hear.”
“It wasn’t true! She was only trying to cause trouble.”
Disbelief traced over his voice. “If you say so.”
I felt indignant. “That’s what I am saying.”
“We both know he is royalty in the hockey world. Until he got tied down, he could sleep with anyone and everyone. It must have been a difficult transition for him to commit to only one person.”
Tied down? Difficult transition? My eyebrows went up at his suggestion that Mica had cheated on me. “That’s not who my husband is.”
“Lots of men consider it their right to sleep around right until the day they get married.” He gave a half laugh. “I mean, why else do men have strippers at their bachelor party?”
Andrew’s comments subdued me as we walked over to the stadium. Sabrina told me she had been with Mica only a couple days before we had married. Which I couldn’t even get pissed about, because we had been heading into the relationship in name only. He had no emotional commitment to me, no reason not to enjoy himself. But she was a reminder of just how wild Mica had been before we got married. The guy had never experienced a shortage of women to warm his bed.
Why did I think I would be different? Furthermore, was the only reason he was interested in me now, because I was the last woman standing? He had no options other than me to bed. How soon after the ink dried on our divorce papers would he be back in Sabrina’s bed or chasing some other woman?
I needed to protect myself from falling for Mica. No matter how hard it would be.
We sat in our seats with Yelena in between Andrew and myself. The game started, and like every other game, I couldn’t seem to tear my eyes off Mica as he skated.
Yelena leaned over and spoke to me. “My husband also loved to watch Mica play. When he was a small boy, sometimes the games would be outside in bitterly cold weather, and no matter how busy my husband was with work, he always made time to come to Mica’s games. Sometimes he would go directly from work to watch, and he would be half-frozen in his suit and dress shoes, but he never complained. When Mica was little, he made Mica his priority.”
I looked at her, curious about Mica’s childhood. “Did your husband play hockey?”
She laughed. “Oh no. We don’t know where Mica got his athletic ability from. My husband is not very sporty. I think it is a source of deep pride that his son is so athletic.”
The crowd’s screams shifted, and then the place got eerily quiet. I looked to see Mica, crouched on the ice, his hands over his head.
I stood up, my heart pounding.
Get up. Please get up.
But he didn’t get up. Ryan and another player stood beside him, looking down at him. A trainer hopped over the fence and, in his shoes, half ran, half shuffled across the ice towards Mica.
The stadium was deathly quiet. I watched in horror, hands over my mouth, trying to see what was going on. The trainer kneeled on the ice, talking to Mica, and then he motioned to Ryan to help him.
Mica stood up, and I saw blood, a whole lot of blood, before the trainer pressed a towel to his face. They led him off the ice to cheers from the stadium. Mica didn’t go to the bench. They led him through the gate and he disappeared.
“I have to go.” I started to move through the aisle.
Andrew stood up. “Let me come.”
“No.” My voice was sharp. “Stay with Yelena.”
“Text me,” Yelena pleaded.
Without looking back, I ran up the stairs towards the exit. I raced through the vast corridor, my eyes looking for stairs that led me down to the next level. I got momentarily disoriented, but then found a long hallway that led towards the locker rooms.
A security guard manned the hallway. “You can’t go past this point.”
“That’s my husband,” I said in desperation.
He shook his head, not believing me.
“Charlie,” said a voice from behind me. I turned to see Rory, Mark Ashford’s daughter. “Are you looking for Mica?”
Tears threatened. “They took him off the ice. I know I’m not allowed back there, but I’m so scared.”
She put a comforting arm around me and flashed her badge to the security guard. “Let’s go see how he’s doing.”
She led me down another corridor and then turned to me. “Can I ask you to wait here?”
I nodded,