Chapter 12

Erika glanced around the arena.She'd gotten here earlier than she probably should have, but she'd been anxious to get out of her apartment and go somewhere that wasn't work. She was also grateful to finally feel human again.

Immediately after leaving Blake in her apartment four days earlier, she'd worked a twelve-hour shift in the ER. When they'd called her about the ten-car pileup, they had failed to mention one of the vehicles wasn't a car but a tour bus. She'd spent nearly the entire day knee-deep in injuries ranging from cuts and bruises, to whiplash, facial trauma, and broken bones, as well as too many serious head and back injuries. Four people were still in critical condition in ICU.

Unfortunately, it hadn't been the hectic, stressful workday that had done her in because she was no stranger to pulling long hours.

Nope.

What finished her was the sandwich she'd grabbed from one of the hospital vending machines. She'd gobbled it down on the way home, starving after missing breakfast and lunch. Once home, she'd hopped into the shower with plans to hit the couch in her comfies and watch Blake's game.

What she hadn't intended to do was to hug the toilet the entire night, praying for death.

Food poisoning was no joke.

Thank God for Ashley, who'd spent the whole next day not only taking care of Corky because Erika was practically comatose on her bathroom floor, but babysitting her as well, bringing her saltines and ginger ale.

After thirty-six hours of feeling like death warmed over, Erika had finally come out on the other side, only to have to return to work yesterday.

She'd been afraid Blake was upset with her for not responding to his texts. She hadn't mentioned having food poisoning to him while he was away because she didn't want to mess with his head before a game or make him worry.

She scoffed to herself because she knew the real reason—she didn't want to give him more ammunition to use against her in his campaign to teach her how to feed herself properly.

So, she was delighted when he texted earlier today to let her know he'd left a ticket for tonight's game for her at the box office.

Two of his former teammates, Alex Stone and Elio Moretti, were in town with their wives. Erika had spent more than a few nights out with both couples whenever they were in town, and Blake, the thoughtful man, knew she would enjoy watching the game with them.

As for Blake himself, they'd been playing apartment tag ever since his return from the West Coast early yesterday afternoon. She'd been at work when he returned, and by the time she'd gotten off, he'd already headed out for his stepbrother Todd's bachelor party. Todd had specifically waited to set a date for his stag night until the Rays' hockey schedule had been solidified, determined to have his big brother there for the festivities.

Erika didn't have a clue how late Blake had returned, but she'd opted not to stop in this morning, figuring he would need to sleep off the effects of the party. So she'd headed straight to work instead. Then they'd missed each other again, as Blake had been scheduled for a couple of pregame interviews, leaving for the arena before she'd returned home.

She was looking forward to finally seeing him tonight. She honestly couldn't recall the two of them ever spending so long apart, and the fact this separation came right on the heels of their night together had given her way too much time to think about—and fret over—what they'd done and what it might mean.

Blake's initial texts had been sweet and very boyfriend-like, but they'd cooled with each subsequent day until now…when it felt like they were back to being just friends again.

She was reminded of her ill-considered one-night stand with Danny, and how she'd mistakenly thought the sex had meant more than it had. It had bothered Erika when Danny finally told her point-blank he didn't want to date her, after ignoring her texts and calls.

If Blake told her he wasn't interested in more, it wouldn't bother her.

It would break her.

She blew out a frustrated breath. She'd jumped into bed with him without talking to him about what it meant. For some reason, at the time, she thought she could handle a one-night stand or casual affair with her best friend.

Where the fuck had her brain been that day?

Actually, she knew. It had been on the fritz because the whole thing with Doug had freaked her the fuck out. So much so that she'd let her needs overshadow her common sense.

Blake represented comfort and safety and…well, she liked the person she was when she was with him. Most of the world looked at her and saw a strait-laced, no-nonsense doctor, someone who was a bit too serious and a lot not fun.

