Rachel Gibson: True Love and Other Disasters

Faith didn’t know how Ty felt. He’d never said. She knew he liked having sex with her. That much was obvious. And she knew he gave her gifts with some thought behind them. That had to count for something. But she also knew that if it came down to a choice, he’d pick his career over her. She understood that. Hockey was a part of him. It flowed through him like his own blood, giving him substance and strength and purpose. His drive and dedication were the things she loved about him.

They were also the things that would break them apart.

Game One of the Stanley Cup Finals between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Seattle Chinooks was played on Seattle’s ice. The Key Arena was filled to capacity and the cool air buzzed with the excitement of more than fifteen thousand cheering fans.

Early in the first period, the Penguins dominated the puck, but the Chinooks came back strong in the second and third frames. Faith watched from the skybox, her heart pounding in her throat as the Chinooks beat Pittsburgh 3-1.

Game Two was played in the Mellon Arena on Pittsburgh ice. Despite the Penguins’ hometown advantage, Game Two was a repeat of Game One. Chinooks goalie Marty Darche stopped twenty-five of twenty-six shots on goal, while Ty scored in the remaining minutes with a one-timer shot across ice from the stick of Logan Dumont. The Chinooks once again won 3-1. The flight home from Pittsburgh was jubilant while remaining cautious.

Later as Faith lay curled up beside Ty’s warm body, next to his heart, she was actually starting to feel a bit optimistic about the future. Somehow, maybe everything would work out. She wasn’t exactly sure how, but once the playoffs were over, maybe they could go away together and find a solution.

She was still thinking about possible solutions the next afternoon when she returned from a meeting with Jules and the Chinooks Foundation. Perhaps their relationship could remain a secret for a few more years.

When she walked into her building, a card waited for her at the front desk. It wasn’t signed but said, “Meet me in Virgil’s office inside the Key Arena at 6:00 P.M.” It was an odd request. Ty would be at the Key getting suited up to play Game Three. She knew he was as cautious as she was about being seen together, and she wondered what would prompt him to want to meet her.

At five thirty, she dressed in her team jersey and figured it had to be something really important, but when she walked into the office that night, it wasn’t Ty sitting in her chair with his feet up on her desk.

“Come in and shut the door,” Landon said, a particularly smug smile flattening his colorless lips.

Faith didn’t move. She looked into the cold eyes of the one person on the planet who truly frightened her. “We don’t have anything to talk about.”

Landon took his feet from the desk and pushed a file toward her. “You’re wrong about that, Layla. We’re going to talk about your boyfriend and how fast you’re going to sell me my father’s team.”

Faith’s heart slammed against her ribs as she moved to the desk and flipped open the file. Inside were photos of her and Ty. There were four of them, but the most incriminating picture had been snapped the night she’d come down from the penthouse wearing nothing but her raincoat. It had been dark outside, but the photograph clearly showed Ty kissing her while his hand was inside her coat cupping her breast. Her stomach fell and she thought she might vomit all over her desk and the front of Landon’s gray suit.

“I’m thinking I don’t want to pay one hundred and seventy million for the team.”

“And what happens if I don’t sell?” she asked, although she figured she knew the answer.

“After I send the photos to the newspapers, I’ll blow them up and hang them around town with the other billboards of you and the captain.”

She’d figured wrong. She’d thought he’d stop with the threat of sending the pictures to the Seattle Times . The thought of her and Ty like that on a billboard added panic to the fear in her tumbling stomach. “What makes you think I care if people see me like that? I’ve suffered worse humiliation in my life.”

“I don’t think you care. You’re a stripper and have no morals. You’re shameless, but I don’t think you want to humiliate the captain and the rest of the team. Especially when it looks like they might actually win that cup.”

She believed him. She believed he’d do what he said. “Your father always said that you were a little pissant.”

Landon’s eyes narrowed. “My father was a fool with a taste for trash.” He stood. “My lawyers will send the papers to you tomorrow. Sign them and send them back as soon as possible or the price will go down even more. I thought about having you gift the team to me, but God forbid anyone assume we were involved somehow.”

She didn’t care about the money. “What are you going to do with the team?” She couldn’t believe this was happening. Not now. Her throat closed and she licked her dry lips. “Are you going to move it?”

He shook his head. “That won’t be necessary now that the team has had such a successful playoffs season. I’ll keep it in Seattle.” He smiled again. “I can’t say the same for your boyfriend. He’ll be traded as soon as I can work out the details.”

The hits just kept coming. This one right to her heart. “Why? He’s doing exactly what Virgil hired him to do.”

He tilted his head back and looked down at her through his frosty gaze. “I hardly think my father hired Mr. Savage to fuck his wife.”

“You would trade a captain who’s led this team to the final round of the championship just because you hate me?”

“Unfortunately, Mr. Savage has become involved with you, and I don’t want him or you anywhere near my team.”

Faith looked at the man in front of her, at the only man on the planet she’d ever feared and she lied to save the only man she’d ever really loved. She shrugged. “Trade him to Toronto, for all I care,” she said, mentioning one of the lowest scoring team of the season. “I doubt they’ll want him, though. He’s persona non grata in Canada these days. Although that’s exactly what the jerk deserves. To be forced to play on a losing team that hates him.”

“Don’t tell me he got tired of you already?”

“He’s decided he wants someone more respectable,” she said, giving Landon the one lie he would believe. “Most men want to have an affair with a stripper. Few want a relationship outside of the bedroom.” She shrugged and pointed to the photos. “Those pictures are old news, Landon. The captain and I are no longer…an item.”

Now it was Landon’s turn to shrug. “Which means the captain is smarter than I gave him credit for. Maybe I’ll keep Mr. Savage. Depends on if he hands me the cup.”

He believed her for now. Perhaps a little too easily, but she guessed she shouldn’t be surprised, considering what he thought of her.

“That doesn’t change your predicament,” Landon said. “Sign the contracts tomorrow or the photos hit the newspapers the next day.”

The thought of Landon’s hands on the cup made her sicker than she already felt. She had to say something. Do some thing or Landon would win. “You expect me to give up a hundred-and-seventy-million-dollar team? Just like that?” was the best she could come up with. “What? Over some photos that might humiliate Ty Savage and the rest of the team?”

“Yes,” he said, calling her bluff. He moved past her but stopped in the door. “Enjoy your last night in the skybox, Layla. After tomorrow it’s mine.”

Technically it wouldn’t be his until the sale was final in a few months, but she was in no position to argue.