Page 47 of The Friend Zone

Like he scored with my girl.

Fuck. I could tolerate him hooking up with Bay as long as he didn’t hurt her. But he did hurt her and now I want him to feel some fucking pain too.

I don’t wait for him, this isn’t what these drills are about. I skate toward him to take the puck from him. If we take the puckwe can shoot even when playing defense. Whose goal it is doesn’t really matter. What Coach wants to see is timing, precision, puck control and shooting accuracy.

He’s so focused on getting closer to shoot, that he isn’t covering his left side and that’s where I’m planning to hit.

However playing together for years, means we can predict each other’s movements fairly accurately.

Jagger knows that if I want that fucking puck, I’ll damn get it, so he changes pace and shoots before I get close enough to cause him problems.

It’s one hell of a slap shot. The kicker? It isn’t aimed at the goal but at my fucking head.

I have to thank my quick reaction time that I move out of its trajectory just in time.

It still isn’t enough. The puck grazes the side of my helmet, making a deafening noise. Even with protection, a direct hit to the head can cause a concussion or other serious injury.

“What the fuck was that?” I skate toward Jagger, who has made a loop behind the net and is coming back to the spot where I was when he hit me. “You could have fucking hurt me.” I yell when we’re within earshot of each other.

Rather than apologizing for his carelessness, Jagger provokes me.

“You’re ok. Believe me, if I wanted to hit you, I would have.”

The fuck is actually wrong with this asshole? I drop my stick. “So you did it on purpose?”

He shrugs, a smirk appearing on his face. “Consider it a warning to stay out of my fucking way next time.”

That’s it.

“You could have ended my fucking season. You could have put next year at risk to prove a fucking point? I thought we were friends.” I drop my gloves, clenching my fists. “You betterapologize and watch yourself or I’ll teach you to stay the fuck away from me.”

He drops his gloves and stick, taking his helmet off to face me. “Bring it.”

If this is how he wants to play this, he can be my fucking guest.

Ryker chooses that exact moment to skate between us. “Guys, what the fuck is going on?”

“Stay out of it, Moore.” Jagger snaps.

Interesting. Jagger isn’t just mad at me, he has a problem with Ryker too.

RYKER

If this wasn’t already a shit show, Cole and Jagger had to choose practice to air their differences.

Thank fuck Coach Harrison stepped out for a second to take a phone call, but if he sees us fighting after the way we’ve been playing, there’s gonna be hell to pay.

Of course Cole and Jagger’s confrontation hasn’t gone unnoticed by our teammates who, taking advantage of Coach’s absence, surround us like sharks who smell blood in the water.

“Aww what’s up?” Topher gloats, chiding them. “Is your bromance over?”

Jagger’s scowl deepens. “Don’t think I won’t kick your ass too, Mumford. I can take you both.”

Topher has always been an agent of chaos. The asshole thrives on conflict and he’s obviously jealous that Jagger hooked up with his ex. “I doubt it.” He chuckles. “Besides, don’t let me interrupt whatever is going on between you two. I was merelyobserving that this isn’t the team spirit Coach was talking about earlier. You might want to sort this out before he sees you, because this looks really bad. Especially for you, Captain.”

His last barb is directed at Cole. “You’re right. I’ll solve my problem with Jagger later, but don’t think I’m not going to help him teach you a lesson first.”

Topher’s smile widens. “Ooh, I’m so scared. Let’s see what you two pussies can do. Glad to see I can help you set your differences aside.”

---