Page 79 of The Spice Play

Something warm, long, and alarmingly rigid wrapped around my waist.

For the briefest of seconds, even though I was wrapped up in confusion and dread with whatever was going on with Seb, I thought it was him. Ihopedit was him, having finally seen Bryan interacting with us, and he was standing his ground. I hoped he was being public about us. I hoped it was him whose hand went flat against my ribcage,whose thumb brushed against the underside of my breast, whose chest my back was pulled into.

Luke stared behind me in absolute horror, and I knew before either of them spoke that my hopes were about to be crushed.

“Don’t—”

“I wouldn’t justgo afterhis sloppy seconds, Penelope,” Bryan hissed, his mouth just an inch from my ear as he tightened his grip on me. “I’d fuckingtakethem. Do you understand me?”

Matty watched me, his brows furrowed in a tiny little expression of confusion. “Nelly?”

“Don’t touch me,” I spat, dropping both bags and grabbing for Bryan’s arm. I dug my nails in, but the padding and full coverage of his gear gave me almost nothing to damage.

Luke moved, finally, and even as he gripped Bryan by the shoulder guards, even as he pulled him off of me while saying things I wished Matty couldn’t hear, even as Bryan’s arm left my body and I was released, I wished it hadn’t been Luke. I wished Seb had seen, had sped across the ice or run around the edge of the rink, wished he’dnoticed.

But he was too preoccupied with Zoe.Still.

“You don’t fucking touch her,” Luke scolded, shoving him back into the boards. “You don’t touchanyonelike that. What the fuck is wrong with you?”

“Oh, don’t act so goddamn high and mighty and pretend you haven’t thought about it,” Bryan laughed, his body shaking from the inertia as Luke slammed him into it again.

I needed to get Matty out of here.

“No, I haven’t, you fucking psycho.”

I didn’t know if it was the adrenaline or just my overwhelming need to protect Matty that kept me from having acomplete and utter breakdown. But I managed to keep everything but my hands calm as I scooped everything up in one hand and hooked an arm around Matty with the other, lifting him up and onto my hip.

When I turned back, half to check on what Seb was doing and half to make sure Bryan was coming after me, Luke was shoving him onto the ice this time, forcing him a few feet away before Bryan’s skate dug into it and sent shredded ice flying. But then he turned, huffing out something beneath his breath, and moved on.

“Are you okay?” Luke asked, wide eyes turning to me immediately.

“I’m fine,” I lied. “Thank you.”

“Nelly,” Matty whined.

“I’ll tell Coach,” Luke said, his mouth forming a thin line. “That wasn’t okay. He’s a dick, but he’s never… he’s never done that, at least as far as I know. I’ll make a proper complaint.”

“Okay,” I swallowed, steadying my shaking hands by grasping onto Matty.

“And I’ll let Seb know what happened,” Luke offered. “I’m sorry.”

I shook my head as I stepped back, the backs of my eyes stinging. “Don’t bother telling him,” I said, but the words were almost croaks, and I knew I needed to go, needed to get out to the car where I could calm myself away from all of this, needed to get home so I could excuse myself from Matty for five minutes and let myself feel what was beginning to wash over me.

Chapter 32

Sebastian

Ididn’t manage to get home from the rink until nearly six in the evening, and every second that I’d spent away from this goddamn house had felt like an eternity.

Luke had told me what happened when the Zamboni had finished and I’d got back on the ice, and by the time I’d managed to get my skates off and run from the room in nothing but my socks, her car was pulling away out of the parking lot. I’d ignored Coach’s angry shouts on my way out, and once I was there, once I was standing outside in the muggy Atlanta heat, I didn’t care. I just wanted to know she was okay. I just wanted to apologize for not noticing.

But I didn’t have my phone, didn’t have my car keys, didn’t have anything with me, so I’d had to slink back into the rink and dig for my phone in my bag as Luke conveyed to Coach exactlywhyI’d left the ice and why I wasn’t getting back on it yet.

And Nelly hadn’t answered my calls.

Theonlyreason I was able to get back on the ice was the notification I got that my front door had been opened andclosed. She was home, she had Matty with her, and at least I could spend the following few hours knowing she wassafe.

But as I pushed through the front door now, it felt like I’d left it too long.

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