Jase (23 page)

“Gonna share what started the Jack-
valanche
?” Jase manipulated the pull-cord again, dragging the curtains closed.

“Talking about Ree,
Biannac
’s sister,
Mareena
. She’s the one who got away,
ya
know?” This last was called through the open entrance of the bathroom as the door closed, effectively shutting down the conversation.

Headed back to Fort Wayne after the game, Jase tried to take advantage of the quiet on the bus, stretching his legs into the stairwell next to the front row and closing his eyes with a sigh.
He was ready to get some sleep, but hated the
stuffy
bunks in the back of the bus. Hearing a body fall into the seat next to him, without opening his eyes, he said, “Go away.”

“Nope,” Lee’s voice said from beside him.

“Yeah. Go away,” he repeated. After the wake-up call the previous night, then the pounding he took in the game tonight, he desperately wanted to sleep for a while. They would be back in the Fort by three a.m. and he would be in his bed by
three-thirty
, but they had a game that night at home. “Cap’n, if I don’t sleep, I’m gonna be shit tonight,” he said, cracking one eye to look over at Lee.

“I wanted to apologize again for last night,” Lee said.

Recognizing the signs of a conversation that couldn’t be derailed, Jase scooted around until he was sitting sideways in the seat. Leaning tiredly against the window, he said
quietly
, “Tell me about Ree.”

“She was a year ahead of me at Boston, a triple threat. Stop-the-presses pretty, off-the-charts smart, and shut-the-door funny. My scholarship didn’t cover much, so I was working at the coffee shop on campus. Between rink time and
classes,
I didn’t have a lot of time to socialize, and working cut into that pretty hard. She came into the shop and ordered the same thing every day. Every day, she would take her coffee, sit at the same table, and open her books to study.” Lee leaned his head back and smiled.

“After a couple of weeks, I found out we were taking a couple of the same
classes,
but on different days. We exchanged names and numbers and she became my study buddy. She was serious about her grades, and kept us on track most of the time, but
damn
if she didn’t have the prettiest smile. After I
got
to know her,
all I wanted to do
was make her smile. I’d turn the entire shop upside down if I
could get
her to smile. She was nervous around me at
first,
because I had a bad reputation in school up to that point; Boston is where the Duke thing started, you know?” Jase nodded.

“It got pretty serious, at least as serious as college kids get. By the
time
spring rolled around, she was spending more time in my room than her own. At
break,
I went home with her, met the family—with the exception of her brother, who was up in Canada in the juniors.”

“Things were good before that visit, but after we had
got
back on campus, she pulled away. There were lots of excuses about class and studying, helping out a friend...that sort of thing. Then one night, she showed up at my room beat up and bloody. She wouldn’t talk to me, and when she passed out in my arms, I freaked out. I called her parents and they came down, took her home. I know they believed me when I said I didn’t have anything to do with it, but she wouldn’t tell any of us what happened.”

He sighed. “She withdrew from school. Wouldn’t return my calls. Her dad finally told me to stop phoning, that she didn’t want to talk to me.
Biannac
never said, but I know he thinks I hit her. I’d never do that, man. She meant everything to me, and what happened swept that away. It pulled the rug out from under my feet.”

Rubbing his hands over his face, he leaned forward in the seat, looking out the windshield at the limited world illuminated by the headlights of the bus. “Ree was gone out of my life. The one who got away.”

“Did you ever find out what really happened?” Jase asked, thinking he already knew the answer.

“Yeah. It was a local boy. She had been tutoring him and he was coming on to her. I think he…
raped
her, then held that over her to make her spend time with him. I never knew what was happening. We didn’t sleep together except the one time after we got back from spring break. Looking back, I should have known something, should have seen what was going on, but we were finishing up the season and everything was crazy, and I let her push me away. I found out
afterwards
and took care of him.”

Jase nodded. “Did you tell her dad?”

