Page 45 of The Puck Decoy

Something I had never cared about before, but when Hallie’s eyes meet mine again, and I see sadness there, it makes me wish I could erase every single one of them just to see her smile.

Not bothering to even look at any of them, I keep my focus on her as I push past them and put my arms around Hallie pulling her in. “Everything okay, Mrs. Peters?” I ask, hating the stiffness I can feel in her body, but keeping her in my arms anyway.

“Oh Josh, there you are,” Brianna coos. “We were just talking about you,” she adds with a giggle that makes my skin crawl.

“Tink, everything okay?” I ask, ignoring Brianna completely, much to her dismay, yet still Hallie refuses to break her stare and look at me.

“Looks like the weirdo is broken again,” Brianna jokes, making her little pack of friends laugh, and the wrath inside of me intensifies ten-fold. Especially when she adds, “Call me when you need a mistress,” she winks, like it might make her offer more inviting.It doesn’t.

“What the fuck did you just say?” I seethe, now giving her my full attention, causing more people to look our way, just as Maddie emerges from the bathroom and starts making her way back over to Hallie.

“Relax, Josh, it was a joke.” Brianna rolls her eyes, her tone completely uncaring, as she examines her manicure.

“Yeah, at my wife’s expense,” I spit, my fingers now digging into Hallie’s waist harder than I care to acknowledge.

“I’m sure she’s heard worse, she’s not exactly normal,” she snaps back with a cackle, only this time she is the only one laughing.

“Get the fuck out of my house.” My voice is loud and clear as it booms across the room, being heard by everyone over the music, causing them all to look this way.

“What?” she stammers, her friends now looking wary as someone cuts off the music.

“You heard me,” I say, voice cold and flat, and the shock in her eyes is clear as day. “What? You think just because you’ve laid on your back for half the guys on the team that it gives you some sort of status? Or maybe it’s your daddy’s money that makes you feel invincible. Well guess what, I don’t give a fuck about either. You will not stand inmyhouse and insultmywife.”

From the corner of my eye I see Daemon descending the stairs, no doubt having heard the disruption, and he doesn’t hesitate to start making his way towards us. Maddie also comes to a stop by my side, along with some other members of my team, all to have my back, to have Hallie’s back.

Brianna is quick to try and claw back some face as she takes us all in. “Wow, looks like some of that control is starting to slip, Josh, you better be careful,” she tosses back, thinking she still has any kind of sway here.

“And if you come near me or my wife again, or even think about disrespecting her in any way, then you better be careful, because I will ruin you so badly that even dear old dad won’t be able to save you. Now I’ll tell you again, get the fuck out of my house.”

Her drink hits us before I can stop it, covering Hallie more than me as Brianna screeches, “Fuck you, Josh.”

I pull Hallie back, furious at myself for keeping her in the firing line, but before I can even toss back a retort, Maddie is there, her hand cracking against Brianna’s cheek so hard that her head spins to the side, but Brianna is quick to raise her own in response.

Before her hand can even move in my sister’s direction, her wrist is snatched up by Nova. “Don’t even fucking think about it, B,” he warns in a lethal tone, and I see the flash of hurt in her eyes, as he comes to protect his girlfriend.

We all knew she favored him over the rest of us. He never gave her more than drunken trysts at parties, and now, here he is after claiming my sister to the world, and for once, I actually like the prick.

“Nova,” Brianna quivers, her cheek red, yet her eyes turning even redder, but it doesn’t work, not on him or me.

“You heard Peters, get the fuck out, and from now on you’re no longer welcome at any of the hockey houses,” he declares, dropping her wrist, and moving around her to get to Maddie, bringing them both to stand by our side.

“Nova, please,” she begs one last time, and not a single person comes to her defense.

“You’ve crossed the line for the last time, so just go,” Nova sighs, and I can tell he doesn’t feel good about doing this, and I wish I could say I felt the same, but I don’t.

Not when the girl in my arms is stiff and dripping in the bitch’s drink, the words she also threw no doubt still swimming in her mind, and as Brianna huffs and turns on her heel to leave, I’m glad to see the back of her.

The entire party is watching this go down, and as Brianna leaves, their attention turns to us, and I can’t stop myself from instantly guiding Hallie towards the stairs so we can get awayfrom it all, thankful when I hear Daemon’s lethal tone. “Turn the music back on. Now,” he demands, and is obliged instantly.

The party comes back to life all around us, but my only focus is getting Hallie up to the safety of my room. She’s silent as I guide her there, her body shaking slightly, but it’s the tremble of my own that concerns me. An anger coursing through me that makes me feel like I am going to explode, and as we push into my room and I slam the door with a bang, she flinches.

I don’t stop though, instead heading straight into the bathroom to grab her a towel, before storming back towards her. “Top, off,” I demand, as she tries to dry it off with her hand, and her stare flicks to mine.

“Josh, really it’s fine,” she lies, moving around me to check her reflection in the mirror. I’m not sure what Brianna was drinking, but it has left a bright red stain down the front of her white top, and she now smells even sweeter than normal.

“Hallie, I’ve known you since you were nine years old, which means I know how much you physically despise the feeling of wet clothes against your body. In fact, I have been the audience to many lengthy debates on this topic from you more times than I can even count, so please respect your own damn rules, quit lying to me, and take off the damn top.” I don’t leave room for her to argue, moving towards my closet to grab her a shirt of mine to wear, and when I turn around I find her standing there in nothing but her bra and jeans, dabbing at her chest with the towel I got for her.

Fuck.

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