Page 77 of Power Forward

“You’re all wrong. He lives in Hermosa Beach,” I snap, getting to my feet. “I thought you all considered him a friend, yet in a time of need, you’d be fucking useless.”

I know I’m being an asshole, but my emotions are heightened from the lack of sleep and having my heart broken less than twenty-four hours ago. I’ll apologize to them later, but right now, my only focus is Hayden.

There’s only one other person who can help me, but at this point, I’m not holding on to hope. I head out of the locker room and down the hall to the gym.

“Peyton!” I call out to our captain. I round the corner to the gym and find him on one of the stationary bikes.

“Yeah?” he answers in a breath.

“Do you have Hayden’s address?”

His brows furrow as he thinks. “Maybe somewhere? Katy did all the holiday cards and shit. Why can’t you text him and ask?”

“Because I fucking can’t get hold of him!” I bellow. Why is it so fucking difficult? “He left me a voice message late last night, and I haven’t been able to get hold of him. My callsare going to voicemail, and he’s not reading my texts.” I drop onto the weight bench, my body trembling. I rest my head in my hands, willing my heart to calm down before it beats out of my chest. My voice is so quiet when I speak again it’s barely recognizable. “I’m worried something’s happened to him.”

The familiar whirl sound of the bike’s belt comes to a halt, and seconds later, Peyton’s dropped to a crouch in front of me. When I lift my head, worry flashes through his blue eyes. Blaine, Elliot, Zach, and Kendrick walk into the locker room wearing matching concerned expressions.

“In what sense? You think he’s in danger?” Peyton asks.

Sighing, I shrug. “It’s not my story to tell, but potentially. We…” I glance up at the ceiling, unable to meet his gaze. We haven’t had the conversation on what we’re going to say to people. I mean, I haven’t even told my kids, but judging by this morning, I think they already know what Hayden means to me. But these guys standing around me are like family. We support each other through everything. We’re there for each other through the highs and lows, both on and off the ice. And if there’s a time where I need their support, it’s now. Because I’m a whisper away from falling apart. “We’ve been seeing each other for a couple of months now. We’ve been taking it slow because it’s not the first time we’ve dated.”

Someone gasps. I think it’s Elliot.

“You met someone in your rookie year at Boston,” Zach states, recalling the conversation I had with him last season while he was figuring things out with Carter. “But it all crumbled when you were traded to LA… That was Hayden?”

I nod. “Yeah, it was.”

“Wow, plot twist because I didn’t see this coming,” Blaine admits.

“I did,” Peyton says, surprising me.

“You did?”

“Yeah. I didn’t think about it until now, but he’s always admired you. He wouldn’t let anyone chirp you on the ice or go near you, really. He was pretty reckless when we went out, but he was always more… I dunno, broken, I guess, whenever we played against LA. Then there was how you both behaved at Blaine’s wedding.” He throws a thumb over his shoulder to where our teammate stands.

“True. Alex mentioned it seemed odd,” Blaine agrees.

“Then there was my Halloween party. You two came in matching costumes, then you both disappeared for a while, then you were gone.”

“And Thanksgiving,” Elliot adds. “You were all heart-eye emoji at each other.” He makes a heart with his hands and puts it in front of his face.

I scrub my face with my hands. I guess Ethan was right. We did a shit job at keeping it quiet.

“I don’t know what to do. I’ve been getting his voicemail all morning, and he’s not answering any of my texts.”

“Mitchy! Get our phones, will ya?” Peyton shouts, and moments later, the young forward comes rushing in carrying all four phones.

“Here you go, Peyton Capybara.” Mitch grins.

Elliot hoots and smacks his hand in a high five.

“Fuck you both.” Peyton throws up his middle finger over his shoulder and taps on his phone with the other. Theytake it in turns trying to call Hayden, but as expected… “Voicemail.” Peyton frowns.

“What’s going on here? Some kind of secret society?” Coach Harris appears in the doorway, arms crossed over his wide chest.

“Jackson has an emergency, and we need to get him on a flight to California,” Elliot announces, then practically shouts, “Hermosa Beach!”

“We have time to call someone up from the farm team for tomorrow night’s game,” Blaine interjects.

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