It Feels Like

After her lunch with Norm, she went back to her office and finished out the day trying not to think about Brad. Norm had invited her to lunch to review a few business items, but she had turned it into a chance to ask him about Brad and how they knew each other. Norm had obliged her by telling stories about Brad from years ago, talking about his time with the other teams he had played for and his first few years in the NHL. It was enlightening and provided her with ammunition to tease Brad with.

Before she left work, she checked the blogs to make sure Melissa Stewart hadn’t written anything about her. Ever since the day she’d hung up on the woman, she’d been paranoid that bad press was just around the corner. Unfortunately, she’d been right; the article was horrible. It made her seem like a gold digger who was intent on using Brad for his money and status. Keri felt sick to her stomach. Was this what it was like to date someone in the public eye? Nasty articles questioning her sincerity and the new relationship?

Things with Brad were good, but they were fragile, new, delicate. This was a tough blow to weather. She closed the browser and shut down her computer. Her brain was telling her to forget the article and move on with her life. But she couldn’t seem to do so.

She went home and changed into a pair of jeans and a sweater. Keri almost stayed in her apartment instead of going to the game. Would someone take a picture, write a terrible article about how she was just there to get press for her career? Was there anything she could do to stop the speculation or would it just make things worse? But she had promised Brad she would go to his game. She wanted to support him, and the article really wasn’t his fault.

The entire game that night was a mess. The Rangers lost by two. Brad was all over the place. Keri didn’t know much about hockey, but she could see his frustration and inability to get to his game. Maybe he had read the article. Maybe he was questioning her motives, too. She felt like shit, and she called him as she was leaving the arena.

“Hey,” he said over the clamor of the locker room.

“Hey,” she replied. “Are you coming over tonight?”

He was quiet for a long moment, and she felt her stomach drop. He didn’t want to see her. “Uh, I think I’m just going to go home. I haven’t slept there in a couple days, and I’m beat after tonight.”

She stood outside in the freezing air and tried to breathe through the lump in her throat. “Yeah, okay. I guess I’ll see you on Friday evening in North Carolina, then. Am I still coming?”

“Yeah, sure. If you want to. You have your ticket?”

She nodded and started walking away from the arena. “I do. See you Friday.”

“Goodnight,” he said before disconnecting.

Keri tried not to take the awkward conversation to heart. He’d had a bad game and there was nothing wrong with him spending a night away from her. She didn’t own him. But her rational brain was still trumped by that little piece that kept wondering if he’d read Melissa Stewart’s article. Maybe she shouldn’t be involved with someone that could completely screw up her career with bad press.

************************************

It was almost seven o’clock when she arrived at the hotel in Raleigh. She gave her license to the desk clerk and was given it back with a key card to Brad’s hotel room. She hurried upstairs, anxious to see him and worried about how they were going to overcome the strange sadness that has laced their phone conversation the night before. He wasn’t in the suite when she arrived, so she threw herself on the bed and watched the Weather Channel.

A few minutes before eight, the door opened and Brad came in, dropping a duffle bag by the door. Keri stood up and looked expectantly at him. “Hi,” she said.

He gave her a tired smile. “Hi, Keri. When did you get in?”

“About an hour ago. I’ve missed you.”

He walked over and wrapped his arms awkwardly around her. “I’ve missed you, too.”

Keri pulled back. This wasn’t really what she had expected. The last time they’d gone a day without seeing each other, he’d showed up and kissed her face off. Now he seemed so reserved and standoffish.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

Brad ran a hand through his hair and turned away from her to walk over and look out the window. They were on the twenty-fourth floor and had a great view of the city.

When he didn’t answer her right away, she hugged herself and said, “Is it the article? You think I’m using you or something?”

He turned around and looked at her. “What?”

“The stupid article Melissa Stewart wrote about me. I saw it yesterday.”

“Did you talk to her?”

“She called me and started asking about you a few days ago. I didn’t like the inquisition, so I hung up on her.”

Brad laughed softly and walked closer, close enough that he could tuck a strand of hair behind her ear and look down at her with those gorgeous brown eyes. “It’s not the article. I actually called Stewart and told her to take the it down. I know it isn’t true.”

