Closing The Gap (Dangerous Pasts, #1) (30 page)

He kept Lake in front of him as they descended the steep cement stairs to their seats.  As he stared out over the chilly surface of the ice, he found he looked forward to the coming evening and cheering on his team.  He didn’t get to be a spectator often in the stands, relegated to a box if he attended a game for his own safety.  Now, being retired and never playing for the Coyotes, this should be okay.  If anything, they might throw a beer at his head.  He’d take one for the team but if the Coyote fans started haranguing the other three, all bets were off.  It probably didn’t help that Lake sported his jersey and his name in bold letters like a beacon in the night. 

Chuck navigated the row first and then Lake, so Summer and he could sit together.  He wanted Lake sandwiched in between them.  She still looked irate, her face a cold mask of granite.  He wondered if Trash had spotted them yet.  His phone hadn’t vibrated inside his pocket so he doubted it.  He swallowed his beer in a couple of gulps, then turned to Summer and gave her a wink only the two of them could see.

“I’m going to grab another beer and hit the men’s room.”

“Sounds great.  Can you bring me a bottle of water to go with my Mountain Dew?  These nachos with cheese are hot.”

“Not as much as you are, hot pocket!”

He’d placed his foot on the first step when he heard Lake’s frantic voice behind him causing him to glance back over his shoulder.

“Where is he going?”

“He’s going to get me a bottle of water and another beer for himself.  Do you want me to put a leash on him?”

In response, Lake snuggled into her seat as if it could camouflage her so she couldn’t be seen.  Ryan knew Lake thought he was up to something and probably hoped it wouldn’t be a public spectacle.  She’d do her level best not to face Josh tonight, but if it happened, it needed to be in private.  He wished he could set her mind at ease about deliberate embarrassment but didn’t want to give her any excuse to leave the arena. 

He turned around and climbed the steps two at a time.  As Ryan reached the top, he dialed Trash from the recents on his iPhone.  He decided against going to the press box in person.  Doing that would take too long and Lake would expect something coming that she needed to avoid.  He wanted to keep the evening calm and easy for as long as possible.

“Roberts, what’s up?  I’m doing pre-work before the broadcast.  I haven’t been able to look out yet and find you.”

“Trash, there’s good news and bad news.  Which would you like first?”

“The good.”

“The good news is that she’s here.  On the drive over, she accidentally admitted she ordered the NHL Network this season and she’s been watching you.  She knew the Blackhawks were in town tonight so our plan did get slightly waylaid and she’s pretty pissed at the blatant deception.  Your dad had to lock the car doors to keep her from jumping out onto the freeway.  I didn’t let her escape, though, and we’ve got her body locked into her seat.”

“If that’s the good news, I’m afraid to hear the bad news.”

“The bad news is that she looks horrible.  She’s so skinny and frail.  I barely recognized her.  Kind of like someone else I know.”  Ryan left the implication hang there between them.

“Shit.  I just need to get this done then so I can plump her back up.  I’m fond of her old body.”

“Don’t be too disappointed if you don’t see it tonight and whatever you do, don’t let it show on your face.  She’s pretty fragile physically and emotionally.  She’d grasp at anything to reject you again.  It’s going to be your toughest challenge ever to pick through the stone wall she’s erected.  If you thought her first one was bad, this one looks like the work of ten thousand expert masons.  Are we still on for the first period intermission?”

“We’re on.  Are you prepared?”

“As I’ll ever be.  Summer plans on using the ladies room as an excuse to leave so it will just be me, Lake and your Dad down there.  She says she’s not yet ready for prime time.”

“Excellent, I’ll see you after the game.  Thanks Tree Rat, you don’t know what this means to me.”

“Actually, I do.  You two pathetic losers need to end the needless suffering of yourselves and everyone around you.  Get it done.”

He hung up the phone and hit the men’s room.  On the way back to the stairs, he grabbed another beer and Summer’s water.  Once he returned to their row, relief coursed through him to find Lake still seated.  Her beautiful face sported a look that said she’d rather be facing the gallows than this hockey game.  Fine, he had no problem posing as the executioner but wouldn’t hide his face under a black hood, even for her.

