Page 100 of Puck You Very Much
“Jesus Christ!”
I stood up from the couch fast enough to make Jakob flop down onto the cushions. Then I paced back and forth because I had way too much pent-up energy to spend.
“I think it’s time we got something straight,” I said. “Hockey is my life. I can get hot sex anytime. This championship game… I’ll do what I’ve gotta do.”
“Is that how you see me, Zane? Just another roll in the hay?”
It didn’t matter what I told him. He would never believe me.
“I know I mean more to you than that,” he said in his very best matter-of-fact voice. “Don’t tell me I don’t.”
“I’ve already told you that we can’t get into this stuff. It’s a distraction neither of us needs.”
“Maybe some things are bigger than hockey, Zane.”
Now I felt my heartrate spike. I balled my hands into fists and squeezed. I’d tried so hard to stay calm and be the voice of reason, but my boyfriend just wouldn’t allow it.
“I’m just trying to look at the bigger picture here,” he said, “or is that too heavy a concept for you.”
“You need to take a step back.”
“What if I don’t want to?”
“Trust me, you’ll want to.”
He smirked, saying, “I guess you can try taking a swing at me. I’ll just lay you out unconscious like I did at the Colter Bay Grill.”
“Fuck off about the bar, okay? That was a sucker punch, and you know it.”
“I had you seeing stars, Zane. And you still have never redeemed yourself.”
“You know, I must have been crazy to think that I could ever make something work with a Larkin Lion.”
I should’ve said that I must’ve been crazy to think I could ever have a successful relationship with another dude, but that took a back seat here. Crazy, I know.
“I should’ve been crazy to think I could make something work with a knuckle-dragging neanderthal Remington Riptide.”
He said it like it would’ve been a crime to not slip in some dumbass remark remark.
“That’s how you really feel, isn’t it?” I asked.
“Damn right it is.”
“If that’s the case, then you don’t need me, Jakob. And I won’t have to feel bad when the Remington Riptides hoist the championship trophy.”
“Fuck that shit?—”
I’d already turned around by the time he said that. I had no intention of listening to the rest of what this idiot had to say.
Honest to God, I nearly forgot to step into my shoes before stomping out the door. The last thing I needed was an embarrassing moment for that smartass to latch onto.
When I slammed the door, I made everything final. Think of it as an exclamation point. Breakups needed to happen like that. Do everything one hundred percent with no half-measures.
I didn’t even glance over my shoulder to see if Jakob would chase after me. No last looks at him before I left. I made a clean break.
Maybe that sounds bad, but the championship was all that mattered to me.
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