The Publicity Stunt

2. Chapter One

Kace Lyons storms into the Moose Jaw Bootleggers” locker room on the first day of practice after the off-season. Established eight years ago, the Bootleggers are the newest Canadian NHL team, and after last season”s loss during the playoffs, the team is more determined than ever to make it to the Stanley Cup this year. That was the plan. Until Kace decided to kill the captain of his team. Today.

Rudy Marshall, the captain and former best friend of Kace, sits on the locker room bench wearing nothing but a pair of black sweatpants. When his dark eyes look up to Kace, he smirks. Kace knows immediately the asshole knows Kace knows. And he has no remorse for his actions whatsoever.

The two were college roommates, teammates, and best friends. They, along with Brett Browning who plays for the Galveston Twisters, were an unstoppable force both on and off the ice. All three were drafted from college, but due to a strike, they started in the minor leagues. They managed to play for the same team from California, but the moment their contracts were up, they were signed to different teams. Brett to the Twisters and Rudy and Kace to the Bootleggers.

For the past few months, Rudy”s been smugger than normal after months of almost outright disdain for Kace. Not even Brett has any idea why Rudy had a sudden change in personality, but he knows nothing. Kace knows now, though. At least why he”s been a smug son of a bitch recently.

The man stares up at him, his black hair slicked back. It”s far too long, and his natural wave comes out that used to drive the girls crazy in college. The typical hockey haircut. Kace steps closer, and the smirk transforms into a smug smile. But he stays seated on the bench, even though Kace wishes he”d stand up to his full six-foot-two height so he can beat the living shit out of him. Everyone knows Kace isn”t the type of guy to hit a seated opponent, and Rudy takes full advantage of this fact. He also knows the four-inch height advantage Kace has all but ensure his defeat, and he may be smug, but he’s not suicidal.

”What”s wrong, Lyons?” Rudy asks, his voice wavering slightly. Not from fear but excitement. He’s almost giddy.

”We all know you”re dumber than the blonde who sucked Bruno off last night, but don”t give me that shit. It’s beneath even you,” Kace growls.

Tommaso Bruno, the team”s goalie, smirks and nods his head. The man”s notorious for finding puck bunnies to spend his nights with, and his tastes start and end with blondes. The man has never been seen with a brunette or redhead. He knows what he likes and sticks to it.

Their coach for the past three years, Terry Allen, storms into the room. He replaced the original coach, who failed to even get them to the playoffs, and he now stands in front of them wearing a windbreaker tracksuit. Kace finds himself temporarily sidetracked with the fact he had no idea these were even still a thing, let alone back in style.

”We haven”t even hit the ice yet, boys. What the hell can be the issue already?”

”Why don”t you ask him?” Kace growls and steps back before he”s benched for sending his former friend to the hospital.

”Oh, is this about Sasha?” Rudy asks, feigning ignorance.

Coach groans and sniffles while he shakes his head. ”This is about a girl?”

”No, not just a girl. My girl,” Kace says.

”What happened?” His sigh tells everyone he doesn”t really care, but as any decent coach, he needs to find common ground in order for his team to sync up once they hit the ice. Any amount of animosity creates issues, which affects everyone, including him. Especially with rumors he’ll also be replaced if they can’t make it to the semi-finals.

”What happened? What happened is this asshole has been sleeping with her.”

Rudy shrugs. ”What can I say? Sasha”s more into me than you, Lyons. You know how it goes, right?”

”You messed around with a teammate”s girl?” Coach groans.

That”s the number one rule that doesn”t get broken on a team. Never mess around with another player’s girl.

”Not just a teammate,” Bruno says, the hair on his chest covering most of the gold chain he wears around his neck. His thick Italian accent makes everything he says either sound hilarious or like he’s barking orders like the head of the Mob. ”His best friend”s girl.”

”How do you expect him to trust you out on the ice?” Coach reaches out and smacks Rudy upside the head. ”You”re the damned captain!”

”We fell in love,” Rudy says, his eyes still locked on Kace. The smack from Coach not even fazing him, and it pisses Kace off how he continues to act so damn innocent. Like he didn”t purposely seek out Kace’s girl. ”We didn”t mean for it to happen, but six months ago, I guess things just started heating up.”

Six months ago? Kace’s eyebrows raise almost to his hairline. This has been going on for six fucking months? All Sasha told him was that she started sleeping with Rudy. ”Six months?”

”Oh, she didn”t tell you that? I guess you”re not really that close after all.”

