Page 10 of Spite Crush

“You’re playing in Cleveland tomorrow night,” Naomi continued. “And by a massive coincidence, HSF is playing that arena Friday. Do you think Kellen Fox will come to cheer you on?”

“Are we really still talking about this kid?” Zak rolled his eyes.

Kid?

“Look,” he continued. “We all have jobs to do. Mine is to actually get on a streak and win our way to the championship. His is to stand stilland scream, I guess. I still don’t know what their band sounds like, and I couldn’t care less. But to answer your question, no, I don’t think Fox will show up. I don’t think he has the balls.”

I shut off my phone and turned in the seat to stare out the bus window. We flew past trees and billboards as the vehicle tore down the highway, but I didn’t really see them as my mind started spiraling.

He had to know that by saying that, there was no way I’d miss the game. Did he actually want me there?

All he had to do was ask, to be honest. It was almost embarrassing what I would do for him if he just asked. Because the more time that passed, the more obsessed I became with him.

I’d spent hours digging into him online. Watching hockey clips, old interviews, everything, really. I couldn’t find anything regarding a dating history, men or women, but I wasn’t worried. No one looked at me the way he did if they weren’t at least slightly interested. And the more I replayed that night in the locker room over in my head, even in mycompromised state, I fully understood the looks he’d given me.

I didn’t know if we’d ever actually like each other. But we definitely wanted each other.

“You’re going, aren’t you?” Ford asked as he dropped into the seat next to me.

“Yeah, I’m going,” I said. “And I’m going to make the biggest spectacle of myself that I possibly can.”

“This is going to end badly for both of you,” Ford warned me. “I don’tknow what you think you’re doing, but this is getting out of hand.”

“Oh, Ford,” I said, grinning over at him. “This is just getting started.”

“Just make sure you don’t do anything that would reflect poorly on the band,” Ford insisted.

“Yeah,” Tim agreed. “Like…oh, I don’t know…forgetting to take your meds before a show.”

“I already apologized for that,” I reminded him. “And I pulled it together before we went on.”

“This time,” Ford agreed. “Just do us a favor and watch yourself.”

I’d be careful, but I had a feeling I’d be too busy watching Zak Dempsey to worry much about watching myself.

****

I held my head high as I walked down the stairs of the stadium, headed for the seat Craig had grudgingly procured for me against the glass...right by the Cleveland Blade’s bench.

In the week since I’d last seen Zak Dempsey, I’d actually learnedquite a bit about hockey, and especially about him. I knew that he liked to earn his penalties by his own box, so the opposing player had to skate all the way across the ice to either their own bench or their own bin.

Like everything else he did, it was some kind of weird power play. So by seating myself on Cleveland’s side, I knew I’d have a little longer to escape his notice. As long as the cameras didn’t find me too quickly. But in case they did, I’d made sure to attire myself in my brand-new Cleveland Blade jersey.

Firmly establishing my own power play.

I didn’t want him to know I’d shown up for him, after all.

“Kellen Fox.”

I bit back a groan as I looked over to see Naomi Rose dropping into the empty seat next to me.

“That seat’s taken,” I told her.

“No it’s not,” she said, giving me a wide grin. “I gave these seats to your manager.” She motioned toward me. “What’s all this?”

“Just rooting for the home team,” I assured her.

“So you’re not here for Zak Dempsey?” she challenged.

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