"Why?" I whisper. "Why do you care? Why are you doing this?"
Callum steps closer. The truck is behind me now. I feel the cold steel against my back as he crowds into my space.
He lifts a hand, brushing a piece of hair behind my ear.
His voice sounds raw when he says, "Because I care about you. And the thought of that fucker touching you makes me want to kill him."
And for once, I feel safe.
I feel seen.
CALLUM
Tonight’s the night. Lilac fell asleep on my couch last night with her head on my shoulder. We talked until we were exhausted, but every solution to her problem just led to a dead end.
The thing is, her problems are my problems, and I have a solution that I know she’ll never agree to. That’s why I have to spring it on her after my game tonight.
The arena is buzzing because it’s our last game. Every seat filled, and everyone is hyped up for a Castlebrook win. I can feel the energy vibrating through the ice, the kind that gets under your skin and makes your blood rush hot. It has nothing to do with the game, because what I have planned is either going to go amazing or bomb to spectacular proportions.
Tristan’s locked in tonight. Not a single shot has gotten past him. The other team’s forward just tried to fake him out, which was a mistake. Tristan caught it like it was nothing, flinging it off to Hayden like he was bored.
I’m not far behind as Hayden tears down the ice, eyes up, scanning. He dodges a check, skates like he’s got fire under his big ass feet, and then the puck’s in my lane. I don’t even think.My stick finds it, my shoulders snap, and I send that fucker flying.
The buzzer blares a second later.
The crowd erupts. I raise my arms, grinning. Hayden crashes into me with a whoop, and Tristan glides over, swatting at us both with his stick like he always does. He’s our grumpy goalie who pretends he hates group hugs.
The game resets. Our center wins the face-off and sends the puck flying back to me. I pass it up the boards, weaving between two defenders. The other team’s captain tries to body check me into the glass. I shoulder him right back and grin as he stumbles, barely keeping his skates under him.
We cycle the puck, pass after pass, until I find a seam. Hayden’s already read the play. He shoots. It’s clean, fast, and perfect. The puck slips right past the goalie’s glove.
Goal.
The crowd loses it again, banging on the glass. The student section starts chanting his name, and Hayden soaks it up like a damn rockstar. He puts his glove to his ear and then shifts his hand upward as if to tell them to cheer louder.
With ten seconds left in the period, they get desperate. One of their forwards slashes at Tristan as he covers the puck. Wrong move. Tristan shoves him back with his blocker, and the guy swings again. I’m across the ice in two strides, stick already dropped.
I get in the guy’s face, chest to chest. "Touch him again, and I’ll put you through the boards, motherfucker."
The ref separates us, but the damage is done. Their team backs off. They don’t want smoke with us tonight.
We hear the final buzzer and know what we’ve known since the first few minutes we were on the ice.
We won, but Coach Kav is pacing like he’s still agitated. I swear to fuck, I could hand him a million dollars and he’d have a complaint.
The boys head off the ice toward the locker room tunnel, flushed from our victory. I watch Hayden and Tristan peel off toward the stands, no doubt searching for Madison and Winter. Coach hates when they do that, but he’s never had to shower with Hayden when he hasn’t been able to get his Madi fix.
I don’t have time to focus on what they’re doing, because what I’m about to do is about to make some huge waves at this school. Even if it’s pretend… I’m gonna have it. I’m gonna have Lilac.
I scan the stands, and I let out a deep breath when I see her. I did my best not to look for her during the game. I can’t get in my head. I can’t question what she’ll think or what she’ll say. I just need to do it, and pray for the best. I told her to come to the game. Texted her earlier and didn’t let her give me a no. Not after what she told me. That Lexi supposedly got a threatening note on her car.
We just got done playing Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys with the psychos who went after Madison. And now it’s starting again? I told her she needed to come here where I could keep an eye on her. Where I could see her. Where I could breathe knowing she was safe.
And she listened to me.
She’s here.
But she’s not wearing my jersey, which makes me pout a little. We have time. I’ll even get her one with her nickname like Hayden got for Madi. It’ll be a twofer. It’ll piss Hayden off, which is always fun, and Lilac will love it. Plus, Madi is the kind of girl who will be so ecstatic that they can match at games.
