Victor Read online

  Victor

  A Chicago Blaze Hockey Romance

  Brenda Rothert

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Epilogue

  Author’s Note

  Chapter One

  Lindy

  * * *

  I groan softly as I peer inside the old washing machine in the basement of the Carson Center. The cleaning rags I planned to put in the dryer are floating in a giant tub full of water. This place is home to the best pro hockey team in the world, but the brass won’t spring for a decent washing machine.

  And today, that’s a big problem, because with the ICEE machine on the fritz, we’re going to have a lot of messes. Submitting a work order to have equipment fixed around here is a thing, and in the meantime, we concession stand workers are stuck using cheap napkins to clean everything.

  My dad’s a plumber, and I’ve learned a few things from him over the years. If the issue is a quick fix, I might be able to handle it.

  It takes me a little while to remove the front panel from the washer. I have to bend down and remove the screws from the bottom corners in front of the washer and pull the panel down and out towards me. I set it aside and get down on the floor to, as my dad would say, assess the situation. The floor is dirty, but I’m off in less than an hour, so it doesn’t really matter.

  “Aha,” I say to myself as I find the problem.

  The drain hose isn’t fully connected to the drainpipe. As I spend the next few minutes reconnecting the hose to the pipe, the hose material leaves a chalky film on my hands. After I’m done, I replace the washing machine panel, wash my hands in the ancient mop sink in the corner of the basement storage room, then wring out each cleaning cloth and toss them into the dryer.

  Once done, I set the washer to a quick rinse cycle to drain the water from the tub and then head back to the service elevator.

  The Carson Center is massive, and things have been moved around since it was built thirty years ago. Once I get off the elevator, it’s a hike from the storage room back to the main concession area.

  There’s a staff meeting going on in the employee break room, and I plan to sneak in unnoticed. But as soon as I walk in, my boss Bruce gives me a disapproving frown.

  “Boring,” he says sternly. “You’re late.”

  I hate—actually, it’s more like loathe—the way Bruce calls all the employees by our last names, like we’re in the military or something. Because in my case, there are inevitably snickers about my last name, which is an unfortunate one for a woman who is, in every way, ordinary.

  “Sorry,” I say, my cheeks warming from the stares of my coworkers.

  “How long have you worked here, Boring?” Bruce crosses his arms only to rest them on his ample belly.

  I glance at the wall clock. I’m not even four minutes late, and he’s going to make it an issue. Sighing inwardly, I say, “Three years.”

  “And for three years, what time have I held our weekly staff meeting?”

  “Four-thirty.”

  Arching his brows, he nods, his expression loaded with condescension. And just when I think he’s had enough of showing us all who’s boss, he keeps going.

  “Were you on a smoke break?”

  “No.” I furrow my brow, confused. “I don’t smoke.”

  “Using your cell phone?”

  My friend Ariana sighs audibly, drawing a sharp look from Bruce. I clear my throat, eager to defuse the situation before Ariana says something that will get her written up.

  “I was fixing the washing machine,” I say quickly. “And wringing out the cleaning rags so we’ll have some tonight since the ICEE machine is broken.”

  Bruce’s eyes widen and his lips part. His expression is nothing short of amused.

  “Fixing the washing machine? Who authorized you to do that?”

  I freeze, wishing I was quick and clever like Ari. “Um…”

  “What’s a nineteen-year-old girl know about fixing washing machines?” Bruce continues, scoffing.

  I’m twenty-three, but I don’t dare correct him.

  “She knows more than the rest of us,” Ari says defensively. “Her dad’s a plumber.”

  Bruce ignores her, keeping his glare focused on me. His frown is so pronounced that it disappears beneath his bushy brown mustache.

  “We call them cleaning towels, not rags, Boring,” he says. “And the ICEE machine is fixed.”

  “No, it’s not,” Ari says, shaking her head. Several of my coworkers murmur their agreement.

  Bruce turns to face Ari and I let out a small exhale of relief.

  “I closed out that work order, Gonzales,” he says to her. “It’s fixed.”

  “No, it still doesn’t stop when it’s supposed to.”

  Bruce points at the name tag on his chest. “You see the word ‘manager’ right here, Gonzales? It means the repair and replacement of equipment around here is my job, not yours. You just stick to making the ICEEs.”

  Ari opens her mouth just as I meet her eyes from across the room. She’s got a young son to support; she needs this job. And she’s the best friend I have here. Or anywhere, really. I don’t want her getting fired over Bruce’s fragile ego.

  Just as Ari closes her mouth, our coworker Shawna speaks up instead.

  “The ICEE machine wasn’t working last night, I know that. It was running all over the floor.”

  Bruce looks down at his clipboard. “I’ll look at it again. Now let’s move on to more important things.” He reads something and then looks up. “The napkin dispensers have to be filled at the end of every shift. Some of you are slacking on it.”

  There’s no need for us to have staff meetings. Every week, we all come in here and sit as Bruce reminds us of things that should be notes posted to the break room bulletin board. I’m glad he doesn’t have much on his agenda today, because I still have restocking to do before I’m off at five.

