Thawing Ava (19 page)

She winced. “Ow! Not yet. I haven’t spoken to Brice about it.”

Davis raised an eyebrow at her. “Why do you need to talk to Brice? He’s not your keeper. You’re a grown woman.”

“It’s not about that. It’s that I’ll be working for the team. We can carpool and stuff, but if I take it, with that salary you’re offering me, I’ll be able to get a place of my own and have a job. It’s a major decision. I really wanted to talk to him about it. There are other discussions we need to have.” She waited for Davis to explode.

“You slut!”

“I’m telling Mom you called me a slut. She’ll make you break a switch off the tree in the front yard,” she warned.

“I’m not scared of Momma. I’m a grown man, thirty years old. I don’t need her to discipline me. I’ve got Egan for that.” Davis stood up. “I’m going to get us eats. Don’t be a tattletale. You know what happens to snitches.”

Ava rolled her eyes. “You say that now. Mom, you’ll never guess what Davis called me.”

Davis whirled around, eyes wide and wild. “Momma, I—”

Ava snickered. “You were saying, li’l Davis?”

“Shut up.” He made his way through the crowd to get their food.

She shook her head. His place wasn’t empty for long. Marion Douglas settled in next to Ava. There was no time to react; all she could do was stare at her like Brice’s mother was an apparition.

Brice’s mother took Ava’s hand and gave it squeeze. “Ava, I’d like to say I’m sorry. My husband and son have spoken to me and I…” She hesitated, her features hardened, and she pressed on. “They made me see how wrong I was to treat you the way I did. I don’t like the situation as it is, but I see that maybe I should at least try to get to know you.

“Can we try again? Have a talk? Spend some time this week? I’ve come to realize as of late how much I want my sons back in our life. We’ve been gone far too long. I really do want to get to know the woman my son wants to marry.”

Has she been drinking?
No alcohol was on her breath.

Ava studied her closely. There had to be some reason she was here. As much as she wanted to send the woman away and let Brice and his parents settle things, if she was going to be with him, then she’d have to put up with them. Her stomach churned as echoes of Marion’s words played back at her. She gritted her teeth and tried to draw in some calm with a deep breath and responded. “You are Brice’s mother, and I don’t want to shun you if you’re serious about being in his life.” She watched Marion nod, but Marion gave no implication the words had sunk in. “I want him to succeed. So, how about Christmas lunch? That can be a start.” She decided being nice was better than shutting Brice’s mother out. In the end it was all up to Brice.

Marion’s bright green eyes lit up. “Thank you so much. Thank you. Lunch would be perfect.” She stood up. “I’ll call you at Josie’s?”

“Um, okay.” She wasn’t sure if her mom would be happy to get a call from Marion, but why not?

Marion turned and disappeared into the crowd. As Ava relaxed into her seat, she watched the teams skating back and forth or talking to each other on the bench. Some of the tension from her conversation with Marion ebbed away. Brice wasn’t hard to spot; he had his helmet off and was scanning the crowd. There were bags under his eyes, which worried her. He shook his head and turned to talk to Alexi. Had he been looking for her? She hoped he would stay focused and leave the drama behind. A glance at the Talons bench showed that they seemed to be stacking the deck with a lot of bigger guys. Each one of them looked pissed off. Did someone throw away their coffee this morning? Ugh. Her stomach knotted up all over again, and her heart seemed to be trying to pound its way out of her rib cage. She shifted in her seat.

“No worries. Here, have some beer, and I got candy and nachos.” Davis handed off the drinks and food to her.

She accepted her share and recapped what had happened with Marion rather than comment on Davis’s choices. Candy
and
nachos?

“Dayum, I miss the best stuff. Don’t get scared, but we’re hearing that the Talons are really gunning for Brice, Marsh, and Alexi. They’re going to have their hands full. Don’t get arrested, okay?” Davis accepted his cup and some food and hunkered down for the game.

Her nerves turned to anger. “Bullshit. They better not hurt my Brice!”

Davis snorted. “Your Brice? Just calm down and don’t kill anyone.”

