Page 57 of The Puck Secret

“It’s only 6am,” I grumble in my defense, and she laughs, climbing from her own bed and moving towards mine.

“Yeah and you’ve been overthinking in there for hours now, it’s time to face the music, Wendy.” She pairs her words with whipping the duvet off my entire body, bringing me face to face with her chipper smile.

“I hate you!” I snap, which only makes her smile wider, as she plonks herself down beside me.

“No, you don’t,” she teases, but then her smile turns solemn as she flicks her eyes over me. “Are you okay?”

Tears gather in my eyes for the millionth time as I shake my head. “No,” I whisper, my voice cracking. “I hurt him, Hals, like I really hurt him.” Even as I say those words out loud I can hear the disbelief in my tone.

“I know, babe.” She swipes away one of my tears as more continue to fall, and I think if she wasn’t here with me I would fall apart completely.

“Is it okay if we go home?” I ask, pleading with my stare. “ I know we had a whole day planned, but,” she cuts me off with a soft touch on my arm.

“Of course we can, I’ll break my plans anytime for you, you should know that by now,” she gently scolds me with a smile, jumping to her feet. “Let’s pack up our stuff and get on the road.”

She starts to move away to do just that, when I grab her by the hand and pull her in for a hug. “I love you, Hals,” I whisper into her hair, and I feel her body stiffen at the affection but she soon relaxes into it, bringing her own arms around me.

“I love you too, babe.”

We spend the next thirty minutes whipping round the room after one another, grabbing showers, getting dressed, and packing our bags. By the time we are ready to go it is getting closer to 7am, and I am conscious about getting out of here before any of the team wakes up. A thought that is doused in panic when there is a sharp knock at the door.

I look at Hallie a little startled but she just holds up her hand. “It’s okay I will sort it,” she says calmly, moving towards the door. I step towards the bathroom out of sight, but when she opens the door and sighs, I relax a little. “Good morning, Joshua,” she drags out slowly. “What can I do for you at this unpleasant hour?”

If I could see him, I could almost bet my brother is rolling his eyes at my best friend. “Let me in, Tink, I need to see her,” he pleads softly, and even if I didn’t want to see him, I know his tone would melt my best friend, which is evident by the way her shoulders drop and she steps aside. “Thanks, Hallie Bear,” he adds absent-mindedly to her, before locking his eyes on mine. “There she is,” he smiles.

“What are you doing here, Josh, it’s not even 7am,” I say by way of greeting, and there’s that roll of his eyes I expected.

“I’m coming home with you guys. I talked to Coach last night and cleared it with him.” His stare drops to the already packed bags at my feet as if to prove his own point before he smiles smugly.

“How did you know we would be going home?” Hallie asks, and he rolls his eyes again, taking a seat on the end of her bed and flexing out his arms to lean on them as he cocks a brow at her.

“Do you honestly think I don’t know either of you well enough by now?” He shakes his head. “You guys are like Thing 1 and Thing 2, inseparable and predictable since the second you met.”

Hallie and I share a guilty look, knowing we can’t dispute him, so instead, I focus on his other statement about talking to Coach and coming home with us. “What about the guys, the team?”

His smirk softens as he reaches out to hold my hand in his. “What about them, Mads? You’re my sister.”

I share another look with Hallie as I fight back more tears, before clearing my throat. “Okay then, well let’s get out of here shall we.”

We move to grab our bags but of course Josh bats us away, grabbing them all himself, and we head to check out. While Josh loads the car, I grab some drinks and snacks for the road, and then we are on our way without setting eyes on anybody else from FU.

The drive back home is mostly silent for me, choosing to sit in the back and listen to my brother and best friend bicker back and forth until I tune them out completely. I should be glad we’re going home, especially after everything that happened last night, but knowing that I won’t get another text from my Charmer, or another secret smile from my new favorite hockey player, just makes it seem colder somehow. That and the fact that my engagement is only a few weeks away, and the last bit of freedom I was holding onto is now gone forever.

That thought only heightens when Hallie pulls up in front of our house, finding the driveway already occupied. Brad is leaning against the hood of his car, phone in hand, watching us arrive with a serious look on his face.

“Oh fuck no,” Josh curses. “Not this shit again.” He moves to exit the car first, but I grab him by the shoulder and stop him.

“It’s okay, Josh, I can handle it.” I force that practiced smile to my face, and my brother eyes me skeptically.

His stare is dark and full of warning as it flicks between me and my soon to be fiancé. “You’re not handling anything, that guy is a fucking tool.”

“That guy,” I snap, my patience now wearing thin as the lack of sleep from last night catches up to me. “Is going to be my husband, so just stay out of it, please,” I sigh, pushing out of the back seat and slamming the door closed behind me, praying they both stay in the car.

Brad eyes me coolly, taking in my withered state with a tight, even smile as he drawls, “I’ve been calling you.”

I try to keep my face passive and casual as I respond, “My phone is off.” I shrug, and keep walking until we are only a few steps apart.

“Why?” he grits, his own mask of fake pleasantries slipping a little.

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