Shutout (The Renegades Series Book 5) (28 page)

“Yeah, I’m here.”

“Good. I need to ask you. Did you pay for all of the paintings yourself?” Alison kept her eyes trained on Hailee as she spoke.

“Not this again.” Dominic groaned. “No. My agent would’ve ripped me a new one if I had spent that much. But I did buy some of them. He wasn’t thrilled that I dropped as much as I did, but it’s my money.”

“Which paintings did you keep for yourself?” Alison asked.

“Well… There were a few I recognized from back when we… from before Hailee moved away. I didn’t want those going into an office somewhere.”

Alison gave Hailee a pointed look. “And what about the others?”

“I bought them mainly for charities I work with, like group homes and facilities for kids. They love hockey, I mean, it’s Canada. The donations were welcomed and appreciated. But I did show the paintings to guys on the team, and they were in touch with their contacts as well, other influential people who decided to buy them for themselves. People with deep pockets. In the end, we had tons of interest in the paintings. My agent organized all of the orders and contacted you. Those sales were legit. Call my agent. He’ll tell you.”

“You mean Mr. McKnight?” Hailee knew something had been fishy with this whole thing. Why she hadn’t thought of him first was beyond her.

“Hi Hailee.” He paused. “Yes, he’s my agent. McKnight was the contact everyone who was interested coordinated with. Some of the guys who work with organizations also jumped in. But call him, he can tell you all of this.”

“Dominic—” Hailee spoke, but he cut her off.

“Look, I have practice. I have to go. Hailee, I’m not sorry that I helped you out. But it was an innocent business transaction, not an attempt to control you or take pity on you, or whatever it is you’ve gotten into your head. But if you can’t see that I care about you and you still think I’m that kind of man, then maybe we aren’t meant to be together after all.”

The phone went silent and his photo disappeared off the screen. “He hung up,” Alison said, before handing the phone back to Hailee. “Give me a minute.” Alison disappeared into the office.

Hailee’s head was spinning. Propping her elbows up on the counter, she let her heavy head fall into her hands.
Did he really think they were better off apart
?
Were they?

Everything Alison had said to her, all the difficult and bitter truths she’d denied for the past three years, swirled around in her mind. Had she done the right thing leaving him in the first place? She would never know. Was she still so unsure of herself that she was subconsciously pushing him to find someone else? Did she still believe she deserved the pain of her broken heart, punishing herself after what she did to him? Did her pride have to stop her from ever accepting anyone’s help? She was confused and weary.

It felt like forever before Alison returned. “Hey sad face, what are you thinking about?”

“Maybe he’s right. Maybe we’d never work.”

“Shut up already, will you? We both know that you hate being seen as a damsel in distress. So act like your stubborn ass self and fix this. Look at this fax.” Alison handed her some papers.

“What is that?”

“I just talked to Mr. McKnight. This is the list of buyers.”

“But, how did you—”

“I told him I was your business manager and we needed this for our records. Plus, it was only ever kept from you so you wouldn’t act like
this
.” Alison pointed at Hailee and made a round motion with her finger. She laid the list down on the counter so they could look it over. “You know, like a crazy person, and try to return all of the money.”

Most of the paintings were bought by people she’d never heard of, but they were pricey, so these must be wealthy folks.

“McKnight said most of these names are affluent people who have those super expensive seats at the games. The ones that just say ‘Renegades’ were purchased by the team to furnish company owned venues. You know, like offices in the arena and the practice facility.”

She searched the list, looking at every name. The names on this list were the people who bought her paintings, not Dom. Granted, he did purchase a few, the ones of the two of them, and one of him skating, but not enough to make her act like such an ass to him.

Her stomach ached and a lump formed in her throat.
Why am I so determined to stand in my own way? Alison was right about everything. I’ve been setting myself up to fail with Dom, wanting to punish myself. But I’ve only ended up hurting him again.

Somewhere deep down she wanted them to work. Her heart ached because she missed him. She wanted to be with him. And now that her dream was taking shape, she knew her fears and worries were baseless. It didn’t change the fact that she had acted like an ass to him.

