Page 93 of Mind Pucked

“I don’t want to go home with you—I’m here with my friends,” I say to him as I try to stand up straight and look him in the eye. “I don’t want to go anywhere with you.”

“Sure you do, Amelia. You never knew what was good for you,” he growls as he forcefully pulls me another five feet toward the door.

I look around, frantically trying to find anyone willing to help…but there doesn’t seem to be anyone paying that much attention to us.

“Let go of me,” I say sternly, and then I do the only thing I can think of and slap him across the face.

He flails back, mostly in shock, but doesn’t let go of me. Instead, he stands to his full height and looks at me in anger.

“You bitch!” he spits at me in a tone of absolute rage.

He lifts his fist to punch me, and I know he’s going to. He’s done it before. I brace myself for the impact, somewhat shocked he’s going to do it here in public.

I close my eyes, knowing I shouldn’t—he likes to see me cower…

Nothing happens.

In fact, his grip on me falters altogether and I feel him moving away from me. I don’t know what’s changed, but when I open my eyes, I’m shocked at what I see.

26

JACKSON

Celebrating with the guys is a relief after the tension on the ice. Coach seems to have forgiven me for the most part, though it’s going to take a while for me to prove myself enough to get back into everyone’s good graces.

The entire team and many of the fans have decided to go clubbing, and we all filter through the door wearing our Blue Jays gear, making noise and celebrating winning the Stanley Cup.

It’s somewhat bittersweet, but I’d rather celebrate with my boys than wallow in the guilt of my decisions on the ice. Still, it’s hard to get over Wayne’s comments about Amelia—I can’t believe I’ve let her affect me so strongly.

Shaking her from my mind, I head to the bar and grab a beer.

“I am getting so drunk tonight,” Felix says as he steps up beside me at the bar.

“Me too, man.” I pay for my beer and take a long pull out of my drink, happy for the ice-cold alcohol as it starts to circulate through my system. Sure, I may not plan on getting smash-faceddrunk, but getting a nice buzz to keep my mind off things might not be such a bad thing.

“You played so great tonight, Oliver,” I say to my buddy as I pat him on the back. “That hat trick, freaking gold.”

“Thanks, man,” he says as he takes a sip of his own drink. “Did you see Brooke and some of the other ladies are here?” He points to a group of the wives and girlfriends of some of the players, and I smile.

“What are the odds we picked the same club as them tonight?” I wonder out loud.

“I don’t know, but the more the merrier!” Oliver smiles as he clinks his glass against mine and starts to chug his amber liquid.

I do the same thing, finishing off my beer in just a couple gulps. I turn around and get a second before deciding to mingle through the crowd a little.

Fans congratulate me as we walk by, and it seems most of them have forgotten the fight I had on the rink, and the fifteen minutes of the game I lost at the end. They don’t care—we won.

As I finish my second beer and move on to my third, I fight the urge to text Amelia. I know I need to leave her alone, but my heart and my brain are at war. It’s not a fun feeling.

Instead of making that mistake, I decide to search out a few of the guys to see about playing a game of darts. I see Vaughn and Benjamin across the room, but as I traverse the crowd to head toward them, something catches my attention off to the right.

A man is clearly getting aggressive with a woman. It looks like he’s dragging her toward the door unwillingly, and by instinct, I have to intervene.

I cut through the crowd as quickly as I can, discarding my drink on one of the tables nearby. I get behind the man the exact moment he raises his fist to hit the woman. She’s just gotten a shot in by the looks of it, although she’s still mostly hidden by this guy’s massive frame.

I grab his fist and twist his arm behind his back as I realize for the first time who the woman is. My breath hitches at seeing Amelia in the grasp of this animal. Much like when Wayne was taunting me, I see red.

There’s such a look of fear and uncertainty on Amelia’s face that all the hate I held for her melts away instantly. She’s got her eyes closed so tight…like she’s ready for the impact.

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