”You”ve been sleeping with his girlfriend for six months, Marshall?” Coach asks and pinches the bridge of his nose. ”When the hell did I start coaching a bunch of high schoolers? You”re adults. Can we start fucking acting like it?”

Kace points at Rudy. ”You and me? We”re done.” His entire body vibrates, and everyone in the room knows the man”s lucky they”re not alone in a dark alleyway because he”d break every bone he could before someone stepped in to stop him. Hell, he might even kill the man. You never mess with another buddy’s girl. That’s bro code.

Kace may be a leading scorer for the team, but before that, he was an enforcer. He still has what it takes to take down anyone who challenges him, and right now, he really wishes he”d gone into professional fighting instead of hockey.

Rudy just smirks and stares at him. ”Okay.”

”I refuse to play with a snake like you,” he says and turns towards the door.

”Lyons, where the hell do you think you”re going?” Coach shouts.

”To call my agent. I”m taking an absence for the day. If not, you”re going to be cleaning up blood and missing teeth from the ice, assuming one of us doesn’t kill the other and end up in jail.”

He sighs. ”Fine, take the day. But I expect you back here tomorrow.”

”If I”m still on the team tomorrow,” he growls and slams the door behind him.

Out in the hallway, he pulls his phone from his back pocket and takes a few deep breaths to calm himself. How can someone who was supposed to be his friend, someone he should be able to count on, carry on an affair with Kace”s girlfriend?

Not only that, how could she do this to him? Sasha Roberts has been his for the past two years. She”s gotten a little chilly the past few months, but he never expected this to be the reason. In fact, he was so sure she was the one for him that he went out and bought an engagement ring two months ago. In a couple of weeks, he planned an extravagant proposal.

With two VIP tickets to the opening show of Sasha’s all-time favorite artist, Bri Waters. She starts a tour in a couple of weeks, and Sasha’s favorite song is Two Lovers. When the song started to play, he planned to get down on one knee, pull out the ring, and ask her to be his wife. Now he’s stuck with two VIP tickets that cost an arm and a leg to a show he doesn’t really want to go to with a ring for no one.

Calling his agent, he waits for the man to pick up. Oliver Weiss answers on the second ring, which isn”t surprising. Kace brings in a lot of money. ”Lyons! What”s happening, my man?”

If the guy wasn”t a damn good agent, Kace would”ve dropped him years ago. He sounds like a used car salesman at a frat party who constantly relives the best years of his life that are now behind him. But Oliver”s one of the best out there, and he managed to bring in more money and better endorsements than some of Kace’s friends with better scoring records on more established teams. He can overlook the cheesy tone for money.

”I need to be traded.”

”What”s going on?”

”My captain”s screwing my girlfriend. Has been for six months.”

”Marshall? I thought you were old buddies.”

He chuckles and clenches his teeth. ”Yeah, so did I.”

”You have one year left on your contract, okay? Most teams are capped out right now and unable to make a trade.”

”I”ll take a pay cut. I”ll take a one-year term. Whatever it takes to get the fuck away from the Bootleggers.”

”There”s another piece of this, Lyons. Your GM has already talked about renewing your contract after this year, which we”ve been negotiating to get the best terms. Even if we found a team willing to trade for you, I don”t think he”d be willing to give you up. Not after the numbers you put up last season. You had fifty goals and one hundred and twenty points.”

Clenching his fist, he cracks his neck. ”It”s either get me onto a different team, or I”ll be in prison for murdering that bastard. Either way, Louis loses me.”

Louis Gregario is not only the general manager, but one of the biggest hockey fans since he could walk. His father”s best friend used to attend parties with Wayne Gretzky back in the day, and although the man”s as wide as he is tall, he loves the sport. He”s never been able to stay up on two skates, but it doesn”t deter his dream of winning the Stanley Cup by proxy. If anything, it makes it worse. Those who can’t do, and all that.

”Okay, before we jump to any extremes, let me call around and see what I can do, okay?”

Kace cracks his knuckles and nods. It takes everything in him to calm the rage boiling right below the surface with Rudy only a few yards away. Only a door separates and protects the man from the fists Kace wants to throw at him. ”Yeah, okay. I”m not practicing today to give him at least one more day to live. Let me know as soon as possible, Oliver.”

”Go get a bottle of whiskey and drown your sorrows while I check around.”

”I don”t drink,” he reminds him, ”regardless of what endorsements you sign me up for. I”ll be around all day because I have to box up the rest of Sasha”s shit and throw it on the curb.”

