Las Vegas Sidewinders: Drake (Book 2) (32 page)

Pushing the depressing
thoughts aside, he walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist,
kissing the side of her face. She turned to him with her beautiful smile and he
forgot all about Marco Rousch and the SHL.

“Hi!” she breathed.
“I’m sorry about the game.”

“Nothing I could do,”
he said lightly.

She stared up at him
curiously. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” He
shrugged. “It’s a bummer it had to end this way, but this team is going to be
dangerous next season.”

“You were awesome!” she
whispered, leaning up to kiss him. “You were undefeated this season.”

He smiled down at her.
“It was only 17 games.”

Kate was like a breath
of fresh air in his life. With her full, pouty lips and beautiful round ass, he
could lose himself in her all day long. It killed him when she put herself
down, asking if he thought her dress was too tight or if her legs looked fat.
He loved her body and cringed every time her mother called and lectured her
about her weight. He wished her mother and sister would just leave her alone;
every time they called, it would take him at least a day or two to make her
believe that he loved her body just the way it was. He hated seeing her unhappy
because she brought him so much pleasure.

“You want to get out of
here?” Kate asked, sliding her hand into his.

“Yeah, I’m beat.” He
ran his hand through his long blond hair and pulled her towards the door.

There was a commotion
ahead of them as a film crew made their way into the lounge. Somewhere behind
the mélange was a tall blonde, smiling brilliantly for the camera. She strode
into the room as if she owned it, waving to several players and winking at
Marco, who for once seemed as baffled as everyone else.

“Karl!” The blonde
strode towards him purposefully and Kate heard Karl mutter, “You have got to be
kidding me,” just as the woman reached him and threw her arms around his neck.
She pressed her lips to his as flashbulbs exploded around the room.

Kate’s mouth fell open
and she took an inadvertent step back, pulling her hand from Karl’s.

“What the hell are you
doing?!” Karl hissed under his breath, stepping away from the blonde and
glaring at her. He was always acutely aware of his behavior in front of the
press, but he really wanted to slap his ex-girlfriend.

She turned to smile at
the camera. “Say hello, Karl! I’m taping a new reality show!”

“Okay, no one got
permission to film anything in here. Excuse me!” Becca Hernandez, the head of
Media Relations for the Sidewinders, stepped in front of Karl with a scowl that
reflected she meant business.

The blonde narrowed her
eyes at Becca. “Excuse me—I’m Karl’s guest! Tell them, darling!”

Karl arched his
eyebrows in annoyance. “Therese, I haven’t spoken to you in years. I had no
idea you were coming tonight; you’re not my guest.”

“I think you need to
go,” Becca said quietly, also aware that the press would be paying close
attention, and trying not to make a scene.

“Karl, you can’t be
serious!” Therese was glaring at him now. “I came to surprise you!”

“Therese, what is this
all about?” Karl spoke to her under his breath, aware that his teammates and
their families were whispering and staring at them. He didn’t want to attract
attention to the situation with so much media around, but Therese was getting
on his nerves. “You and I broke up six years ago!”

“But you didn’t mean
it.” She smiled, reaching out to touch his face.

Karl removed her hand
and took a step back. “I don’t know what’s going on, Therese, but I’ve got a
girlfriend.” Karl realized Kate had moved away from him and he looked around in
frustration. She was standing with Erin and Suze, looking shell-shocked, so he
reached out his hand to her. She met his gaze in confusion but slowly reached
out to take it and let him pull her close.

“Really?!” Therese
looked Kate up and down and burst out laughing. “This little cow is your
girlfriend? What is this, a pity fuck?!”

Several gasps went
around the room, but Kate couldn’t seem to react; she just stood there next to
Karl, blinking rapidly to retain her composure, grateful that Erin and Tiff
moved closer to her.

Karl’s face tightened
and he looked at Becca. “You need to get her out of here.
Now
.”

“Okay, let’s go.” Becca
nodded at Therese. “I don’t know how you got in here with a film crew, but none
of this better appear on your show or you’ll be getting a cease and desist
order from our attorneys before you can say ‘reality TV’!”

Therese just laughed
and blew a kiss to Karl. “I’ll see you soon, Karl. And you should call your
mother—she’s quite upset with you.”

Karl took a deep
breath, wondering what the hell she was talking about, but didn’t say anything.

“Who the fuck was
that?!” Drake
 
whispered in his ear.

“My ex,” he said with a
sigh.

“Did you know she was coming?!”
Kate was still blinking back tears as she stared at Therese’s retreating
figure.

“Of course not!” Karl
pulled her into his arms and stroked her back. “I’m so sorry, baby. I haven’t
seen her in years. I don’t know how she got in here, but we’re going to have a
talk with security.”

“You okay?” Erin was
asking Kate, noting the pain in her friend’s eyes.

“Yeah.” Kate looked
away, trying not to let them see how hurt she was.

“You’re gorgeous!” Dom
Gianni whispered to Kate, leaning over to brush his lips across her cheek.
“Fuck her and the horse she rode in on!”

“I second that!” Drake
said firmly, winking at her.

“Me, three!” Toli
Petrov, one of the Russian players on the team, tugged a lock of Kate’s hair.
“And Toli is single—so now Karl will probably kick my ass!”

“Vlad can hit also?”
Vladimir Kolnikov, a 20-year-old Russian player on the team, flashed a grin in
Kate’s direction. He didn’t speak a lot of English
but
he understood
cow
and
pity fuck
, not to mention the universal
look of humiliation that had crossed Kate’s face. That much, he picked up on,
and didn’t like it one bit; he wasn’t big on relationships, but he agreed with
everyone else that Kate was beautiful.

“I’d prefer you didn’t
hit
me,” Kate chuckled. “But you can hit
on me
.”

Everyone laughed, and
Karl was relieved to see a soft smile on Kate’s face as his friends flirted
with her. He knew how self-conscious she was and was grateful his friends cared
enough about her, and him, to try to make her feel better after Therese’s cruel
remarks. Now he could only pray none of it hit the press.

“Let’s get out of
here,” Karl whispered to her, pulling her against his chest and looking into
her face.

“Yes.” She nodded.