Page 64 of Cross Check My Heart
Fuck this. If I’m going down, you’re going down with me.
He lands on top of me with a grunt and shoves his hands into my shoulders, pinning me to the ice. I’m vaguely aware of awhistle blowing and from my peripheral I see my team and refs heading toward us. He glares down at me through his helmet, I instantly notice how much he’s aged since I last saw him. The purple bags under his brown eyes and pale skin pulling tight on his cheeks make it seem like he hasn’t slept or ate in months. I fight back the wave of pity that threatens to crush through me as I push against him.
Josh and I were always close in size and weight, but I note the extra work he’s putting into holding me down.
“Maybe if you answered my texts or calls instead of blocking me, I wouldn’t have to resort to this.” He presses one of his gloved hands closer to my neck hard as someone comes up behind him to rip him off me. Dean appears at my side, helping me stand as the ref and Reid hold him back.
“I just need you to hear me out! Damn it, Dominik, you have to—” Before I can even think my thoughts through, I’m ripping away from Dean and lunging between the ref and Reid. Gripping Josh’s jersey and pulling him closer to me with their arms as a barrier between us. I’m barely aware of the fact that Reid and the ref are trying to elbow and push me away from him, instead, I let go and give the asshole all my pent-up anger.
“I don’thaveto do shit. You are the reason Sarah is dead. You fucking told me that you were staying sober and that she would be safe with you!” I shove the ref away, noting that he doesn’t actually put up that much resistance to me moving him aside and giving me more room to get in Josh’s face. There’s no doubt he heard what I said and probably realized it might be better to let me say my piece before breaking us apart.
Reid calls my name, and I’m pretty sure Landon, Greyson, and Dean are somewhere behind me, but the prick got what he wanted.
My attention.
I twist on my skates, turning us both so that I have him slammed against the glass as I lower my voice so only he can hear.
“The only thing that Ihaveto do is get through the pain and loss thatyoucaused me. I owe you fuckingnothing.You got my sister killed. How you cope with that is not up to me.” He opens his mouth to speak but I pull him toward me and use the momentum to slam him back to the wall before turning away. I note that no one from the Cougars came to try and help Josh out. A couple of them are close by, but they’re blocked by Landon, Greyson, Reid, and Dean.
The moment I face them, Greyson and Landon’s focus goes behind me, probably watching to make sure the dipshit doesn’t try anything again. Reid and Dean break apart, letting the two Cougars who did come over through. Skating toward the guys, I dip my chin at the players as we pass. They only nod, that fucking pitying expression stretched across their faces as they hurry to pull their Captain away.
As I move past, Grey and Landon take up my left side while Dean and Reid fall to my right. The anger and pain begins to simmer a fraction at the fact that these guys have my back. Greyson is the only one to speak as I meet Coach James’ stare.
“You good?” I nod once stiffly and rasp out a low “yeah.”
There’s probably going to be a penalty called at some point, and it wouldn’t be shocking if one was called against me. Not that this was totally my fault. I had warned him that during a game was not the time or place to try and talk to me.
I break my stare-off with Coach to check out the scoreboard. Forcing a smile that I know doesn’t reach my eyes, I elbow Greyson.
“Nice goal man.”
He shrugs off my compliment and the four of them stay silent, but by my side, as we approach the benches.
My heart races as I pace the length of my apartment once more. After the game ended, with the Bobcats winning five to two thanks to a goal scored in the last five minutes, I immediately sent a text message to Dominik telling him that I was here for whatever he needed.
Then needing to keep busy, I changed into one of my newest pajama shorts and cropped tank top sets before proceeding to clean and pace my entire place. I tried sitting down at one point to watch a movie, but I couldn’t focus and wound-up pacing around again.
I had found out what Josh’s team number was before the game, mostly out of curiosity since Dominik was on edge about playing against his old team. I hadn’t actually thought anything would happen, especially on the ice during a game. Apparently, I was very wrong.
Much like it had been throughout the whole game, my attention had been split. Whether Dominik was on or off the ice, I couldn’t help but keep an eye on him. He would keep looking over his shoulder whenever he got to the benches and each time, I would note the faint twitch of his lips when he found me already watching him.
Even when half of my attention was aware that Greyson was lining up to take a shot, I couldn’t help but stay focused on Dom at the other side of the rink. In the moment when Josh body checked Dominik, all I wanted to do was find a way down to the ice and get to him. Completely irrational, since one, I don’t know how to skate, and two, there’s not much I could do against a hockey player.
Regardless of the fact that there was literally no way to get to him or help him during the game, Paige had silently reached down and held my hand tightly as we watched. While the whole incident lasted for only a minute, it felt like everything was playing in slow motion. Josh was given a penalty and kept off the ice for the rest of the game, and even though Dominik did not get a penalty against him, Dad kept him on the bench for the remaining ten minutes as well.
Even if I wanted to see him right after the game, there was no way I could. Since the Bobcats ended up getting one more goalin the final ten minutes and won five to two, I knew they were going to have some interviews and most likely some post-game meetings with the team to partake in. Considering the events that happened during the last period, it wouldn’t surprise me if my dad asked Dominik and even some of the other guys to hang around longer. But that’s also just my speculation, I actually have no clue what hockey teams are required to do after a game.
At the sound of a knock on my door, I turn on my heel and all but run to answer it. I at least have enough wits about me to look through the peephole and the moment I know for a fact that it’s Dominik on the other side, I’m yanking the door open as fast as I can. He doesn’t even get a chance to say anything before I launch myself at him. Wrapping my arms around his neck and my legs around his hips, I close my eyes and inhale the scent of his body wash as I cling to him.
He lets out a grunt that turns into a chuckle as he wraps an arm around my waist while stepping into my condo and shutting the door.
“Hey, Sunshine.” His hands run up the length of my back before sliding back down until he’s supporting my weight on him by gripping me under my thighs. After a long moment of us just hugging at my front door, Dominik carries me into the kitchen and sets me down on the counter.
Reluctantly, I unwrap my arms from around his neck and rest my hands on top of his shoulders. Even with the advantage of being on the counter, he still towers over me, I tip my head back to see his face. Finally having the delayed thought that he might be hurt, I gasp as I try to unhook my legs from around his waist, but his hands move to grip me by the knees and hold me in place.
“Are you okay? I mean, physically are you okay?” My hands take on a mind of their own, gently tracing and tugging his shirt up as I check him over for injuries. He lets out a laugh that sounds more sad than anything as he takes my hands betweenhis. Clasping them between his own, he brings them up to place a gentle kiss on my knuckles that quite literally melts my heart.
“I’m fine.” I huff out a humorless laugh at his response.
