Page 71 of The Jester and His Outlaw: Part One

Nah.

I’m skating away, high on adrenaline, as she mumbles something about being a home-wrecker. A wink of red charges through my vision and I stop, turning back to face her.

Home-wrecker?One can call me a lot of things, but after the Tatums’ fallout,home-wreckerhits differently. I won’t tolerate it. It’s disgusting and a vile thing to say to someone when it isn’t true. I won’t have those rumors spreading around campus, especially when Jonas is making public claims about me. In our society, rumors of that nature can have devastating consequences.

“What did you just say?” She can’t possibly be referring to Riggs. As far as I was aware, they were never together and Riggs doesn’t appear the cheatin’ kind, so if he were in a relationship with her, he wouldn’t be here watching me play.

Advancing, I’m met with a stern arm flat across my chest. The ref is right to stop me. My intentions are far from pure, but I can’t help it.

“Watch your mouth, Cummings,” I warn, not interested in hiding the threat lacing my voice.

“Or what?” she taunts, taking the ref’s offered hand. Then he pulls her to her feet.

Not sure what’s come over me, I lunge, countering the ref’s expectations. I get around him, my aim set on Layla. My nerves are pulsing, ears ringing, but Foxy’s chants of encouragement still reach me, the rattling of my teammates’ sticks against the inner side of the boards.

I’m almost to her, dodging a couple of the ref’s attempts at stopping me when my name is called in a voice so familiar yet not. I stop in an instant and glance up, broken from the rage fueled trance I was in.

My eyes find him like he drew them to his dark aura. My world stops for a moment, and I’m locked on him as the rest of the rink falls away. I’m breathing heavily and finding it hard to focus, but he doesn’t let me go. He’s looking at me with full understanding and a little… regret?

Then, he jerks his head, signaling me to get off the ice and points to someone else in the crowd.Brett. Shit.I wonder if he’s heard about Riggs and me because he doesn’t seem happy at all. Great, drama I don’t need.

I forgot all about talking to him. Never did I expect him to show up to a scrimmage.

Coach waves me away, pointing to the clock as I approach the bench where the rest of my team is cheering me on and trying to counter Coach Wilson’s harsh decisions about how he will handle the situation.

The buzzer rings for the end of the game, anyway. He’s pissed at me, for whatever reason. Complete bullshit because he saw everything she did prior, and he knows I don’t fight often, so it has to stand for something when I do. Whatever, I don’t give a shit. I stand behind what I did, and I bet everyone in here will as well.

Brett and Riggs meet me at the exit, holding the door for me as I climb off the ice. Riggs falls back, leaving Brett with me, but his curious eyes don’t go unnoticed. He’s not sure what’s going on between us, and I hate that I can see the flicker of doubt that overcomes him. I nod to Riggs and turn to face Brett. I don’t owe either of them anything, really, because I’m not committed to one more than the other. Hell, I’m not committed to a single boy in this room, but I also have no plans of becoming a home-wrecker.

“Hey, Brett,” I breathe, trying not to let my annoyance at what transpired on the ice bleed into this conversation. Brett doesn’t deserve it.

“Charley, what the hell was that?”

“That was sexy as fuck and why she is the captain,” Jonas’ words slither down my spine, further reinforcing Layla’s claims in front of not one, but two, of my possible love interests. I snarl.

Riggs glares at the offender and Jonas lets out a menacing laugh. Funny enough, Brett pretends he isn’t even there, keeping his eyes on me and me only. He’s confused, and rightfully so.

We’ve had a lot of communication, and I like it. I don’t want to lose him in my life, but he just isn’t the one my heart wants. My brain, hell yeah, but not my heart.

While it’s not Jonas he has to worry about, Riggs is a factor he hasn’t taken into consideration when it comes to my heart. Brett has kept nothing hidden in his attempts to show me he wants to be with me.

Brett may be the obvious right choice, and a good one at that, but I can’t forget Riggs calling me out of my rage and bringing me back to reality. That counts for something. Even when I’m out of control and not aware of what I’m doing, his voice saved me from making a huge mistake.

There is something there, deeper than we can comprehend. I owe it to Brett.

“Ignore him. Can I get changed so we can talk?”

“Yeah, sure,” Brett waves his hand and scratches the back of his neck nervously as he forces a smile to his lips. He knows what this is about and it breaks my heart. Maybe I could pull a Foxy and date both of them. Somehow I’m not sure Riggs would go for that.

“Holy shit,that was hot. I might have lesbian feelings for you,” Foxy shrieks when she meets me in the dressing room. I’ve stripped off my gear and showered. Now I’m drying off in my open stall while Foxy snoops around like she’s never been in here before.

“It’s not me, you’re just a whore for a good show.” She laughs and peeks in the stall, studying my half naked body as I fight with my sports bra against my tacky skin. Her eyes stop on my tits for a while, then she frowns, cocking her lips to one side.

“Yeah, you’re right, tits just don’t do it for me.”

“Get out, you ass.” I toss my towel at her and she giggles, barely catching it.

“Don’t worry, you don’t need me. There are three assholes out there pining for you. Why is Brett here?” I smooth down my shirt, run my fingers through my wet hair to break it up and slip out of the stall. The locker room has cleared out, and Coach Wilson didn’t take the time to come in and yell at me. He’s probably waiting until practice tomorrow to do that.Joy.

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