Cold as Ice (12 page)

And why did the thought of Luc being hurt scare the hell out of her? She’d gone into this thinking it would be fun, an experience she’d never forget. But it was turning out to be so much more than that. Was it a good thing?

Chapter Eight

A few days later Carter watched helplessly as another goal got by Leo. What was with him today? Normally both of the Intimidators’ goalies were solid and dependable. Leo was anything but dependable today, though. Tom was screaming from the bench, and Carter figured Leo’s night was over. He was right.

The other goaltender, Scott, came in to the game, and the team hunkered down to try to score. They were down by three with a little less than half of the game left. Carter left the ice and collapsed on the bench, pulling much-needed oxygen into his screaming lungs, when he saw a flurry of movement out of the corner of his eye. He and the other guys stood up to see what was happening, but Carter couldn’t see what had caused the commotion.

Then he heard words that made his blood run ice-cold. “Leo’s down! Leo’s down!”

What the fuck did that mean? Leo was on the bench. How could he be down? Play had been away from the bench, so he couldn’t have gotten hit with a puck or something.

He turned to Luc, who was a few inches taller. “Can you see?”

“No. I’m going over there.” Luc hopped over the boards and skated to the opposite end of the bench. He was the captain and Carter wasn’t surprised he wanted to be there if one of the guys was in trouble, which it certainly appeared Leo was. The team doctor scrambled out of the stands. Play had long since stopped, and as Carter looked around at his teammates, he saw expressions ranging from fear to disbelief.

“He just collapsed! Fell backward,” one of his teammates said to another.

“They used the smelling salts and he didn’t even move. Shit,” said another.

Carter knew stuff like this happened—guys collapsing on the bench. Hell, a few years ago Jiri Hudler had almost died in Detroit, and Ondrej Pavelec, a goaltender who was playing in Atlanta at the time, had gone down right in the crease during a game and things had been pretty dicey for him, too.

Shit! Is Leo dying?

He and the other guys had just been to the commitment ceremony for Leo and Scott and their woman, Kelly, a few months ago. He couldn’t die!

“What’s happening?” he demanded to no one in particular.

One of the assistant coaches turned to him briefly. “Looks like he fainted, but they’re not taking any chances.”

Carter chewed on his mouthpiece as he watched and waited. Scott had shouldered his way between everybody and was trying to lean down despite the heavy goaltending equipment he wore. Carter saw Kelly hightailing it toward Leo and shouted, “Kelly’s coming!” He didn’t want her to be unnecessarily upset if Leo didn’t look so good. Carter still couldn’t see the other man and had no idea if he was even conscious.

Scott must’ve heard his shout because he looked into the stands. He held up a hand, presumably to stop her, but Kelly pointed at the usher, who shrugged and helped her down to ice level. Scott’s mask was sitting on the top of his head, and he pulled it off completely now. One of the other guys took it, and then Scott removed his catching glove and blocker quickly. Kelly had knelt down next to Leo, but now she rose and threw her arms around Scott. He caught her, whispering in her ear. Carter couldn’t believe how quiet it had gotten. You could hear a pin drop in the place. He wondered what the fans in the arena and at home were thinking. Maybe when they got Leo upright, the PA announcer would say something. He gulped.
If
they got Leo upright.

Bile rose in his stomach. He wasn’t real close to the guy, but Leo was still his teammate. Carter spun around, looking for Jake. He found him sitting on the bench a few feet away, staring into space.

“Hey, man. I’m sure he’ll be okay.”

Jake looked up, his eyes glazed over. “What?”

“I’m sure he’ll be okay.”

“I hope so.” He rose and jerked his head toward Kelly and Scott. “Look at them. I want that. I want Eva to care enough to come racing down the stands if I’m hurt.”

Carter’s brain went into overdrive. Did Jake want Eva to love them? “But it’s just sex, right? We’re just having fun?”

“I thought so, but this is making me reconsider. I might want more.”

Carter moved his mouthpiece to the other side. “More? You mean like what Leo and Scott have with Kelly?”

“Maybe. I dunno, man. I was happy, but now I just feel like an ass. What are we doing with her?”

Luc skated back to them. Placing his gloved hands on the dasher board, he said, “He’s conscious. They’re gonna take him back to the trainer’s room and then probably to the hospital. He doesn’t remember what happened.”

“Well, shit,” Jake said.

“Yep.” Then Luc stood straight and looked at the team. “We’ve gotta shake this off, boys. We’re down by a pair still and there’s not much time left on the board. Let’s win one for Leo!”

The guys nodded, sitting back down. The announcer did make a brief announcement, and play resumed. None of them were engaged in the game, though, they were all too worried about their fallen teammate. Not surprisingly, they lost the game. Afterward, they shuffled back to the locker room, where they were told Leo had gone to the hospital for testing a short time ago and they didn’t know when they’d have another update. Nobody seemed in a hurry to get home, and most of the team ended up at a popular bar a few blocks away from the arena.

