Shutout (The Renegades Series Book 5) (13 page)

“Um, I don’t know about that. But I do think we should go. I could use a drink, couldn't you?” She smiled, giving Hailee the best puppy dog eyes that she could.

“It's going to be full of college kids, you know.” They were past the stage of college kids and binge drinking.

“Eh, one night never hurt. Let's go! C’mon, you'll have fun. I promise. Please?”

Hailee sighed as she decided it was easier to just give in to her friend. After the way she and Dominic had just connected, adding alcohol to that fire was probably a really bad idea. “Okay. Fine.”

* * *

The bar was crowded and loud. College kids were packed from wall to wall. Girls danced to the loud music, and guys were grinding up against them. Maybe this wasn’t her best decision. She sat at the bar sipping on a beer, waiting for Alison to say they could go home. “Ali, I don’t think they’re coming.”

“No, they’ll be here. I know it.”

The Renegades who told her to stop by the bar were nowhere to be found. Maybe Dominic wasn’t planning on stopping here after the event. Ali didn’t know for sure that he was. But the guys she was talking to weren’t even here. On one hand, Hailee wasn’t surprised; they probably ran into some bunnies on their way here. But on the other hand, she couldn’t believe any guy would skip out on Ali. She was gorgeous.

“Please?” Ali said, pouting.

“Fine.” Hailee rolled her eyes and huffed. She flagged down the bartender for another beer. She handed him money and he pushed her hand away.

“Don’t worry about it, honey. It’s on me,” he said with a creepy wink.

“Thanks anyways, buddy. It’s on me.” Dominic appeared behind her and slid his hand onto her shoulder. Planting a kiss on her cheek, he added, “Hey there, sweet-tart.”

He just swoops in here and shoots down anyone flirting with me?
Even if the bartender was creepy, and as much as she liked that macho crap, it still didn’t fly with her. Two could play at that game. “Thanks but no thanks, both of you.” She handed the bartender a ten-dollar bill. “Here you go. Get him one too.” She sent Dominic an arrogant smile that mirrored his.

“Aren’t we feisty tonight?” A suggestive grin played on his lips.

“Where’s Ali?” She looked around, only to find her friend at the other end of the bar being fawned over by Dominic’s goalie friend.

“Looks like Kaden has taken a liking to her.” Dominic nodded in their direction before making himself comfortable on the bar stool next to her.

“She’s my best friend. Tell him I have my eye on him.” Her words were harsh, but the way Dominic was grinning at her made her think she didn’t look as tough as she felt.

“Yes ma’am, I will be sure to do that,” he said sharply, mocking her, then saluting her like a soldier.

“Hey, look! It’s Dominic Zanetti and Kaden O’Conner of the Renegades!” a drunk college boy shouted, as he made his way towards the bar. “Dudes! You need to come play Quarters with us!”

“No thanks, the lady and I are having a conversation.”

“She can play too! C’mon! It’ll be epic!”

“O’Conner!” Dominic called to Kaden, waving for his friend to come closer.

“W’sup, Dom?” Kaden asked. Alison was following close behind, holding his hand.

“You wanna get out of here? These kids want us to play Quarters.” He nodded to the drunk college kid. “I’m not playing a drinking game, and Hailee isn’t either.”

“I’m not?” She swiftly cut him off, squinted and glared at him.
Who is he to say what I am and am not doing?
She couldn’t help the overwhelming feeling she had to defy anything he told her to do.

“You’re not.”

“Who says I’m not?”

“I do. Hailee, if you want to drink, we can go get a drink somewhere else.”

Hailee spun around on the stool and stood up, setting her hand on his shoulder. “You know what? I think I will play Quarters.” Turning to the college kid she asked, “Where do I go?”

“Hailee! C’mon, let’s get out of here,” Dominic begged, but she was already walking away.

“Right over here.” The kid led her to a table in the corner.

“Hailee, let’s just get out of here. Kaden was going to take me to Mount Washington,” Alison said in her ear.

“Well, sightseeing or whatever it is you two were going to do will have to wait.” Hailee turned her attention to the college group. “So how do we do this?”

“Have you played before?” the kid asked her. She shook her head. “Okay, here are the rules. You take turns bouncing the quarter off the table and into the cup. If you make it, you make someone else drink, and you get another turn. We usually drink a shot’s worth of beer.”

