Page 70 of Brutal Game

“So what the hell do I do?”

“Go fuck her until she can’t see straight and you get your equilibrium back,” Judah said, coming up behind us and slapping me on the shoulder.

Isaac groaned. “I was going to suggestapologizing.”

“I don’t even know where she went,” I growled.

Judah laughed. “You might want to do something about that in the future. For now, you don’t have to worry. We asked Mason to stall her.”

“He agreed?”

Levi gave me a pointed look. “Says he owes you.”

He did. I was the reason he and Leslie were together, after all. And I’d delivered some much-needed advice at theright time. The least he could do was keep Aviva right where I wanted her.

“Feldman!” Coach stomped into the locker room. “My office. NOW.”

Shit.

Levi cleaned off his glasses before putting them back on and staring at me. “How are you going to handle this?”

I groaned. Some of my anger had left me. “No idea.”

I followed Coach into his office, closing the door behind me, aware the rest of our team could see me.

“What the hell got into you, Jack?” Coach asked.

I shook my head. I could feel how disappointed he was in me, and I hated it.

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?” He snorted. “Well, that’s great. I can tell the scouts who were here to seeyou,the administration, ‘sorry, no idea what happened, or why ourusuallylevel-headed star player almost beat up his own goalie and then threatened a tenured professor.’”

“He’s not tenured,” I muttered. And he wouldn’t be getting tenure when I was done with him.

Coach shook his head. “What has gotten into you? Is it that girl? How many times have I told you not to let a girl get in the way of your goals and dreams? You’ve worked too hard for this, Jack. Your whole team has.Ihave. Don’t let us all down because you want someone. There will be plenty of that later.Trust me.”

I swallowed.

He sighed. “I’m only doing this to help you. Now, go shower and clear your head.”

With that, he pointed to the door, and I exited without saying anything else.

Oh, I was going to clear my head alright. And I knew exactly how.

I quickly showered and dressed. Before I left the locker room, I texted in a favor, then grabbed something out of Dave’s locker and some stuff out of my hockey bag.

Outside the locker room, Aviva stood with Tovah, both looking bemused as Mason, his fiance, Leslie, and her best friend, Lucy, stood in front of her, Lucy chattering away as Mason smirked and Leslie placed a soft but restraining hand on Aviva’s arm, keeping my princess from running off.

Mason caught my eye, and nodded. Once.

I nodded back.

Debt paid, the motion meant.

“Butterfly,” Mason said, grabbing his fiance’s hand where her ring glittered in the hallway’s bright halogen lights. My eyes caught on the ring, and some inexplicable, undefinable emotion slammed into me as hard as I’d slammed into the boards earlier.

An image came to me—a big, glittering diamond on Aviva’s finger.

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