Page 63 of Playmaker

“Hey.” Lila’s brow was knitted with concern. “Everything okay?” She gestured down the hall. “I saw you guys talking, but…”

I swallowed as I rolled my shoulders. “It’s fine. He was being an ass, but… I told him off.”

“I saw that, and I’m glad you did.” The concern lingered. “But the look on your face while you two were talking, it was…” She bit her lip.

“What?”

Lila glanced in the direction he’d gone again, then shifted her weight. “Okay, you can tell me if it’s none of my business, but…” She studied me. “Was he ever, um… unsafe? Like…?”

I could read between those lines well enough, and I shook my head. “No. He never raised a hand to me, and I never thought he would.” I exhaled, deflating as the memories pushed down on my shoulders. “He’d just get… loud. It scared me. Not like he’d actually touch me, but…”

“But like there’s a man getting angry and loud right in your face,” she said softly. “I think that would scare anyone.”

The validation hit me in a soft spot, and I had to swallow hard as I nodded. “Living with that—it sucked.”

“I can imagine.” She searched my eyes. “Do you, um… Do you think he might’ve picked now to confront you as a way of messing with your head for tonight?”

I tensed. That hadn’t even crossed my mind, but now that she mentioned it… “Thatasshole.”

“Ugh.” Lila took my elbow. “Come on. Let’s go eat, and then we can do a little skating to get your mind back in the game.”

I blinked. “You… want to help me practice for tonight?”

Her smile was cuter than it had any right to be. “I want to skate, because I’m a hockey player at a hockey event and I’m not playing hockey.”

Rolling my eyes, I laughed. “Of course, it’s all about you, rink rat.”

“Absolutely. Now let’s go.”

Feeling lighter than I had just a moment earlier, I pushed myself off the wall, and we started toward the elevators. Yeah, Ty probably had intended to throw me off my game. He’d known while we were dating that picking a fight with me on game day would torpedo my performance, and it had taken me an embarrassingly long time to catch on to what he was doing.

Thank God Lila had picked up on it this time.

Nice try, Tyler. Your bullshit won’t work when she’s got my back.

Chapter 21

Lila

Lunch in an off-the-beaten-path restaurant seemed to help shake Sabrina out of her funk.

Some light practicing in the arena went a long way, too. There were a handful of other players on the ice, including one who’d brought her husband and kids out to hit some pucks back and forth. The rink was hardly crowded, though, and I was so focused on what we were doing, I mostly forgot there were other people here at all.

Focused on whatwewere doing?

Yeah, right.

As Sabrina and I played a low-key game of keep away, I was completely focused onher,and not just because I was trying to steal or hold on to the puck. I was mesmerized by the way she was laughing as we battled it out. The way she’d cackle when she stole the puck and fired it into the empty net? That way she’d try to look aggravated when I got the upper hand, but she couldn’t quite hide her smile? Her happiness, especially after seeing her so rattled and frustrated with Ty, made me happy.

“Oh, come on!” she called after me as I swiped the puck off her stick. “That was a cheap shot!”

“What?” I skated around behind the net and flashed her a grin. “It was just a poke-check!”

“Uh-huh.” She glided toward me. “So I just imagined the slew-footing?”

I half-shrugged. “Pretty much, yeah.”

“Bitch,” she muttered, but she was smiling.

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