Page 73 of Forbidden Puck
Lance didn't answer, so I grabbed his hand and inspected it. “Your knuckles are puffy and bleeding. You punched him, didn't you? Is he hurt?”
“He'll be fine.”
“I can't believe you, Lance. You think you can solve everything with violence? You think you can hit a guy just because he likes me?”
“Radar doesn'tlikeyou, Ella. The guy always has some new slut he's banging, practically every weekend. Did you know he never brings a girl around a second time after he fucks her? Wanna take a guess who his new slut was last night?”
My jaw dropped, and my eyes narrowed with rage, and that was when I caught Lance with a back-hand to the mouth.
He recoiled and dabbed at the blood trickling down his lip. “So this is the thanks I get, for inviting you out to my place for the weekend. You try to bang my roommate, you hit me—”
I interrupted him. “You aresoselfish, Lance. You lied to me about why you wanted me to visit. You weren't even home the first night I arrived in town. You bailed on me last night to hang out with your girlfriend,all of whichcreated the perfect storm of me and Radar hanging out together. You also aren't even sorry about the fact that you fucked Quinn, my best friend, and sabotaged our friendship in the process. But when the same thing happens with me andyourbest friend, suddenly it's some egregious crime?”
“Uh, yeah. Exactly. I'm a guy, so I'msupposedto try to sleep with your friends. But if your sister tries to sleep with your guy friends, it's like, wrong and stuff—”
“That is so stupid.Youare so stupid.”
I told the cab to pull over.
“Wait, where are you going, Ella?”
“I'm going home, packing my things, and staying at a hotel for the night. I've had enough of you and Radar both.”
I slammed the car door shut before he could say anything else.
Asshole,I muttered as the car drove off.
Chapter 26
What's in the Box
Radar
Back home, I needed a long, hot shower before I managed to get the grime of fry grease off of me. My shirt and pants were ruined, so I threw those away.
I threw on my favorite pair of sweatpants and laid in bed. I had a pounding headache, thanks to the punches I'd taken. Wondering what was going to happen next wasn't helping relieve the throbbing pain, either.
Should I call my agent and let him know?
Sometimes it helped to get ahead of the media blitz. If word of this was going to hit the media, it might be best to get the damage control started …
I really fucked things up.
I had such a good thing going in Boston. I knew I wasn't a top-line player—but Lance and I just had that intangible chemistry. I never clicked with a top-six guy before. My only hope was to compete for a bottom-six roster spot on another team …
And I might make that work for a season or two. But once my new team figured out I wasn't the same player as I had been in Boston, their patience would start running thin.I'd find myself on the third line, then the fourth line, then struggling to stay with the big club at all …
You really shouldn't have fooled around with her, moron,I thought.
But then another part of me thought, surprisingly:it was worth it. You did the right thing, and took a chance because you liked her in the first place.
An hour or so later, I heard the condo door open and someone came in.
Great,I mumbled under my breath.If it's Lance, he's probably still furious.
But it wasn't Lance's body that entered the condo. The foot steps were lighter, softer, more elegant, and I knew it was Ella, and she was alone.
I didn't go to see her. I knew well enough to leave her alone, after the train wreck I'd created.
