Chapter 2

Cha pter 2

Rico

I watch Amber walk into the gas station before pulling out my phone. I blow out a breath and step out of the truck before bothering my friend on his honeymoon. "Hey Man," I say as soon as Aiden answers. "I'm so sorry to bother you. I wouldn't have called if I didn't have to."

"It's fine. What's wrong?" Aiden is nothing if not blunt.

I run a hand over my chest. "I picked up Amber from that house. That's a story for another time. But she doesn't want to go home, and I don't know what to do with her. I took her to my house, but she didn't want to go there either. I don't know what to do with her." I feel stupid saying it, but I really don't know what to do. "I'd put her in a hotel for the night, but she doesn't have anything with her."

"Take her to our house," Aiden says. "The spare key is under the second flowerpot on the right of the door."

I smirk. "You know that's where people look first, right?"

"You want in or not?" He grunts out, and I can't help but laugh.

"I thought Bri was sweetening you up."

"She's trying, but then you called."

I laugh. "Okay, Old Man. I'll let you be." I hesitate a moment, wondering if I should tell him that something seems really wrong with Amber. I decide against it. They deserve this time away, and I know Brielle will just worry if she knows...well, more than she already worries about Amber. "Give my love to your better half," I tell him. He doesn't even say goodbye before hanging up, and I can't help but grin. That man is so head-over-heels for his woman. I catch Amber out of the corner of my eye as I hang up. She climbs into the truck without acknowledging me. I stand there a moment longer, trying to think best how to help her. Without any solid ideas, I climb into the truck. I glance over at her, but her face is hidden by her long hair as she looks out the window. Without a word, I start the truck and make the drive to Aiden's house. When we get there, I stop the truck and rub a hand over my face. My early morning is starting to catch up to me. When I turn to Amber, I still. She's asleep. I stare at her a moment. I never get a chance to just look at her. I can't even see her entire face because of the way she's turned. My heart thumps in my chest, and I wish I could do something to take her burdens away. I don't know what's going on in that beautiful head of hers, but it's obvious she's not in a good place. I remind myself that she has a boyfriend. With that awful thought spinning around in my head, I reach out and put my hand on her shoulder, shaking her gently. "Amber." She jolts, and I withdraw my hand.

"Sorry," she mumbles.

"It's okay," I manage to say. Wanting to give her a moment to fully wake up, I climb out of my truck and take my time walking around to the passenger side. I open her door and put out my hand to help her down. She ignores it and drops to the ground beside me. I catch the slightest whiff of her perfume and try to take it deep into my lungs.

"I don't have a key," she says, looking up at the big house.

"Aiden told me where it is." I'm surprised my voice works at all. I start towards the house, simply so I don't say or do something stupid. I find the spare key easily and unlock the front door and step inside, turning on the lights as I go. "Aiden said you know where the guest room is." I turn back to her, but she avoids my gaze. Her head is down, her hair hiding her face from my view.

"Um, okay. Thank you for the ride. I'm sorry you had to drive me all over creation. Oh, wow. I didn't realize it was so late. I'm sorry."

I will her to look at me, but she doesn't. "It's really not a problem," I tell her, meaning it. I just wish she would let me in. When she still doesn't look at me, I know it's time for me to leave. I blow out a breath. "You, uh, sure you're going to be good here?"

"Yeah." Her voice is quiet. Then she's gone. One minute, she's in front of me; the next she disappears. I stare in the direction she went before I make myself head towards the front door. She doesn't want me around; she's made no bones about it. She'll be okay here, and it's best for me just to leave. If only I could get myself to believe that. I force myself to walk towards the front door. Right before I open it, I hear a sound. I pause, and then it comes again. Before I know it, my feet are headed in the direction of the bathroom.

I knock on the door. "Amber?"

"Go away."

Her voice is miserable, and frustration burns inside me. I try to open the door, but it's locked. I know I could force my way inside if I wanted to, but I'm not going to do that to her. That would make her like me even less. I hear her throw up again, and I shove off the wall and pull out my phone.

Sebastian picks up on the second ring. "Miss me already?" he asks, and I can hear the grin in his voice.

Normally, I would say something smart back; but my heart's not in it tonight. "Is Stephanie with you?"

"Well, that's just a dumb question. Of course, my girl is with me. She's—"

"I need to talk to her," I say, cutting off whatever he was going to say.

He pauses. "You good, Man?"

I blow out a breath of frustration. "Yeah, it's just Amber. I don't know what to do."

"Hang on. Let me get Stephanie." His voice is serious now.

"She's here now," he says a moment later.

"Hey, Rico, what's up?" she asks.

"It's Amber," I say quietly. "Something's wrong with her. I picked her up from a party tonight because she needed a ride. She barely said a word. She wouldn't let me take her to her house. And then when I tried to take her to mine, she panicked. I called Aiden and he told me to bring her here to his house, but now she's throwing up in the bathroom and won't let me in. I don't know what to do." I know I'm totally panicking, but I really don't know what to do to help her.

