Chapter 25
25
R eid
After sleeping like shit, I woke up feeling like I’d been run over by a truck. Was I hungover? I wish. This, apparently, is what it feels like to let the best woman I’ve ever met go–if she wants it or not.
I’m not trying to be a martyr. Or act like this is the product of some miscommunication. I know Shelby is confused. What we agreed on was for me to help her explore a little. Gain some experience. The plan had never been to fall for her.
It’s obvious she’s being torn in two directions. When I got home and saw the flowers from David, everything slammed into me. Her ex is still very much in the equation. Her time was temporary, break up or not. She got what she needed and I’m glad I could help with that. When I went into the bathroom, I had no clue that would be the last time we had sex. Being in her like that, feeling her tighten around me and take every last drop.
Something in me broke. I confessed my feelings and let her go.
Shitty move? Maybe. But she deserves the truth, and I need to walk away before I get in any deeper. Darla fucked me up. No, my whole goddamn life fucked me up. For once I’m walking away first.
Even though it’s early, when I get downstairs, Axel is already down there, pacing, phone in hand. I head straight for the coffee, which thankfully is already brewed and waiting.
“What do you mean you’re at the airport?”
I fill my cup and frown, gaze sliding over to the porch. The door is ajar. He walks over to it and opens it wide, making a silent gesture. It’s immediately obvious that all of Shelby’s things, her suitcase and other belongings, are gone.
The hit to the chest lands harder than taking a direct hit from a puck Reese fires off at ninety-miles an hour.
“She’s gone?” I ask, feeling the world tilt. I knew it was coming, I just thought we’d have a few more days. Maybe everything I said last night nudged her to follow her heart.
Or maybe it was telling her that I loved her.
“Okay. Fine. Call me when you land.” He hangs up. “Yeah, she’s gone.”
“When?” I ask, mind spinning. “The middle of the night?”
“Beats me. I got down here and her door was open. I went to check on her and everything was gone. She changed her ticket, deciding to go home a few days early.” His gaze flits over to the flowers, just like mine had a minute before. “Fucking David. Messing with her head.”
He’s not wrong. David’s flowers sparked this, but not in the way he thinks. This one is squarely on me. I can’t help but think it’s for the better–before either of us went deeper than we already had.
“I know you guys think we’ll miss it,” Jefferson says, ambling down the stairs. His hair sticks up in the back from sleeping too hard, and he rubs his face, “but I’m not going to miss these morning practices.”
“You think you’re not going to have morning practice in the NHL?” I ask.
“It’ll come with a paycheck,” he replies, heading straight to the freezer for a bag of frozen fruit for his smoothie. “What are you two doing anyway?”
“Shelby left,” Axel says. “Packed up and went home.”
“Didn’t she have a few days left?”
“Yeah.”
He grabs the blender and starts tossing things in. Almond milk, fruit, ice. “What did you do?”
I open my mouth to defend myself but he’s looking at Axel.
“Nothing,” he says, but there’s a hint of defensiveness. “Fine. I went to pick her up from work last night and confronted her about Reid.”
I gag on my coffee. “Me? What?”
“Chill out. You got busted hanging out with her on campus yesterday but she told me the truth.” He makes a sympathetic face, and says, “Darla,” as if that explains everything. “But we also talked about a few other things, like handling everything back home. She wasn’t going to be able to run forever. I guess she decided to deal with our mother sooner than later.”
“Sucks, because she was cool and made a mean casserole, but we’ve got to focus on the game tonight.” He sets the lid on the blender. “I’m with Reese. Let’s lock in the division so we can skip straight to the playoffs.”
He slams his finger on the button, the whirring of his smoothie blending filling the air.
Shelby left, I think, and we’ve got a game to play.
Life moves on.
“I don’t want to see one smile. Not one congratulations. Not one celebration.” Coach Bryant is seething, his eyeballs bulging in a way that can’t be healthy. “Not after the shit show I just witnessed out there!”