She could make this work. He had proven himself time and time again; she’d been too hardheaded to realize it until now. He would be busy with hockey and she would be busy making a name for herself in the art world, not to mention helping up and coming artists break into it. But she wanted to be with him. If it meant moving to a new city, then she’d deal with it. Businesses could be moved, and new galleries opened. Besides, the website would always be operating.

There was no guarantee how exactly their lives would all end up, but the warmth in her heart told her she would be okay no matter what life handed them. As long as she had Dominic. Now she just needed to find a way to show him she was serious and get him back.

Alison slapped her hand on the table. “Hailee, I have an idea. Interested?”

Hailee

Hailee’s heart raced, and her palms were clammy as she walked into the Rivers Arena. The warm weather had little to do with her perspiring. Tonight was game six of the Cup finals.
Am I really doing this
? Her stomach flopped.
What if he can’t forgive me?
Her fingers gripped the sign she’d brought so tightly that they started to go numb. Her body trembled and she fell back in the crowd. Alison grabbed her arm.

“You okay? You’re not thinking about backing out, are you?”

“No.” Backing out was not an option. If she didn’t do this, she knew she’d lose him for good, that is, if her crazy hadn’t run him away already. She couldn’t blame him if he had.

If there was any game she’d want to be at, this was the one. The Renegades led the series 3–2. If they won tonight, they were the champions.
After all we’ve been through, he wouldn’t be able to ignore me while holding the most coveted trophy in hockey. Right?
She banked all her feelings on that thought.

“Good. You want food before we sit down?” Alison still had ahold of her arm as they walked towards their section.

“No, my stomach is a mess. I still can’t believe Mia’s brother got us glass seats to this game.” Butterflies danced around her belly and nausea filled her body. “But I could go for a beer. Or three.”

“Okay, whatever. C’mon, I’m getting pizza. I’m hungry.” Alison pulled her towards the concessions area. The lines were still fairly empty, and they were waited on immediately. Hailee appreciated the quick service because her legs were starting to buckle under her from nerves.

Pizza and beers in hand, they walked down the steps to their seats.

An older gray-haired man stopped them about halfway down. “Do you ladies need help finding your seats?”

“This is section one-eighteen, right?” Alison asked, holding up her tickets for him to see.

“Yep, it sure is.” He looked at their tickets and pointed down towards the ice. “You’re in the first row, all the way down and to your right.”

Hailee stood silent, still clutching her homemade poster and now her beer that was already half gone. Alison took one look at her and held in a laugh. “Then we’re in the right place, thanks.” The girls continued down towards the ice. Alison snickered as she glanced at her. “Hailee, you still okay? You look a little green-ish.”

“Yeah, fine.” She wasn’t fine. Her heart pounded so hard she was afraid it was going to pound right out of her chest. She needed this to work.

“Why are you so nervous? This
is
what you want, right?” Alison led the way to their seats.

“Of course it is. I just never saw myself crawling to him. I spent so much time running from him chasing me. It’s weird.” Her belly did another flop as they found their seats, numbers eight and nine. They were in the first row, right on the glass and directly behind the goalie net.

“I have a feeling you don’t have to worry about that, Hailee. Something tells me he would never turn you away. Plus, you’ll be right behind him with that sign.”

Hailee had made a sign in the hope that Dom would look her way. It read:

#20

-Z-

I MISS YOU

Back home, all their friends called him “Z”. Hopefully that would catch his attention first. Under the “I MISS YOU,” she had written in smaller letters, “I’M SORRY”.

“Ali, I feel weird in this jersey.” She had gone out and bought herself a Zanetti home jersey, especially for tonight. She hadn’t worn his jersey since they were young and still back in Canada.

“I don’t know why you feel weird. You look adorable. Not to mention, you won’t be the only one in the stands in a Zanetti jersey, trust me.” Alison had on a Tyler Kidd jersey, her favorite player.

The visiting team skated onto the ice first. Then the music started to play and a loud voice filled the arena. “Please welcome your Pittsburgh Renegades!” The team filed out onto the ice for warm-ups. Her heart sped up and her body went cold. Tyler Kidd, Kris Lafleur, and other players skated by her after shooting practice shots at the empty net. Glancing around the ice, she froze — a shiver ran through her, and it wasn’t from the chill in the arena.

