Page 92 of College Hockey Bully

I’ll forgive everything she has done, anything to ensure she remains alive and well.

Parking haphazardly in the hospital lot, I sprint into the waiting room, heading straight to reception. A string of curses sound on my right as the smiling nurse looks up at me.

“Can I help you—”

“You’re not welcome here.”

His voice comes low and threatening behind me. I turn, meeting her dad at face level. If he could snap my neck, I doubt he would hesitate. I glance down at his flexing hands, then breathe out a sigh.

“I don’t want any trouble, Mr. Pierce.”

“Then you shouldn’t have come,” he fires back, still in that low, menacing tone. “And if I were you, I’d get the hell out right away. See, I’m not sure how long I can stop her mom and sister from ripping you to shreds.”

He jerks his head to the left, where Mrs. Pierce and a slightly older version of Scarlett glares back at me. “Look, I just want to know if she’s okay,” I say to him.

“Okay?” He snorts. “The doctor says she has minimal brain injury from the beating, but she’s not okay. She won’t be for a long time, thanks to you.”

“I wouldneverlay a hand on Scarlett,” I deny fiercely. “I lo—”

The remaining words fly down my throat as realization sinks in. Mr. Pierce’s bushy brows lift as his arms cross over his chest. “If you care for my daughter any at all, wipe her from your memory. The second you walk out of here, she’s dead to you. Understood?”

“Mr. Pierce—”

“Do I make my fucking self clear?”

At least fifteen pairs of curious eyes turn in our direction. Reluctantly, I nod. “Loud and clear.”

Still with that stern expression, his hand swings toward the exit, a clear sign that he wants me out of Scarlett’s liferight now. The hope that I’d get to see her vanishes like vapor, replaced by a sensation that makes it hard to breathe.

I suck in a lungful of air as I step into the night, more lost than I’ve ever felt in my life. How the fuck did I get here? How did I go from a normal college guy, leaning on hockey for distraction, to someone responsible for an attempted murder on Scarlett’s life?

Closing the car door, I lean back in the seat, staring through the windshield, contemplating my next move. I’m not ready to go home to face questions about my non-existent relationship with Casey. Now that I’ve made the finals, I’m suremy dad will be ready to press send on that email if I don’t do as he says.

Fuck my fucking life.

I don’t want to be alone with these thoughts that makes me want to do something crazy, like find whoever did this to Scarlett and fuck them up real good, but I can’t achieve my goals from prison. With my mind shifting to the other side of town, I put my car in drive.

Chapter 37

Aiden

Something hard and heavy lands on my back, shifting my blurry vision from the rows of alcohol lined up on shelves behind the bar counter. Cameron’s face swims in front of me. I smile. “Hey, man.”

“You look like shit,” he mumbles, dropping on the stool beside me. I hear a rattling and see Glen, the bartender, drop something in Cameron’s palm that looks suspiciously like my car fob. “Thanks for calling me.”

“It’s the least I could do. We can’t have our star player picking up a DUI before nationals, can we?” Glen replies, sliding a bottle of water toward me.

“I told you, I’m good.” I push the water back to him.

Cameron grabs it, then takes my arm. “Let’s go.”

Shaking his hold on me, I lash him with my fiercest glare. “I said, I’m fine.”

“Yeah, which is why Glen cut you off and called my phone. Ruined my night. Just as I was about to get lucky, by the way.”

My expression transforms with a shit-eating grin. “Holy fuck, dude. Finally! I thought you’d planned on taking this celibate vow to the grave.”

“I just might, considering the stink face she gave me when I called for a rain check. Thank you, man. The most skillful cock-blocker, even from miles away.”

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