Page 82 of One More Time

“You will pay for that! don’t think I won’t press charges!” My father seethed, attempting to launch himself at Tyler.

I moved to block his path.

“Easy.” Jarman?

“I would love to see you try,” Tyler said with a confidence no man should have when taking on my father.

“You think people will believe I laid a hand on my son? He has a history of being a hothead on the ice. They’ll only believe that my brute of a kid hit me first. He has a history of assault, you know? That broken nose was a hard charge to drop when that kid’s dad was a barrister. But money and favors always talk. This was just self-defense.”

Tyler laughed and took a step.

Then a younger voice shouted a warning. I looked to the door to see Jamie’s wide eyes.

“Ha! Is that what you think? That you’ll have your own son arrested? You wouldn’t dare tarnish your family name like that. You would ruin the legacy you’ve worked so hard to build. What will the media think? That your own son hates you enough to touch you? Or that you bashed him shitless because of your fragile masculinity?”

I cried out when my father lunged for Tyler. Fears of the past flooded the present as I waited for the blow that would make history repeat itself.

Tyler took the hit to the chin but kept his composure, spitting blood in my father’s face. “Admit it Mr. Graves, all you have is fists and no heart. All you want is to beat your son into submission but it hasn’t worked up to now, has it?”

“He is my son, and I’ll discipline him any way I like!”

“And that’s with your fists, you hit him. So, what? He can’t play hockey anymore? So he can finally be yours?”

“That stupid game started off as a great cover for the bruises he earned every time he failed me. But now he wants to use it as a way to get away from me. That will never happen.”

I flinched as he lunged again, but this time it was Jarman who moved and held him back. I watched in awe as Tyler didn’t move.

Tyler stood in front of my father’s struggling form and, despite being shorter, he’d never looked bigger in my eyes.

“Here is what is going to happen, Mr. Graves. You will let your son go, or he will be pressing charges. There are multiple witnesses to what happened today. I have some amazing connections; you see, my mother was a world-renowned author, and I happen to know of a huge audience that would love to hear the story of someone with your power abusing your own child.”

“And it’s all on record.” A man skirted around Jamie to enter the room with his phone in hand—Jarman’s dad: The chief of police.

My father’s face paled. I saw fear in someone who’d never felt it in his life.

“Hunter, if you would like to press charges, you have the chief of police backing you. We could have your father put away for a very long time.”

“Son, don’t do it.” For the first time in my short years, my father begged.

I stood with a newfound strength, sneering down at the man that was supposed to protect me. “As Tyler said, Father, you will let me go. You will let me play hockey and live my life the way I want. You will never speak to me, touch me, or anyone I love again. If I find out you so much as looked at anyone, I will press charges, for so much more than my own abuse. I still haven't forgotten what you did to Kaiser.”

The room went silent, and I heard my father grinding his teeth. His head jerked. It was barely a movement, but it was a nod.

“Fine.”

Tyler backed away from him, instantly rushing to my side. He cupped my cheeks in his hands, scanning my body from head to toe. The pain that was written in those beautiful eyes of his outweighed the feeling of unconsciousness threatening to tug me under. His hand found mine, our fingers knitting together perfectly.

Somehow, despite the pain, I had never felt stronger.

I would have never been able to walk out of that house, knowing I won, without the man by my side.

Chapter forty-four

Tyler

Iknew something was wrong the moment I got that text.

In an instant, I was off the floor and getting dressed. I had my phone in my hand, calling the one person who knew Hunter better than I did: Jarman.

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