There he was. Standing at the Renegades bench, his mask propped up on his head. He squirted Gatorade into his mouth.

“Hailee, put your sign up,” Alison said, but with all the noise, it sounded like a whisper.

Hailee didn’t move. Her brain knew she needed to put the sign up, but her body wouldn’t respond. Her heart pounded in her ears and her face burned. She couldn’t catch her breath and felt like she might hyperventilate. Being face to face with the players, she was awestruck.

Even after being next to them at the club, this atmosphere made them seem larger than life. And there he was, halfway across the ice, more forceful and imposing than she ever remembered.

She wasn’t the only female in the stands with a Zanetti jersey or a sign for him. Bunnies were all along the glass with signs asking for selfies, sticks, even dates to prom.

“Hailee. Your sign. Girl, snap out of it! He’s on his way over here.”

Hailee was frozen.

“Hailee, I love you, girl, but I’m going to be blunt. We’ve come this far, and now you have two choices. Either put up the damn sign and we’ll figure out how to get his attention, or let’s leave now, so he’ll never have to know we were here.” She put her arm around Hailee and pulled her near. “So what’s it gonna be? Do you want a future with him, or leave your past in the past?”

His neck tattoo peeked out from under his jersey and helmet, and her heart warmed at the sight of it. Then she laid eyes on the back of his helmet, where he had his number “20” and “H.V.” below it painted in cursive letters. Her initials. Tears prickled her eyes.
He’s been wearing my initials on his helmet all this time?
Not to mention he picked the number twenty when he got drafted, because it was her birthday. After all this time, he still wore it. All she had to do was make her move.

Alison was right. She was either going to do this now, or spend the rest of her life watching him from afar on social media, seeing him move from girl to girl, knowing that could’ve been her, wishing that was her. One day he would probably get married. Another woman would lie in his bed every night. Another woman would have his children. A sick feeling moved through her stomach thinking of him with anyone else.

Looking down at her hand, her tiny tattoo that read “No Regrets” caught her eye. That ink was there for moments like this. It was now or never. Without another thought, she took a deep breath and held her sign against the glass. Dom was in the net, but his focus was on stopping shots, not the fans behind him. Even when he turned around for water, his eyes didn’t leave the ice. She knew how he was out there. He had laser focus, but this was one time she needed to break it.
I need to get his attention, but how?
She’d stand here all game if she had to.

“Good choice.” Alison smiled and started to bang on the glass, calling for Dom.

Lafleur was paying attention to some kids a few sections over and flipping pucks up and over the glass to them. Tyler Kidd shot a puck into the net, then circled around the ice, before pretending to cross-check Lafleur. They looked like they were having so much fun out there, smiling and laughing. The music was so loud the bass pounded in her chest. Her breath caught when Lafleur’s eye landed on her sign. Her brain said to put the sign away, but her heart told her to keep it right where it was. Especially when Lafleur said something to Kidd, causing him to look over also.

“Kris Lafleur and Tyler Kidd see your sign!” Alison shrieked. “Oh my God! Oh my God! Tyler Kidd!” She jumped up and down, pointing at Hailee’s sign and then pointed to Dominic. She grabbed Hailee’s jersey, spun her around, and pointed to Dom’s name and number on the back, almost knocking Hailee over in the process.

“Watch it!” Hailee yelled, catching herself on the seat.

Even her friend’s embarrassing actions didn’t make Hailee waiver. She stood tall, holding her sign, silently praying he would notice her. Her eyes were trained on Tyler Kidd as he and Kris Lafleur skated to Dominic. They were talking, but between the thick glass and the loud music, she couldn’t hear what they were saying. The two kept looking at Hailee, but had their gloves by their mouths so she couldn’t even try to read their lips. They pointed behind Dom with huge grins on their faces.

Dom turned around, looking into the crowd. Even through the mask, she could see his soulful dark eyes, and they were looking directly at her.