Page 24 of Off Limits PUCK
“I’m sorry,” Jennifer says in an icy voice. “But reality sucks. And you need to run far and fast before it’s too late.”
I jerk up to look at her. “Excuse me? Are you threatening me?”
She laughs without humor. “Nope. That’s not my place. I mean, before you fall for this a-hole, have you even looked him up online? Have you seen all the crap that’s written about him?”
I gulp. I have not done that. I’ve seen some recent headlines. But I haven’t intentionally gone out there online looking for bad things about him.
“Why do you care?” I ask her as she turns to go.
“I have six close friends, and my sister has friends. And none of them but me have escaped the clutches of a hockey player. Between the pro team and the b players, hockey players in Charlotte are a dime a dozen.” Her face drops, and she looks hurt. “I was lucky. But some girls I know weren’t. Just… watch your back. Don’t trust any of those guys.”
She leaves me there, sitting in my own feelings. But I can’t feel much. I’m numb.
“Hey,” Kenz says, smelling like bacon as she sits beside me, munching on a slice of bacon in her hand.
I look at her with tortured eyes. “Tell me everything you know about your brother. I think I made a big mistake in sleeping with him.”
She wrinkles her nose. “Never say that to me—that is so gross!” Then she sees that I’m serious and she grabs a piece of my toast, munching on it, surveying me. “Okay. What do you want to know?”
I take a deep breath and then say, “All the dirt. Every nasty thing. Even if it’ll hurt to hear it. I deserve to know the other side of your brother.”
Kenz leans back, pressing her lips together. “Well, it’s your funeral. But okay.”
She takes my hand and squeezes it, leading me to my room. With every step I take, I feel less and less certain of my life choices ever since I first started working with the Eagles.
Chapter fourteen
Jake
The ice is solidunder my skates as I take slow, steady pushes from my skates around the rink. My arm is in a sling—not that I need it, but it was Allie’s idea to ensure that none of the guys forget that I’m still in recovery. Between that and my yellow “do not touch” no contact jersey, I feel like a walking caution sign… or a red flag, given the way Allie is treating me lately.
She’s been very sweet to me the past few days, but also very hands off, cleverly keeping herself from being alone with me without making it too obvious to me. After Kenz caught us that morning, Allie pushed for me to get on the ice and to be around the team every day. So that’s what I’ve done, with both Jones’s and Coach’s blessings. It is the opposite of the original plan, but it seems to have been the right choice. I feel both relaxed and mentally strong. Being around the guys helps me take my mind off of my shoulder pain… and off of Allie.
The season opener is tomorrow at noon, a Saturday game that’s already sold out.
“Hey, captain, keep your head in the game. We’re running a play. You’ll have to take point on the line tomorrow,” Gator calls out. He whacks his stick against the ice, the way I would if a line member goes rogue.
I smirk at him. “Don’t get too comfortable in my role, dude.” I slowly skate over to them.
Gator pauses the scrimmage and we skate around the perimeter. “Ready for contact later?”
I know what he means. I’m scheduled to go up against Coach on the ice, with Dr. Jones and Allie watching me. I’ll be out of this silly little sling and out of the yellow jersey. All I have to do is take some swings and a hit or two from Coach, who will probably go easy on me. Then, tomorrow we’ll see if I have a flare up.
I tap my head and nod. “Up here, yeah. But we’ll see if my shoulder holds up.”
He goes to nudge me and I don’t flinch. He stops just before he makes contact with my shoulder and laughs. “Look at you, brother. You’re ready. Not even a flinch.”
I pretend to laugh along with him, but honestly, I am, of course, worried. I want to be in tomorrow’s game. I still have that drive in me to be the team’s superstar on the ice.
I see Allie coming up to the player’s bench with Dr. Jones. They’re deep in conversation. I know that Coach has altered our lines and plays for tomorrow’s game to allow me to play the first period so that my showing at the season opener game is strong but won’t push me too hard. That all depends on how I do today.
“Looks like you’re up.” Gator nods at me as Coach bellows out to the guys to break for the day.
I watch my teammates file off the ice, jostling and giving each other a hard time. I used to do that, too. I used to be one of the guys, ready for anything. That was until my body betrayed me.
Gator fist bumps me and then swooshes away, leaving cold, rink air in his wake. Coach has put his skates on and so has Dr. Jones, a recreational skater himself. The two men come toward me.
“We decided to move up the test,” Coach says to me. He looks less stern now that Allie and I aren’t giving each other secret sexy looks… or any of our argumentative ones. She swears she doesn’t know how he found out, but I would bet my bottom dollar that he did, in fact, find out about her and me, somehow.