The locker room is hot. Sweaty. Not one of us has taken off a pad, a skate, or jersey. I’ve got an ice pack held against my rib where I got slammed into the boards in the third period about fifteen seconds before I got tossed in the bin.
Sure, we came out of the match up as the victor, but barely. And it was supposed to be an easy win.
“It doesn’t matter how many shots Cain or the other forwards get, if the defense isn’t doing their job, it’s pointless.”
The vagueness of his accusation is a joke. There was only one defender fucking it up out there. Number eight, Wilder.
“You show up to the game against Milton on Saturday with that kind of performance, we may as well hand that trophy over right now.” I feel the heat of his gaze on me, and I look up, forcing myself to meet it. “What I saw out there tonight wasn’t what champions look like. Not even close.”
He storms out of the room, and the other coaches and trainers follow, leaving us in silence. There’s nothing worse than getting put on blast by the coach, but even worse after a win, because that means we didn’t earn it. And that sucks.
Taking a deep breath, I stand up, wincing at the pain in my side. “This one is on me,” I say. “That penalty came at a critical point. I was pissed at the hit, but I was slow getting back to the box in the first place. My head wasn’t in the game.”
It hasn’t been anywhere productive in the last few days.
“It’s not your fault, dude. McMaster slammed the shit out of you.”
“He’s lucky they got him off the ice before I got down there,” Axel says, obviously still pissed. “That was a bullshit call.”
It wasn’t and we all know it, but what’s done is done. “Anyway, I’ll take the heat for that one, and I promise to have my head on straight by Saturday.”
Because they’re good guys and I have way more good games than bad, they seem to believe me. Still, I wait and let the other guys shower before me, and then I let the spray rain down on me for as long as the water stays warm. My entire body aches, and it’s not just from the bruise. I’ve felt like this for days–ever since she left.
When I come out, thankfully, the locker room is empty. Hopefully the fans will be gone outside too.
The bruise helps make me take my time, the tissue soft and painful. I’m moving slowly down the hall when I hear voices in the training room. Peering in, I see Reese up on the table, while Twyler fusses with his wrist. “See? This is why I don’t trust anyone else with your body but me. This wrap is shit.”
He laughs with amusement at his overprotective girlfriend, then leans in to steal a kiss. A flicker of jealousy twists in my chest. These two are an odd match, but also perfect in their own weird way. I’m glad they found one another, but I can’t help but want that for myself. No games. No pretense. Just true love.
Twyler had pushed up on her toes to return the kiss, but when she drops back down her eyes open and that’s when she spots me.
“Reid,” she exhales, “Jesus.”
Reese shakes his head, probably more annoyed at being interrupted than anything else.
“Sorry” I apologize, not intending to be a voyeur. “I was just heading out. Thought I was the only one left.”
As I lean my forearm against the door frame, Twyler tracks my movements.
“Come here,” she demands. “Let me check that bruise.”
Reese slides off the table, making room for me to hop on. It hurts too fucking much, so I prop my hip against it instead, setting down the ice pack and lift my shirt.
“Yikes,” she says, eyeing the spot that has already started to purple. “This is pretty gnarly.”
“It’s fine.”
She rolls her eyes and presses her fingers against the bruising. I wince and tell her, “Coach Green already checked for any broken ribs or other problems. He said to ice it and rest.”
She grunts, and turns to her kit, fishing around for something.
“So you want to tell us what’s really going on?” Reese asks. “Why the bad attitude and quick temper?”
“Nothing. It’s just been a shit week.” He doesn’t look convinced so I try again. “I think the pressure is getting to me. You know how it is.”
I catch Twyler frown, but she just plucks a tube out of the kit and turns back to me.
“Did you end things with the new girl?” Reese asks.
You could say that. All Axel could say is that she got home safe. Otherwise, none of us have heard a word from her. I could reach out to her–should–but I’m the one that told her to go.
