Page 36 of Break the Ice

But not tonight.

I back away from my spot outside the revolving glass door that leads into her high-rise building. She’ll never know I was here.

Just like she’ll never know I put a tracker in her purse the other night when I was in her hotel room.

There’s a lot I’m planning on Marisse never finding out.

Our first preseason game arrives with Morasca still out of commission. Oates pulls me aside minutes before we’re set to go out on the ice and warns me to play nice this evening.

“We don’t need any more controversy surrounding the Wolves,” he says. “We already had that team brawl last week and Hawk’s still MIA. The media has enough without us giving them more.”

“Would never dream of it, Coach.”

I wink at him and then push my mouthguard into my mouth.

The thing Oates still doesn’t understand is that if somebody starts with me, I’ll have to finish it. Morasca wouldn’t be out for our first preseason game if he hadn’t swung on me during practice. What the hell’s so hard to understand about that?

I’m frustrated as I skate onto the ice and join the rest of my team. We’re playing the Bears tonight. Hardly one of our big rivals, not like the Trojans, but still a face-off that we need to take seriously.

In the grand scheme of things, the game seems low stakes, but experts and analysts everywhere are viewing this as a preview of what to expect this season.

Most of us are hungry for a chance to turn shit around from the past few years.

The game begins with the face-off. The ref tosses the puck and my quick reflexes act. I bat at the puck the second it springs free and pass it left to Kai. We have possession before the Bear’s centerman Gavin Bursberry even had a chance to blink twice.

It’s the first of many times as the game carries out through the first period. The Bears defensemen are weak and their starting centerman, Bursberry, sucks at leading his team.

I push the puck down the defensive zone and take the shot. The first goal scored of the game. Then the second as the same strategy works after back-to-back face-offs.

The second period sees us up three to zero. Third period kicks off and I’m surging forward with an adrenaline high. I score another goal and block two steals from the Bears wingers. We wipe them out five to zero when it’s all said and done.

Our performance is considered a blowout underdog story where we rose up from low expectations and defeated the same team that had beaten us more than once last year.

We’re labeled the ones to watch for the rest of the preseason.

Celebrations start up in the locker room and spread into the player lounge and local bars and clubs surrounding the arena. The team rolls out in a stretch limo to our favorite spots downtown like Elysian and Axis.

I buy an entire section of the VIP at Axis just to relax and pop bottles. My entourage grows from me and a couple guys on the team and security to include several groupies. They strut into our private area in slinky dresses and high heels, looking too good for any of the guys to turn away.

I’m withdrawn. The opposite of what I’m usually like at these postgame celebrations. I’m usually the life of the party. I’m always picking up women and dominating the space with my presence.

All things I couldn’t be less interested in tonight. I’m more preoccupied with wondering why Marisse didn’t turn up for our first preseason game. She was absent during the press junket that followed, which is an important part of her job.

Oates introduced some intern instead, who had nothing to offer beyond no comment.

Why wouldn’t Marisse turn up to the Wolves first game of the preseason? What was she busy doing tonight?

I check the tracker and find her dot blinking safely at home.

“Are you still in a bad mood?” Felicia pouts, batting her long fake lashes.

I tear my gaze off my phone and meet the sad face she’s put on. “Still having a hard time taking a hint? Felicia, if I wanted you, I would’ve had you already.”

She’s in tears by the time I’m through. I motion to have my security remove her from my VIP section and then move on with my night. A few teammates and other familiar faces drop by, always pulling me out of my heavy thoughts.

When I excuse myself to the restroom, I wonder if it’s time to call it a night. I need to find out what Sugar Tits was up to that made her so unavailable…

Could she be stubborn enough to once again try to outplay me?