The horn sounded before she could reply. Ava sat in her seat and watched, but she couldn’t keep still. Food forgotten, she tried to keep pace with the action. From the first drop of the puck to the first check of Brice into the glass, she was enthralled. Like everyone else in their section, she booed and threw things when the Talons player skated off to the penalty box with a smirk on his face. Ava shouted out obscenities at him and threatened to make him nutless while Davis chuckled next to her. When the Prowlers scored their first goal, Ava found herself hugging the person next to her, jumping up and down, tears slipping down her cheeks.

“Are you a ninja squirrel now come to steal our nuts?” Davis laughed as Ava shoved him.

“Shut up, you dork.”

The first period ended with no other goals. Davis had to make another beer run. Every check, every shove, skirmish over the puck, every attempted shot sent her blood pressure through the roof.

She sat back, exhausted. Her limbs hurt, and her feet ached from all the standing or jumping up she’d done whenever they got close to scoring. Brice had been fast on the ice, protecting Alexi and fending off attacks, even getting into a scuffle near the Talons goal and getting pushed to the ice and into the glass a few times. He was bleeding from the head and chin come the end of the second period. She knew he’d get the superglue treatment to seal up the wounds until they could determine whether he’d need stitches; unless it was really bad, he would be able to get back onto the ice.

Nervous energy filled her as she tried to relax and wait for the half to be over. Davis returned with more food and drinks. “No beer for you. Don’t want you to get in a drunken brawl just in case.”

She snorted. “Not likely to happen, but I will have difficulty hearing after this.”

Between the shouts and screams, arguments and punk rock filtering through the speakers, it was hard to hear. It was like a homecoming. She couldn’t believe she’d missed this all because of Perry. “Goddamn, it’s good to be back here,” she declared before taking a sip of her cherry cola.

“Good to have you back, Sis,” Davis shouted just as the horn sounded for the start of the third period. The next twenty minutes were filled with screaming until she was hoarse and arguing with the ref, she and every Prowler fan in the arena when they sent Alexi into the penalty box for getting into a scuffle with one of the Talons defense. Brice was checked again, this time into the net, which caused play to stop and the net had be moved back into place. The Prowlers won the face-off, thankfully, but not before someone elbowed Marsh. The action stopped as a fight broke out between Marsh and the Talons defenders. The Talons weren’t holding back and didn’t seem to care how many penalties they racked up so long as the ends justified the means. They managed to tie up the score.

Another face-off win led to a goal by the Prowlers. Ava jumped up and down and cried with relief that the Talons were going to lose—at least that’s what she hoped. There wasn’t enough time on the clock for any real attempt for the Talons. Anything was possible in hockey, though, even a comeback with forty seconds to go.

The Talons had pulled their goal to bring in another attacker. The action was so fast and furious she had a hard time spotting the puck. Sweat misted her forehead, and her body was tensed to the point of pain. She refused to sit as the seconds ticked down. Her body swayed in exhaustion when the buzzer sounded and the Prowlers won. Her legs lost all their strength, and she found herself swept up in Davis’s arms as they celebrated the win. He had to support her as they made their way out of the arena among the throng of exuberant fans.

“I need a drink, some coffee, lots of coffee, and maybe food?” she grumbled as Davis led her to the car.

“We’ll wait until after the interviews and then go see the team.” They sank into their seats, and Ava closed her eyes.

“I still need a coffee. Go get me some. God, I’m tired, and my head hurts,” Ava groaned.

“Get your own java, you junkie.”

Davis’s phone rang. He answered and then said okay to someone before hanging up. “Dad,” he said at her questioning look. “We can’t go see Brice. They’re going to the plane as soon as the interviews are done. They want to get into the TB arena and get in an early morning practice so they can get back in time for Christmas. You won’t be going since Brice played really well, and they want to see how far that goes.”

Disappoint crashed any happiness she had over the win. “Can I at least call him?”

Davis shook his head. “Sometimes I wonder how smart you are, Sis. Really. Can I call him? Of course you can! But he can’t talk for long.”

Ava ignored him and took out her phone. She dialed his number and left a message, carefully worded so Davis wouldn’t take it in the dirty direction. “Hey, Brice. I just wanted to say congrats on your win, and we’ll talk when you get back. Bye.”

“God, that was so friggin’ clean I’m disappointed again. I wonder if we’re related.” Davis pulled out of his spot and joined the bottleneck of honking cars and shouting fans.

“Some of us have this thing called self-control,” she pointed out.

