Page 112 of Brace and Chase

I spend the hour after that debating whether I should callher and ask the questions plaguing my mind. Getting answers straight from the source seems like the most logical thing, but the last thing she heard from me was that Nik still hated me.

I can’t tell her how much that’s changed over the last two months.

I can’t explain how deeply I feel her betrayal of him.

Because that’s what this is.

She’s basically kicking him in the teeth, and there’s nothing I can do.

It feelslike ten hours have passed when Nik finally walks back into the room.

“Did you see the news?” he asks quietly and gets into bed, shuffling closer until his wet hair touches my bicep. I raise my arm and wrap it around his back.

He closes his eyes and cuddles closer, while I just try to find the words to speak.

Panic gripping my whole being, I know I could very well be about to fuck everything up, but I can’t stop myself from telling him. He needs to know and he needs to hear it from me.

It’s best if I focus on what he does know first, though.

“I did. Do you think one first-round pick is enough for Daniels?”

“Montreal sure did,” he says, like he thinks they’re idiots, just like me.

“I still can’t believe they kept him on their farm team all season.”

“I know, right?” There’s laughter in his voice, and I’m about to ruin that, so I stay quiet. Just a little bit longer. “When I saw him get on the ice wearing Pirates gear I thought she had cut me,” he says quietly. I’m speechless. Fuck, that must’ve been brutal for him. “She’d just benched me, you know? Pulling rank on Laney and Barlow.”

“Did she?” I ask, voice tense.

“Yeah, Laney told me after practice. Apparently she made the deal with Detroit herself and only told Barlow once it was done. Then she called Laney and told him to bench me. He didn’t even know Daniels was joining us until he got to the rink.”

“What’s she playing at?” I ask, done with having so many questions.

“I don’t know,” he says with a sigh, and presses his body even closer to me. “Anyway, whatever the reason, we now have some real backup.”

“You’re gonna play next to him against Oregon, but who did Laney put on second with him for tomorrow night?”

“He’s still undecided, but I told him I think Wills would be the better option. Jacobs’s head is all screwed up and I don’t know why.”

The defeat in his tone makes my heart break a little.

“We’ll figure it out,” I whisper, and then I drag my ass down so I’m lying next to him. And so I can kiss him. I want to do it one more time and hope he doesn’t break up with me when... Oh, God, it’s time. “You left your phone.” I keep talking quietly, scared of the words. “And it started ringing while I was in the shower, and then it stopped just to start again. I wasn’t going to answer, I was just going to put it on silent mode. But then I saw it was Max calling you.”

His whole body tenses, just like I expected it to.

“I didn’t answer.” I rush to get the words out. “But I did see the messages.”

He goes to roll away but I lock my arm around him.

“Please don’t. Don’t,” I insist and bury my face against his neck.

“What did he say?” he asks, anger spewing out with every word.

“That he hadn’t seen you act like that on the ice since Mama and Papa died. He wanted to know what happened.” He stops trying to get away so I loosen my hold on him.

Just from reading that message I know enough.

I understand nothing, though.

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