Page 57 of The Puck Player

I open my mouth to respond, but Alexander beats me to it. “She could do with some coffee and breakfast,” he states firmly, flicking his glare to Daemon, who is already plating up some food, as Archer moves to pour us some coffee.

Maddie and Hallie take their turns embracing me, each fussing over me and asking if I am okay, before they lead me toward the counter with their boys in tow.

“You okay, Troublemaker?” Archer asks, as we reach it, his usual cheerful manner a lot dimmer than I’ve become used to, and all I can do is nod in thanks as I take a mug of coffee from him.

“Did you find him?” Nova asks, storming towards the counter, closing the distance between him and Maddie, and she smiles softly as he wraps his arms around her.

“Not yet, but CCTV confirmed it was him,” Alexander replies coldly, his stare only on mine, as Jake stands, guiding me into his now vacant chair, as the reality of the situation takes hold.

“Motherfucker,” Nova curses, his voice more dark and detached than I have ever heard it.

“What do you need, brother?” Archer cuts in, looking between both of us, his eyes fierce, as Daemon crowds into his side, and emotion burns the back of my throat.

Is this what it’s like when people have your back, no questions asked? When they freely give their friendship and loyalty and expect nothing but that in return. It’s something I can barely even fathom, something I’ve never had before, nottruly, and yet here they all are offering it blindly and without pause. Three months ago I didn’t even know any of them, and now here they are, all rallied together in Alexander’s kitchen, and to what? Help me? Be there for me?

“She goes nowhere alone,” Alexander demands, looking between not just his friends, but their girlfriends too. “I’m not having that fucking prick corner her somewhere without backup,” he curses, his stare still burning into me from across the counter.

It’s burning, branding, and I know it’s not going unnoticed by any of them, especially when I spot Evie dropping her eyes to my now very empty middle finger. Her knowing smile is instant, as is my blush, but we remain quiet as Alexander continues on with his demands.

“I’ve got her until tonight and most of the weekend, but during the game later,” he trails off, looking at the girls, but they are already nodding.

“We’ve got her, Alexander,” Maddie tells him firmly, offering me a regal smile.

“Yeah, don’t worry, we won’t let her out of our sight,” Hallie adds, as Josh grimaces at her back.

“Hit first, ask questions later, okay, Tink?” he grunts, pulling her against him, and she rolls her eyes.

“Yeah, we all know that’s your motto. Want me to break his arm for you if I get to him first?” she teases, and for the first time ever I see a playful smile dart across his mouth.

“If I get to him first, I’ll break every fucking finger,” Alexander spits, and I know it shouldn’t, but his tone sends a shudder down my spine.

Our eyes collide and I see nothing but truth in his stare, and just as I open my mouth to say something, there is a firm knock at the door. All three girls instantly move to my side, Nova and Josh are also flanking us, as Alexander storms to the door withArcher and Daemon in tow. When he pulls it open there is a man in a suit there, and all three of them relax. I’m too far away to hear what is being said, but the man offers Alexander a large brown envelope. They talk for less than a minute before Alexander is nodding in thanks and closing the door.

When his eyes find mine again, they are still burning in a way I have never seen before, and there is an unfamiliar churning in the pit of my stomach, as he storms back to the counter, flicking his stare across all of his friends.Our friends.

“What is it?” I ask, finding my voice for the first time, as I nod toward the envelope, and he slides it across the counter to me.

“Restraining order,” he replies, not waiting for me to open it, and when I look inside, that’s what I find. It’s all there in black and white, both mine and Ben’s information, instructing him to stay away from me.

I don’t bother asking Alexander how he got all of our information, clearly his stalking knows no bounds, but still the sight of Ben’s name on a piece of paper affects me more than I thought it would. Like, this is Ben, my Ben, someone I have known for more than a decade of my life, and until last week I would have told you he was one of the kindest people I have ever met. So how the hell did we get here?

“I just don’t understand why he would do this?” I breathe, somehow knowing deep in my gut that none of them will judge me for saying it.

“Well, I’m not surprised,” Alexander fumes, snatching back the restraining order and shoving it back into the envelope, as if just the mere sight of Ben’s name offends him.

“That’s because you already hated him,” I reply, smiling a little in the hopes it might lighten the black cloud now resting over us, but Alexander is already shaking his head.

“No, because if I lost you, I’d tear the fucking world apart to get you back,” he responds without pause, his words clear,holding not even a hint of dishonesty, and he tossed them out like he doesn’t care who hears them.

Alexander was right, faith is fickle. So why do I have faith in every word he just said?

Ithought I knew what rage was, I thought I’d felt it. I thought I knew exactly what it meant to be pissed off and hate someone, but nothing has ever come close to the fury that currently burns inside of me. He ruined her car. That pathetic waste of life ruined her fucking car and marked it with the word whore. Hell, the pastor better fucking pray to that god of his that I don’t get to him before the police do, because if I do, they won’t even fucking recognize him when I’m finished.Not this time.

I fucking knew, I knew he was going to be a problem, knew he wouldn’t disappear quietly, it’s why I’ve had Duchess keeping tabs on him, but like the slimy little prick I knew he was, he managed to slip under our radar. Was he watching her apartment last night? Was he waiting for her? Did he see me go inside and never come back out?Fuck. Last night was supposedto be about her, about us, about taking that next fucking step, but still that little dicked tool is in my way.

Aubree trusted me, she fucking trusted me, she gave me the hottest fucking experience of my life, and for the second time ever, I felt content falling asleep at her side. We didn’t even get a chance to talk about what happened last night, not before the incessant knocking got us out of bed, and not since. Aubree and I spent the whole day cooped up in the house alongside everyone else, catching up on the work we should have been doing in class. Between Nova and I, we emailed all our professors and got what we needed, only explaining enough of the situation to excuse us from class.

Now I’m stuck on the fucking ice, willing the coldness to seep into my bones and calm me down, but it’s no use, it doesn’t work. I’ve already let two goals slip past the net, unable to focus on anything but the girl sitting rink side. Aubree is just by our team's box, Maddie and Hallie on one side, and Evie on the other. There has been no sign of Ben, but that hasn’t stopped me from trailing my eyes over to her almost every minute of the game. A fact not missed by her father, who is eyeing me like I am the damn antichrist, but I don’t care, not right now, not when it comes to her and her safety.

---