Davis snorted. “Self-control is for boring people. If Egan was going on a four-day trip away from me, I’d be as filthy as possible on his voice mail.”

“What I have to say to Brice is for him alone, not you and your perviness.” Ava calmed down as an idea formed in her mind on how to connect with Brice while he was away.

“Coward.”

Ava didn’t respond immediately. “Let’s go home. I’m hungry, and I want some coffee.”

“Your blood is coffee by now. Does Brice know how much you need the caffeine?”

“Just drive, Jeeves.” She closed her eyes.

“Yeah, yeah.”

Chapter Twelve

Brice shifted in his seat on the plane. It had been two days since he’d been home. Ava hadn’t e-mailed, returned his calls, or answered his texts. His body pulsed with aches and pains, but he didn’t care. He looked at his phone once again. The pics on the gossip column had turned a fan photo of him with two fans trying to kiss both his cheeks into something dirty. What really worried him was that it was taken in a bar. He and Alexi had been walking around getting the lay of the land when Brice needed to use the bathroom. He and Alexi got caught by the girls, and they each took pictures with them and then went back to the hotel. As soon as they had gotten back, they told management. It helped that Alexi had backed him up. They hadn’t gotten a slap on the wrist, just a warning not to go out again. After that his focus had been on the game. Once they’d won, he turned his attention to not having heard from Ava. She’d only sent a text message to congratulate him on the win.

Right now he dreaded going back to his apartment. His parents may have gone to their home in the Manor Hill area of Witch Fields, but that hadn’t brought Ava back from what he’d heard. She was staying at home with her parents, much to his annoyance. Coach Nelsen and his team had been pleased to see him back in form, and after Tampa Bay, there wasn’t any talk of benching anymore, which was good. Only one problem in his life so far: Ava.

As soon as they landed, he put in a call to get her over to his place. No stalling. This avoiding crap was bullshit. It didn’t help that Davis was also incommunicado too. What was with those Johnson siblings?

She’d not mentioned her talk with his mother or what happened after, nor had she told him how she was doing emotionally. How many times did he have to make it clear to her that he wasn’t just in it with her for sex?

Alexi nudged him. “You going to go to Ava’s parents’ for Christmas? The team will be there for the Christmas Eve party. Wasn’t sure if your babysitter would let you out after ten,” he joked.

Brice pretended to guffaw and slap his thigh. “So funny. Idiot. Probably. I have plans for Christmas.”

“Just so you know, if you fuck up with Ava, I’ll be right there waiting to comfort her.” Alexi grinned and laughed when Brice punched him in the arm. “Ow, fuck. Damn it, Douglas. I was slammed into the boards on that arm. Jesus.” He rubbed his biceps.

“Sorry, but don’t fuck around like that. Ava’s mine, got it?”

Alexi nodded. “Yeah, I hear you.”

Brice didn’t want to talk about Ava with Alexi anymore. He decided to change the subject. “How’s your brother? Isn’t he in college?” Brice’s brothers didn’t play hockey; one was a quarterback for the newly created NFL team the Las Vegas Sinners, and another was the head chef at a five-star adult resort. Both of them were staying away from Witch Fields. They didn’t want to deal with any possible parental drama.

Alexi shook his head. “Just graduated, thank God. Mom wasn’t sure for a second there. He was shitting away his grades, not sure why, but I’ll find out when he comes to stay with me for a bit before looking for a job.”

“Check with Davis. He’s always looking for people for the marketing department, and he’s young so…”

“I’ll see. I heard Davis offered Ava a position. Think she’ll take it?”

That was news to him, but he didn’t want to say yes or no or let Alexi know that Ava hadn’t told him. Another spanking offense. “Not sure. She’s still mulling it over. ”

The plane started its descent. Brice shut off his phone and the Wi-Fi. If she wasn’t at his apartment, he would go get her. There was more to talk about than he’d thought. He had to address what his mother had said directly. He only hoped that wasn’t the reason Ava was avoiding him.

As soon as they landed and he grabbed his luggage, they piled into the team bus, which brought them to the arena. He bid good-bye to his teammates and got into his SUV and took off. One thing he liked about his truck was that it wasn’t kitted out with fancy tech crap. Being without tech in his vehicle allowed him time to think. To plan.