Chapter Seven #2
Avery gave a shrug, but her expression didn’t match the casualness.
“Yeah, well... Elise overheard. She pretended to be Rachel’s friend for weeks before she went full DEFCON 1.
Pulled her close, made her feel like she finally belonged.
Even set her up to accidentally run into Luke between classes, made it look like he might be interested.
Then Elise twisted things, humiliated her in front of everyone.
Bullied her hard. Told her to go kill herself. ”
My blood iced. “Wait—she actually said that?” That wasn’t something to mess around with. Words had power. It wasn’t possible to know if someone was on the ledge or not. Plenty of people faked being okay. One line like that could push them over.
Avery nodded. “Rachel tried. OD’d. Her mom found her before it was too late.”
Silence cracked between us. My throat locked up. “Jesus.”
“Yeah. Elise is a piece of work.” Avery’s eyes misted over. “But you want to know what happened to her?”
“I’m guessing nothing.” Elise had money. Her dad ran Dunn Industries—one of the only companies in town that could rival King Enterprises.
“Not a damn thing. Rachel’s family was offered hush money—and a threat. Either take it and move away, or stay and never work in this town again.”
“Elise did that?”
“Her dad did. Protected her. Like always.”
I studied Avery. The way her shoulders curled inward. “What did she do to you?”
Her breath hitched. Eyes wide. “Nothing really,” she denied too fast. “Just... after you left, she harassed me. I didn’t handle it well.”
I reached across the table, covered her hand. “Aves. I’m so sorry. I would’ve reached out if I could. But my mom—there were reasons. I didn’t even tell Luke.”
She pulled her hand back. “It’s okay. I mean it. But you can’t tell anyone what I said.”
“Not even your brother?”
“No.” Her voice hardened. “Chase thinks it was some guy who messed with me. And yeah, he was pissed you bailed on us too.”
That didn’t sound right. The guys—they never would’ve let that go. “They would’ve pushed harder if they thought it was a guy.”
“I stonewalled them. I didn’t want them fighting my battles. Eventually, they stopped asking. But now Chase goes full attack dog on anyone who looks at me.” She gave a dry laugh. “Might’ve been a mistake.”
“You ever gonna tell him?”
She straightened. “No. I’m allowed to have secrets from my twin and his pack of wolves. Just... watch your back. Elise is vicious. And when it comes to Luke?”
I nodded. “She’s pissed he’s not looking at her.”
“Exactly.”
My pencil stilled mid-equation. Luke’s name struck, hard enough to leave me reeling.
Avery noticed. Of course she did. “Whatever happened between you two? It left marks. On both of you.”
I looked up slowly, meeting her gaze. “Yeah,” I said. “It did.” The kind that didn’t fade. That burned new every time he looked at me like I was something he wanted to forget.
She didn’t look away. Neither did I as the truth of the matter lay bare between us. I wasn’t going to explain myself, and she wasn’t asking me too. Her trust in me to let it lie was humbling.
“Come to the game with me.”
I didn’t even think, just—fuck no. “That’s a hard pass, Aves.”
Her lips twitched again at the old nickname. “Luke’s on the ice. He and my brother can’t do anything. No scenes. No bullshit. Jasmine and Margie will be there too.”
“Is that supposed to mean something to me?” I wasn’t friends with them. She knew that. I hadn’t been friends with anyone other than her and the guys. But that all changed in one night when Mom and I left without goodbyes or an explanation.
She shrugged. “No. I supposed it doesn’t. You never hung out with anyone except the guys or me. Still, I want you to come with. It’ll be fun. And they’re nice. They won’t give you shit, promise.”
The hockey games were a rush, but going there… “I don’t know. Luke won’t like that I’m there.”
“Pffft. When has that ever stopped you from doing something?” Her brows rose in challenge. “Or are you not the same person I used to know?”
That hit harder than it should’ve. Not because it wasn’t true. But because she was right. I didn’t even know who the hell I was anymore since coming back here.
I tapped my pencil against hers, a smile slowly spreading across my face, so damn grateful she’d forgiven me and let me back in so easily. Too easily. It made me nervous. What kind of penance hadn’t I paid yet? “Fine. I’ll go, even if only to keep Chase off your back.”
“Come on.” Her phone pinged, and she rolled her eyes.
The name was easy to read with her phone sitting face up on the table.
Chase was checking in on her for the third time that night.
“I love him, but I swear he still thinks I’m ten.
Or maybe it’s because I was a shell of my former self last year—he thought I would be the next Rachel.
I promise you, I wasn’t anywhere close to being on the ledge like that.
” She shrugged, brushing off the heavy topic.
“He’s a serious pain in my ass. I should just call him the vagina blocker. ”
I snorted a laugh then rolled my eyes as the only other person that remained in the library turned and glared before pushing up her glasses with her middle finger.
With a shake of my head at the ridiculousness of it all, the last of the tension between my shoulders eased since the moment my old friend sat down across from me.
It was a bad idea, but when had that ever stopped me before? “I’ll meet you there.”
Avery shrieked, earning another glare from the bookworm a table over.
We agreed on a time and then headed out.
I needed to drop my books at home, grab a sandwich, and maybe wash my face.
There was no way I was dressing differently, except to grab a hoodie if I was cold, which I would be.
The jeans and T-shirt I had on blended in, the hoodie would even more so, and that was what I wanted.
An hour later, I stood inside the entrance of Blackwood’s arena, a thousand misgivings running through my mind.
The crowd was loud as Avery dragged me through the entrance anyway, her grip ironclad as she muttered about needing a wingwoman.
The noise of the crowd swelled enough to crawl under my skin in an itchy sort of way.
I trailed behind her through the aisles and to my dawning horror, the front seats behind the box.