  “Everyone working the VIP event tonight needs to stay after this meeting,” Bruce says as he checks something off his list. “The rest of you can go.”

  I stand up, waiting for Ari so we can walk back to the main concession area together.

  “Boring.” Bruce points at me. “I’m gonna need you to work overtime today. Dave called in and I need you to work the VIP event tonight.”

  “But—”

  “What?” He looks up, his brows hiked up judgmentally. “You have plans tonight?”

  “No, but…I mean, not really…”

  The White Sox play the Yankees tonight, and though I usually watch baseball with my dad when it’s on, I guess that’s not technically plans. Still, I’m dirty from the washing machine repair and I’m out of tampons. I want to leave at five, when I’m off.

  “Great.” Bruce makes a notation on his list. “Have a seat, I’m about to go over tonight’s event.”

  I don’t protest. Bruce was probably counting on that. Even though this job doesn’t seem like much to most people, I love it here. I get to be here for every home game the Chicago Blaze play, and hockey is my favorite sport.

  “You staying?” Ari
asks me.

  I nod, and ask in a low tone, “Can you put some tampons in my locker if you have some?”

  “Yep.”

  “Gonzales, the dishes aren’t going to wash themselves,” Bruce says sternly.

  Ari rolls her eyes and gives me a wave as she turns to go.

  As soon as the room clears, Bruce flips to the next paper on his clipboard and starts in.

  “Tonight’s event is a VIP meet and greet for players and bigwigs. We’ll be serving horse dwarves—” He pauses to cackle at his mispronunciation of hors d’oeuvres, which we’ve all heard a thousand times—“and drinks. You need to wear white dress shirts and black pants.”

  There’s a collective groan from the half dozen employees in the room. We usually wear red polos and black pants to work, and we all hate wearing white dress shirts. With all the running around we do, they get too hot. I keep one in my locker for occasions like this, complete with a yellow sweat stain around the collar no amount of bleach will remove.

  “There better not be any nonsense,” Bruce says sternly. “Keep the food and drinks coming, smile and stay out of the way.”

  I’ve been through this drill before. We’re supposed to do our best to remain invisible to the people we’re serving. That works for me, because I prefer to go unnoticed, anyway.

  After the meeting, I quickly change my shirt, put on fresh deodorant from my locker, and pack the tampons Ari left for me into my small purse. I pull my medium brown hair into a ponytail at the nape of my neck, close my locker, and head for the front concession area where everyone is meeting for tonight.

  Everyone’s gathered around the ICEE machine.

  “I told you it was fixed,” Bruce says authoritatively. He holds up the ICEE he just made for everyone to see.

  He looks over his shoulder and sees me. “Hey, Boring!” he calls. “This thing works fine, what’re you talking about?”

  I walk over and a few people move aside so I can stand next to Bruce in front of the machine, the motor humming to keep it cold.

  “It’s the blue that’s broken.” I glance at the ICEE in his hand, which is red.

  He shakes his head. “You must be using the machine wrong.”

  There’s nothing easier than making an ICEE. Pull handle down. Fill cup. Put handle back up. But I humor my boss anyway, pulling a cup out of the holder and placing it under the blue ICEE dispenser.

  When I press a button and pull the handle down, a foamy stream of bright blue liquid sugar starts filling the cup.

  Bruce grunts with disdain. “Seems fine to—”

  The blue ICEE tap starts making sputtering sounds and runs dry for a second. Then, melted blue ICEE liquid starts to flow out uncontrollably.

  Everyone, including Bruce, takes a few steps back as I cry out, arms flailing in front of me as I try to push the handle back up. The handle falls off and the Smurf-colored deluge of ICEE sludge splashes me full on in the chest.

  It takes a few seconds for the shock to register. By the time I finally step out of the ICEE’s path of destruction, everyone is staring, slack-jawed. A few glances go back and forth between me and the machine.

  Suddenly, everything stops, the machine’s humming motor going silent. Ari steps out from behind the machine, the power cord in her hand. She’s glaring at Bruce.

  “You believe her now?” she asks, a hand on her hip.

  The gazes of my coworkers are all locked on me. There’s ICEE juice everywhere. I look down. My bra is soaked, its outline definitely visible through my wet, white shirt. My hair and face are drenched and when I reach up to wipe my face, my hands are dripping, too.

  A snicker soon becomes a wave of laughter. My treacherous coworkers are getting quite a kick out of my situation. My face warms as I wish I could disappear.

  “I’ll have it looked at,” Bruce says as he places a WET FLOOR sign in the middle of the mess on the floor. “Go get cleaned up, Boring. Don’t be late for the event.”

  Ari’s dark brown eyes are big and round as she glares at our boss’s back. She shakes her head and mutters, “dickhead,” then turns to me.

  “Come on, you can wear my dress shirt,” she offers. “I’ll help you clean up.”

