Page 99 of The Roommate Remodel

I frown. “What?”

“The Vermont Lumberjacks?”

I slowly turn around.How does he know this?

“Yeah, why?”

“My junior league played yours. And I went up against you. Do you remember?”

I cross my arms. “I thought we didn’t meet until we were both playing for the AHL?”

He shakes his head. “No, we met when you were sixteen and I was eighteen. You played center and were the Lumberjacks’ big star.”

I narrow my eyes. Felipe would never compliment me willingly. “It was junior league, dude. Big fish in averysmall pond.”

“Not to me, it wasn’t. I had dreams of making it to the NHL. But then I went up against your team and we lost.” He holds up a finger. “Correction.Ilost.”

I shake my head, not understanding. “One loss won’t keep you out of the NHL. It’s your talent and potential that matters.”

“Which I had until that game derailed me. That injury was your fault.”

I blink, my mind scrolling through faded memories of junior league. “What injury?”

His jaw clenches before he answers. “You hit me from behind so hard, it fractured my skull.” His mouth twists. “I had to take a break from hockey for six months. It was almost career-ending.”

A foggy memory emerges. The sound of our bodies crashing and the chilling thud when his helmet hit the ice. His face is a blur because I didn’t know who he was back then.

“That hit wasn’t intentional,” I argue. “There were three of us going for that puck, and I crashed into you. They told me it was a concussion.”

“You never bothered to check what damage you’d done. You went on to play college hockey and worked your way up.”

I look around incredulously. “This is the reason you hate my guts? Because of an accident in the junior leagues?”

“Don’t you understand what it cost me?” he shouts, his face flaring. “I could have bypassed the lower leagues and gone pro. That was my plan. But you changed everything.”

Sweat pricks the back of my neck. “That’s why you threaten me and the people I love. All because of an injury I didn’t even know about?”

He studies me for a second before shaking his head. “You’ve always known, Braxy.”

I let out an exasperated sigh. I can’t convince him of the truth. “If it makes you feel better, that shoulder injury you gave me hasn’t healed.”

“Good,” he says with a smarmy grin.

At least we’ve gotten to a point where he’s finally being honest.

His eyes flick over my shoulder once, then back to me. “How’s the new girlfriend?”

I take a step toward him. “Leave her out of it. She’s no business of yours.”

“I always knew you had a weakness.” His mouth quirks into a menacing smile. “Turns out it’s her.”

He wheels around and starts down the porch steps.

“Felipe,” I call, running after him. “Can we talk about this?”

He keeps walking and ignores my pleas.

I catch up to him. “Fine. I’ll talk. You listen. Sorry I ruined your chance of getting into the NHL early. But I want to bury the hatchet now. End this rivalry, once and for all.”

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