Those things went away when she was with Blake. With him, she was Erik. She hung out with hockey players, ate pizza, drank beer, kicked ass at Mario Kart, and had finally—FINALLY—gotten the puppy she'd always dreamed of.

So she'd reached out for him that night. Not only because she needed him but because she wanted him. Desperately. And all his speeches about not depriving herself had finally taken root.

She didn't regret that night at all, but she sure as fuck regretted the morning after.

Ugh. This was all Blake's fault. If he'd been just as boring in bed as the rest of her ex-lovers, she might have had a fighting chance, but he'd rocked her world. Not just physically but emotionally. Everything he'd done, every word he'd said, had sunk down deep, touching all the cold, lonely places and showing her what she'd been missing her whole life.

"Hey, Erika."

Erika glanced toward the familiar female voice, smiling as Elio and Gianna Moretti entered the box. Usually when Erika attended Blake's games, she sat in one of the general admission sections, so she'd been excited about sitting in the box, complete with its own bar, wait service, and comfortable seats.

She'd been nursing a glass of red wine, though she was thinking about dumping it and ordering a ginger ale, the alcohol making her feel a touch queasy as her stomach was still on the mend from the food poisoning. She put the glass down, reaching out to accept a hug from Gianna. Once they separated, Elio leaned in and gave her a friendly kiss on the cheek.

"Good to see you again, Doc. You keeping our boy Blake in line?" he asked.

"Not sure anyone can keep him in line," she replied, uncertain if Blake had told anyone about their night together and, if so, how he'd portrayed it. Until she knew for sure, she planned to spend tonight acting as if she and Blake were just friends and no lines had been crossed.

Elio chuckled. "I keep telling him and Tank it's time to give up the puck bunnies and settle down." He wrapped his arm around his wife's shoulders. "I wasted way too many years as a bachelor."

Erika smiled, hating how jealous she felt of the lovely couple in front of her. She'd certainly never felt that way before, but suddenly she kept imagining Blake wrapping his arm around her, saying the same sweet words. God, how she wanted that.

"How's your daughter?" Erika asked, aware it was the perfect way to turn the conversation away from Blake.

Just as she expected, Elio's phone was instantly retrieved from his pocket, and he was scrolling through pictures of their little girl. Erika had to admit, Elio and Gianna had made one adorable baby.

"She's so stinking cute," Erika gushed sincerely.

"Jesus. How long did it take him to pull the phone out?" Alex asked, as he and his wife, Charley, entered the box and joined them.

Erika and Gianna exchanged a glance, grinning.

"Three minutes?" Erika suggested.

Gianna shook her head. "Two minutes, tops."

Alex slapped Elio on the shoulder, continuing to tease him. Perhaps his jokes would have held more weight if he hadn't pulled out his own phone to show off his kids. He and Charley had two girls, and Charley mentioned Alex's desire to have another. Given the way Charley's hand surreptitiously slid to her stomach, Erika suspected that desire might already have been met.

Apparently, Alex insisted he wanted six, enough to outfit one line of a hockey team. Most women might have laughed that off, but Charley, a bestselling children's author, acted like that was a totally normal request.

After placing their drink orders, they chatted for another twenty minutes until the announcer broadcast the starting lineups for each team, followed by the National Anthem. Erika, Gianna, and Charley claimed the first row of box seats, while Elio and Alex sat behind them. The game—against Pittsburgh—was an exciting one, both teams in it to win it.

Erika had sent her parents pictures of the box seats shortly after her arrival, and her dad had let her know a few minutes ago that they'd seen her on TV. Apparently, the camera had spun to their box—not surprising, since Alex and Elio were two of the Rays' most popular former players—just as Blake scored the tying goal.

The goal was replayed on the jumbotron several times because it was such an incredible shot, Blake spinning around mid-shot in a way that seemed to defy gravity. The entire crowd in the arena had gotten to their feet to cheer, and the cameras had made sure to capture Alex and Elio's reactions.

From Dad's four exclamation marks following the words "I just saw you on TV," it was clear he was less impressed by the goal and more excited about seeing her. God, she loved her dad.