"We're coming over," Stephanie says, and relief courses through me. I hang up and listen for Amber. When I don't hear any sound, I walk over to the door quietly. Part of me wants to ask her to open the door, but the other part of me knows she doesn't want anything to do with me, especially tonight. And as much as I hate that, I respect her enough to leave her alone. The last thing I want to do is make her uncomfortable. So, I wait. And pace. It takes an eternity for Stephanie and Sebastian to show up. When they finally do, I open the door and let them in. "Where is she?" Stephanie asks as she walks past me.

"Bathroom." I nod towards the hallway, and she heads there.

"Hey, Man," Sebastian says, uncharacteristically quiet. We head into the living room, and I strain to hear the conversation in the hallway.

"Amber, it's Stephanie. Open the door." I can't hear her reply, but I can hear Stephanie loud and clear. "Yeah, well, we drove all the way over here to check on you; so that's not an option." I hold my breath and then hear the sound of the door opening. It closes again, and silence fills the room.

"So, you picked her up from a party?" Sebastian's voice breaks the silence.

"Yeah." I don't look over at him.

"Must have been some party." I turn to look at him in confusion. He points at my face, and I suddenly remember the fight I was in earlier.

"Aiden forgot to tell me it was a party full of Devils' players."

His eyes widen. "No kidding?"

"Does it look like I'm kidding?" I return.

Sebastian smirks. "Well, did you get any hits in?"

"Course I did." I'm irritated, and he's not making things better. "So did Gunner."

His eyes widen. "Cap was there too? Man! You should have called me. I can't believe I missed out!"

I give him a look. "Did you miss the part where we had to fight at least six of their guys?"

"Nope. I heard that part. Saw that on your ugly mug too," he says pointing to my face. "I just can't believe you fought. Something must have really stirred you up."

I scowl at the way he says it. "What's that supposed to mean?"

He shrugs, and I suddenly have the urge to wipe the smirk off his face. "Just sayin'. You usually don't fight."

"I'm usually a little busy," I say dryly.

"You sure it doesn't have anything to do with a certain somebody?" he asks, tipping his head towards the hallway. I cross my arms over my chest and level a look at him. He puts his hands up in surrender, and a serious expression crosses his face—a rare look for him. "I just don't want to see you get hurt." His words are soft, but it still makes anger bubble up inside me. I don't respond because I don't want to fight with him. He's my teammate; and more than that, he's a friend.

Before I get a chance to say anything, the bathroom door opens. I catch my breath and look that direction, but Amber doesn't come out. Only Stephanie does, and I don't like the look on her face. She looks me directly in the eye. "You know she has a black eye and a nasty scratch on her arm?"

"What?" The word explodes out of me as anger burns through me, hot and fast. I suddenly wish I'd done a whole lot more damage in that fight. "Is that why she's throwing up?" I am so angry, I can barely see straight.

"No, that's...something else." Her voice is soft, and I look away from the hallway to take in her face.

"You okay, Baby?" Sebastian asks, wrapping an arm around her and pulling her close. She melts into him, and I look away. I'm happy that my teammates are finding the loves of their lives, but it doesn't make it easy to watch. Not when I want that more than anything. I rub a hand over my chest. I'm not one of those guys that's made hockey my everything. Sure, I love the game; and I love my team. But I never planned on making a career out of it. I sort of fell into it in high school. My single mom put me in sports at a young age, simply to keep me busy and out of trouble. When I tried hockey at a summer camp, I was hooked. But it wasn't until ninth grade that my coach made me try my hand at goalie when our goalie got injured during a practice. I was hooked. The kid who had a hard time paying attention suddenly locked in on every single movement of the puck. Standing in front of the net is my happy place. It's the only time that my overactive mind settles. I've made a good amount of money playing for the Green Thunder, but I could walk away from it tomorrow if I had to, especially if it meant getting what I've always wanted—a big family. My mom did the best she could with my sister and me, but I always wondered what it would be like to have a full house. My life plan always included getting married early and having lots of kids and living out my dream life with a full house. That hasn't exactly happened. I'm twenty-six, which objectively isn't that old for most people. But for me, it feels ancient. I didn't think I'd still be playing the sport at this age. I thought I'd be settled in a house with a wife and kids and maybe a dog by now. I've got the house, but it's empty. My mom lives in the guesthouse I had built for her. Living with my mom at age twenty-six was not exactly the dream. Guilt hits me. My mom did everything she could to make a good life for me. She worked two jobs just to pay for my sports' equipment. Hockey is expensive. I owe her everything, which is why I always make sure she's well taken care of. It's also why I bought this huge house—because it had room for a guesthouse in the backyard. Don't get me wrong. I love my mom to death. Still, it's not the same as having someone at my side, someone to love and be loved in return. My mind snaps back to the present. I watch as Stephanie says something quietly to Sebastian.

"What is it?" I ask, wanting, no, needing to know what's going on with Amber. She puts her hand on his chest and meets my eyes. And then she says two words that change everything.

"She's pregnant."

The world beneath my feet tilts.