“Well, there’s a hot bath with your name on it when you get home.” I smile back at him. Which reminds me, he needs more bath salts. I mentally add it to the list. I’m going to do a pickup for groceries while he’s in therapy.
Alone.
I can do this. I have a new life now. What is he going to do? Snatch me off the street? Shit, would he? The last time I left I did it quietly. I made the mistake of using my debit card and he tracked me down. What’s sick is that he knew for weeks where I was, but he waited. He wanted me to believe Iwas safe. I’d gotten a job, and as soon as I was set to start it and earn my own money he showed up.
No, he didn’t force me to get into his car with him, but fear did. At the time I thought if I just went with him without a fight, it’d be easier.
It wasn’t.
Now, though, I have Grey. I don’t want to use him like that, but I’ll admit with the muscle power he has I feel safe. He also has friends who are equally as big as he is. Not that I want to get them wrapped up in my mess.
The point is, this is it if I want it to be. Maybe Grey’s right. Steven has no power over me. I can pick up groceries. I can go to a hockey game. I don’t have to be afraid anymore. I’m in control.
For the first time in my life... I’m free.
“Who’s playing tonight?”
Grey looks at the TV, blinking as if just hearing my question. “Last round until the finals. Its Reapers verses the Vipers.”
“Finals?”
I hand him a beer and don’t even wait this time to get on the bed and join him. He’s lying against his pillows, with his knee propped up with an ice pack. I don’t feel as awkward as last time, and Grey smiles as I slide in beside him. “There are sixteen teams who play in the playoffs. Eight from the west and eight from the east. Right now, we’re almost at the end. The Otters made it to the final for the west. Now this game will determine if the Vipers go on to the finals next week or if there’ll be one more game to qualify. They’re up three to two, so it’ll be intense. Fuck, I love playoff hockey. Then if they win, they’ll advance to the final. The Vipers will most likelywin tonight’s game. They’re very good and almost always make it close to the end. At least they have the last few years. They’re fucking dirty, though.”
“Dirty?”
“They play a very nasty physical game.” Grey shakes his head. “This is the team I faced when I got injured. I guess it’s not fair. They aren’t all like that. Knox, their captain, is an okay guy.”
“Who injured you?”
Grey takes a deep breath. “His name is Rome Acciari, the so-called bad boy of hockey. He’s a fucking asshole.”
“Isn’t the whole game rough, though?” He looks at me. “I’m not saying you deserved it. Sorry. I just mean. Hockey is rough, right? I’m sorry.”
He chuckles. “It’s okay. I know how you meant it, and you’re right.” He turns a little toward me. “The thing is, yes, this is a rough sport. We knock into each other, scrums break out, gloves are thrown, but at the end of the day you have respect. No cheap shots. No injuring for the sake of injuring.” He settles back against his pillows. “For example, years back, there was this player... he played for the Minnesota Wolves. Karl Hunt. He liked to injure the goalies. You never fuck with the goalies. It was a well-known dirty as fuck thing he did. He’d hit them in the back. And that’s the thing. You don’t hit people from behind. That’s coward shit.”
“Wow, that’s terrible.”
Grey nods. “He uh, he hit a goalie for Vermont. The way he did it and the force of it paralyzed him. He’s since regained some of his movement but...” He shakes his head. “He hasn’t been the same since.” He looks at me. “That’s not hockey. That’s not sportsmanship. That’s criminal. He was suspended indefinitely, but no criminal charges, even though there should have been. He was doing that shit on purpose.”
“Can I ask what happened to you?”
Grey looks ahead at the TV. Players are filing out onto the ice. “I was headed for their goal. Rome came up behind me with a force I’ve never felt before and barreled into me. I tripped over my skate and went up a little in the air, then I came down really hard on my knee. Thought I’d shattered it. I’ve never felt pain like that in my life.”
“That must have been awful.” He smiles sadly, and I watch the black and lime-green jerseys skating around their half of the rink. “What’s his number?”
“Forty-one.” I look for him out in the chaos and find him. You can’t see anything, but I notice him by himself while they warm up.
“I guess the only consolation is that no one likes that asshole, not even his own team. He’s notorious. Serial cheater. I don’t know why his wife stays with him.He’s always drinking and getting into fights. More arrests than anyone knows what to do with. He’s just a dick.”
“Why do they keep him?”
Grey shrugs. “He’s good at playing. Unfortunately. It’s what the GMs like to see. He’s a brawler. Most of us think he’s a coward.”
“So, we’re rooting for the Reapers, then?”
Grey chuckles, putting his arm around me and pulling me against his body. “We can, but I think the Vipers have this one. Last game before the finals, they’re going to leave it all out on the ice. Playoff hockey isn’t regular hockey. This is where all that blunt force gets to run wild. I know Atlas is dying for it. He loves fighting on the ice. He’s the sweetest mess off it, but my boy likes to fight.”
“Your boy?” Something strange fills my stomach. “You guys are close, huh?”
