Page 95 of Rules of the Game

“I need to see him.”

“He’s been blowing up your phone.” Shana held it out to me, and I took it, eyes wide on all the messages.

He’d written me as both Anon13 and himself. A million different ways to say he was sorry. That he’d do it all differently if he could. That he was just desperate to find a way not to leave. I inhaled deep into my lungs before letting it out and wrote him back.

Me: We’ll talk soon.

I stood up. The Huskies were out of town this weekend. “Who’s up for a road trip?”

A wide smile formed on Misty’s face. “Hell yes!”

THIRTY-TWO

LUCAS

“It’s goingto be okay, man.” Jax sat down beside me on our team’s Greyhound bus just as we entered London. Every minute of the two-hour drive had felt like my life was being stretched out. It had been days since Piper walked out, days since my life had fallen apart, and the only place I wanted to be was with her. The only reason I was even on this bus was because Piper had made it very clear that she didn’t want to see me.

“How? Because from where I see it, I just fucked up my entire life.” I’d spent that first night camped out in front of Piper’s dorm room, thinking if I could just see her, I could get her to understand. Then Misty came home and took pity on me, opening the door. Piper wasn’t there. Her drawers were empty, and none of her school supplies were out. I swear to God, I felt like my chest cracked open, realizing I’d fucked it all up.

Jax leaned back and pulled a piece of licorice out of his backpack at his feet and took a bite. “Just saying, she’s forgiven you for all the other stupid shit you did.”

I groaned and rubbed my palms over my eyes. “Exactly. Why the fuck would she keep doing it?”

Jax’s tone lost all hint of teasing, and he placed a hand on my shoulder. “Breathe, man. Piper isn’t the type of person not to try to understand, and even though what you did was an asshole move, even I get it. Sort of.”

I huffed out a breath and faced the window. “Gee, thanks.”

“Listen, blowing up her phone isn’t going to make her come around sooner.” Jax snatched my phone, and I glared at him.

“Give it the fuck back.” He didn’t know I wasn’t sending her messages; I was reading old ones.

He held it in the air over the aisle. “Not a chance. Get into the right headspace for the game, then we can both go over there and beg her to forgive your stupid ass.”

“You’ll come help me get Piper back?” My head snapped back in surprise.

Jax smirked and handed me my phone. “Of course I will. You two are fucking meant for each other. Now, chill the fuck out.”

The phone buzzed just as it transferred from him to me, and I swiped up to see the message.

Killer: We’ll talk soon.

Jax grimaced. “Not gonna lie. That’s ominous.”

I swallowed hard and ran my thumb over the message. “No shit, but…if she wants to talk, I at least have one more shot to fix this.”

* * *

I jumped onto the rink for our ten-minute warm-up before the game. My blades cut into the ice, and for a split second, I felt some of that numbness I’d been chasing last year. Fuck, it was its own kind of addiction not to have to deal with anything, but the difference was I wanted to feel everything when it came to Piper. Even if that meant feeling my heart ripped out.

London’s arena was packed tonight, the fans all decked out in black and yellow. As our biggest rivals, whoever won this game would move up in the standings. My gaze darted between the seats, searching for golden-blonde hair I knew wouldn’t be there.

A shoulder slammed into my arm, and I dropped to my knee, pain ricocheting up my thigh. Even with the knee pad, the force still hurt like a bitch. “What the fuck?”

A cocky guy missing his front tooth smiled back at me. “You took out my little cousin in your last game. You are gonna pay for that tonight.”

I stood and moved closer to him, anger practically radiating off my tense muscles. I was barely holding it together without some idiot giving me a spot to direct all my anger toward. “Do not fuck with me tonight.”

He laughed. “I’m not giving you a choice in this. You’re going down in the first period. Better let your coach know to sub you out.”

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