I should have known she would sit there. It was the section we used to lay claim to. As we arrived at the end of the aisle, the hockey team filed onto the bench in front of us, all bulk and blades.
Avery’s friend Jasmine waved us over. I kept my gaze straight ahead, refusing to look through the plexiglass to my left. It was the only thing that separated us and the team, specifically Luke and the rest of his crew. The hair on the back of my neck rose from the sensation of being watched.
I took measured breaths then eased into the empty seat next to Avery.
She leaned close, her light floral perfume wrapping around me, pushing away the unwelcome scent of hot dogs and popcorn.
I wasn’t a wimp, but I also was not a sadist. And going to the hockey game was asking for Luke’s attention, and therefore, trouble.
My chin rose, and my resolve hardened. I was being ridiculous. He could bring it. There wasn’t anything he could do that would break me.
Avery chatted with her friends for a few minutes, but when she snorted, I pocketed my phone that I was scrolling through and followed her gaze to where Chase stood in front of the bench, arms crossed, gaze scanning the seats around us like he was waiting for trouble.
Even at the top as the guys were, they had enemies, especially on the other school’s team.
That was probably what was setting her brother and Jax even more on edge.
Jax watched. It was subtle, barely noticeable. But I saw it. The way his jaw ticked. After checking the crowd seated around us, his gaze kept returning to Avery. For someone who wasn’t supposed to care, Jax sure seemed interested in Chase’s sister.
The coach pulled the team’s attention to him.
A hush swept through the crowd right before announcements, and the national anthem was sung.
Then the game started, and a thrill raced through my body.
The first line took to the ice, and when I watched Luke skate into position, something in my chest tightened.
I couldn’t look away as the puck dropped, and our team went on the offensive.
He was in his element. Unstoppable. The star of Blackwood, slicing through the rink as if it was his.
I recognized how he called the play with a nod, the way the others—Jax, Chase, even Theo—adjusted without hesitation.
Jax delivered a check that sent a guy sprawling.
Chase set up a screen just long enough for Theo to rocket the puck into the net.
And Luke? He controlled the rhythm. The energy.
The outcome. The same way he used to control every heartbeat in my chest.
He skated like he was born for this—sharp, powerful, precise. The crowd chanted his name after a breakaway goal that left the other team stunned.
And me? I just sat there, trying not to remember what it felt like to be the one he looked for in the stands. Now, he didn’t even have to look at me to make it clear where we stood.
The game ended in victory—of course it did. Blackwood didn’t lose. Not with Luke leading them.
I was up and moving before anyone else in our row. A quick goodbye to Avery and I hurried into the aisle and pushed my way up the stairs and toward the closest exit.
The crowd spilled out, buzzing with energy and school pride. People pushed past, shouting, laughing, wrapped in the post-win high. Avery, not far behind, disappeared into the press of bodies, probably off to keep her overprotective brother from getting into it with someone from Crestview.
By the time I got to my car, my stomach twisted at the sight.
A gaping hole was in my driver’s side tire where someone had carved a slice in it.
I ticked through my options, discarding all two of them—call my mom or roadside assistance.
Making this more of an issue would be what whoever had done this wanted.
Not wanting an audience, I climbed into the driver’s seat and marked time.
When most of the cars around me had pulled out, the parking lot almost empty, I got out.
Bending down, I popped the trunk and then went to the back to pull out the jack and my spare tire.
I wasn’t helpless. I positioned the jack into place and got to work.
I thought I was in the clear, but I didn’t get far with changing the tire before I felt him. Luke stepped beside me.
I pushed up to my feet and stood before him, allowing defiance to paint across my expression.
His presence was suffocating. His gaze, lethal. “Seems you have an admirer.”
“Not the kind I want.” The comment was dual sided, the hit making its presence known as his gaze shuttered even more.
He took the lug wrench from me and quickly changed to the spare, depositing the slashed tire in the trunk. I lowered the jack and tossed the tools in too before closing the trunk. It didn’t mean anything, what he’d done. And he made sure to let me know with the icy stare sent my way.
“I know what your mom did,” he snapped. “And now you’re back like nothing happened?”
“You don’t know a damn thing,” I fired back, but inside, I froze for half a second at the possibility that he knew more than I thought he did.
Or that he was somehow involved. But he couldn’t be.
He was bluffing. That tick in his jaw. I was sure of it.
He couldn’t know that we’d burned through some of the money just to survive.
I sure as hell wasn’t going to admit to what my mom had taken, whether it was directly from his dad’s company or the VP boyfriend, like Mom had said.
That damn muscle in his jaw jumped, and panic laced my blood. Even worse—he probably thought he knew everything.
“You disappeared,” his voice was icy. “After a chunk of money vanished from the books, your mom bailed and took you with her. And somehow, my dad was left holding the fallout.”
I sucked in a breath. He doesn’t know the truth.
Not all of it. But if he kept digging—if he found out what really happened…
everything could unravel, and we would be in even more danger.
All he thought he knew was that my mom stole money from his dad’s company and that I’d used him.
That last part wasn’t true. I hadn’t cared about his financial worth then, and I didn’t now.
His eyes narrowed, seeming to clue in that I was hiding something from him. “You think I won’t find out? I will.”
I angled my chin higher. “Then I guess we’ll both be surprised.
” I waved to the tire as I opened my door.
“Thanks for that, even though I know it didn’t mean anything.
” The car started with the push of a button, and I drove off, leaving him standing there.
I paused at the stop sign before the main road and glanced back.
Luke was still there, standing exactly where I’d left him, chest rising as though he’d sprinted a mile.
For one second, I saw him—not the arrogant hockey god but the guy who used to trace stars on my skin when no one was watching. And it hurt more than it should’ve.
I shut the door on the thought—and him.