Page 55 of Shutout
“Please.” I shake my head. “I need to see—I need to…” I don’t know what. I just need to know he’s not bleeding out of an eye. Or his neck.
“Okay,” my friend says softly. “Let’s find a better spot.”
She grabs me by the hand and navigates us down the row. Some people throw insults at us and I don’t care. They can say whatever. I just need to get closer, I need to…
We climb down the stairs toward the boards, and Mina makes room for us among other snooping fans. From this vantage, I can see him more from the side. But someone from the Thunder Bolts staff is in the way now. The guy is crouched before Brooke, inspecting the injury.
Biting my lip, I send my fiercest glare at the Bulldog who high sticked Brook on purpose. And while he didn’t even have the puck. This should be a misconduct that gets him kicked out of the game. Or a suspension. Because it was one hundred percent targeted at the guy carrying the entire freaking team.
Someone starts clapping and I return my attention to Brooke. He’s standing up now, pressing a towel to his face or neck. I can’t tell. But the staff members grab him by the arms as he skates off the rink.
“I’m going.”
“Where?” Mina asks me.
“To the locker room. I need to make sure he’s okay.”
“Um, is that even allowed?”
“No, but good luck to whoever tries to stop me,” I say in a voice even I recognize sounds absolutely unhinged.
“Oh-kay. I don’t shy from an adventure. Let’s go.”
Together, we climb back up the arena and I motion at her to follow me. Her eyes go as wide as saucers as I strut us in through the staff area. Back when my siblings went to this school, Brooke and I used to sneak in to the training area all the time. If we go through this hallway and take the first door on the right, we land in a janitorial room that connects to the hallway where the training gym is.
“How the hell do you know the way?” she asks in a low whisper, as if we were filming a spy movie.
“Luz gave us the layout so Aran, Brooke and I could sneak in to see her and Max.”
“Shouldn’t the staff know that their security’s kinda meh?”
My face pinches. “Okay, that’s a good point. We’ll tell them after this.”
“Yes, after.”
I point left after we’re through the janitorial room. Men’s voices echo faintly down the hallway.
“I’ll wait here,” Mina says all of a sudden. I turn to her and she waves me with her hands. “Go, do your grand gesture for the man you love. I’m gonna stay back so hopefully they don’t catch me and ban me from the arena.”
“So you’re a coward now?”
“No, I would just prefer to keep coming to games.” Her expression softens. “Honestly, I wanted to make sure you don’t collapse. And you look better now.”
Sighing, I grab one of her hands and squeeze it. “Thanks, Mina. I know I got a bit, um, intense back there.”
Her lips stretch in a concerned smile. “I get you, boo. Now go.”
Taking a deep breath, I swivel around and walk over to the men’s locker. My hand hesitates at the door, but what’s theworst that can happen? They kick me out, but at least I’ll get a glimpse of the situation.
I barge in.
Three men turn around. As they move, one of them clears the view between Brooke and I.
“Oh!”
My vision swims.
“Liv!” Brooke shoots up to his feet. “It looks much worse than it is, I promise.”
