Page 89 of First Puck

He looked so relieved, so amazed, so totally happy that there were still tears forming at the corners of his eyes.

But why was hethathappy?

Alex turned from me, and I felt the loss so strongly that I pushed Chase away just to see what he was looking at.

Porter stood in front of him, his arms folded as he said something, looking so serious that he must have been punched.

Alex quickly replied to Porter, his whole body tense as he looked back at me.

“Are you okay?” I mouthed at him, and he shook his head, all the raw passion he’d laid on me like a brickie vanished.

He held up a hand, spreading his fingers.

“Five minutes,” he mouthed before turning back to Porter.

The guys were still all over me, but the only person I couldn’t see was Lance.

My heart fucking plummeted as I guessed what was going on.

I was standing there, holding a card that fulfilled all our fucking dreams since we were kids, and Alex was leaving through the door with Porter.

“Alex?” I called out, but he just threw me a glance.

“I’ll be back,” he mouthed.

And then he was gone.

Just gone.

He just left me standing there alone with our teammates.

Porter gave me a rough fucking nod as the door swung closed behind them.

What the hell was more important than us achieving our dream together?

Why the fuck was he abandoning me?

“Hey, come the fuck on, it’s not that bad.” Tommy’s voice cut through my silent shock.

I looked at him, but his expression was as hard as mine. It felt like he’d guessed as well.

“Do you know?” I asked him, my throat dry.

“Not a fucking thing,” he growled. “But that shit doesn’t matter.” Tommy turned back to me. “Just ignore those dickheads. You just got a place with the Wranglers.”

“Yeah, you fucking did!” Chase shouted.

None of them were hugging me, and I took the chance to bolt for the door.

It swung open and hopes suddenly flared, praying that Alex had come back, that he knew he’d made a mistake by leaving me. But Coach stood there, filling the space.

“Well done, son,” he said, his deep voice bouncing through me as he clapped me on the shoulder. “I’m proud of you.”

But I didn’t want to hear that from him. I wanted to hear it from Alex.

I wanted him to smile at me again and laugh with me and tell me what he really thought.

Because that look on his face wasn’t just happiness: it was love.

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