  I sigh softly and give her a grateful look. “Thanks.”

  “We’re gonna need lots of towels.” She opens the lid to the clean towel bucket and fishes around inside it, her brows lowering in confusion. “It’s just the sanitized water.”

  I laugh, remembering then that all the towels are in the basement dryer. When I tell Ari this, she smiles weakly.

  “Is that a ‘this is funny’ laugh or an ‘I’m about to lose my shit’ laugh?” she asks me.

  I shake my head. “I have to be at the VIP thing in fifteen minutes, and look at me.” I drop my gaze to the reddish-brown tile floor, wishing it would swallow me up.

  “Let’s get to work, then,” Ari says, opening a napkin dispenser and grabbing a giant stack of cheap, toilet-paper thin napkins.

  She’s a gorgeous Latina with big eyes, ample breasts and silky-smooth long hair—can it get any more intimidating. Ari is everything I wish I could be. But if I can’t be her, at least I can have her for my best friend.

  “He should’ve given you the night off, for fuck’s sake,” she mutters as we walk toward the employee break room, where our lockers are.

  “Ari, don’t,” I whisper urgently. “It’s not worth getting in trouble over.”

  Bruce has an uncanny knack for busting us having conversations about him. I glance in all directions to make sure he’s not listening right now.

  “Fine,” Ari says tightly. “Ese Bruce no es mas que in mama huevo.”

  She must be really pissed—that’s when she insults people in her native tongue.

  We walk into the locker area, which is safe since it’s only for female employees.

  “What’d you say?” I ask her in a low tone.

  “I called that cocksucker a cocksucker.”

  I smile as I look in the mirror affixed to the wall above the sink. My lips part with surprise as I realize I look worse than expected.

  “Oh my God,” I say, staring at my reflection in shock.

  There’s dried blue concentrate on my arms, neck and face. My hair is partially wet and my shirt—

  “Gah, crap!” I grab it and pull the soaked fabric away from my chest, because it was leaving nothing to the imagination.

  “You’ll be fine,” Ari says, wetting some napkins and wiping my arms. “Get that shirt off.”

  “What about my bra?” I give her a panicked look.

  She grins. “I can’t help you there. But I’ll give you the tank top I’m wearing to put under my white shirt. That should help enough.”

  I close my eyes. “You’re a lifesaver, Ari.”

  “You’ve saved my ass more times that I can count.”

  Taking a deep breath, I start unbuttoning my sopping wet shirt. “It’s our job to be invisible. No one’s going to notice me.”

  “Right,” Ari says brightly. “You’ll be fine.”

  “I won’t even care if people look at me, as long as—” I take off the shirt and cross my arms over my bra-covered breasts, self-conscious about even Ari seeing me semi-clothed.

  “Mama, you ain’t got nothin’ I haven’t seen before,” she says, amused.

  “I know, it’s just…how I am.”

  “What were you saying?” she asks as she wipes at the back of my neck. “As long as what?”

  “Oh. As long as Victor’s not there.”

  I practically whisper it, because no one in the world but Ari knows about my longstanding, deep-seated crush on one of the Blaze forwards.

  “You’ll be fine; stop stressing.” Ari walks over to her locker and turns the combination lock, opening it and taking out her shirt.

  “Maybe I should look at the guest list before we go.”

  She gives me a mock stern look. “Don’t.”

  “Wait, have you seen the guest list? Is he on th
ere?”

  Ari takes off her red polo, then strips her white camisole over her head and tosses it to me. “Put that on.”

  “Just tell me,” I say as I catch the shirt. “Did you see the list?”

  My friend meets my gaze, totally comfortable wearing nothing but her pants and a bra. “I glanced at it, yeah.”

  “And?” I hold my breath.

  She hesitates for a second, and says, “He’s on it.”

  I groan loudly and consider faking an illness. Victor Lane has no idea I exist. And while chances are good he still won’t know after tonight, the way today is going, I don’t want to take any chances.

  “Ari, will you—”

  “I can’t.” She gives me a sympathetic look. “I’d cover your shift if I could, but I have to pick Mateo up from daycare.”

  I exhale deeply, looking at my reflection in the mirror as Ari passes me her clean dress shirt. It’s rare I get up-close glances of Victor. I feel a fluttering in my stomach at the thought.

  It might turn out okay. Just as long as he doesn’t glance back.

  Chapter Two

  Victor

  * * *

  I’m maintaining eye contact with the fat cat telling me about his latest business conquest—smiling and nodding on cue. But truthfully, I’m way more interested in the small plate of spicy meatballs I’m eating as he talks.

  “There’s a sucker born every minute, and I’m always ready to swoop in and make money off their stupidity,” Bill Something or Other says, giving me a plastic grin.

  I nod and grab the toothpick spear holding another meatball, popping it into my mouth.

  “Hey, can I get a selfie?” Bill asks, setting down his drink. “You’ve been playing like total shit lately, which means you’re on the verge of a big comeback. I want the world to know I called the resurgence of Victor Lane.”