Page 109 of Gloves Off

I was actually starting to like you.

We resume the defensive drills. The best way to get her out of my head is to focus on hockey.

“Do I steamroll people?” I blurt out a few minutes later.

Walker gives me a strange look. “Huh?”

“Steamrolling.” I can feel the frown between my eyebrows, and when I swallow, there are rocks in my throat. I flex my hand, feeling my wedding ring beneath my glove. “Do I, uh, steamroll you?”

“If bysteamrollyou mean you think you know best and aren’t really interested in hearing anything different, uh...yeah. Definitely.”

Once again, the doctor was right.

I amnotyour wife.

Walker hesitates. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“No.”

He leans on his stick. “Is this something to do with your pretty, new wife?”

“No.”

His eyebrows go up. “It has nothing to do with thesmoking hot super babethat you married?”

I stare at the ice. She kissed me on the cheek this morning. How’d I go from that toFuck you, Alexei? She told me all that stuff about medical school. She was just starting to trust me.

I can’t stop picturing the hurt look in her eyes.

I don’t know why I keep thinking about her. I don’t know why I can’t get her out of my head.

Walker laughs. “Volkov, what’s going on? Normally, you’d have my head on a stake by now, talking about her like this.”

“I bought her a car.”

Pleased surprise flickers in his eyes. “Nice.”

“Her car was always breaking down. It wasn’t safe.” I was worried about her. With hockey, I can’t always be there if she gets into a bad situation. “I got rid of her car without asking.”

Walker huffs a laugh. “Yikes.”

I pull my helmet off, raking a hand through my hair, pushing it back. It sounds bad, out loud.

Owens skates to a stop between us, spraying ice on the boards. “What’s going on, Chatty Cathys? Are we scrimmaging or what?”

“Volkov bought Georgia a new car.”

Owens gives me a big smile of approval, nodding. “Nice.”

“And he got rid of her other car without asking,” Walker adds.

Owens’ smile drops. “You didn’t.”

“I didn’t think it was a big fucking deal,” I rush out. How does everyone know this stuff but me?

Because you’re an asshole,a part of my brain whispers.

Owens glances up at the glass offices overlooking the ice. Her office is up there. I doubt she’s watching, though. “How did she react?”