Page 43 of Pucking Never

“I’m going to kill you!” he roars, turning and taking another swing at me. “You bastard! That’s my sister!”

His second punch catches my chin and I stumble back. When he comes swinging at me again, I grit my teeth and charge him, grabbing him around the waist and tackling him to the floor. Our teammates shout out in alarm and I feel strong hands grip my arms and try to pull me away from Carson. Other guys are yanking him away from me and attempting to subdue him, but he’s gone feral and is fighting against them to get to me.

“What the hell is going on here?” Coach’s voice suddenly booms through the room.

Everyone freezes and we turn to look as he shoves his way through the guys who are watching this chaos. Coach comes to a stop and glares between me and Carson.

“Reece, Monroe!” he barks. “You know the rules. No fighting in the locker rooms. You want to beat each other senseless? You’re not doing it in my locker room. Go outside and cool off. Either talk it out or fight it out, but one way or another, you’re not coming back in here until you’ve both calmed down. Now, go!”

There’s no arguing with that tone, so Carson and I begrudgingly make our way out of the locker room, and we don’t stop walking until we reach the parking lot outside of the stadium. When we’re alone, I stop and brace myself, expecting him to dive at me again.

Instead, he whirls on me and coldly demands to know, “What happened last night? Why was Grace so upset?”

Okay, good…we’re talking. Talking is better than fighting. I can work with talking.

“She caught me with another woman…”

“You were cheating on her?” Carson roars and I can see his body tense as he gets ready to charge me.

“No!” I exclaim, holding up my hands. “No, I wasn’t cheating on her! The woman she saw me with was Camille. She’s no one. My dad has been trying to force me to go out with her, but I’ve refused to do so. I told her off multiple times. She came by last night, hoping to convince me to give into my dad’s wishes, but I said no again. I told her I wasn’t interested. Grace saw Camille outside my apartment, but I wasn’t doing anything with her, I swear!”

Carson stares at me for several moments and the tension between us is so thick, I feel like I’m choking on it.

At length, he says, “Camille… Camille is the woman your dad is pushing on you.”

I slowly nod. “Yes, exactly.”

He clenches his jaw and looks away from me for a moment. When he looks at me again, his gaze is more sympathetic, but he’s still obviously furious.

“I know how much pressure your dad puts on you,” he says in a steady, even tone. “I know he will do about anything to get what he wants. I get that, and I understand that, but…” he raises a finger and points it at me, “this is my sister we’re talking about. Grace is one of the most important people in the world to me and she’s hurt. Misunderstanding or not, you’re the one who hurt her, so you fix it, or we’re done.”

“Carson, of course I want to fucking fix it!” I exclaim. “I’m sorry, but I’m in love with your sister and I will do anything I have to for her to forgive me!”

His eyes go wide in shock, but then he shakes his head sharply. “Words are cheap, Reece. Prove that you actually care about her through your actions. I mean it. Make things right with Grace, or our friendship is over. I will choose her over you without a second thought.”

I’ve hardly ever seen Carson so resolute and serious. I know he’s not messing around with me. If I don’t figure out a way to fix this, I’m not only going to lose Grace, but Carson as well.

He doesn’t wait for my response and storms past me to go back into the stadium. I watch him go, my heart in my throat. Whatever I do, I need to do it fast. If I can’t get Grace to forgive me, I’ll happily stand in place while Carson beats the ever-living-shit out of me.

Chapter Twenty-Two

GRACE

My phone buzzes, but I ignore it. I’ve lost count of how many times he’s tried to call or text me. Rolling over, I tuck myself deeper into my bed covers and sniffle. It’s been a while since I’ve been able to cry real tears, but the urge is still there and the pressure behind my eyes is almost unbearable.

It’s been two days since I saw Camille and Jensen together outside his apartment and I’m not ready to face him yet. I can’t believe I was so stupid and let my guard down with him. After everything I’ve seen happen to my friends over the years, I should’ve known he was playing me the whole time. That’s what guys like him do. Women are just conquests. Prizes to be won and thrown aside when the thrill of the chase wears off.

What am I going to do? I’ve told Carson I’m taking a few days off, but eventually I’m going to have to go back to work. Not just for him, but for all my clients. Then what? I wonder if I should just quit my job altogether. It’d be the easiest thing for me to do, but to my surprise… I really don’t want to. I like working for Carson and I’m good at what I do. Sitting up, I clench my hands into fists and let out a huff in frustration. Am I really considering leaving a good job because of a guy?

Christ, when did I become this girl? The kind of girl who hides in bed and shifts her whole life around just to avoid a man. This isn’t who I am. This isn’t who I want to be. Determination burns through me, pushing away the worst of my sadness.

Tomorrow night, the Night Hawks have a home game, and I’m going to go and do my job and pretend like Jensen isn’t even there. He doesn’t deserve my heartache and tears. I’m going to get my shit together and move past this. Jensen isn’t going to have any more of an impact on my life.

I’m not going to give him that power over me.

Being back at the stadium the next day is a little surreal. As I make my way toward the rink, my head is on a swivel. I’m nervous to run into Jensen. Carson told me they got into a fight yesterday, which will only make things more awkward between us. I’m not going to let my anxiety get the better of me, though. I have a job to do, and I’m going to do it, damn it.

Lifting my chin, I turn a corner to head into the press box, but I come to an immediate stop when I see a familiar figure standing in my path.

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