back to the white board to start drawing more plays.

As two more periods pass, I manage to keep my focus on the game. We win 4-1. After the final buzzer goes off, I see Emily walk out with my parents. Courtney must have left early; she sometimes works weekend afternoons at a small bakery to help pay some of her bills. She loves photography, but I’m pretty sure she can take up being a pastry chef any day of the week. She’s that good.

I quickly shower and get my gear packed up and ready to load onto the bus in a couple of days for the road trip. Once I’m certain I’m not forgetting anything, I make my way out to my truck. When I come around the corner to the exit, I have to take a second look. Emily is standing there laughing and carrying on a conversation with Dylan and Bryce.
What the fuck?

Quickening my pace, I am at her side almost instantly wrapping my arm around her waist and nuzzling my lips near her ear. “Don’t make me remind you who you belong to, babe,” I whisper. I feel her hand come up and touch my chest to almost push me away, but I pull her in front of me, so her back is to my front. Eyeing both the guys, I say, “If you two dicks are finished making a play for my girl, we can start heading over to Murph’s for a drink, and you can pick up whatever is
free
over there.” Dylan and Bryce laugh and turn to walk out the door. Emily and I are behind them walking hand in hand. “Did you have fun at the game?” I ask her.

“For my first hockey game, it was fun. Your dad helped explain a lot of the play-by-play that didn’t make sense to me, but I think I understand the basics now. Your dad wasn’t happy when you checked that guy up there into the boards. Wasn’t he on your team?”

“Just marking my territory, babe. It won’t happen again, unless one of those idiots forgets you’re mine.” I nod toward Dylan and Bryce, and Emily laughs.

We have been at Murph’s for about a half hour, listening to the live band they hired. Killer Buzz Float must have been in another town on tour and stopped by. Typically, Murph’s doesn’t have bands play on Sunday nights, but Killer Buzz Float is huge. I mean, like off the charts. The lead singer Letty has some serious chops, but what appears to have grabbed the guys’ attention is the hot raven-haired chick working the stripper pole on stage. I think I saw somewhere that she is with that Rax guy in the band.

I send Dave a quick text about Killer Buzz Float being at Murph’s and rockin’ the bar. He isn’t pissed that he couldn’t make it up for the game; he’s pissed that he’s missing Eve work the pole. Standing at the bar and grabbing a couple more drinks while Emily is in the restroom, I turn back toward the stage and that’s when I see her. Fuck! Her eyes immediately meet mine, and I know there’s no escape route now. Once she’s right in front of me in her pleather skirt and halter top with fake tits hanging out, I want to run.

“Hey, love. I haven’t seen you around here since last season. Care to make another go of it? I could use another good fucking against the wall.” Seriously, how drunk was I that night I thought Avery was attractive? Leaning in and placing her hands on my chest as I take a pull from my beer, she says, “Maybe this time I’ll let you suck the Patron out of my pussy instead of off my tits.” Choking on my beer as I try to ignore her, I see Emily standing right beside me. Fuck! There is no denying she heard every word of that. Well, this just went to hell in a hand basket. Still trying to recover from choking on my beer, I attempt to get Emily’s attention to explain the whole thing. Too late. Avery already catches her staring between the two of us. “You got a starin’ problem, bitch?”

Oh, shit.

“Avery, enough!” I yell as my nostrils flare. Dylan and Bryce hear me from the other side of the bar and must notice Avery standing with Emily and me. They begin walking over toward us just as Emily saddles up to my side and looks at me. “Em, please let me explain.”

She holds up a hand to me as if telling me to just shut it. “Just marking my territory!” she fumes at me. Aww, fuck. She turns toward Avery just as the guys are standing by my side, watching as this all goes down. Her hands are on her hips as she tries to take on Avery. “Listen, skank. I’m pretty sure you’ve had your go with every dick in this bar, but this dick…”
Oomph. And those are my balls she’s got in a vice grip right now. Ease up a little, Emily.
“…this dick is mine, and the only wall you’ll be against is that one when my fist connects with your face if you come near him again.”