“Yeah, I told him she didn’t have to worry, that I took care of it. He thanked me and hung up.” Lee turned his head to look at Jase. “I loved her.”

“Loved or love?” Jase questioned him.

“Love, man. Present tense.”

“Wise woman told me not long ago that excuses aren’t allowed. If you love her, then find her and tell her. Take a fucking chance, man.” Jase sat up straighter in the seat. “Don’t let circumstances rob you of that. Take the shot.”

Home ice is the best
, Jase
thought
as he skated around the rink holding his stick high in the air after their win. He had been in Fort Wayne for nearly two months now, and looking into the arena stands, he saw several jerseys with his number. That was good, seeing the folks who had spent their money on a jersey and then chose to have his name and number put on it, and he made sure to wave
to
the fans. All night long, he felt eyes on him, and if he were gaining in popularity here, that would make sense.

Ready to head home after changing, he was joking with Lee and another player as they walked through the tunnel and out the door into the parking lot. They planned to head
for
a local sports bar where members often gathered, but he wanted to go home for some veg-time in front of the flat screen. There were several fans staking out the area with autograph requests, so Jase moved aside, letting his teammates take the lead. Stepping around the cluster of bodies, he was surprised to hear his name called and turned back to see a tall, leggy blonde walking towards him.

Just his height in her heels, she reached
out
a casual
hand
and tousled his
hair
as if she thought they were friends. Without smiling, he reached up and pulled her hand off him, because he had no desire for company tonight.
Or ever
, he
thought,
unless it’s DeeDee
. Clasping her hand in both of his, he shook it quickly, saying, “Thanks for your support. Means a lot for the new guy from out of town.”

She swayed closer and he bit back a groan, realizing that she wasn’t going to be dissuaded as
quickly
as that. “Jason,” she purred, pressing into his side as he turned his body to avoid the full frontal assault at least.

“Yeap, that’s my name.” He laughed and stepped
backwards
, finding himself up against the outer wall of the building. “Did you have something for me to sign?” Perhaps he could get her on her way by being obtuse. He rolled his eyes, thinking,
She probably doesn’t know what
obtuse
means
.

“Skating around on that ice all night looks like hard work, and ice is cold.” She leaned close again, whispering into his ear, “I could warm you up, give you a massage, take the edge off.”

“Sweetie, no offense, but I’m not up for
company
tonight.” Direct and to the point was the way to go with this one, and he waited for her to move away. When she didn’t, he continued, “My teammates might have other ideas, but I’m not on the block, honey.”

Something brushed against the front of his suit pants, and he looked down to watch as her hand first cupped his groin, and then gripped his hardening cock through the fabric. “This tells a different story, Jason,” she said.

“Yeah, well, little Jase doesn’t get his way very often, so don’t listen to what he’s telling you.” He twisted sideways, reaching down to grab her wrist firmly, pulling her hand away. Seeing a flash of movement out of the corner of his eye, he turned his head to see someone rapidly retreating. Recognizing the sway of those hips and that head of red hair, he groaned.

There was a protesting, “Hey!” from behind him as he pushed the blonde away, taking off across the lot after DeeDee.

“DeeDee, wait,” he called as he ran to catch up
with
her, settling into a fast walk beside her as they moved across the lot towards fan parking in the front. “Wait,” he said again, reaching out a hand to touch her arm. She stopped so suddenly he stumbled and had to turn around, having passed her with his long, hurried strides.

“Hey,” he said softly. Looking into her face, he saw the glint of tears on her lashes and his heart clenched. Blinking furiously, she swallowed and lifted her chin, meeting his gaze straight on.

“Hi, Jase,” she said
cheerfully,
as if she hadn’t just been about to cry.

He took a long look, drinking his fill of her. He hadn’t seen her in six weeks. Six long
weeks,
and Jase saw she had lost back the little bit of weight she gained when they were together. He thought she looked too skinny again, beginning to lose the soft curves he loved. Arms crossed over her chest, she had her fingers tightly wrapped around her biceps, the tension in her hands giving lie to the smile on her face. He lifted a hand to stroke her cheek and she stepped back, out of reach, her reaction twisting his heart in his chest again.
What? She can’t even stand my hands on her now?