Sounds easy enough. How hard could it really be to bounce a quarter into a cup
? It reminded her of one of those games at an amusement park where you tossed the ping-pong balls. “So, who’s playing?”

The kid’s eyes lit up. “I am.” He pointed to two of his buddies. “And these two. Who’s on your team?”

Before she could say anything, Dominic jumped to her side. “I am. And so is he.” He pointed to Kaden. “C’mon, O’Conner.”

Kaden looked confused and shook his head. As he took his place on the other side of Hailee, he looked at her and asked very quietly, “You ever play this before?”

She bowed her head to meet his. “No, but how hard can it be?”

A groan came from where Dominic was standing. He obviously heard what she said and didn’t think that she could hold her own, which is why he’d offered himself up.

“Hailee,” Ali whined. “Can we not make this an all-night thing, please?”

“Dude, how’s a winner determined? ’Cause we’re only playing one game. I uh, I have plans,” Kaden said.

“We set up twenty cups of beer. After you drink, you keep your empty cup, and whatever team has fewer cups once they’re all empty wins. Ready?”

Kaden shrugged at Dominic, but Dominic gave him a look that seemed as if they were mentally communicating. Hailee squared her shoulders and took a deep breath.
I can do this
. “Ready.”

The boys let Hailee start. “Since you’re the only girl.”

Hailee put on her best tough girl face and bounced the quarter. It landed right in the cup. She smiled a smart-ass smile. “I pick you.” She pointed to the kid who asked them to play. She got to take another turn. Again, right in the cup.
Damn, I’m good
. “Okay, guy in the middle, your turn. Drink.” She wasn’t so lucky with the next shot. It was so close to going in the cup, but didn’t bounce high enough. “Dammit!”

The college boys went next, and they got four in. Drinks were handed out to Hailee first, then Dominic, then Kaden, and lastly Hailee again. She now had two drinks in her and couldn’t seem to stop giggling.

It was Dominic’s turn to bounce. As if he were going after payback for getting Hailee wrapped up in this, he got eight straight shots in before one of them made a comment about Hailee and he missed. The skinny kid on the end was already swaying a bit and only got two quarters in before Alison whispered something in his ear at Kaden’s suggestion. Unfortunately, both drinks went to Hailee.

“Sweet-tart, you’re at four drinks now, you sure you’re still doing okay?”

She slapped the empty cups on the table and smiled. “Absolutely.”

“Okay, Kaden, you’re up. Close this out. Don’t you have someone waiting on you?” Dominic grinned.

Kaden bounced in five in a row, forcing the boys to down the last five cups. They each were wobbly and laughing a lot at the dumbest things.

Once all the cups were empty, Hailee had consumed four cups of beer, the college boys five each. Dom and Kaden each only had one. Even though Hailee drank less than the smart mouth college brats, three beers was too much for her. She wasn’t feeling too well but wasn’t about to admit that to Dominic.

“Okay, we won. Now c’mon Hailee, let’s get you out of here.”

“You are more lightweights than I expected you to be,” Kaden said with a laugh to the other boys. “Well, it’s been fun boys, but I have some place to be.” He flashed them the peace sign with his fingers as he grabbed Alison’s hand.

Dominic led the way, with Hailee tight beside him, and Kaden and Ali behind. Hailee’s nose and face felt really warm and things were a little blurry, but other than that, she felt okay. Once outside, the cold night air felt good on her face.

“Dom, if you’re okay, I’m gonna take Alison back to our place. Just shoot me a message when you’re on your way.”

“Gotcha. Have fun.” Dominic turned his attention to Hailee. “You doing okay?” He grabbed her hand and she didn’t resist.

“Sure, totally fine.” Her stomach churned and her head spun. She looked around. “Where’d Ali go?”

“Kaden took her home.”

“Oh.”

“C’mon, let’s go for a walk. The cool air will do you good.” He pulled Hailee beside him and slowly moved down the sidewalk. “Feeling better?”

“Yeah, I do.” Hailee felt green, but the fresh air was helping. She just needed to shake this off.