During the break between the second and third periods, Alex and Elio stood, hanging out by their personal bar, while she, Charley, and Gianna remained in their seats.

"So, what's new with you, Erika?" Gianna asked.

Erika started to offer a standard line. Something like "nothing much" or "same old, same old," but she stopped herself.

She'd never been the type of person who had a lot of friends. She didn't think she was unfriendly or anything like that. It was just that, for the majority of her young adult and adult life, she was always studying. Her social life had taken a massive backseat to her goals, so while other people were doing happy hours or club hopping, she was usually hunkered down in her apartment alone, her nose in a book, while living on takeout.

Blake was the first person since middle school who she actually called "best friend." Probably because they'd met at the right time. She had passed the board, survived her first year of residency, and for the first time since high school, Erika had time for a social life. And Blake was more than happy to share his with her, introducing her to his teammates and the other people in his circle of friends. His friends became hers, which worked well because she adored the same people he did.

But that also meant that now, she didn't really have anyone to talk to about Blake, who wasn't also Blake's friend.

She'd always been sorry that neither Gianna or Charley lived in Baltimore because she felt like the two of them could become very good girlfriends for her.

So, she took a chance.

"I slept with Blake."

Jesus. She probably could have torn that Band-Aid off slower.

Gianna and Charley's responses told her she'd chosen wisely. Both women smiled in genuine delight.

"Oh, I'm so glad!" Gianna enthused.

"You're perfect for each other," Charley added. "Alex and I were hoping the two of you would figure that out."

"The thing is…" Erika said, biting her lip.

Charley groaned. "Starting a sentence with ‘the thing is' is never a good thing."

"It—the sex," Erika clarified, "only happened a few days ago, and since then, life has sort of kept us from talking about it. I got called into the hospital very early the morning after, and then Blake went on the road. We've been texting, but…"

"But?" Gianna prodded.

Erika shrugged. "It's hard as hell to interpret tone from texts, but all I'm getting from Blake's is that nothing has changed. It feels like we're still just friends."

"Do you want to be more than friends?" Charley asked.

Erika nodded immediately. "I thought I could handle a one-night stand with him. Thought it would be no problem to turn it off afterward."

Gianna crinkled her nose. "I'm not sure anyone, short of sociopaths, are capable of turning their feelings on and off like a faucet."

"The thing is, I don't do casual sex," Erika explained. "I don't really like being single. Lately, I've been feeling lonely. So I put myself out there, signed up for a couple online dating apps. I even started dating a guy. He turned out to be a horrible asshole, but I know what I'm hoping to find."

Charley frowned. "And you don't think Blake is it?"

"He doesn't want a relationship. Says marriage is something he'll consider after retiring from the game. He seems pretty damn attached to his bachelor status."

Gianna and Charley rolled their eyes.

"Guys are all the same," Charley said. "Total idiots when it comes to romance."

"And I think it's kind of worse for our guys—professional athletes," Gianna clarified. "I mean…it's not like they have to try too hard. The second they walk out of that locker room after a game, they can take their pick of women all clamoring for a night in their beds. Elio's retired, for God's sake, and even now, even tonight when we were walking into the arena, I swear no less than a dozen women approached him, flirting their asses off. And he was holding my hand!"

Charley nodded. "It's the same with Alex. Our guys have it too easy when it comes to women, and because they're simpleminded fools, they think they like it that way. Trust me. They don't. That's why they need us."

"Elio wasn't looking for love when we met. Of course, neither was I, for that matter," Gianna added. "I'd just gone through a painful breakup with a man I thought was the one. Then Mother Nature stepped in?—"

"Mother Nature?" Erika asked.

Gianna smiled. "The two of us got trapped in his family's cabin in the Poconos during a blizzard. It gave us a lot of time to get to know one another and…I don't know. It felt like we both opened our eyes at the same time and saw what was standing right in front of us. Suddenly, I realized my ex had never been Mr. Right, and Elio figured out that puck bunnies would never be enough for him. Then Mother Nature stepped in again?—"

"Another blizzard?" Charley joked.

