Page 126 of Check & Chase
“I’ll do whatever I damn well please! Where is she? Emma!”
Shit. I know that voice.
I sprint down the hallway, my knee protesting with each step, and round the corner to find exactly what I fear. Carina stands in the middle of the training room, her face flushed with anger as she yells at a bewildered security guard. Her usually perfect appearance is disheveled—hair escaping its careful styling, makeup smudged, designer dress wrinkled like she’s been pacing for hours.
Three of my teammates hover nearby, looking uncomfortable, while several medical staff press themselves against the wall like they’re trying to become invisible.
“Carina,” I say sharply. “What the hell are you doing?”
She whirls toward me, eyes wild with the kind of desperation that makes people dangerous. “There you are! Tell your little guard dog here to back off. I need to talk to your precious Emma.”
“She’s not here,” I state firmly, moving closer while keeping my voice level. “And even if she was, she has nothing to say to you. You need to leave.”
“Oh, I’m not going anywhere,” she hisses, stepping into my space with aggressive familiarity. “Not until I set things straight. You two think you’re so clever, don’t you? Playing your little games?”
Tyler steps forward from where he’s been watching against the wall. I’m still getting used to seeing him around after all the trade talk and suspension drama. Management decided they needed his offensive skills too much to let him go, and his lawyer worked some magic. The tension between us hasn’t fully disappeared, but it’s different now—less hostile.
“Carina, come on. This isn’t the place.”
“Shut up,” she snaps at him before turning back to me, her voice dropping to something low and bitter. “You said we were on a break! Not permanently done. And then I see you in the papers with her? The girl from the party last year?”
Her eyes narrow as the pieces fall into place, and I feel the temperature in the room drop ten degrees.
“I didn’t realize it was her back then,” she continues, voice gaining strength with each word. “I knew Tyler’s ex was named Emma,sure—but I never connected the dots. Not until now. Not until I saw her properly and remembered how you disappeared that night. You snuck off with her, didn’t you?”
My blood runs cold. I glance around the room, acutely aware of our audience—teammates, medical staff, security. This is exactly the kind of drama that feeds gossip mills for months.
“We weren’t even together until well after the party, Carina. Now, you can either leave or security will escort you out.”
“She stole you from me! She planned this whole thing, worming her way onto the team’s staff so she could get close to you!”
“That’s bullshit, and you know it.” To my surprise, it’s Tyler who speaks. He steps between me and Carina, facing her. “Emma took the job because she’s qualified. She didn’t even want to be near hockey players after—”
“After what happened with you,” I finish for him, unable to keep the edge from my voice. “Emma wanted nothing to do with me because she associates me with her ex, who cheated on her.”
Carina’s face twists into something ugly. “Don’t you dare try to blame this on me and Tyler. We made a mistake. One mistake.”
“Actually,” Tyler says quietly, looking genuinely remorseful, “it was more than once.”
The room goes dead silent. You could hear a pin drop. Carina turns to him, eyes wide with betrayal.
“Tyler!”
He shrugs, suddenly looking older than his years. “I’m done lying, Carina. For you, for anyone. What we did to Chase was wrong. What I did to Emma was wrong. And I’m not going to stand here and let you insult her for finding happiness with someone who deserves her.”
I stare at my teammate, stunned. This is the last thing I expected from Tyler West.
“You’re taking their side? After everything?”
“There are no sides,” Tyler responds, sounding tired. “Just people trying to move on.”
“Security,” I call, finding my voice again. “Please escort Ms. Reed out of the building.”
“This isn’t over,” she spits as the security guard takes her arm. “She’s not right for you, Chase. She’ll never understand you like I do.”
I watch her being led away, a weight lifting from my shoulders that I didn’t realize was there. For so long, Carina has been this specter hovering in the background of my life, this unfinished business that kept me from moving forward completely. But looking at her now—desperate, bitter, clinging to something that died ages ago—I feel nothing but relief.
“Thanks,” I say to Tyler once she’s gone and the crowd disperses.
