Page 32 of Devil on Skates
That thought sends a fresh jolt of pain through my head. I’m in Xavier’s bed, aren’t I? Bits and pieces of last night start clicking back into place in my mind. The party, Keith storming off angry, and me drinking way more than I usually do.
But how the hell did I end up here?
I force my eyes open, squinting against the light coming through the windows. The room is neat and minimalist, which surprises me. No hockey trophies or flashy reminders of athletic glory, just a tidy desk with stacked textbooks, a dresser with nothing on it, and a few photos on the walls.
But where is he?
I sit up and notice something on the floor. Xavier’s asleep on a pile of blankets and a pillow. He’s lying between the bed and the door, basically blocking the exit. For a second, panic spikes,but then I realize there’s just enough distance so I have space and whoever wants to come in will have to go through him first.
More memories break through the hangover haze. Someone cornered me in the kitchen, and I tried to push the guy away. Then Xavier showed up, and I vaguely remember trying to get him to put me down.
He protected me and kept me safe.
That seems so weird compared to everything else I know about him. It’s different from his manipulations, his sabotage of my relationship with Keith, and his constant crossing of my boundaries. It doesn’t fit the story about him as some self-serving player who’s chasing me like a prize.
I look at him carefully. His face is relaxed, his mouth slightly open, and all the edges are gone. There’s a dark bruise on his cheekbone, his lip slightly swollen, which is proof of the fight I only partly remember. He’s wearing sweatpants, his chest bare, his breathing steady. His athletic build, which is the thing that makes him so intimidating on the ice, is fully on display, but in his sleep, he almost looks gentle.
It’s strange. The Xavier who messed with Keith feels like a completely different person from the one who sleeps on the floor instead of the bed and who fought for me without expecting anything in return.
My phone buzzes, breaking the silence. I find it on the nightstand, immediately overwhelmed by the number of notifications. Missed calls, texts, and social media blowing up... Everyone’s demanding my attention.
A bunch of missed calls from my dad. Just seeing the amount sends a wave of dread through me. Whatever happened last night, he knows about it. And judging by how often he tried to reach me, he’s definitely not happy.
I open his texts first.
Where are you? Call me now.
Keith just called his dad, who called me. Explain yourself!
There are videos of you at that party. What were you thinking?
Is this how you thank me for everything? Sabotaging my team? Embarrassing me?
Your behavior is unacceptable. You’ve destroyed relationships that took years to build. Come home now!
My stomach twists. Videos? What videos? I switch over to social media, my hands shaking, and see my timeline flooded with tagged posts and worried comments. It takes me seconds to find the source of the chaos.
There’s footage of Xavier fighting his teammate, the same guy who cornered me in the kitchen. Xavier’s rage is obvious as he pins the other guy against the wall, throwing punches with real fury and not just for show.
And in the background, obviously drunk, is me—Coach Marshall’s daughter and the girl everyone expects to be with Keith Costello—watching Xavier fight his teammate over me.
I close the video, unable to watch anymore. The fallout is going to be huge. Not just for my relationship with my dad, but also for Xavier’s place on the team and the whole dynamic between the players that my dad cares about so much.
And all because I thought one night of messing up instead of pretending to be perfect was worth it.
I turn off my phone, needing a break from the endless buzz of notifications. But the silence feels like a pause, not an escape. Eventually, I’ll have to turn it back on, go home, and deal with my dad’s anger. There are consequences that I can’t just switch off.
Xavier stirs, now awake, watching me with his intense eyes that seem to see right through me. We stare at each other in silence.
But even though we don’t say anything, I have a feeling there’s an understanding between us, as if we’re in this together.
I’m not alone.
I have Xavier, no matter how crazy that seems.
Chapter 16
XAVIER
