Page 25 of Pucking Grey

She storms away as I lean back in the chair. As soon as I hear the doors shut behind her, I glance through the glass doors. Perfect, they’re fucking talking just like they should be. The cold air that snuck in from the quick exit grazes my skin. I stand, walking back to the locker room to dress up.

Coach catches me right before I step on the ice with an unforgiving look.

“Cress, what did we talk about earlier?” he scorns.

The team catches a whiff of our voices but continues on.

I lift the helmet on my head. “With all due respect, Coach, we had an agreement coming into this. Matt and I are stepbrothers and sometimes we fight, but in the rink, all the problems we have are left outside. Hockey always comes first. And we solved the problem.”

Coach has a questionable expression. “If it’s solved, then where’s Matt?”

“I’ll let you in on something, Coach. The fight was never about me. I’m just an easy punching bag for the guy.”

“Really?” Coach asks. “Then why did I hear you were the only one getting punches in.”

I scoff. “He threw the first punch.”

Coach’s expression hardens. His voice raises as he says, “I don’t want to hear the nonsense excuses. If your problems end once you touch that ice, then so be it, Cress. But I won’t have you in here talking to me like I’m an idiot. If you’re getting in that rink, you’re doing hard drills until you get out whatever needs to come out. Got it?”

“Yes, Coach,” I say, biting my tongue.

“Oh and stay away from Coach Wilder’s daughter or we’re going to have a bigger problem.”

“Yes, Coach,” I say and then hop onto the ice. Not only is Madison’s older brother the China Wall in the NHL, her dad is the notorious hard ass Coach Wilder in the NHL. And now I’m being told to stay away from the one girl that is begging to be in my arms. How fucking ironic once again. This girl is nothing but trouble. She’s off-limits in a hundred different ways at this point which makes my dick even harder. Plus that kiss was hot and I need more.

Coach starts yelling what’s expected of me and asks the rest of the team if they want to join me. In unison, they shout, “No, Coach.”

I skate hard and fast across the rink as Coach shouts at me to push harder.

Chapter 7

I hug myself as soon as I step outside of the auditorium because it’s snowing cold. Matt stares at the ground as I look back at Greyson. He’s sitting on the chair, staring into the void. What is going on with these two?

I hug myself tighter as the breeze blows snow against me. “I was drunk last night. I let you kiss me when I didn’t really want you to. I’m still mad, and I don’t want to do this anymore.”

“Are you serious, Maddie?” he says in disbelief. I nod. He snaps, “What the fuck did he say to you in there?”

“He gave me the courage to be myself.”

Matt scoffs, shaking his head. “Un-fucking-believable.”

He tries to walk away, but I shout, “Is it that hard to believe?” He stops in his tracks. “Matt, I really liked you. And after seeing that video, I’m just disgusted. I am so disgusted.”

“You reallylikedme?” Matt scoffs. He places a hand on the door handle and snaps, “Really liked me?” He’s livid as he enters the building. I get that he’s upset about my choice of words. I can’t blame him because I used the three-word sentence probably more than I should’ve. He might be questioning our entire relationship right now, but that’s how I felt when I saw his cock slide into Michelle Swift. It felt like these past few months were a joke, and I realized that I never really loved him. I love him when I’m drunk hence last night. I was convinced I missed him, but being here with him and seeing Grey right now, I know I don’t want to settle for someone like Matt. The disrespect towards me and himself truly disgusts me.

I push through the red door and enter the room that Grey should be in, but he isn’t anywhere in sight. The chair he was just at minutes ago is empty.

Matt is already at another door, but before he walks through it, he halts. “Maddie… he’s going to use you. The only thing he cares about is himself.”

I shake my head. “This has nothing to do with him. Do you really think Grey would even date me? Date anyone? Yeah, right.”

I think he likes the sound of my low self-esteem shining through because his lips twitch, probably hiding the smile that wants to naturally seep out. Everything that I know about Greyson Cress screams playboy 101. As Sydney says, a leopard doesn’t change its spots. Matt must know I’m right because he’s quiet for a moment with a not-so-mad face.

“Bye, Maddie,” he says, leaving me in this empty room.

I watch him walk away through the glass door, and it feels like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. Icanmanage a messy breakup like an adult. I think I was scared he would act like he did last night, but I’m relieved that I was wrong. I guess alcohol does make everything worse. I leave the auditorium in relief. Now it’s time to focus on class.

Later in the day, I am at the gym – in jeans – to run off my worries. I think, more than anything, I’m worried about breaking the team up. Pitting teammates against each other never ends well. I’m aware that it’s happened a hundred times in the past, but my father is a coach, so I know the frustration of a team when they don’t operate like a team. I cannot find myself in the middle of this team. It’s humiliating.

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