Page 11 of Game Misconduct
I fucking crave it.
Maybe Atlanta isn't exile.
Maybe it's a chance.
But I’m not going to lie.
Leaving Boston feels like severing limbs. Atlanta is unknown, uncertain. And hot as the surface of the sun in the summer.
I’ve never been good with uncertainty or any type of change.
The thought tightens my throat, clenches my gut as the reality sinks in—I’m leaving Boston, the place I thought I'd retire. Trading familiar ice for unknown territory. Leaving comfort behind.
At my age, it's a terrifying fucking thought.
But I can’t ignore the frustration and fragile hope battling it out deep within my belly.
Sloane was right about one thing. I’m not done fighting, no matter how much it hurts. No matter how risky it is to open myself up to the possibility again.
Forty-eight hours.
Just enough time to make Sloane Carrington sweat a little.
I rub rough hands down my face, pulse thudding unevenly.
The phone buzzes once more. A glance at the screen shows it’s fucking Peter again.
He’s nothing if not persistent.
Peter: I know Sloane is a new owner, but she’s impressive. She knows the game, on and off the ice. She learned the ropes from one of the best. Don’t underestimate her.
I stare at the screen, irritation and reluctant admiration mingling uncomfortably.
He’s right—damn him. Sloane Carrington might be younger, driven, challenging, but there’s a strength in her I can’t ignore.
“Only the ones worth the trouble.”
It wasn’t the answer I expected.
I push my hands through my hair, pulling the strands until my scalp stings.
Fuck me, I’ve let her get inside my head and that’s the last place I need her to be.
She could destroy me. In more ways than one. Or she could be exactly what I need.
I can’t read her. And worse? I want to. I need to. That kind of need isn’t just dangerous—for a man like me, it’s lethal.
Either way, I’m fucked.
Because it only took one meeting with her to know she’s going to be the most dangerous thing I come across in Atlanta.
I blow out a hard breath of resignation.
If she’s the test, I’m already flunking.
And the season hasn’t even started.
CHAPTER THREE
