Chapter 34 – Mason
There was a man waiting for me outside the locker room.
Surprisingly, it wasn’t my father.
Jack Feldman leaned against the wall about a foot away from the locker room door, his eyes trained on me. A few of the players spoke to him as they filed into the locker room, but I couldn’t hear what they said. Probably fawning all over him. He was a legend, after all.
“Nice hat trick,” he commented when he saw me. “Although you’re going to have to pick up your speed when you play Reina, or I’m going to be bored out of my mind.”
“Why are you here, Jack?” I asked, scanning the hallway for my father.
“Wanted to make sure that Vixen went to good use, and I didn’t have to call my brother for a clean-up. But I saw the ring on her finger. Pretty girl. Nice work.”
I stilled. “You’ll keep your eyes to yourself if you know what’s good for you.”
The bastard chuckled. “Don’t worry, I have my eyes on my own prize.” He stood, holding out a hand to shake mine.
I accepted the handshake—and the way he squeezed my hand like he was trying to grind the bones together.
“But Mason, I find out you or any of the fuckers on your team are using Vixen more…recreationally? I promise you, there’s nowhere any of you can run to where I won’t find you.”
I considered this, then leaned in. “What if I told you there was a certain RA, who, if he got his hands on Vixen, would probably use it ‘recreationally.’”
Did I know for sure Chris would try to roofie a girl with it? No. Did I have a hunch? Yes. Did I care if I was wrong? Definitely no.
I’d have to tell Leslie. She’d be pissed. Ah, well.
Jack released my hand, but watched me, like he was reading my mind.
“Name?”
I gave him Chris’ last name.
He smirked. “Thanks for the intel. Good luck.”
Without glancing back at me, he made his way down the hallway and disappeared out of sight.
Which was when my father appeared.
“Dad,” I said.
“Son, explain what the hell you think you’re doing.”
I glanced at the clock in the corner. Only eight minutes until third period.
“Are you playing a game?”
“Hopefully.”
He glared at me. “You know what I mean, Mason.”
“I’m not playing with Leslie, Dad. I’m dead serious about her. I’m marrying her. And you aren’t fucking getting in our way.”
He pinched the bridge of his nose. “This is a shitty way to rebel and punish me for remarrying.”
Fucking hell.
“It’s not about you, Dad!” I exploded. “It hasn’t been about you for years—you made that easy. Leslie is the first good thing I’ve had since Mom died. I accept that you found someone new to love. I accept that you’re happy now. Can’t you accept the same from me?”
He started to speak, but I raised my hand. “No. It’s important to Leslie that you and her mom give us your blessing or whatever, but it’s not important to me. I’m not giving her up for anything, and if you try to make me, I’ll take her somewhere far away.”
My dad raised an eyebrow. “And Leslie would be okay with that?”
I sighed. “Probably not, but I wouldn’t give her the option.”
My dad shut his eyes, sighing. “That sounds healthy.”
“It works for us,” I said. “You don’t have to like it. It’s how it is.”
My dad finally opened his eyes, watching me. “It’s important to me that you’re happy. That she’s happy. If this makes you both happy…”
“It does.”
“Then I’ll learn to accept it,” he said.
My shoulders released, tension I hadn’t realized I’d been holding flowing out of me. I hadn’t been lying when I said that if he tried to get in between us, I’d take Leslie far away. But it would make her unhappy, and that was unacceptable.
“Thank you,” I said.
My father looked up at the clock. “You only have a few minutes, you should go talk to your team. But Mason?”
“Yeah?”
“Nice work out there.”
It was the closest he’d get to telling me he was proud of me. In the past, I wouldn’t have let it affect me, but Leslie had softened me up like a teddy bear, and so I felt the praise, and I’d be lying if it didn’t make me glow, just a little.
That glow grew when our goalie shut out Cornell from scoring, and we beat them, 15 to 3—and I scored the final goal.
And it turned into a supernova when Leslie forgot herself and ran out onto the ice after the game and jumped into my arms.
I skated around in circles with her long legs wrapped around my hips, not caring who was watching.
“You were amazing,” she said excitedly.
“Did you have any idea what was happening?” I teased.
She shook her head, hair flying every which way. “No freaking idea. Sportspuckball, you know.”
I laughed. “I need to teach you hockey.”
She kissed me, giggling. “I love when you teach me things.”
I stared into her dark eyes, feeling like I could conquer the world. And I would conquer the world, with her at my side.
She was the most beautiful woman I’d seen in my entire life.
And I loved her more than I loved anything.
“Oh, butterfly,” I said. “We’re just getting started.”
THE END