Four hours later, Kace has everything Sasha either left or bought in four boxes. Her clothes, hair products, makeup, and dietary restriction products. The girl claims she has a gluten intolerance, but she has no issues scarfing down pizza when she’s drunk. On top of that, he”s included the throw pillows she insisted he needed to have, the ugly cow hide rug in front of the gas fireplace he hated, and various other nicknacks lying around. She had more stuff in his place than he did considering how bare everything now looks.

Moose Jaw wasn”t what he considered home, and he never wanted it to be. When Brett got offered his spot with the Twisters, but Kace didn”t, he was devastated. Still is, if he”s honest. Being a born and raised Texas boy, all Kace wants is to be close to home. Instead, he ended up as far north as he can get from his family.

Walking around to make sure there was nothing he missed only to find later and re-fuel his rage, he takes note of the items he”ll need to replace. Like the blankets she said he could never use because they were ”aesthetic.” It”s fucking Canada. It”s cold as hell, and he had blankets they couldn”t use. No, he plans to get blankets and use the shit out of them. Wear damn holes in them. He”ll also make sure they’re as un-aesthetically pleasing just to spite her. Flannel. He’ll get brown flannel.

He never minded her decorating in the past, but now he can”t stand anything she put in his place. Like the glass coffee table that always has smudges. Or the rugs he had to walk around rather than on because they were dry clean only. Who the hell has a rug that can”t be walked on? His feet were always fucking cold because he had to walk around the rug on the hardwood floor. Again... in fucking Canada. The land of the cold.

Before packing up the three rugs she put in his place, he made a point of walking on the white one with his shoes. Sure, he acts like a five-year-old child, but he believes he”s entitled to a little bit of a tantrum. No, he”s entitled to a big tantrum, but it”s not much fun if no one else is around to witness it.

Instead of nicely placing everything on the curb, he tosses the boxes, not caring whether he breaks anything. The only thing he refuses to throw is the glass furniture because that could actually hurt someone. Instead, he writes a big FREE sign and places it on it. Hopefully, someone comes and takes all her shit, not just the stupid, ugly furniture she had delivered without talking to him first.

”She”ll be pissed to know it”s all gone. Well, that”s what you get for fucking my best friend, so suck it, Sasha.”

Kace stares at his now almost-empty house, and he sits down to seethe. How could she do this to him? How could she just throw away two years? But more than that, how could he be so blind? He planned a future with her while she snuck around with someone he believed he could trust. Someone he once would have believed would take a bullet for him. Instead, the man held a knife and plunged it into his back while Kace bought a goddamned engagement ring. Thank God he hadn”t had a chance to propose. He’d never get over the humiliation.

Oliver calls, and his hands shake as he answers. ”Tell me you have good news. I just spent the last however many hours packing up and taking out every fucking piece of anything Sasha ever touched from my place.”

”Don”t forget to call the landlord to get the locks changed. You gave her a key, remember?”

Shit, he hadn”t thought of that. ”Wait... if I need locks changed, that means you didn”t get me traded, doesn”t it?”

”Sorry, man. I found three teams who jumped at the chance to take you, but Louis won”t even consider releasing you. Even for a higher ranked player. He really believes you can take him to the Cup, and he doesn”t want to risk the dynamic by throwing in someone new right now.”

”Did you tell him I”m going to be playing with a traitor? He thinks that”s the way to the Cup? That it won”t break the fucking dynamic by keeping us together? He would rather put two players who hate and can”t trust each other on the ice? You told him I want to murder him, right?”

”Kace-”

”I want to rip his limbs off like a kid does to a spider, Oliver. Nothing would make me happier right now than to watch him squirm around without any fucking arms or legs. Blood spurting everywhere while I point and laugh.”

“Graphic,” he says and sighs. ”I told him everything, and don”t shoot the messenger, but he said, ”Suck it up. It”s only a year.” After a year, he can”t lock you down with the Bootleggers, and we can get you somewhere else. Assuming you haven”t gotten yourself locked up for murder by then.”

Great. Not only is he stuck on the Bootleggers for another year, he”s stuck in Canada. In a perfect world, the stars would align and bring him home to Texas. But he clearly doesn”t have that kind of luck. He”d even take any other place in Canada if he could get away from Moose Jaw. Winnipeg, Edmonton, Toronto, or Montreal. All would be fine as long as he didn”t have to play on the same team, let alone the same goddamned line, as Rudy Marshall.