As they walked slowly down the sidewalk, she stared at him, studying his face. She’d always loved his deep, chocolate brown eyes. They were intense and sexy, especially the way he undressed her with his eyes. Kind of like how he was looking at her right now. Her heart skittered around in her chest, and she couldn’t break his gaze.

Their walking slowed until Dominic stopped completely. He bent their entwined hands backwards, pinning hers behind her back, and then pulling her into him. His eyes looked hungry, as though he wanted to devour her. And right now, she would let him.

“Hailee, I’ve missed you so much.” After a moment, he leaned his head down, his lips only inches from hers. His hot breath on her skin.

Her lips craved his taste, his kiss. “Oh, Dominic…” Just as their mouths were ready to meet, she violently lurched to one side and puked all over the sidewalk.

Dominic

Dominic quietly opened his bedroom door, careful to not wake a probably hungover Hailee who was asleep or maybe passed out in his bed. His back ached and his head hurt from sleeping on the couch. He made a mental note to replace the couch with a comfortable one ASAP.

Hailee rolled over and groaned. After fluttering her eyes open, she sat straight up, wide awake. “Where am I? Dominic?” she asked, noticing him there.

“Hey there, sweet-tart,” he whispered, figuring she wouldn’t be feeling too well this morning after last night. He wasn’t even sure how much she would remember. “You’re in my bedroom, in my apartment. Do you want coffee?”

“Coffee?” Her eyes darted around the room. “Dominic? How did I— Did we…?” She looked under the covers.

“No. We didn’t. You passed out on the sidewalk after you threw up all over the place. I had to get you some place safe, and since I didn’t know where you lived, I brought you here. Did you at least sleep okay?”

She screwed up her face. “What? I threw up on a sidewalk? Where did Ali go? I… I need to go home.” She quickly jumped out of bed, still fully clothed, slid on her shoes and hurried past him into the hallway.

So she didn’t remember their almost kiss, or the moments leading up to it. He sighed and rubbed his face with one hand. He’d been hoping to start back where they left off last night, but that realization knocked the wind out of his sails. “Hailee, how much do you remember from last night?”

“Um,”—she turned around and braced herself in the doorway—“I remember a drinking game, flipping quarters? I remember some annoying college boys, and beer. Lots of beer. That’s about it.”

His feisty little sweet-tart had wanted to teach him that he couldn’t get away with bossing her around. And had ended up getting wasted in the process. Yeah, it was probably another dick move on his part, but he’d only been trying to protect her from just that. And, well, because he was selfish and had wanted to spend time with her alone. When would he learn?

“Well, Alison and Kaden… ended up back here. Together. So if you need a ride home, I could go see if they’re up yet.” It was awkward trying to explain everything that had transpired. The confused look on her face didn’t help. She obviously hadn’t expected her friend to hook up with Kaden. Her cheeks flushed pink as she stared at him, eyes wide.

“Um, wow. No. Don’t wake… them.” She shook her head as if clearing her thoughts. “I have to go. I’ll call a cab.” She ran to the front door, then paused and turned back to him. “Bye, Dominic.”

* * *

They were playing in Boston tonight, but the arena looked to be about half Boston fans and half Renegades fans. It was the start of the third period, and Dom had kept Boston scoreless. His reflexes were on point all game. The guys cheered him on from the bench.

Sweat dripped into his eyes as Boston’s defense screened him, standing in his way so he couldn’t see the play. Boston’s Rancy shot the puck and it was picked off by Kris. Tyler called for the puck from the corner; he was wide open. Kris passed it to Tyler and the play moved to the other end of the ice.

“Wooo!” Dom screamed.

He focused on the other end as the boys battled. His body relaxed for the moment as he watched play. Tyler shot at the net, but the goalie deflected it. Kris went for the rebound, shooting wide. The puck bounced off the boards. Matt skated behind the boards going after the puck. Dom looked up a few times at the scoreboard, double-checking to see if the puck went in or not. His attention went back to the ice at a scrum behind the net.

Boston’s Rancy and Luther were shoving Matt, trying to dig for the puck. The refs watched, letting the scuffle continue. Rancy chopped at Matt’s leg with his stick and Luther got the puck free, sending it up ice. Matt returned to the bench and Torin took his place.

Patrick chased the puck as it slowly headed for center ice. Keeping the puck in, he passed it to Tyler who slapped it towards the net. Billson, the goalie, caught it in his gloved hand.

