Page 43 of Wicked Ends
“Okay, let’s go.” I followed her out of the bathroom, back to the bustling staff room.
As we organized rides, with Wade offering to drive me, Sally, and Bill into town, I thought for a second of Marcus’ order to be in the lot after his practice finished. It looked like tonight I wasgoing to call his bluff and find out if he really was going to tell on me… or if he was messing around.
He has to be messing around, the voice in my head that sounded like my brother muttered.Why would a guy like that be interested in pursuing you?
Right. It didn’t make any sense. It was a game to him, and one I had no intention of playing.
Marcus
Practice was brutal.The training for an upcoming game had sent Coach Williams into hard-ass mode, which was even worse than his usual tight-ass mode. It didn’t help that I’d barely had any sleep last night and fucked myself into a zombie. I was the walking dead today, but I had zero regrets.
“Fuck, I think he might be actually trying to kill us,” Beckett complained as he pulled off his cage and gulped down some water.
“Yeah, well, when we meet the Raptors, we need to be on top of our game. They don’t mess around,” Asher murmured.
Cayden was quiet, brooding like usual, rubbing a hand across his lips and staring out over the ice at the rest of the team.
“Did you know that Chase and Tyler might transfer?” he asked.
I followed his gaze to the two players in question. They were both good, damn good, and neither was getting a chance to shine on the Hellions, with the Ice Gods in charge. I shrugged.
“So? We don’t need them.”
Cayden shrugged too. “Sure we don’t, but the question is… who is going to replace them?”
Beckett sprayed water across his face. As a defenseman, he’d taken a lot of hits and practiced a lot of blocks tonight. He would be black and blue under his padding, but not to worry, he had a pretty girlfriend to kiss it better.
“Embrace the change, my friend. It’s not an enemy,” he said.
“Right, change is good,” Cayden said slowly, “but I heard Coach talking about some big shots… someone with a VIP dad.”
Beckett raised an eyebrow. “I’ll find out about it. Coach will tell me.”
I chuckled. “Because you paid for all the new gear?”
“And the new sauna, don’t forget that.” Beckett winked.
I smiled. I would hate the spoiled bastard if he wasn’t such a good friend.
“New blood means different energy,” Asher said from the stand behind me, where he was sitting and studying the Raptors’ previous games on his phone, to prepare for when we met them.
“We bring the energy, we make the energy. Wearethe Hellions,” I reminded my friends.
“Damn straight. Now, I need to get in the hot tub. I’m sore like a motherfucker.” Beck sighed. “You guys coming?”
Cayden and Asher agreed as I shook my head.
“I’ve got somewhere to be. I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”
After I picked up Ari, I had to talk to Cole, even though I knew what he wanted to talk about and dreaded the conversation. My father’s fucking parole and how I could be of use to his appeal. HowIcould be of use.
I wouldn’t miss hanging at the dorms; after a while, it was all so predictable and dull. But I wasn’t looking forward to speaking with Cole at The Clutch either. Lately, the only thing to look forward to was terrorizing my little distraction. My birthday girl. When I was with her, the noise quieted.
She kept trying to get away… not realizing that the cat had her by the tail. She could wriggle and squirm, but I wasn’t lifting my paw.
I had her right where I wanted her… the woman who was done with me after one night. The woman who didn’t simper or flirt or bat her fucking eyelashes.
Yes, I had her tail in my grip, and I wasn’t letting go… But like any good cat knows, playing with the prey is much more fun than simply eating them.
