Chapter 26
“You ready, Willy? Feeling good?” the trainer asks as he wraps my ribs.
“Feeling fine.”
I don’t need him to keep checking in on me. My ribs feel fine. My entire body feels fine on the ice.
Its about the only damn thing that does.
Because for the last two weeks, I’ve been nothing but a sad sack.
Piper dumping me was a crushing blow I didn’t see coming. Maybe I should have because she avoided me when we got back from Nashville. I thought we could talk about the two of us continuing our relationship for real.
I guess it never meant anything to her.
I shake the thoughts of her away and finish getting ready for the game.
“You going to be okay tonight?” Strawberry asks.
“How many times are you guys going to ask me that?”
“You’ve been in a funk ever since?—”
“Don’t say it,” I snap. “I know what happened. I was there.”
“Look, don’t bite my head off, but we need your head in the game tonight, okay?”
“I’ll be fine,” I bite out.
I don’t even look at him. Because when I see him, I’ll see Piper. And then I’ll get angry all over again.
Thankfully, years of practice have burned the pregame warm-ups into my brain like they’re second nature. I shoot pucks at the goal, watching half slide on by the pipes.
God. Tonight is going to be harder than I first thought.
I stand on the ice, watching the flag as the national anthems ring out, and try to quell my thoughts.
Hockey.
It’s the one thing that will never let me down.
Well, that and Puck. Except every time he looks at me now, I sense his judgment. Like I did something to scare off the woman we both love.
The puck drops and I lock down my emotions. Troy gains easy control of the puck but Vancouver is there. Noah tries to block the defenseman, but they’re able to steal the puck and move it down the ice toward our zone.
Fuck.
Our defense sets up, trying to stop the play from unfolding but it doesn’t work. Vancouver catches us off guard and sinks one in the net.
The home crowd goes wild.
“Look alive out there, Willy,” Duncan chirps.
“Fuck you!” I shout back.
I don’t have it in me to control my temper tonight. Not when I’m so low right now.
The first period is more of the same. And the second.
By the time the third period rolls around, we’re down 3-1.
Duncan swipes the puck from Vancouver and a defenseman is on him within seconds.
“Pass the puck!”
My pleas go unheard. Duncan ignores the fact that I’m open and fires the puck at Vancouver’s goal. It bounces off the goalie’s shin pads, and a winger for the Lightning scoops up the puck and returns to our end of the ice.
He’s on a breakaway. No matter how hard I push myself, I can’t catch up to him. The puck flies toward the net and sails past Nick.
Fuck.
The crowd explodes around us as the horn blasts through the arena.
Vancouver is up 4-1 late in the third. With the way we’ve been playing tonight, there’s no way we’re going to make up the deficit.
Duncan skates past me to hit the bench. “Where are you, Williams? You’re sluggish tonight.”
“Me? You’re the one who didn’t pass the puck to me earlier!”
“Because you’ve been playing like shit.” He gets up in my face.
“And maybe if you were more of a team player, I would’ve been able to score.”
I’m seething with anger. I don’t think I’ve ever been this pissed off during a game. What the fuck is wrong with this guy?
“Guys. Cameras are watching.” Troy skates between the two of us as he heads out to center ice to take the ensuing faceoff.
I take my spot on the bench. Far away from fuckface Duncan. I can’t believe I’m on the same line as him. He’s a mediocre player at best and proved it by hogging the puck and losing an easy scoring opportunity.
I take a swig from my water bottle, trying to cool down. There’s no point in getting worked up. Nothing is going to happen. Duncan is going to keep being a tool and selfish with the puck.
Coach Barney is walking down the bench, trying to pump up the team. “We’ve still got time, boys. Williams,”— he looks at me—“Hanson is weak on the left side, so if you see your chance, take it.”
“You got it, Coach.”
Not like I haven’t been trying to beat them there all night. Vancouver is putting up one hell of a fight tonight.
Troy and Noah are doing everything they can, but to no avail. We end up losing 5-2. One pitiful goal to close out the third period.
I make it through postgame interviews without losing my cool. Cleaning up, I change back into my suit and head toward the team bus.
“We’re going to hit the bars.” Troy walks up next to me on the long walk outside. I pull my coat tighter around me. The wind is biting in Vancouver tonight.
“I really don’t want to,” I groan. It was a hard-fought game. And to come out with a loss makes it even harder.
“The little lady got you on a short leash?” Duncan slams into my shoulder as he walks past me.
“Fuck off, man.”
After my night, I want to head back to the hotel and call Piper.
But I can’t.
Because we’re not together anymore.
“You don’t have to if you don’t want to,” Troy tells me as we walk out of the arena. Vancouver fans are lingering, and a few boos escape from them.
“Don’t you want to call Angie?” I ask, dropping my bag onto the sidewalk to get loaded onto the bus.
“Nah. We talked earlier. She’s going out with some friends from work tonight.”
“Fine.”
“Good.” Troy looks smug. “If you’d have said no, I would’ve dragged your ass out anyway.”
I collapse onto the seat and wait for the rest of the guys to get on.
It’s like I’m moving through quicksand. Everything is moving around me but I barely notice it.
Is this what heartbreak feels like? Because I did not sign up for this.