It was a Thursday night, so the place was busy, but the patrons gave them a wide berth. The players all sat there drinking beer and talking quietly while they waited for word on their goaltender. Carter finally pulled out his phone to make sure he had battery and saw several voicemails and texts from Eva.

“Hey, guys,” Carter said, tapping both Jake and Luc, “Has Eva been trying to get a hold of you guys, too?”

Both men shrugged, digging into their pockets for their own phones.

Luc sighed. “Yeah. She’s been trying to call me. I forgot to turn the ringer back on after the game ended.”

“Me, too,” Jake replied. He looked up at Luc and Carter. “Think we should call her?”

“My last thing from her came in nearly a half hour ago,” Carter said. “You?”

“Same.”

“Luc?”

“Yeah, same.”

Carter pinched the bridge of his nose, debating what to do. “It’s almost 1:00 a.m. She’s probably gone to bed by now.”

“But what if she hasn’t? What if she’s staying up, waiting for word? Surely she’s calling because she heard about Leo.”

Carter shook his head. “She’s got clients tomorrow. She wouldn’t stay up.”

“I dunno. I think we should at least send her a text or something,” Jake argued.

Carter knew Jake would keep bugging them about it until they agreed. “Fine, but just one text. Shit, we’re gonna be zombies for practice tomorrow, and we’re leaving for Nashville right after that. What a mess.”

Jake was tap-tap-tapping on the tiny keyboard on his phone, and Carter decided he was glad they’d contacted her. He didn’t want Eva worrying about Leo or about them. She had enough on her plate. Carter didn’t know how she did it—kept her business humming along, getting busier all the time, while still seeing the three of them. He began to feel guilty about the sleep they’d caused her to lose over the past few weeks. He didn’t regret it, though. The sex had been some of his best ever.

He looked over at Jake. As if his friend sensed his stare, he looked up. “What?”

“I was just thinking about what you said earlier.”

Luc turned to look at the two of them. “What did Jake say earlier?”

“That maybe this thing with Eva isn’t just sex,” Jake responded. “And that when I watched Kelly with Leo and Scott tonight, I realized maybe I want that, too.”

“I’ve been feeling the same way,” Luc admitted. “But she hasn’t asked for a commitment.”

“If you were screwing three guys at once would you ask for a commitment? I’m sure she thinks we’re just playing with her, having a good time,” Carter explained. “After all, we said it didn’t have to be anything heavy. But I feel like it’s not real casual right now either, and I’m not sure how I feel about that.” Jake and Luc were both in their early thirties, whereas he was only twenty-seven. He knew Eva was around his age and wondered what she wanted. She’d mentioned being young and single. Maybe Luc and Jake were barking up the wrong tree with wanting to make this thing serious.

“You’re not sure how you feel about it being more than just a good time?” Luc asked. “And what exactly does ‘more’ mean, anyway?”

“We need to think about this,” Jake said. “She deserves a well-thought-out approach, no matter what we decide to do.”

“Okay, so what are we talking about?” Luc asked. “A relationship like Leo and Scott have with Kelly? They said Kelly’s trying to get pregnant. Do we want to have children with Eva?” Carter shuddered and Luc laughed. “Is that a no?”

“It’s a ‘not right now.’ Seriously, guys, I’m not sure if I even want to be exclusive with her. You guys are miles ahead of me.”

“Fair enough,” Luc responded. “Leo and Scott have their apartment, and I know Kelly moved in there. We all have separate places. How would we work things if it got more serious?”

A couple of the guys came by the table on their way out, so conversation halted for the moment, but when they were alone again, Jake spoke. “How serious do we really think we are? I mean, do we just think it’s a little more than lust, or are you guys falling in love with her? Can you see being with her for the rest of your lives?”

“I can,” Luc answered.

Both men turned to look at Carter. He shrugged. “I’m not sure. I’m younger than you guys are, and I’m not positive I’m ready to set up shop with a white picket fence and a minivan in the driveway.”

Luc choked on his beer. “A minivan? No fuckin’ way I’m
ever
getting a minivan.”

Carter sat back. It was kinda nice to be sitting here joking even with everything that was going on. “Okay, a station wagon then. Those come with a free cock chop.”

“A cock chop?” Luc sputtered out as he continued to cough.

“You know, where they chop your cock off. You won’t need it if you have a station wagon anyway.” He couldn’t help the grin that crept up.

Jake shook his head. “You’re horrible. You’re a horrible, horrible person, you know that?”

“Whatever. Hey, my cock is important to me.”

“Trust me, every man’s cock is important to him,” Luc replied. “And why are we talking about cocks?”

“We were talking about Eva, but this douche bag”—Jake punched Carter in the arm—“got us off track.”

“I say for now we just play it cool, see what happens, especially if Carter’s not on board with it going further right now,” Luc suggested. “Hey, did she reply to the text?”