Delayed Call Read online

  “Yeah, you say that a lot,” she snapped back before putting her helmet on. She looked up to see everyone watching. They all mirrored each other, wide eyes and gaping mouths. “What? It’s nothing. Don’t jump to conclusions.”

  “Yeah, it’s none of you guys’ damn business anyway.”

  “Then don’t make it their business. Shut up,” Jensen called to both of them as he skated toward them. But Brie couldn’t help it. She was pissed; he made her crazy!

  “Yeah, because everything is a secret with you.”

  Letting out a deep sigh, Vaughn put his helmet on and shook his head. “If you could give me a chance to explain, maybe we could squash this.”

  “Or I can use your dick as a puck? I’d rather do that.”

  “Why are you so mad? We never made any kind of promises or anything, so I don’t know why you’re being such a bitch to me.”

  Turning to him, she pointed her stick at him as she glared. “Because you led me on, you son of a bitch!”

  “But I didn’t mean to—”

  “For God’s sake, shut up, you idiots!” Jensen yelled, blowing his whistle loudly. Coming between them, he shook his head. “Everyone is watching, everyone can hear you, and no one needs to hear this. If this is something you two need to do, do it in private.”

  “I’d rather kill him instead.”

  Jensen set Brie with a look. “That’s not an option.”

  “If I win, you have to talk to me,” Vaughn insisted.

  She laughed loudly, meeting his hopeful gaze. “No.”

  “What? Scared I’ll win?”

  “No, I know you won’t. But the fact is, there is nothing you can say to make this better.”

  “I beg to differ.”

  “Just stop.” Shaking her head hard, she pointed to Russell. “Let’s go.”

  She skated toward the face-off circle where the puck waited. Vaughn followed, and she felt stupid. She shouldn’t have let him get under her skin like that. She shouldn’t have done that there. No telling what Russell would say later, and what if he told Elli? Damn it, what if she fucked up? Vaughn just drove her senseless, and she couldn’t think right when it came to him.

  Damn it.

  “I win, we talk. You win, I leave you alone.”

  “No.”

  “I know you. You like stakes like this.”

  Holding his gaze as Jensen picked up the puck, she let out a long breath. “You hurt my heart. I refuse to allow you to do it again.”

  His eyes turned sad as Jensen blew the whistle. Vaughn’s eyes were on her, so she grabbed the puck, skating backward with ease as he watched her while she played with the puck. As he skated toward the goal, his eyes stayed on hers, which she took to her advantage before she shot hard with a wrister. But it missed the goal, by an inch. Everyone in the stands groaned loudly as they both dug in for it. Getting to it at the same time, they fought in the corner, their sticks crashing as their bodies pressed into each other.

  She could feel his heat in her bones, but she wouldn’t let that distract her. Slamming her stick into the puck and his stick, she freed it and stole it from between his legs. She rushed to the line where she could shoot. The little ding of a goal made a smile spread across her face as everyone hollered out for her. When she looked to Vaughn, though, he wasn’t mad; he was grinning as he came to meet her in the circle.

  “Sneaky.”

  “I play for keeps.”

  “I see that.”

  “And I refuse to allow you to win.”

  “Why don’t you take my deal, then?”

  “Because I don’t need a damn deal never to talk to you again except when I need to.”

  “That’s fine because I don’t need a damn deal to get you to talk to me.”

  Her eyes widened as the puck dropped, but when she went to get it, he passed it through her legs, going around her with ease before taking it and clinking it to the pipe, much to everyone’s dismay. Skating toward her, he pointed his stick at her. “You play for keeps, and so do I.”

  “You don’t play well enough, though,” she said just as Jensen dropped the puck. Instead of going around him, she passed the puck up the side before chasing after it, but she heard him behind her. His stride was longer than hers, and he got there first, taking the puck. But when he shot, with a clean angle at the pipe, she blocked it. Boy, did it sting right in the spot where there was no padding. His eyes widened as he stopped immediately. “Are you okay?”

  Taking the puck, she shot it, hitting the pipe. “Just fine.”

  He shook his head, heading back to the circle as they waited for the puck. “Okay, I’m done letting you win.”

  She scoffed, a grin covering her face. “Sure you are.”

  The puck dropped, and they both went after it, wrestling in the middle. He somehow got it out, rushing to the goal with ease, but she was gassed. She hadn’t played in a while, but she dug in, throwing her stick out, blocking his shot. Unfortunately, that move also knocked her stick out of her hand, which gave him the chance to score with ease.

  “So, here we are, tied, two-to-two. I have to say, Ms. Soledad, I’m impressed.”

  Holding Vaughn’s heated gaze, she laughed. “I have to admit, I’m not. I thought you were better.”

  As the puck dropped, she yanked it away from him and threw it hard to the net, but it went wide, bouncing off the Zamboni door and right onto Vaughn’s stick. She was too far from him, and probably to taunt her, he wristed the hell out of the puck and it smacked dead center on the pipe. Glancing back at her, he pulled his helmet off. “Is that good enough for you?”

  She lost.

  Damn it.

  Turning to the camera, she smiled big as she pulled off her helmet. “Well, can’t win them all. But hey, make sure to get out and learn some hockey. One day, you can be like us! I’m Brie Soledad, and thanks for tuning in.”

  “Cut,” Russell said, and Brie started for the bench. “I’ll have to cut a lot of the talking, but it was good. You’re good, Brie.”

  “Fuck you, Russell,” she snapped before walking off and down into the tunnel.

  She was going to get in trouble for that, but the farther away from Vaughn, the better. She didn’t understand the game he was playing. Why was he still talking to her? Why was he still spitting his game? She told him no, and she meant no. Yet, she wanted to believe him. She wanted to believe that she wasn’t an idiot and that there was a good guy in there, but she didn’t want a fixer-upper kind of guy. She wanted the guy who was going to be there for her, as she would be there for him. She wanted the guy who would love her until the end of her days, not someone she had to beg to love her. Vaughn would be a fixer-upper. She wasn’t sure what had happened, and in a way, she didn’t want to know. The sob story would surely pull at her heartstrings, and then she would give in, taking on the fixer-upper she didn’t want. She just didn’t want to do that.

  Though, she still wanted him.

  And that alone had her more confused than she could ever explain.

  After showering and then getting some food, Brie headed home, unsure how to take all the events that had transpired. She went through everything Vaughn said, and it just didn’t make sense. If he didn’t want a relationship and didn’t do relationships, then why in the hell was he saying he missed her or that he wanted to talk to her. He thought he was cute, trying to get her in that wager, but she knew it would be nothing but trouble. He was nothing but trouble, but she couldn’t shake him. These feelings, these drowning feelings, were killing her, and she had no clue what to do with them.

  How did this happen?

  Why did this happen?

  When she said she wanted a relationship, she really wanted it to be two-sided. But maybe that was her life. A life full of one-sided relationships. God, she was so pathetic. The only good thing coming out of this day was that she hadn’t gotten in trouble with Russell. He just wished her a good day, much to her surprise.

  Sighing, she opened her door, ig