“You came to the game?” He didn’t know what else to say, what to ask. He knew what he wanted: he wanted her to
come
home with him, let him wrap her up…
let
him love her. His mouth was full of those words, his tongue frozen with fear.
God
, just having her this close was
good,
and he didn’t want to do anything to send her running again.

“Yeah, the radio station gave me some tickets for advertising the club.” Smiling politely, she took another step back and to the side, trying to shift around him but he moved with her.

“Oh, promo tickets. Nice. Were they decent seats?”
Doesn’t she know I’d get her tickets to every game if she wanted?
He should do that anyway, have them at the ticket office for every home
game
. That way he would know by looking if she was in the arena.

“Yeah, on the glass behind home net. You played a lot.” The first hint of a real smile crossed her face. “You look
good
.”

“The team seems to suit me,” he agreed. “You look good too, baby.”
Crap
,
he thought when he saw her flinch as if slapped when the endearment slipped out.
Don’t do that again, man.

“It’s good to see you, Jase,” she said, stepping back again. Clearly preparing to leave, she shifted further around him and he turned to track her movements.

“DeeDee,” he was frantic now to keep her talking, keep her here…keep
her
. Casting around for a topic, he latched onto the most recent thing he knew had happened in her life. “How’s Ruby?”
There, look at that; her real smile is back.
He relaxed minutely.
I picked a good topic.

“She’s good. Seems recovered from everything. Things could have gone a different way, so we’re all glad she’s better.” Her gaze dipped then rose again, “Slate loves her.”

“Yeah, he does, eh?” He smiled, thinking about how crazy Slate was for Ruby. “It’s still a good thing between them, eh?”

She laughed, and his breath caught in his throat at the sound, bright, clear, and mirthful, so…her. “Well, Ruby’s happy, and that’s all I care about. I love seeing her smile again. You don’t know what she was like before the accident, but this is as close to that as she’s been for years.” She looked wistful, and Jase was thrown off balance that he hadn’t been with her to see all of this as it happened. He would love to be there every day. His heart twisted again and he frowned, thinking,
I do still love her. I love her.

“So, how’s work?”
Yeah, you’re officially floundering for conversation starters now
. Next would be the weather. He groaned silently.

“Work is about the same.” She flashed him a grin. “Mercy asks about you sometimes. Said you were the shyest guy she had ever seen in a strip club. I have a new girl auditioning in a couple of weeks; she’s coming up from Florida. It’s nice. Really nice,
because,
for a change, everything is running smoothly, which
kinda
makes me want to find some wood to knock on so I don’t jinx myself.”

“Mercy’s a jackass,” he grumbled, grinning. Leaning over, he offered his head. “Here’s my thick head; you can knock on that. It’s as good as wooden.”
He held the pose, looking down to watch her legs and feet, and he saw them angle as she leaned forward a second before her hand settled on his head. Her fingers delicately threaded through his hair to the back of his neck, tracing the skin there softly. Then he lost the heat of her hand as she made a fist and gently rapped her knuckles on top of his head.

Straightening slowly, he caught a look of pain on her face before she smoothed it away, plastering that damn fake smile back on. “There you go,” he said softly. “Crisis averted. You are officially un-jinxed.” Her smile faded, and an uncertain look took its place, making her look open and vulnerable. She opened her mouth to say something, when the loud clicking of heels came from across the lot behind him. Her eyes darted over his shoulder, and with a slam he could almost hear, the shutters drew across her features again.

“I have to go. It was good to see you, Jase.” She turned on her heel and walked away.

“DeeDee,” he called, taking two steps to follow her, when a hand wrapped itself around his arm, pulling him to a stop.

“You left me.” The blonde pouted, and he nearly shouted with frustration.