Page 65 of Ice Bet

The intermission was almost over, and I could hardly focus. I scanned past Coach’s reddening face and stared right at Savannah’s father. His arms were crossed over his freshly pressed dress shirt, and the smug smile on his face was a change from the last time I saw him. He was happy I was getting mauled, and the longer I looked at him, the shorter my fuse burned.

Savannah and I were never at odds with one another. It was always her family against me, forcing guilt down my throat until I choked on it. And that was what I was doing right now.Choking.

“It’s his ex’s brother that’s causing trouble. He’s their captain.”

Coach eyed Sully with skepticism.

Theo skated forward. “Explain.” The attention was pulled from Sully, and the entire team was waiting.Fuck me.

“Number three. Van Klein. He has it out for me. His sister had some issues, and they blame me.”

“What kind of issues?”

“None of your fucking business,” I spat, glaring at my teammates. “It’s personal.”

The last thing I wanted Coach to know was that Savannah’s parents blamed me for their daughter having an eating disorder. It was too similar to Riley’s past, and that was just a little too sticky for me.

“The only thing you guys need to know is that it wasn’t my fault. Her parents just wanted someone to blame, and that someone was me.”

I wouldn’t let Van make me feel guilty for something that wasn’t my fault. However, I wasn’t going to stoop to his level and ruinmyfuture, because that was exactly what he and his father wanted. Michael Klein, mayor of my hometown, crippled my ambitions once. He wouldn’t do it again.

“That’s why you lost your scholarship to Rosewood, huh?” Coach’s usual temper-filled tone came down a notch.He knew?

“Sure is,” Sully snipped.

Theo glared at the uptick in his voice, but I didn’t bother to say anything. I was too concerned with keeping myself steady on the ice and not ending up in the sin bin. Anger was bursting at the seams, but thankfully I had honed the skill to place my anger on the game instead of the players.

Off the ice was a different story.

But on the ice, I knew what to do. That was, if I could stay off my back from the constant cross-checks and shoves.

Coach wrapped his hand around the back of my neck and pulled me down to his level. “Keep your head in the game, Aasher. I trust you, and I know that you can handle their shit. If you’re going to retaliate, do it subtly. I don’t want you suspended, or I’ll be ten times tougher on you than they are right now.”

I nodded and rushed onto the ice beside my teammates. I let the cool ice flow into my blood and feed me from the inside out. I thought of everything possible to calm myself down and fought like hell to regain stability, but the truth was, I was spiraling. More cross-checks came my way, and with every elbow thrown, I was spent.

We had four minutes left in the third period. Theo and I were on the line together, and he nodded to Ford, silently working with him to pass the puck. Dax came in from the left, and I skated forward, blocking out the sounds around me, but the moment I made contact with the puck, I flew forward and collided with the ice. The air was knocked out of me, and I clutched my chest.

Words were too hard to fathom or else I would have cursed.

Fuck, that hurt.

“Need a hand?”

It was a voice I didn’t recognize, so I didn’t take the bait.Don’t do it. Don’t do it.If I retaliated, especially on Van, I could see his father going above and beyond and getting me thrown out of Bexley U. I wouldn’t jeopardize my future. I wouldn’t fall for it this time. I was older and wiser. That was what happened when someone broke you and you had to build yourself up again.

Coach was on the ice, yelling at the referee. A collective “Boo!”from the crowd came roaring in like wildfire, and when I tried to get up on my own, ignoring the green jersey to my left, I was shoved back down to the ice. Another strained puff of air left me, and the Green U player was hauled back and thrown up against the glass. Ford, whorarelyshowed his temper, was foaming at the mouth. There was chaos everywhere, and it made me think of Riley.Is this what she felt while on the ice?Out of control of her emotions?

Coach yelled louder. “The entire fucking team needs to be put in the sin bin! Number three needs to be thrown out! At the very least, it’s unsportsmanlike conduct! Are your eyes even open? I don’t give a shit that we’re winning by two! This goes far beyond winning, ref!”

Fuck me.

Everyone was wondering what was going on.

The news would soon start circling, and people would dig into my past.

All it would take is one overzealous news reporter to pull up my hometown paper and see the drama that unfolded after Savannah left school that year. My poor parents were about to be the center of the town gossip again.

I turned to my side as my teammates worked together to pull Ford away from the opposing player. “Ford, don’t,” I croaked.

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