She breathed a sigh of relief. “If you’re worried about the game last night... Well, that was just one game. Don’t let it make you think you’re not going to be amazing tomorrow.”

“Do you like Norm?” he asked.

Keri jerked her head back. “Wait, what?”

“Norm Rainey.”

“Uh, he’s okay. Why?”

Brad sat down on the foot of the bed and bent over, resting his forearms on his knees. He glanced up at her with a lost look in his eyes. “Do you think he’d be better for you?”

“Better than what?”

“Better than me. I’m always out of town. I can’t even take you out for dinner on Valentine’s Day.”

“That’s weeks away. Can we get through Thanksgiving and Christmas first?” she said, looking at him like he’d lost his mind.

“I checked the schedule because I wanted to do something nice for you.”

Keri sat down heavily in the armchair across from him. “You’re serious. You really don’t think you’re worth the trouble.”

“It’s a lot of trouble.”

She reached out and put a hand on his knee. “I know it is. But I’ve been doing some thinking lately. And you’re worth it.”

“I saw you having lunch with Norm.”

“Yesterday?” she asked. “It was business. And we were talking about you.”

Brad looked up and met her gaze. “Me?”

“You. I wanted to know more about you. Norman said he’d known you for years.”

“He has a crush on you,” Brad said.

Keri shrugged. “I know. I’m not interested. I already have this amazing guy who knocks my socks off.”

He shook his head and laughed under his breath. “I don’t deserved you.”

“Oh, you do.” She pushed out of the chair and moved to stand directly in front of him.

Brad wrapped his arms around her hips, pulling her closer so he could bury his face in her stomach. She laid her a hand on the top of his head as he breathed in and nuzzled her. “I thought you were seeing Norm,” he admitted. “I thought we were done.”

“I am definitely not done with you,” Keri whispered.

Brad leaned back onto the mattress and pulled her with him. She squealed as she fell on top of him. Struggling against his arms and eventually rolling onto her side, she cuddled up against his body.

“How was your day?” she asked, throwing a leg over his and settling into his body.

“Terrible. I thought I’d lost you to a venture capitalist I used to call my friend.”

Keri’s body shook with laughter. She tilted her head up and kissed him. “Don’t be silly. You’re the only guy for me. And your friend didn’t put the moves on me because he knows you and I are together.”

Brad’s arms tightened around her body. “Good.”

**********************************

She watched the game in a private box of PNC Arena. Brad was amazing, much better than the last game. He dominated the ice and managed to get a goal and an assist. Keri was beaming with pride as she walked out of the box to catch a cab back to the hotel. He would be at the arena a bit longer and had promised to be back to their room shortly after her.

“Ms. Anglin?”

Keri looked over to see a man in his thirties with a recorder in one hand and a camera in the other. A reporter. She almost ducked back inside the box. Instead, she straightened her back and said, “Yes?”

“Can I get a couple quotes?”

“About?”

He clicked his recorder on and said, “How do you feel about Brad Richards’ performance tonight?”

She blinked her eyes, not sure what to say. She didn’t know much about hockey. It was an awkward question for her. “Uh, I think he was amazing. I’m proud of him.”

“How long have you two been dating?”

“A few weeks.”

“He moves fast then,” the man said.

“What?” Keri asked.

“His interview from yesterday. It sounds like you two are serious.”

“What interview?”

The man’s eyes widened. “The interview about you. So, how is your business going? You’re a fashion designer?”

“Yeah,” Keri replied, moving to walk past him. Her mind was just on the article he had mentioned. What interview did Brad do about her? What did he say? “I have to go. Have a good evening,” she said as she hurried down the wide hallway and toward the exit.

When she got back to the hotel, she pulled up Melissa Stewart’s blog on her phone. Brad had said he told Stewart to take the article down. Did he have her replace it with another?

It was the most recent post on Stewart’a Rangers blog and the title was, "I'm in Love, Says Richards." Keri read the line three times before she delved into the article, scanning over how they met and how she'd started her business at the beginning of the summer. Thankfully, the article made it clear that Brad did not personally loan her money and that all the loans were paid back in full. Toward the bottom it discussed his feelings on their relationship.