He checked his watch again and found it was game time.  Being a natural hockey fan, Lake couldn’t help herself and started to enjoy the game.  He even caught her cheering and smiling at times.  He sensed it killed her to have them near so she couldn’t stare up into the press box without getting caught.  When would these two throw the foolish pride to the side?  The fact that she remained so angry and scared solidified in his mind what he already knew.  She still loved Trash.  The opposite of love was indifference.  Apathy would never be the word used to describe how Lake Harrison behaved tonight.

A puck hit the glass hard and caused a dangerous crack.  The arena crew made the necessary repair during the break in the action.  He heard the familiar notes of “Kiss Me” come over the loud speakers.  The media team utilized the kiss cam to keep the fans engaged during a lull.  Summer tried to distract Lake by pointing up at the giant media screen showing a woman with her young son who must have been ten years old.  She pecked the little boy on the cheek which caused the fans to sing out a chorus of ‘cutes’.

****

A
s she turned back towards her left, Summer noticed Lake’s face had become frozen in shocked silence.  That couldn’t be what Josh had planned?  A reunion via the kiss cam?  If he thought that would work, he was mistaken.  That strategy would send her conservative sister straight over the edge and she could have warned him to avoid the fall out.  Lake did not like public displays that might embarrass her in front of people she didn’t know, let alone the entire Coyote fan cotillion.

She glanced up again at the jumbo tron and grinned as she realized the screen featured Ryan and not Josh.  Someone must have tipped off the camera man that Ryan sat in the stands with two beautiful women.  Without warning, he wrapped his strong, muscled arms around her body and his mouth swooped in to capture hers.  This kiss wouldn’t be g-rated like the mother and sons had been.

For a delicious moment, she forgot she stood in a crowded arena as his full lips masterfully captured hers and she felt his rock hard body pressed against her for the first time from head to toe.  The crowd erupted into a loud storm of whistles and cat calls which broke the spell.  Even Lake jumped up and clapped.  Holy shit, a crazy sensation out of nowhere took hold over her entire body.  Where had it come from?  She had always been the one in complete control.

J
osh searched through his high powered binoculars during a glass repair and commercial break and learned that his friend’s declaration hit it dead on.  She looked like hell.  In spite of the skinny body and dark circles, he still found her beautiful, more than any other woman he’d ever seen.  Her willfully wearing Roberts’ jersey rubbed him raw.  He wanted to rip it off her body and tear it to shreds.  Even though he and Roberts had both agreed to have her put it on so he could find her more easily from the booth, it still burned like a punch to his gut that it wasn’t one of his game jerseys.  Someday, she’d be in United and ADAMS would be branded across her back and his ring would be back on her finger. 

The physical ache gave away how much he missed her and it took everything he had not to run down the steps and sweep her up into his arms.  He knew her too well and recognized the moment he saw her again that their conversation must take place in private.  He had faith in his dad, confident that he’d get her up to the box after the game ended.  Now, as the period came to a close, it became time for Kevin to set the stage by working his magic.  Kevin possessed such a wonderful affability.  Those talking to him found him impossible to refuse.  He planned on using his connection with Lake to their advantage.  If Kevin’s unique scheme worked, Josh would remain forever in his debt.

Content to stare at her all night, he snapped out of his reverie when the crowd began some frenzied screaming. 
What the hell ... no action transpired during a commercial.
  Maybe a fight had broken out in the stands.  He glanced at the jumbotron just in time to see Roberts lay a passionate kiss on the unsuspecting Summer Harrison.  Go, Roberts!  He knew something had developed between those two.  Josh hoped for their sakes and Lake’s it wouldn’t just be a one night stand or a couple of booty calls.  He planned to have a talk with Roberts.  It’d be awkward if he used Summer for sex and then cut her loose.  He should be keeping their friendship in mind and not his overactive dick.  Although, Summer could hold her own.  Roberts might have finally met his match.

The vocal countdown from his producer indicated they were going back live in a few seconds.  Josh struggled to focus.  Announcing this game sucked.  It was by far the most difficult time he’d ever had staying sharp.  He had an uncanny ability to compartmentalize when his life became out of balance, but this time, his future happiness hinged on this night.  He’d found it beyond challenging to keep that trepidation off of his face and out of his voice.

