Page 80 of Pucking Obsessed

It’s why I respect Eden.

I don’t know if the shock of watching her dad almost drown has been harder for Robyn today or working out that her dad wasn’t the man she thought he was.

I don’t know exactly what she’s discovered about her past and Cody, but the disappointment in her dad has been crushing. It’s there in the slumped line of her shoulders and the haunted look in her eyes.

I understand because I was sixteen, when it happened to me.

It crushes me too because coach took me into the team and his life, when I was a self-destructing dick who nobody else would touch.

He saved me and gave me a shot.

Even now, he’s been prepared to stake his career to support me.

On the other hand, coach has been hard on me.

I’ve needed to be immaculate at all times. Practice harder than anyone. Meet every one of his expectations.

Have I only accepted that because of the conditioning I went through at the discipline school? Because I have a skewed view of how authority figures can treat you?

A cold ball forms in my stomach. My neck is damp with sweat.

My world feels like it’s falling apart —again.

I lean back against the boards, letting out a frustrated huff of breath.

Colton is the first coach who I’ve spoken back to.

Perhaps, I should have backtalked before now?

I’m fighting for my fucking life this week. I took a bet to resign my captaincy and my place within the Bay Rebels from Heine.

What do I have to lose?

If coach isn’t the manIthought that he was either, then I always thought that Colton was a gaslighting asshole.

Why not call him on it?

Shay skates up to me, spraying ice up in a fine spray. He bangs into the boards hard enough to make me wince.

He looks exhausted. The visit to the hospital has hit him hard. He needs a massage or a cuddle.

How has my cucciolo turned me into a man who cuddles?

I run my hand through my curls. “How are you feeling?”

“Better than your stick.” Tired as he is, Shay still manages to grin. “Throttle that thing any harder, and it’ll snap. For once, I’m glad that you don’t have your hands on my dick.”

I arch my brow. “Yet.”

Shay leans closer.

His beautiful gray eyes widen with excitement. “Do I get a reward, if I do well tonight?”

I grab Shay by the back of the neck, knowing that if anyone sees, then it’ll look like the typical hard-ass captain being physical with the newbie.

Of course, they can’t hear what I’m darkly whispering that makes Shay shiver.

“For every goal that you score,” I tighten my hold, “I’ll reward you when we get home with a hickey or bite somewhere on your body. First, I’ll have stripped you naked and bound you with ourofficial hockey ties over the kitchen table. Then Robyn and your brother can watch and see what a good boy you’ve been.”

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