Page 22 of Light It Up Red
She smirks as I shake my head and make my way back to the locker room. The moment I step through the door, the whole place goes silent. All eyes aimed in my direction. While Coach pins me with a look that rivals Alessandro’s when I was kissing his sister.
“What’d I miss?” I ask.
“A Valentino? Really, O’Neil? Of all the fucking pussy in New York, you had to get involved with a Valentino?” Coach sneers.
My fists curl at my sides. “Excuse me?” I do my best to even out my tone. Remain calm. Because right now, I’m ready to fucking flatten the motherfucker. Which would be career-ending, or so I’ve heard.
“That…” He throws an arm out towards the door. “…is going to bring nothing but trouble to this team. And I won’t have it.”
“I don’t recall my contract stating who I could and couldn’t date,” I remind him before dropping my ass down on the bench in front of my locker.
“I’m telling you now.”
I blink and count to five in my head. Anything to stop myself from jumping up and dropping gloves. “Yeah, that’s not going to happen.”
I know I’ve only just met the woman, but no way in hell am I going to let anyone tell me what the fuck I can and can’t do. Especially when it comes to Liliana.
“This isn’t fucking over. Get out there and do your damn job. We’ll revisit this conversation after you’ve won this game.” Coach’s face is red and spittle flies out of his mouth. He’s not used to hearing the word no.
I push up to my skates and follow my teammates down the tunnel. Then I skate out onto the ice, taking my spot on the starting line, and wait for the national anthem to play. I look over to where Lili is seated, and she waves at me with a big fucking smile on her face.
Yeah, Coach can kiss my ass if he thinks I’m giving her up.
I never thought I’d choose anything over hockey, and I’m not. Not really. Because, like I said, the team can’t control who I date.
The last note dies off, and we get into position and wait for the drop. I’m blocking one of the Nashville players, who’s chirping a whole bunch of nonsense. I ignore him. Which isn’t hard to do. I’m still so worked up my fists are itching to hit something. The referee lifts the puck in the air, and I watch that little black disk like a hawk that hasn’t seen a meal in weeks. I’m hungry for it. For the game, the adrenaline, the weight of the stick in my hand as I breeze across the ice. I have no doubt Logan will win the drop. He usually does. And I’ll be ready for it.
“She’s hot, ya know. And now that I know she’s fair game, I’ll be sure to take her for a spin, show her what it’s like to fuck a winner.” The son of a bitch in front of me shoves at my chest.
I look at him and then follow his line of sight. My eyes land on Lili before sweeping back again. “What the fuck did you just say, motherfucker?” I hiss out as I throw an elbow into his gut.
“I didn’t stutter. I’m going to take that Valentino Princess for a spin. Tell me… is it as good as people say? Or has the shit gotten loose over time?”
The puck drops, and exactly one second later, so does my stick. Quickly followed by my gloves. My left hand wraps around his jersey while my right fist connects with his face, over and over again. I throw him off his skates, his back hits the ice, and I jump on top of him.
I get a few solid blows in before I’m pulled off by the refs and a few of my teammates. Then I’m shoved towards the Sin Bin. I don’t need to hear the words. I know I just earned myself five minutes.
I look across the ice to Lili. She’s staring right back at me, but I’m too far away to read her expression. The Nashville player sits on his team’s bench, holding a bloody rag to his nose. I hope I fucking broke it. I hear the ref call out the penalty and I grin.
“Fucking worth it,” I say right as my face is plastered on the jumbotron.
My body is fucking sore. Nashville came at me fucking hard all game. Not that I expected anything less. I gave it as good as I got it, though. And now, no amount of bruising or exhaustion is going to stop me from seeing my girl.
I walk out of the locker room and stop in my tracks. She’s here, waiting for me in the hallway. “Hey.” I smile at her.
“Hey yourself.” Lili closes the distance as she grips my face and inspects it. I don’t need to look in a mirror. I know I’m black and blue. “You should ice that,” she says before slamming her lips onto mine.
“You should see the other guy.” I laugh when I pull away from her mouth.
“What’d he say to you?” she asks, and I shrug.
“Nothing.”
“Bullshit. You don’t fight someone for no reason. What’d he say?” she tries again.
“It’s hockey, babe. Fighting for no reason is exactly what we do. It’s part of the game.”
“Okay, I’ll just go ask him myself then.” She lifts a brow and attempts to pivot on her heel.