“When asked if he is in love, Richards responds easily and without hesitation. ‘Yes, I'm in love,’ the Rangers star forward says. Though they each have their own place, they're practically living together, with Richards sharing her apartment most days of the week. The only questions is, can all his hockey equipment fit in that one drawer she's given him?”

Keri went back to the beginning of the article and started reading again. Did he just tell her he loved her through an article on a Rangers blog? This had to be a first. Halfway through the article, the door opened and Michael Del Zotto's face peered into the room.

"I lifted Richie's keycard," he told her.

She looked up at him, still confused and out of sorts. "Hi."

"You saw the article?" he asked, nodding at her phone.

She put her phone down and stood up. "The one about me?"

"Yeah, I snuck up here to tell you about it. So, do I get to be the best man at the wedding?"

"I am so confused," Keri admitted.

"You better love him back or he'll start sucking again," Michael warned, but there was a twinkle of mischief in his eyes.

“Whose idea was the article?”

Michael glanced over his shoulder out into the hallway. “Richie’s. He was pissed about the first one. He’s got it bad for you.” Another glance over his shoulder and Michael grimaced. “Shit, here he comes. Gotta go.”

The door clicked shut. Keri walked back over to the bed to pick up her phone. She stood in the middle of the suite and scanned the article again. She felt everything and nothing at the same time. A soft knock at the door made her nearly jump out of her skin. She slowly walked over and pulled open the door to reveal Brad.

“I lost my keycard,” he said, stepping inside and letting the door click closed behind him.

“Hi,” she replied, stepping back to give him space. Now that he was in front of her, the emotions that had been distantly bubbling up inside her were becoming overwhelming. He said he was in love with her. He’d told the world he was in love with her. She wanted to jump on him and wrap her arms around his neck.

Brad looked at her like she was crazy. “What’s wrong?”

“I read the article,” Keri replied, holding up her phone.

His eyes widened, and he shifted from one foot to the other. “Umm, yeah. That.”

“Did you mean it?”

Brad’s hands were on his hips and he was staring at the floor. After a long moment, he looked up to meet her gaze. “Yeah, I meant it.”

She launched herself at him, knocking him backward toward the door. Her arms were around his neck and her body pressed flush against his. Brad’s reaction was quick, his arms instinctively wrapped around her and held her close. She could hear his soft laughter as he buried his face into her neck.

“I love you, too,” Keri whispered. “Should I call Melissa Stewart and do an interview about it?”

His body was shaking with laughter now. “God, no. This is between me and you. I just wanted to make sure everyone knew it was serious. I don’t want them second guessing you and assuming shit that isn’t true.”

“Del Zotto lifted your keycard,” she said.

“What?” He leaned back to look at her, his hands holding her shoulders.

“He stole it so he could tell me about the article. But I’d already seen it.”

“That asshole,” Brad said. The insult wasn’t much of one because he was smiling the entire time.

Deftly, he maneuvered her closer to the armchair. Brad dropped himself into it and yanked her down onto his lap so he could kiss her. She melted against him, as his fingertips brushed across her face and his soft lips pressed against hers. He loved her. And she loved him. And she was going to be able to spend at least the next twelve hours in his presence.

Keri kissed him softly on the mouth before standing up. “So we should probably pack. We’re leaving tomorrow?”

“We’re leaving on Tuesday morning.” He stood and stepped forward to follow her, his arms wrapping around her waist again.

She pressed her palms into his chest. “Woah. Tuesday? I thought you have to get back.”

“The next game isn’t until Wednesday at home. Call into work and stay here with me for the two days.” He was overpowering her, dipping his head down to place gentle kisses along her neck and collarbone.

“Are you serious?”

“So serious,” he replied before kissing her on the lips.

“Mini vacation?” The back of her legs hit the edge of the bed. Keri gasped as she felt his hands slipping up inside her top, his fingertips skimming over her sides and up to trace the lace of her bra.

“Yes. Just you and me. I love you,” Brad whispered, placing fluttering kisses along her jaw until he got to her mouth.

“I love you more,” she said, tilting her head up to kiss him fully on the lips.

Notes