Page 54 of Game Misconduct
Hers.
Sloane’s already on her feet in the box. Hands folded in front of her, expression unreadable. No cheer. No relief.
Just cool, measured eyes locked on mine, cutting through the chaos like she’s the only one in the building.
And God help me, my chest pulls tighter. It’s want tangled with resentment, heat laced with shame.
We file into the locker room, where it’s thick with silence. Pads clatter to the floor, showers hiss, nobody says much. We all know what that was.
Not good enough.
We didn’t earn it.
The silence grows thicker when the sound of heels hit the tile sharply. Sharper than the smell of sweat and disinfectant. Every head snaps up, and movement stops.
Sloane walks in like she owns the room. Like she ownsus.
She doesn’t waste time, doesn’t soften, doesn’t give us any phony platitudes.
Just lays it down for us, voice crisp and cold enough to sting.
“A win’s a win. But it won’t be next time if you keep playing like that.”
No names. No fingers pointed. But it lands.
Hard.
Right on me.
My jaw grinds as I strip the tape off my pads. Sweat burns down my spine.
She doesn’t even look directly at me, but I feel her words like a blade pressed to my throat.
That’s when Riley decides it’s time to talk.
“Maybe if someone back there wasn’t asleep the first ten minutes, we wouldn’t have been chasing all night.”
His eyes cut to me and his stick clatters as he tosses it, voice sharp, dripping venom.
Everyone sees it.
Feels it.
And I’m on my feet before I know what I’m doing, fists clenched, blood roaring. “Say that again, Peacock.”
My shoulder throbs, and my teeth ache from clenching. One more word, and I’ll take a fucking swing.
He doesn’t back down. Instead, he steps closer, smirk razor-sharp. “Maybe you should retire before you bury us.”
Before I know what I’m doing, I lunge—heat, fury, all of it ready to break.
Jace steps in, hand flat on Riley’s chest. “Enough.”
Eli’s there too, solid as stone at my side.
The room holds its breath.
Riley glares. I glare harder. The heat between us is wildfire, barely contained.
