Page 164 of Ice Dance Hockey

“No. You’ll thank me when this is over, Rhett. You’ll see how right I was all along.”

Two of the men move behind me, they have a set of handcuffs for me. “Seriously?”

“You’ve proven you can’t be trusted. Show me that you can follow orders and I’ll loosen the restrictions. Don’t and they’ll get tighter.”

Standing, I offer my wrists to them.

“Behind your back, Elkington.” Yeah, I’d be sore too if my nose were gushing.

Defeat shackles me as I let them cuff very real shackles around my thick wrists. I promised Logan I’d take care of this, but I didn’t at all. He’s going to feel abandoned. Betrayed. He’s going to know that I wasn’t enough for him.

I couldn’t keep him safe from my dad.

“Have a good week, son. I’ll look forward to catching up with you when you’re back.”

Chapter33

Sad Caterpillar & A Lucky Hat

Logan

Wrapped tightly in my midnight-blue comforter in the dark, the only light in the room coming from my laptop, I’m a tragic caterpillar with my watery gaze glued to the screen. My eyeballs hurt from lack of sleep, crying, and staring at blue light for too long without the protection of blue-light blocking glasses, but I won’t tear my attention away for anything.

Rhett’s on the bench in the locker room, giving a post-game interview after his first game back in a week. His jersey’s off, all the padding underneath visible, and the sheer magnitude of him dominates the shot. More tears wring from my eyes.

I miss being in his gorilla arms.

“It was all a scheme to get this one back,” Rhett says, holding Jack’s hand like it’s a delicate egg. That in itself is laughable—there’s nothing delicate about Jack—but I can’t bring myself to smile.

Jack’s green eyes focus on Rhett—my Rhett—from beside him. He bats his lashes. “Can’t believe you did all that for me, yah, goof.”

If you know a thing about either of them, you know it’s bullshit, but the Jack and Rhett fans eat this shit up. And hell, right now, I’m having a tough time not believing it. I get why people want them together. They’re a total power couple. Hockey God and sunshine-y golden retriever.

But no one knows how Rhett and I love each other.

“Jack only bats his eyes when he’s full of shit,” I murmur into the darkness. “That’s Rhett’s crocodile smile for the cameras.”

I know, I know, Iknowthis isn’t real, but that didn’t stop my heart from collapsing when it was announced. I stopped breathing. Couldn’t pull air into my lungs.

Rhett Elkington and Jack Leslie rekindle old flame.

The headline wasn’t even creative, but several online news sources ran with it. Then came the other carefully released bits of information. Our relationship was a scandal. Of course, he wouldn’t date someone like me.

My stomach growls for the fortieth time, begging me to feed it. I want to, I’ve tried, but anything I attempt to put in me comes right back out.

And I must be a masochist because this is the fifteenth time I’ve watched this damn interview. I’ll watch it a sixteenth and a seventeenth time. It’s not just so I can see his face—though I’ve definitely paused it on his face and grubbed up the screen with my oily fingers—Rhett’s been missing for a week and I’m looking for clues. No hockey games, outings, not even any social media posts. News outlets speculated everything from drug rehab to alien abduction.

Then he dropped into their last game against Boston with Jack, and our break-up was announced, our scheme revealed. Cold tingles wash through me, freezing my limbs. Happens every time I think about that moment.

There’s a knock on my door outside my dorm room. It grows more insistent.

“Go away!” I call when it won’t stop.

“Get your ass out here, Wescott,” Scott says. He’s the only one left calling me Wescott.

I’m not wearing anything except for a three-day old pair of boxer shorts and Rhett’s Eagle’s jersey. My bare feet pad across the wooden floor and with the mood I’m in, it might be the day that I rip Scott a new one. I tear the door open, sending a gust of my less-than-awesome scent his way. His nose wrinkles.

“Gross. You need a fucking shower.”

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