Thank God the camera rarely rested on him alone and Kevin easily could carry him.  If he thought Lake looked bad, he’d had Heather from hair and make-up chide him multiple times in the past weeks, begging him to get more sleep.  She lamented she only had so many tricks to get him camera ready and he made her job difficult.  Uncomfortable talking about the living hell that constituted his current existence, he’d divulge more than he wanted to if he mentioned it to his colleagues.

Faster than he believed possible, the horn sounded marking the end of the first period and Kevin gathered up his microphone and talked strategy with their number one cameraman, Jack Swanson.

“Kevin, thanks so much for agreeing to do this.  I own you one.”

“Trash, I would do anything for you and Lake.  It’s obvious that you belong together.  After so many years of happy marriage, I know these things.”

Josh still worried Kevin’s confidence was misplaced.  “Good luck.  I’ll be watching on the monitor.”

****

S
ummer excused herself at intermission to go to the ladies room.  Lake knew why, she’d downed a large Mountain Dew and an entire bottle of water.  She decided to stay put, not desirous to risk a run in with Josh who probably scrutinized her every move from the press box like a raptor surveying the ground from his nest.  Chuck turned towards her so he could make conversation.

“It’s so great to see a game from this vantage point again.  Kathy and I used to look forward to seeing Joshua play his games all throughout high school and college from the stands.  There’s nothing like it.  Then, when he was drafted into the NHL, that stopped.  The team always thought it best if friends and family didn’t go out and sit amongst the normal fans.  They worried for our safety.  I never thought it was any big deal.  I enjoy the energy down here.  Don’t you?”

“Absolutely.  My family had season tickets to the Minnesota North Stars for years.  It’s difficult not to love hockey when you live in Minnesota.  I’ve loved it since I was twelve years old and I used to go to my cousin’s games with my grandpa.  I have to admit though, I’m still bitter over the North Stars getting sold to Dallas and the Met Stadium being imploded to make way for the Mall of America.  The Minnesota Wild just aren’t the same.  I can distinctly remember when the North Stars were in the Stanley Cup finals in 1991.”  Lake’s face became melancholy as she reminisced.  Those were joyful days, full of warm memories.  Before Buck had taken everything from her.

Lake sat still and awaited Chuck’s next comment.  They both became distracted by a commotion behind them and the bright light from a television camera glared over their heads.  As she glanced over one shoulder, her heartbeat exploded into a full blown gallop and she couldn’t stop the involuntary quivers of her panicked body. 

Relief flowed over her when she saw Kevin stood next to her right shoulder and not Josh, to interview Ryan.  They probably needed intermission entertainment for the Chicago fans.  Since Josh was the color man and Kevin called the play by play, this scenario was out of the norm.  Josh sending Kevin to do this interview in his place must represent the calm before the storm.  She knew the face off would come later and it wouldn’t be on the ice.

“Good evening Hawks fans, Kevin Winters, honored to be on the air.  I have a special treat for you tonight.  I’m here at Jobing.com arena in Arizona where our own Chicago Blackhawks lead the Arizona Coyotes by a score of two to one at the end of the first period.  Here with me, is retired Hawks center, Ryan Roberts.  To his left is my personal friend, the beautiful Lake Harrison, Craps shooter extraordinaire and none other than Chuck Adams, father of our very own Trashman, Josh Adams.  Ryan, I’m thrilled to have you here with us at intermission.  Thanks so much for agreeing to talk to us this evening.”

“Kevin, it’s a privilege to be here and cheer on my team.  I haven’t been down in the stands watching the action for so long that I had forgotten what it felt like.  What a rush!”

“What brings you here to Arizona, Ryan?”

“Well, Kevin, I flew in this morning to visit my great friends the Harrisons and my second father here, Chuck Adams.  They live in Scottsdale.  My friend, Lake, is well known for her Arabian horses.  She’s also a Minnesota Wild fan since she’s Minnesota born and bred but we won’t hold that against her.”