Page 86 of Pinkie Promise

Caden grunts and I give him athank youshove with my shoulder as he leaves the exodus so that he can slide through the gate to the girls.

“What thehellwas that?” Benson is practically shaking when we reach him at the edge of the rink.

Now I’m pissed off all over again because he’s flipped the switch on me after a damn ten second hockey brawl. Big fucking deal. Guys in the NHL fight in every damn game.

The look that I level him with has him narrowing his eyes and shaking his head at me.

“The game was over, idiot. What were you thinking?” His eyes move to my cheekbone and he rubs his hand over his mouth. “Jesus Christ. Someone get this fucking moron a towel.”

Tanner’s hand tightens, warning me to keep my cool.

“He got a knee to the balls. You can’t even get arrested for that shit.”

“Uh, actually you fuckingcandepending on the situation,” Benson argues back, “and there was no need for brawling when y’all won the damn game.”

My jaw muscle rolls, adrenaline still pumping hard and fast in my veins. “It had nothing to do with the game.”

“Then you should have kept itoff the ice. When y’all get back to the motel before I head off to Carter Ridge I’ll decide whether or not you’re fit for the next game, Wilde.”

“I’m not going to the motel,” I tell him, and his eyes suddenly flash. Tanner subtly steps between us as Benson takes a big step forward.

“What’d that fucker say to you?” Coach Benson asks, giving me a surprised once-over. “What the hell happened out there to make you lose your shit? You fucked up at the start of the year but you recouped your game. What’s gotten into you to make you change that now?”

The whole team can sense it – the fact that Benson is about to realise that I broke his one goddamn rule.

We stare at each other long and hard, my expression emotionless as I try not to think about what O’Neill said. Myeyes flick over to the Carter U box and my chest swells as Fallon finally comes into my line of sight.

I look away quickly, knowing that – if I keep looking at her beautiful face – my defences are about to crumble.

Benson follows my line of sight and arches his neck back, finally coming to his realisation.

“You have got to be kidding me,” he mutters, scraping a hand over his head. “You’ve got a girl with you? Is that what this was?”

Benson meets my eyes again, disbelief etched on his face, and suddenly I’m done with all of the chaos that has happened tonight. The shitty opponents, the overbearing coach, the one stupid rule that should never have been made in the first place.

So I keep my distance as I trudge past him and I mutter, “It ain’t your damn business, man.”

It’s only when I reach the door at the start of the narrow corridor that Benson calls out, “It will be when I bench your ass.”

The whole team stills and the air around us immediately tenses, but after the longest ten seconds of my life I decide to keep walking. By the time that I reach the changing rooms I’m slamming my locker open and ripping off as much of the kit as I can. I’m not about to put my suit back on because it’s a fucker to get into so I pull my jeans and a shirt out of my bag instead.

I rip the protective gear off and shove that shit into my gym bag, needing to get the hell out of here before I can reconsider the premature end to my brawl with O’Neill.

The low-road is sounding damn satisfying right now.

As I pull a hoodie over my head Caden trudges in and I immediately ask him, “You get Fallon? Is she alright?”

I hide the tremble in my hands by gripping my gear bag nice and tight.

Caden nods and tips his head towards the door. “They’re on their way.” Then he gives me a brief appraisal and murmurs, “Maybe clean your face up first.”

Instinctively I swipe my palm up my cheekbone and I curse quietly.

That shit stings.

But before I can pull the gauze from my bag to staunch the flow I hear the sound of two soft voices nearing the door, at that sweet feminine pitch that you don’t find in the guy’s changing room. In the next second I’m grabbing all of my shit and shoving my way past my teammates.

I see Fallon as soon as I shoulder my way out of the door and all of the emotions that I’d been grinding down flood to the surface as I get my eyes on her.

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