Page 30 of Fractured Faceoff

Silence filled the line, heavy and suffocating.

"You never loved me. Not really."

It stretched on, each second an eternity. I could almost hear her thinking, weighing her words.

"I have to go," she said finally. "And Jared?Don't call me again."

This time, I let her hang up. The sound of the call ending was like a gavel coming down in a courtroom—final and unforgiving.

Fury boiled up inside me, hotter than anything I'd felt before. My phone flew from my hand, smashing against the wall with a satisfying crack. The screen shattered, bits of glass scattering across the floor like glittering shards of my broken heart.

I slid down to the floor, back against the wall, knees drawn up to my chest. How had I let this happen? How could I have been such a fool?

I was Jared Crowder, for God's sake. The Southern Serpent. I was supposed to be smarter than this.

But Ava had twisted me up inside, made me believe in something that was never real. All those years wasted, all those dreams shattered in an instant. The rage bubbled over again, and I slammed my fist into the floorboards, pain shooting up my arm but doing nothing to quell the storm inside me.

How had it come to this? How had I allowed myself to be played so thoroughly? Isla's warnings echoed in my mind—she'd seen through Ava long before I had. Maybe that's why Isla had always kept her distance, why she'd never trusted me around her sister.

I closed my eyes and tried to breathe through the anger, but it was no use. The betrayal cut too deep. Ava had taken everything from me—my love, my loyalty—and tossed it aside like it was nothing.

And now? Now I was left with nothing but the hollow ache of what could have been.

The room seemed to close in tighter, the walls pressing in on all sides. I needed air, space to think—or maybe just space to feel the full weight of this crushing defeat.

But for now, all I could do was sit there on the cold floor and try to piece together where it all went wrong.

The morning sunpeeked through the curtains, but it did little to lighten my mood. I grabbed my keys and headed out the door. I stopped by to grab a new phone after trashing the old one before heading to the rink.

I pulled into the parking lot of the Snake Pit, still pissed about the Ava situation. The place had become a second home, though not for reasons I’d originally planned. Ava was supposed to be part of this new chapter, but now she was just another ghost in the rafters.

Walking into the locker room, I felt the weight of expectation settle on my shoulders. The team was gearing up for the season, and I couldn’t afford distractions. Not now.

"Morning, Crowder," one of my teammates called out as I walked in.

I nodded in acknowledgment, pulling on my gear with mechanical precision. My mind raced with ways to get back at Ava, to make her feel even a fraction of what she’d made me feel. But for now, I had to focus.

Stepping onto the ice was like flipping a switch. The cold air bit at my skin, and I embraced it. The rink was where I could lose myself, where nothing else mattered but the game.

"All right, let’s see some hustle out there!" Coach’s voice boomed across the ice as we started our drills.

I pushed harder than usual, my skates cutting deep grooves into the ice. Each stride was an outlet for my frustration, each pass a way to channel my anger. The guysnoticed—I could see it in their glances—but no one said anything. They knew better.

"Nice shot!" someone yelled as I sent the puck sailing into the net with a satisfying thud.

Practice went on like that—intense, focused. My body moved on autopilot while my mind plotted revenge. Ava thought she could play me? She had no idea who she was dealing with.

When practice finished, I skated off the ice. The fury simmered just below the surface, waiting for its chance to boil over again.

But right now?

Right now, I had a team to lead and a season to prepare for.

Ava would get what was coming to her. But first things first—I had work to do on this ice and off it too.

"…beat the living shit out of him if I saw her with anyone else."

I glanced at who was speaking: Kellan, our goalie, leaning back on the bench like he owned the place.

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