The Renegades were in second place in their division, but they had to keep winning to stay there, and it looked like a good game to do that.

Face-off was at Boston’s blue line. Their top line was out. Tyler hit the puck first, tapping it over to Patrick who tried passing it to Sam, but it was picked off by Boston’s defense.

“Fuck!” Patrick screamed as he sped towards Dom, chasing Boston. Their defenseman, Boyd, raced right at Dom. He turned to his backhand and moved to shoot the puck. Patrick came up from behind and put out his stick, hooking Boyd around his waist and pulling him down off his skates.

Boyd continued to slide after he hit the ice, right into the goalie crease. His large body crashed into Dom, knocking him backwards into the goal posts.

“Get the fuck off me, Boyd!” Dom yelled, as Boyd lay on him in the blue paint.

“Hey!” Sam yelled. “Get off Zanetti!”

The whistle blew, stopping play, but the men continued to scuffle.

Before Sam could react to Boyd, he picked himself up off the ice. Dom was already back to his feet, and shoved the Boston player away from his blue paint.

Patrick was right behind Boyd and cross-checked him twice in the chest. “Get away from our goalie!”

“Woah! That’s it, break it up.” The linesman intervened, pulling Patrick and Boyd apart. “Dubois — get to the box!”

“What? What did I do?” he yelled.

“Pittsburgh number twelve, two minutes for hooking,” the stripes announced at center ice.

“It’s alright guys! Get them out of the zone.” Dom yelled from behind the mask.

Play continued and the Renegades cleared the puck from their end. Dom was able to hold Boston scoreless, and the Renegades ended the game with a shutout.

The buzzer sounded and the game was over. Renegades won and secured their spot in the playoffs. The players surrounded Dom, cheering, tapping him on the helmet and pads, congratulating him. Some of the crowd roared and cheered, while most of the Boston fans had already left the arena.

“Way to go, Meatball!” Matt said, when he congratulated Dom. As he skated away from him, Dom noticed Matt was limping a bit. Possibly from that hit in the corner earlier.

“Dom, my man!” Pat tapped him on the helmet with his stick then butted his helmet to Dom’s mask.

As the team cleared off the ice, Dom followed behind them, meeting Tyler and Kris at the bench. Kris and Dom each took off a glove, fist bumped, then pulled their hands back while wiggling their fingers, and ended their traditional winning handshake with a high-five. Tyler watched with a smile, and once Dom got close enough he patted the side of Dom’s helmet with his glove, then head butted helmets with him.

“Way to go, Zanetti! How many shutouts is that now?” Tyler asked as they started down the hallway.

“I don’t know. I don’t really keep track of that stuff,” Dom answered.

Hitting the locker room, the team cheered, “Zanetti!” and “Player of the game!”

* * *

Dom was still on a high from getting the win and the shutout tonight. But the whole plane ride home, all he could think about was Hailee.

He’d been so glad that they were going to be friends, but what exactly did that mean for them now? After the way they had connected at the ice rink and then their almost-kiss the other night, he’d had high hopes that they could eventually progress to more than friends. But he had no idea what had happened the next morning. With Hailee waking up, freaking out, and running off, he wasn’t sure what she was thinking. But he did know that he hadn’t imagined the way she’d looked at him. She’d wanted his kiss.

Maybe she was just drunk and would’ve almost kissed any guy. Or maybe she was just drunk enough that she couldn’t hide her true feelings for him. He was going with the latter, because the other reason was too hard to think about.

If he was right about that look in her eyes, then he had to keep trying. He was smart enough to know that if he put this face in front of her enough, she’d eventually not be able to resist. Those old feelings had to be under there somewhere. After the craziness at the ice rink and the bar, he didn’t know where they were going with this next.

Dom smiled at the thought of her.
Patience is a virtue and all that jazz. Plus, persistence is one of my best talents. Don’t forget about my good looks and amazing personality
. He had so much going for him, especially tonight.

Only being friends was going to have to work for now, but it didn’t mean he couldn’t still try for more. If there was ever a time to do this, now was the time. Persistence starts now. He had practice in the morning, but was free for the rest of the day after that. He fired off a text message, asking her to meet him for coffee tomorrow afternoon at Cool Beans.