“What new girl?” Twyler asks, eyes moving slowly from me to her boyfriend.
“Nah. That wasn’t a big deal anyway.” I ignore Twyler’s question completely. “I’m just busy with classes and the design project for the athletic department. Too much shit coming up all at once.”
Reese nods. Twyler holds up the tube, gesturing for my hand, and asks again, “What girl?”
“Some girl he’s been hooking up with,” Reese answers for me. “No one has met her.”
“Is she a secret?” she asks, squirting a dollop of cream into my palm. “Rub that in.”
“No,” I say quickly. Too quickly, because her eyes narrow in suspicion. “Like I said, it’s no big deal.”
I busy myself rubbing in the cream, letting the tingling sensation spread. It’s a numbing cream, something to dull the pain. “So,” she says slowly, “you had a crap week, stopped seeing your mystery girl, and played like ass.”
“That about sums it up.”
Her arms cross over her chest and her hip pops out. “Reid.”
“Twyler.” I lift an eyebrow.
We stare at one another, and I’m not exactly sure what is happening between us, but a sheen of sweat coats my neck.
“What is this?” Reese asks, picking up on the strange energy. “What’s happening here?”
“Hell if I know,” I shoot back.
But I’m starting to think that Twyler knows something she shouldn’t. Something that could blow my whole world up. But that’s the thing. There’s only one person that wants Wittmore to win the championship more than Reese.
His girl.
“I think I know why Reid is playing like shit all of a sudden,” she says, tone dripping with accusation.
“Yeah?” Reese asks, looking me over, like he’s searching for an injury. I mean, there is, but no one can see a broken heart. “What’s wrong?”
“Tell him,” she says, lifting her chin. “ Tell him or I will.”
Shit. She knows.
I swallow, realizing there’s no way out of this. I look at my buddy and say, “The girl I’ve been seeing… she’s, uh,” words fail me, because I feel like the biggest asshole ever. I look at Twyler for help.
“For Christ’s sake,” she sighs, throwing her hands in the air. “It’s Shelby.”
“Shelby?” Reese looks shocked. “You’ve been…Dammit. God dammit , Reid. There was one girl you weren’t supposed to mess around with and you had to–”
“I knew it!!” Axel shouts from the hallway. A range of emotions cross Axel’s face, the final one landing on pure rage. His bag hits the floor, but a second later his body is in the air, diving at me. Before I have time to react, he hits me full force, and we both land on the floor. My bruise screams in pain and I bite off a curse, angling to protect my side. There’s no way in hell I’d fight back, even if I could. “I’ll murder you!”
His elbow rears back to slam, hand balled into a fist. I brace for it, but Reese gets his hands on him, lessening the blow. I shove him off, kicking him with my foot, but he’s not done. He struggles against Reese, shouting, “You lied to me. You both did. Sneaking around under my roof. What the hell, man?!”
“It’s not what you think–” I try to work my way to a sitting position and Twyler squats down to help.
“Don’t you dare say you didn’t fuck her.”
“Ax, come on,” I start, but I’m barely sitting upright when he escapes Reese and lunges at me again. Twyler yelps, hopping up and out of the fray, and I manage to dodge his fist. “Calm down and let me expla–”
Cold water rains down from above. And we both scream in surprise. The shock allows Reese to get his hands on Axel again, dragging him across the room. I push the soaking wet hair out of my eyes, and look around. Twyler stands over us, a jug of water in her hands.
“Son of a bitch!” Axel shouts, body shuddering.
“Smart move, Sunshine,” Reese says, grinning at her, over the top of Axel’s drenched head.
“My dad taught me this was the best way to get two dogs separated when they were fighting.” She looks down at us, her expression smug. “Works on dumbasses, too.”
Axel continues fighting against Reese, but way less effectively now that he looks like a drowned rat. Reese shakes his head and says, “Dude, listen, you can murder him all you want–”
“Reese!” Twyler shouts. “No. Murdering.”
“But not until after the finals,” he concludes.
