Page 161 of The Waiting Game

“You can’t seem to stay on your feet tonight. Enjoying a nip in the locker room during intermission there, huh, Hale?” Sutton sneered as he skated over.

Felix ignored it. He’d heard it all before.

Ninety-nine percent of the guys in the league were amazing.

Felix had received so many supportive messages after his car accident last fall. They’d reached out, told him they were there if he needed to talk. Some had shared their own stories, their own struggles with addiction.

But a handful of guys like Dallas just wanted to get under his skin. They wanted him flustered, so he’d fuck up. Take a penalty. And there was no chirp too low.

The only way Felix could get through it was to ignore it.

“What the hell did you just say, Sutton?” Jonah growled. He skated up to Sutton, glaring at him.

Felix felt a flicker of relief that Jonah was standing up for him. Jonah might be pissed at him right now, but he was still looking out for him. That had to mean something.

“I said, your fiancé there is having a little trouble with his coordination tonight. Wonder why.” Sutton mimed taking a drink.

“Maybe if your rink wasn’t so shitty, the ice wouldn’t be a fucking mess and we could all stay upright!” Jonah shot back, shoving at his chest.

Sutton muttered something under his breath but barely moved. He out-muscled Jonah substantially and Jonah was going to get his ass beat if he wasn’t careful.

Jonah might be scrappy when he got angry but he was no match for a guy like Sutton.

One of the referees—Ross Hansen—skated up. “Settle down, guys,” he urged.

“No. C’mon, Sutton. If you have something say, you can say it to me,” Jonah shouted over the ref’s shoulder.

“Already did,” Dallas drawled. “I said your boy is a fucking drunk.”

Jonah lunged at him but Hansen grabbed him by the back of the jersey. “Easy there, Brewer. We’re not doing this tonight.”

“No?” Jonah yelled. “Just let me loose and I’ll knock his fucking teeth out.”

Sutton sneered. “Call off your guard dog there, Hale.”

With an annoyed grunt, Felix skated over to Jonah, grabbing him by the waist and pushing him against the boards, pinning him in place. “Stop it, Jonah.”

“I’m gonna fucking kill him!” Jonah shouted over his shoulder.

Dustin skated up, urgently speaking to the ref as Felix tried to deal with Jonah.

“You need to chill, Jo,” Felix said, scowling. “I know you’re stressed about Grandma Ji-min but you can’t do this shit tonight.”

He’d thought Jonah had calmed down a little but apparently not.

“This isn’t about her. It’s about pieces of shit like Sutton who think they can treat you that way,” Jonah yelled, his dark eyes snapping with anger.

“This is the complete opposite of helping!” Felix snarled. “You’re making it worse.”

Jonah went still, hurt flashing through his eyes before he twisted away and launched himself at Sutton, shoving at his chest. Sutton threw a right hook but Jonah ducked and punched him square in the face. Not expecting it, Sutton toppled to the ground, nose spurting blood.

Like a match had been lit, tempers on both sides flared. Guys grappled with one another, shoves became punches, and the stadium erupted, the noise of the crowd swelling. Jonah disappeared under a sea of bodies for a moment as both teams clashed.

Sweat dripped down Felix’s forehead, stinging his eyes as he wrestled with one of Buffalo’s defensemen, hanging on to his jersey.

Out of the corner of his eye, Felix could see Dustin take a swing at Keller and Jonah duck out of the way of a punch aimed at him.

Goddamn it, this wasn’t the way this game was supposed to go.

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