Gianna shook her head. "The condom broke."

"Oh." Erika was aware hers and Charley's faces matched, and Gianna definitely found it funny, cracking up.

All three of them burst into laughter when Charley asked, "Mother Nature is in charge of condoms too?"

Gianna just shrugged, giggling.

Erika was so glad she'd started this conversation. It felt good to be able to talk to other women about stuff like this.

"Alex was the king of playboys back in his day," Charley said. "Blake looks like a choirboy in comparison."

"Sounds like Tank," Erika observed.

Charley nodded, giving her a look that proved she agreed with that assessment. "Mother Nature had nothing to do with converting my guy."

"What did?" Erika asked.

"Alcohol. The two of us got shit-faced at a friend's wedding in Vegas and eloped. We even enjoyed a drunken honeymoon in his hotel suite."

Erika's eyes widened. She knew Alex and Charley had grown up as neighbors, even playing on the same youth hockey leagues. She had always assumed they'd been childhood sweethearts. "Whoa."

"Right? I woke up the next morning hungover and looking for an annulment."

"You were looking for an annulment? Not Alex?" Gianna asked.

"That's the crazy part. Alex took me to that wedding as a favor to his sister. He wasn't looking for a relationship because he still considered himself God's gift to women."

Erika was struggling to follow Charley's story. "So why didn't the two of you get the annulment?"

"Alex refused at first, proclaiming he wanted more honeymoon." Charley grimaced. "I'm not proud to say that was a hard request to refuse because the sex…" She winked.

"The sex…" Gianna said with a happy sigh, glancing over her shoulder at Elio.

"Yeah," Erika agreed, perfectly aware that her days of being able to resist Blake's charms were over, now that she knew he wasn't one of those all-hat-and-no-cattle guys.

"I think the trick, Erika, isn't to listen to what Blake is saying. It's to watch what he's doing. I thought Alex wanted to stay married because the sex between us was great. But then he started showing me in a bunch of subtle, special ways that I was different from the other women in his past."

"You mean that even though Blake says he likes being a bachelor, that might not be true?" Erika hadn't considered that, but when she replayed the last few months, starting with the night they'd found Corky, she realized there had been quite a few changes in their relationship.

Blake had stopped bringing home puck bunnies, had stopped going to the pub after every win. He texted her more often, came home with sweet treats or a bottle of wine if she'd had a rough day at the hospital as a pick-me-up, and whenever he looked at her…

She felt beautiful.

Then she recalled the "masturbation lesson." The way he held her when she was scared or sad. The way he managed to cheer her up at her lowest points. The way he'd acted so jealous of Doug.

"Oh my God," Erika whispered. "Blake is my boyfriend! I think he has been for a while."

Gianna and Charley laughed, waving their hands in a jazz-hands cheer. "Yay!"

"So, I'll say it again," Charley said, leaning close to her. "The two of you are perfect for each other."

Erika enjoyed the third period of the game more than the first two—even though the game was a nailbiter—mainly because she was ready for what came after. She wasn't sure if Blake was prepared to admit what they were to each other, but that didn't matter. Because she was prepared to convince him. No wasn't an option here.

She was in love with her neighbor, her best friend, Blake.

And she couldn't wait to tell him.

Unfortunately, Murphy's Law wasn't finished kicking her around just yet. Five minutes before the final buzzer, the score was tied once more, and Pittsburgh had a power play. Erika wasn't sure she'd taken a breath in the last thirty seconds as the opposing team fired off three shots, almost consecutively. Mercifully, Coulton saved every single one.

Just before the power play ended, Erika's phone buzzed with an incoming call. She frowned when she saw her mom's name on the screen. Her parents knew she was at the game.

