Still, you have to keep your focus, and I’m not in the business of looking back while on the ice. Normally. When you have the puck, you ride that head of steam all the way to the net. Except I couldn’t help myself when it was Kayden, especially after seeing that stupid smile. Checking him into the boards wasn’t enough for me. I had to show him up once and for all.
Kayden would be pissed about the shot I’d given him alone. That wasn’t all bad. I liked to keep a cool head even in practice, but you’ve got to play the game with emotion. I played with joy, savoring every moment of playing the greatest game on earth. Kayden played angry, especially when anyone—particularly theguy who refused to give him more sex until he met certain demands—got a leg up on him.
Kayden’s eyes burned. He wasn’t screwing around any more than I was. He charged at me, but I fired the puck into the net before he could do anything. That stopped the action, at least for the moment. Once my engines were running, I couldn’t shut them down. I smiled at Kayden as a reminder that I was his equal. No, no, wait. I reminded my teammate that I would always get the best of him. His face reddened. Look, my smile was totally innocent, an expression of pride in my play. His smile had been arrogant. If he couldn’t handle that then he shouldn’t have been on the ice.
Coach Hardison blew the whistle and announced a short break. We all exited the ice, but Kayden didn’t sit beside me on the bench like before. He sat at the very end as far from me as possible, like I was driving him nuts. Gee, whatever happened to reclaiming the puck if I didn’t like him stealing it? If this was his way of sulking, he was doing a terrible job. Besides, it wouldn’t make me back down—on the ice or in the bedroom. In fact, it would only make him look worse.
I had this idea that this would be enough to convince Kayden to see things my way. A real date before we shed our clothes again would be perfect. Like I said, it was an idea. Reality had other plans.
When Coach Hardison blew his whistle to summon us back to the ice, I felt determined to show him up again. I shouldn’t have been thinking about dates and sex right now. There would be plenty of time for that later.
Kayden and I faced off again at center ice. I saw the fire in his eyes, knowing what he wanted from me. I returned the stare, reminding him of what he had to do to get it. When the puck dropped, I snatched it right away, but kept it for only a second. Ryan Detenbeck slipped in and showed the rest of the LarkinLions what he could do. I chased him up the ice and Kayden followed, but out of nowhere I felt Kayden’s shoulder strike me.
“What the fuck are you doing?”
Kayden said nothing.
Of course not. I was supposed to just figure it out.
After how he’d already behaved in practice, I knew why. Forget that he’d hit me seriously hard. This was more than showing me and our teammates how tough he was, more than showing his worth as team captain. He’d gotten rough to punish me for rejecting him.
I slipped away from Kayden and chased after Detenbeck, trying and failing to steal the puck from him. And then it happened. Kayden charged, nailing me to the boards. I didn’t even have the puck. This shot would’ve made Trevor Trombley hurl.
It probably looked a lot worse than it really was. Like, it didn’t knock me out the way Trombley’s shot did. Still, it was stiff, brutal, and total bullshit. I landed on the ice, feeling like the asshole of the universe, even though Kayden had been in the wrong.
Fire consumed me. I almost didn’t know what that level of anger really felt like, but that shot flipped a switch inside me. That fire grew hotter and hotter the longer I stayed down.
I couldn’t just stay down, couldn’t do nothing. I had to act.
“You little son of a bitch!” I said through gritted teeth as I pulled myself up from the ice.
Look, I might be cool-headed…usually, but even I have my limits. No way would I take this shit. If I didn’t do something right now, Kayden would think he could walk all over me—and he would’ve been right.
I heard Coach Hardison’s whistle blow, stopping the play, but that didn’t mean shit to me. My engine was revving up, ready for overdrive. Yeah, I’ve always been taught to play smart, butI’ve also learned to defend myself any time someone pulls some serious bullshit on me.
At that moment, I didn’t care that my feelings for Kayden had changed. I didn’t care that our tongues had entered each other’s mouths. That we’d had the hottest sex in the universe felt like a distant memory now. After that cheap shot, Kayden Preston became public enemy number one.
When I climbed to my feet, I panned the ice until I found Kayden. He wore a deer-in-headlights look, like he honestly hadn’t expected a wimp like me to retaliate. But I would show him. I charged at Kayden, drove my shoulder into his chest, and slammed him down onto the ice.
Then I stood up, dropped my gloves, daring him to come at me.
“How do you like that, motherfucker?” I asked. “Huh?”
Kayden sat up, head wobbling. He didn’t bother to clear the cobwebs before hurrying back to his feet. He teetered a little but steadied himself short of falling on his ass.
I was ready for him.
When he darted at me, I threw a fist, but missed. He’d ducked his head, driving his shoulder into my chest like I’d done to him, but he couldn’t drop me onto the ice. I grabbed at his jersey, meaning to pull it over his head, but our teammates had crowded around us. A different teammate hooked each arm and another had thrown his arms around Kayden’s waist, trying to pull us apart.
Where the hell were these guys when Kayden had delivered his cheap shot?
I heard a cacophony of teammates’ voices, shouting, “Break it up!” and, “Come on, guys, time to chill the fuck out!”. But I didn’t care. I told you that I couldn’t shut my engine down once it’d revved up. I continued the fight anyway, straining against my teammates’ arms, but could do nothing. When theyfinally pulled us apart, Coach Hardison himself grabbed me and pushed me back to the penalty box, as if in a real game.
The coach had to know this wasn’t normal for me. I had my own way of taking a stand, but this one called for stronger measures.
Just one problem: What would I tell the coach when he asked what really started this?
20