Before I can change my mind and head to my hotel room once we arrive, Troy steers me toward a small bar across the street.
“I hate you.”
“Noted and ignored.”
He waves down the bartender and orders a round before heading to a private area. Knowing him, he called ahead for us to have a quiet area to wallow.
“Alright, drink up, Willy. You’re making me sad,” Troy tells me, handing me a shot and a beer.
“I am sad.” Knocking back the shot, the tequila burns.
One shot won’t kill me. Maybe it’ll dull the pain enough to make this next stretch of road games bearable.
“Are you going to be like this the rest of the season?” Nick asks, leaning back in his chair with a glass of water. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the kid drink.
“What’s it to you?”
Nick rolls his eyes, tipping forward. “If you’re this upset, talk to her.”
“I’ve tried calling her. She keeps ignoring me.”
“What’d you do?” Noah asks. “I saw you two at Christmas. It was disgusting.”
“Gee, thanks.”
“I’m serious. What happened?”
I grab another shot from the table and swallow it down followed by a sip of beer. “I don’t know. I was ready to take things to the next level with her after the All-Star Game and then the next thing I know, she’s dumping me.”
“Did you not pay enough attention to her?” Noah asks.
“That can’t be it,” Nick says.
“I agree.” This being Troy. “Angie told me how cute they are together.”
“I don’t think I asked for a breakdown on where my relationship went wrong with you losers tonight,” I interject.
“Aww,” Troy says, “he really does love us.”
I flip him the bird.
“I need some ass tonight,” Duncan’s voice carries over our small group. He’s hanging out with Rio behind us. No one else wants to go near him tonight after his shitty play.
“Ignore him,” Noah tells me.
“You really sent Ava packing?”
That perks me up.
“She thought I was still hung up on my ex. Tried to blackmail both of us so that I’d stay with her. I don’t need a chick that badly.”
“Did you hear that?” I ask Noah.
“What in the fuck is he talking about?” he whispers.
“Blackmail? Are you in a Bond movie?” Rio laughs.
“Nah. I told her that I don’t need that amount of crazy in my life. Besides, I have a new chick.”
“Of course you do. I bow down to the master.”
I can’t listen to this anymore. Turning around, I face Duncan, who is already buzzed.
“What in the fuck are you talking about?” I ask him.
“What’s it to you?” He crosses his arms, one ankle resting against the other knee.
Grabbing him by his shirt, I haul him up to me. “What in the fuck did you do to Piper?”
After hearing his words, I know he had something to do with it. For the first time since I’ve known him, Duncan doesn’t look cocky, but scared.
I can’t imagine the look on my face. It’s what happens when you fucking mess with me and the woman I love.
Because even though she dumped me, I still love Piper. More than I’ll ever love anyone else.
“Ava knew the truth about you two.”
Oh fuck.
“And?” I shake him.
“Thought that if Piper dumped you, I wouldn’t want her anymore and only want Ava. Not that I did. Want Piper.” His words are slurring together. “Which I told her after she threatened Piper at the All-Star Game.”
“Un-fucking-believable.”
“Look man, I sent her packing. That’s too much crazy for me.”
“Fuck off, Douche.” I push him away from me. “You’re fucking up everyone’s lives with your shit.”
“I’ve had enough of your shit.”
Duncan tries to throw a punch at me, but it glances off my jaw before Noah and Troy are jumping in.
“What the fuck, Duncan?”
As many times as I’ve wanted to punch this guy, I just don’t have it in me now. Because I know how disappointed Piper would be in me.
“Take him back to the hotel!” Troy shouts at Rio. “We can’t have this shit here.”
Thank God for the private room, otherwise who knows how many cameras would be aimed our way?
I sink down into a cushioned booth, holding my jaw. It’s tender, but thankfully not much else.
My heart is still the most battered thing inside me.
“You dumbass.” Noah stands over me, handing me a bag of ice. “You just couldn’t punch him? Just once for all of us?”
I huff out a laugh, pressing the ice against my jaw. “I couldn’t bring myself to do it.”
“So all that shit he said…is it true?”
I shrug a shoulder. “It has to be, right? If Ava threatened Piper, it’s the only thing I can think that would make Piper dump me.”
“And why would she dump you to protect you?”
“Cassie concocted this whole plan to help my image with the press by having me date Piper.”
“It was fake?” Noah asks.
I nod. Swiping my beer from the table, I take a hearty sip.
“I don’t buy it.”
“It’s true.”
Noah punches me in the shoulder.
“Dude. I’ve already taken enough hits tonight.”
“Sorry.” He holds up his hands. “But I saw the two of you together. My sister loves you. And you love her, if you wearing that ugly sweater has anything to say about it.”
I swirl the beer in my glass, watching the foam on top fizzle out. “I do. I love her. I didn’t want it to happen, but I do.”
“Then fucking fight for her, man. She’s dated nothing but losers and douches-”
“Literally,” I laugh, interrupting him.
“Are you going to let Duncan win? Because I for one don’t want to put up with your mopey ass for the rest of the season. And hers.”
“You’ve seen her?” I perk up at that.
“I talked to her on the phone for five minutes and she told me she was fine about twenty times.”
“Sounds like her.”
“Then what are you going to do, Cash? Fight for her, or give up and let Duncan win?”