Page 44 of The Puck Player

“Deal,” he confirms with a sly grin, as she lets out a gasp at his agreement, and his head snaps around toward the door as she enters.

“A hundred thousand dollars? That’s all I’m worth to you,” Aubree asks, her voice breaking as she storms inside, and Ben instantly tries to move in her direction.

“Bree,” he says her name with a plea, but she stumbles sideways away from him, throwing up her hands to stop him in his tracks.

“Don’t, just don’t,” she chokes out, unconsciously moving closer to me, and I don’t hesitate in bringing myself to her side, something Ben tracks instantly.

“You knew she was listening?” he accuses, and I don’t bother hiding my intentions, glaring at him like the pathetic, tiny-dicked little prick that I know him to be.

“I thought it was time she saw your true colors,” is all I reply with a shrug, and his glare hardens, as he flicks it between us, back and forth, before he settles on Aubree.

“This is what he wants, Bree, what he’s clearly been trying to do since you met him in that fucking bar,” he seethes, his tonea little more desperate now he realizes what’s at stake, but she remains unwavering.

“This isn’t about him, it’s about you, us,” she forces out with a shake of her head, as she tries to gather her thoughts. “It took me coming here for me to see that we don’t work, not really, and I can’t pretend we do anymore,” she sighs, and I can see the fury burning in his stare.

“What? So you’re ready to throw three years down the drain, just so you can take off your ring and spread your legs for him?” he spits, and I feel her slight flinch at his harsh words.

“Watch it, dick,” I warn in a deadly tone, and I swear I see some of the tension ease out of Aubree’s shoulder as I come to her defense, but Ben only scoffs.

“Can’t you see what he’s doing?” he snaps, but I can tell from the look in her eyes that the ship of perfect Ben has well and truly sailed, and when she remains silent he laughs humorlessly. “No, of course not, you’re just as desperate as all his other whores,” he spits, and this time she flinches even harder.

I move to take a step, but Aubree’s hand is on my arm in an instant. “Don’t, Alexander, he’s not worth it,” she says calmly, yet I feel anything but calm.

“What? And you think he is?” he laughs again in disbelief, but I see the moment his anger turns to something more, as he straightens his shoulders and sneers. “Well, I guess it’s good I’ve been fucking Malorie for the last seven months then, all because you were too much of a prude to let me into your sad virgin cunt.”

This time his words land like a physical assault, and I can tell from her reaction that, unlike me, the thought of her boyfriend and best friend has never crossed her mind, but it doesn’t matter. My fist is already smashing into his jaw before she can even let one tear fall, swinging his head to the side and knocking him to the floor, but it’s not enough. No, I’m on top of him in thenext second, plowing my fist into his face over and over, until his blood is coating my knuckles and Aubree is screaming my name.

“Alexander, stop, please,” Aubree cries, as Archer and Daemon appear in the doorway of my room, still pulling on their clothes.

Archer is the first to react, rushing toward me and pulling me off the prick who’s now bleeding out on my fucking carpet. “Easy now,” he grunts, dragging me away and back to my feet, as Daemon’s eyes fly over to Aubree, silently checking to make sure she is okay.

“I’m fine,” I tell him, inhaling deeply to try and pull myself back from the edge, as Ben scrambles up and grips his nose. “Get this piece of shit out of my fucking house,” I add, the anger still rolling off me in waves, as I smooth my hair back and roll out my shoulder. Archer moves to grab him instantly, Ben trying to fight against him, but then Daemon is there too, grabbing him firmly, but right before they pull him from the room I storm forward and fist his shirt, pulling him toward me. “I’d have paid ten times that you worthless prick,” I seethe, flexing my bloodied knuckles against his chest. “Come near her again and I’ll fucking ruin you.” I shove him away from me on the last word, and the guys don’t hesitate in dragging him from the room without pause.

My attention is back on Aubree in the next second, taking in her tear-stained face, as pain and regret slices through me. She needed to know what he was really like, but there were better ways to do it, not that it matters now. I erase the space between us, gripping her face between my hands, and pulling her glossy eyes to meet mine, before I remember the blood now coating my hands.

“Aubree, I’m sorry,” I start, not sure what I am really apologizing for, as I pull my hands from her face, cringing at the remnants of red I have left behind. “Shit, sorry.”

Aubree opens her mouth to say something, just as the heavy bass of music thumping from below disappears completely, and she pauses, as we both hear Nova telling everyone to get out. There are some groans and grumbles from party-goers, but I can hear enough shuffling and clanging to know that people are leaving.

I’m not sure how long we remain there, just staring at one another quietly, but it’s long enough that I can no longer care about the blood on my hands, as I reach up and swipe away the tears that are still flowing. The movement pulls a hiss from the back of my throat as pain coasts along my knuckles, and for the first time Aubree breaks our stare-off, letting her gaze take in my now bruised and bloodied hands. With a slight split, it’s a mixture of both mine and Ben’s blood, and I can’t help but think that must signify something.

I open my mouth to apologize again, but Aubree cuts me off. “I’ll go and get some ice for your hand,” she sighs defeatedly, and for the first time since I met her, I can’t decipher the look in her eyes.

It’s not annoyance or anger, grief or sadness, it’s just completely blank and indescribable, she turns on her heels to leave while a bitter feeling slams into the center of my chest, because I may have just saved her from a doomed relationship, but I also might have ruined everything else between us in the process.

Ihead downstairs in a daze, still not sure how I went from kissing Ben, to Alexander pummeling him into the ground, and everything in between. Ben, my boyfriend, the person I thought was my first love, the one I thought was a solid, unwavering force at my side, has been fucking the one person in the world I thought I knew better than myself. I mean, fuck, it’s so cliché, my boyfriend and my best friend. Maybe Ben was right, maybe I am dumb, because how didn’t I see this? My brain flicks back to the last time Ben was here with Malorie in tow, how she showed up with him, how they acted with one another.

God, I’m so fucking stupid.

They’ve been going behind my back for months, lying to my face for all that time, and neither of them had the decency to tell me. I was heartbroken and grieving, and they were fittingin their fucking no doubt any chance they could get. Every unanswered phone call and delayed text, where I didn’t get a response right away, were they doing it then? When they gave me a sleeping pill after my mother’s funeral to help me, were they doing it then? Every night since I’ve been gone, have they been crawling into one another’s arms and fucking each other’s brains out?

Every word of our friendship, every year of our relationship, every single memory of the three of us together has now been changed, tainted beyond repair. Ben had the nerve to insinuate that I was a whore? Me? The virgin who has only ever kissed two people in her entire life, all the while he was fucking my best friend? What a fucking hypocrite.

Did Alexander know? Did he see something? Sense something? Is that why he disliked him so much, because he knew I was going to end up hurt? Not that it matters I guess, nothing matters when it comes to my friendship, or my relationship, because whatever I thought I had was a lie, and feelings of sadness and relief go to war inside of me.

Tears blur my vision as I reach the kitchen, finding Nova, Jake, and Archer all cleaning up, with Maddie and Evie nowhere to be seen. Daemon already has two ice packs in his hands, and a bunch of other stuff that he has clearly taken out of a first aid kit, and when he spots me, he reaches out silently to hand them to me. I take them with a grateful smile, planning to just turn on my heel and leave without a word, but as I’m starting to learn, nothing is ever that simple with these Flyers.

“Bree,” Archer calls out, and I pause on the other side of the island from him, turning to look at him. “I’m sorry about what happened, but for what’s it worth, I have never seen Alexander lose his temper, not once in the almost four years that I’ve known him,” he tells me firmly, and I’m not sure what to do with his words.

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