She started to let it go to voicemail, but then she thought better of it. Her parents had met and married late in life, which was one of the reasons she was an only child. Mom had been forty-five when she had Erika, her dad nearly fifty. With them now in their late seventies, Erika couldn't in good conscience ignore their phone call, even if she did suspect it was a butt dial.

"Mom?" she said, placing one finger in her ear as she rose from her seat. She could hear her mom talking but couldn't make out what she was saying.

"Wait a second while I get to where I can hear you." It was too loud in the arena, so she made her way out of the box to the corridor, where it was quieter. "That's better. Is everything okay?"

Her mom was speaking in a hushed tone. "I'm upstairs because your dad didn't want me to call you."

Erika didn't like Mom's anxious tone. "What's wrong?"

"He forgot tomorrow was trash day, so during the last break in the game, he went to drag the garbage can to the street. It was icy and he slipped, fell off the curb, and twisted his ankle."

"Is he alright? Did he break anything?" Erika knew her father, the most stoic man on the planet, would act fine even if he wasn't.

"It's very swollen. I told him we should go to the ER, but the truth is I'm not sure he can get to the car on his own, and I'm not strong enough to help." Mom was a petite five-two to her dad's hulking six-foot frame.

Erika didn't even bother suggesting Mom call an ambulance because she knew hell would freeze over before her dad admitted to needing one. "I'll come over and try to convince him to go to the hospital. If it's a fracture, he'll need X-rays."

"That's what I told him, but he swears he's fine with just icing it in his recliner. He didn't want me to call because you're at the game, but I'm worried."

"I'm going to leave now. The game is still going, so I shouldn't have to fight too much traffic. Hopefully, I'll be there in twenty, twenty-five minutes. Make sure he doesn't try to walk on that ankle."

"I will. Thank you, Erika." Mom hung up, and Erika returned to the box to grab her coat and purse.

"I have to go. Emergency with my dad. He took a tumble," she said to the two couples.

"Is he okay?" Alex asked.

"Swollen ankle, but he's being a stubborn old coot, so I'm making a house call," she said, a weak attempt at a joke to mask the fact she was concerned. "If everything is okay, I'll meet you at the pub later. If he needs to go to the hospital, I'm afraid I'll miss the after-party." Erika spared a quick glance at the scoreboard. "The Rays scored?"

"Blake fired one in about ten seconds after you stepped out," Elio said.

She grimaced. "Figures. Can you tell Blake I'm sorry to bail? I'll text him too."

Charley reached out and gave her a hug. "We'll tell him. Go take care of your dad. Hope to see you soon, Erika."

"Same," Erika replied, hugging Alex, Gianna, and Elio before heading out. From the roar that greeted her the second she hit the stairs, she could tell the Rays had scored again. And she'd missed it…again.

Once she made it to the concourse level, she headed toward the exit.

"You're leaving?"

Erika turned around, surprised to discover it was Mindy, emerging from a lower level, headed toward the bathroom.

"Yeah. Family emergency."

"Oh. So I guess you're going to miss the after-party."

"Probably." She was annoyed that Mindy wasn't even trying to hide her delight over Erika's departure.

"The celebration at the pub is going to be off the hook," Mindy continued. "The Rays pulled out a major upset, and the way Blake scored those last two goals…magic."

Shit,Erika thought. She'd missed seeing him score both those goals.

"I really do need to run." Erika tried to ignore the unwanted jealousy she felt. Blake appeared to have lost interest in Mindy, but unfortunately, Erika was still insecure enough about her own place in his life that she was worried.

She tried to shake those feelings off as she headed to the parking garage. On the way, she typed out a quick text.

Dad fell and twisted his ankle. Had to leave early. Congratulations on the game. It was a brilliant win.

She'd search for highlights on her phone to watch Blake's goals.

Sorry I can't celebrate with you. Enjoy your night with the gang, and thanks again for the tickets. Felt very bougie sitting in that box.

She considered adding a champagne emoji, but in the end, she opted for something simpler and more appropriate.

xoxo