Page 38 of Brace and Chase

“Why do you hate me so much?” he volleys back.

I shake my head and scoff. “You are an asshole,” I tell him simply. “Now answer me.”

“I don’t owe you shit.”

“Bullshit,” I snap. “I answered and now you go.” I stand taller, widen my stance, and cross my arms over my chest.

“Fucking hell,” he mumbles, looking down, then his eyes collide with mine. “What do you want me to say?”

“The truth. Say you are only here to fuck over my team. To get what you can out of us then fucking leave.” I see that I’ve hit him where it hurts when he steps back from thecounter and advances on me. I don’t care, I have no reason to stop.

“You will not be staying around to help when times get rough.”

“Shut up,” he mutters, still walking slowly.

“Say you do not even care about hockey,” I keep taunting him, taking a step back so he won’t reach me.

“I said shut up,” he says, this time louder.

“Or you could tell me how you only care about the trophies, about the accolades and the applause.”

“I swear to God if you don’t shut up?—”

“You do not care about being a warrior on the ice,” I interrupt him. “Or about the honor. You only care about being the one who’s celebrated, not about your team winning. You?—”

His hands reach out when he’s less than a foot away and he grabs my shirt in his two fists, pulls me down and growls, “I said fucking shut up.”

My mind goes blank when his lips collide with mine.

FOURTEEN

CHARLIE

For a blissful momentthat seems to exist out of time, and with my eyes closed, I feel nothing but stillness and soft lips pressed firmly against mine.

Then it all comes crashing down when I remember who those lips belong to, whose shirt I’m gripping like a lifeline, where I am, and what I just did.

I lean back with a gasp.

I just fucking kissed Nikolay Brotnik.

The only possible explanation is that a spirit with a very skewed sense of humor must’ve taken control of my body because...

I look up, not far mind you, since I’mstill holding on to his shirt.

I relax my fingers and take three steps back for good measure.

“Jesus,fuck,” I scream without meaning to.

“Uh,” he says eloquently, still leaning just slightly down with his eyes wide open. He looks fucking ridiculous, and at any other time, with any other person, I would laugh my ass off.

But this is Nikolay, and this is now—the moment afterI kissed him. The voice inside my head is screaming and panicking, for good fucking reason, but it’s freaky how the world outside my head is dead fucking silent.

“I, uh... fuck.” I cover my eyes, and when that doesn’t magically turn back time, I comb all my fingers through my hair and pull as I turn away.

“I’m going home,” he says quietly, and I turn around quickly at the sound of a contraction and a perfect American accent. My eyes narrowed with suspicion, I’m about to ask him to repeat what he just said, but he keeps talking and straightens back to his full height. “Yes.” He nods once. “I need to get my things and then I’ll come back.”

He spins on his heels and then he’s... gone.

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