Twyler opens a storage closet and tosses us both a clean towel. Slowly, with one eye on Axel to make sure he’s not going to lose it again, I dry off. Axel takes a deep breath and says, “I asked her specifically if something was going on with you two and she said no.”
Reese scoffs and says, “Gee, I wonder why.”
“Shut up.” Axel runs the towel through his hair, making the blond hair stick up in spikes. “You promised me.”
“I know this sounds like bullshit, but I didn’t plan on anything happening. She’s a cool girl, who just wanted to experience life a little but had no idea how to go about it.” The muscle in the back of his jaw tics. “She needed a friend. Someone who wouldn’t judge her for being so…”
“Innocent? Virginal? Naive?”
“Oh my god.” We both look over at Twyler. “Stop describing your sister in unrealistic, antiquated, sexist, virtuosic terms that you wouldn’t be able to adhere to if your life depended on it.” She shakes her head. “They like each other, Rakestraw, because they’re both awesome people. Shelby could do a lot worse than a guy like Reid, who you know is a fucking good guy who treats women well. And after Darla,” she shoots me an apologetic look, “sorry man, but Darla sucked…”
“I know. No offense taken.”
She grins. “Shelby was the sweet, unassuming, down to earth girl Reid needed.”
Axel scowls, but for once doesn’t argue. “So how serious was this thing?”
I look to Reese to see if he thinks this is a trick question, but he nods for me to answer. “It started off pretty innocent. She was overwhelmed by the little bit of college life she had seen, no thanks to your girlfriend by the way,” I snort. “She wanted to go home pretty much right away after a night out with the girls. I told her if she stayed and learned to experience life a little, I’d help her.”
“You mean, help yourself into her pants.”
“ No .” I glare at him, holding his gaze. “I mean by helping her get more comfortable in her own skin. Taking her shopping, supporting her when she got a job, hanging out with her when she was lonely, and yeah, telling her that I thought her ex was a dipshit who didn’t deserve her.”
Axel crosses his arms defensively over his chest. “You mean all the shit I didn’t do. Except the dipshit part. I said that plenty of times.”
I look over at Reese and Twyler. “Can we have a minute?”
Reese raises his eyebrow at Axel. “Are you going to act civilized and promise not to break anything required to play hockey?”
“Yeah, I’m cool,” Axel says, sounding like he means it. We’ll see.
“We’re going,” Twyler says, glancing around the room, “and you better clean this up before you go.”
“Got it, TG,” Axel says, using his nickname for her, ‘Trainer Girl.’
When we’re alone, I look him in the eye. “You provided Shelby a safe place when she needed it. That’s bigger than anything else. I know you know my background, but it’s impossible for me to explain how much that means. Sure, Shelby was never at risk of being homeless or without at least part of her family, but leaving home, defying your parents and breaking up with David, it took balls. It was also pretty terrifying. She’s brave.”
A flicker of understanding crosses his eyes. “She’s a Rakestraw.”
“Yep.” I nod. “She needed a little more support than you could give her, and at the time, I needed something too.”
His fist clenches and for a minute I think he may come at me again, but just asks, “You treated her right?”
“You’d have to ask her that, but I didn’t pressure her. If anything I let her take the lead as much as possible.” He winces, ever the overprotective brother. And I feel like a fool but I add, “The night before she left. I told her I loved her.” He looks up, surprised. “I also told her that I knew she had unresolved shit to deal with back home. I may have scared her and run her off. I may have fucked the whole thing up. I don’t know, dude.”
He grimaces and swears under his breath.
“What?”
“We both may have handled this the wrong way.”
“What do you mean?”
“She asked me about staying and I told her that there was no use. My mother wasn’t going to back down. Then the flowers came and…”
“And I said what I said,” I finish.
We’re both quiet for a beat, until I say, “Any idea how to unfuck this?”
“Yeah,” he grins, the first one I’ve seen on him all night, “I think I do.”