28. Chapter 28
Atlas
I shove my hands into my pockets, pull them out, crack my knuckles, shove them back in. The gummy I took before the ride isn't doing shit. My hands—my entire fucking body—keep shaking, and it has nothing to do with the cold ass bench I’m sitting on.
Should’ve waited for Hunter to come with.
Except I can't keep doing that forever. Can't be the guy who needs a six-foot-ten bodyguard to go pick up our boyfriend from school, and I definitely can't be that guy when I'm playing in the NHL and Hunter's in a different city and I have to walk to my car alone in a parking garage without having a full meltdown.
Wade's in prison. Has been for five years.
So why the fuck can’t I move forward?
Because the fucking psycho’s parole hearing is next year. And he could . . . he could get out.
My knee bounces, heart hammering against my ribs. Hope Cody gets done soon. But I don’t want to rush him, not after it took fifteen texts to get my boyfriend to tell me he’s in the Academic Resource Center Building.
Five minutes later, the door to the building opens, and Cody steps out, baseball cap backward, blond curls poking out at the sides. His bag is slung over one shoulder, and he's looking down at his phone, thumb scrolling, bottom lip caught between his teeth.
I exhale, the shaking in my hands easing to a tremor as my fists unclench.
He lifts his head and looks around. When our eyes meet, he grins. But it’s faint, barely there.
Yeah no. Hate that shit.
“Oh, hi, Cody.” His ex waves, all bouncy ponytail and a fake-sweet smile.
Cody slows, mouth set into a hard line, his hand shifting higher on the strap of his bookbag.
She practically skips over, a friend at her side. A heat builds in my chest, spreading like wildfire, as she gets closer to what's mine like she has any right to be near him. “We haven’t talked in forever. Just wanted to see how you are.”
“I’m fine, Cindy.”
She looks past him to the building. “I thought you were going to tutoring because of the Hamlet unit. But we finished that a few weeks ago.”
Cody's jaw tightens. “Fuck off.”
Her brows scrunch, lips pushing into an obnoxious little pout. “Oh, is it like for all your classes? Poor baby.”
I have never hit a girl in my life. Never even considered it. But this bitch is about to lose her goddamn teeth if she doesn't shut the fuck up and walk away in the next three seconds.
“Yeah, it is for all my classes because I have a learning disability. Go ahead, laugh. I fucking dare you.” He steps closer. “Now I get why your dad doesn't come around. Can't blame him when this is what he raised.”
Damn. Go, Little J.
Cindy's eyes widen for half a second before her face twists. “Wow. That's actually kind of sad. I always knew you weren't the sharpest, but—”
“Walk away.” I spring up from the bench and close the distance between us fast. “Now.”
She huffs, looking me up and down. “Excuse me? Who are you?”
“The guy who's going to make your life very fucking difficult if you don't turn around and leave.”
Her friend tugs at her arm. “Cindy, let's just go.”
“Ugh, whatever. They’re a bunch of hockey losers anyway.” Cindy turns, nose in the air, and starts walking.
But as I cross behind her, my boot hooks behind her ankle, sweeping her back foot into her front one. She doesn’t get her hands up in time, and her face hits the pavement.
“Ope.” I step around her, hands in my pockets. “My bad.”
Cindy’s friend drops to her knees beside her. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”
I shrug. “Just clumsy.”
Cindy sits up, blood dripping from her bottom lip. When she opens her mouth, there's a chip missing from her front tooth. “You—you—”
She breaks into a sob.
I throw an arm over Cody’s shoulders, press a kiss to his cheek, then look back at her. “Maybe don't walk around campus making fun of people for needing help, and you won't eat concrete.”
Her mouth opens. Closes. Opens again.
But I steer Cody away before she says something that will really make me hurt her.
Cody blows out a breath through his nose. “I had it handled.”
“You did. I just added the punctuation.”
“Her face, Atlas. She chipped her tooth.”
“Not my fault. She didn't put her hands out. Who doesn't put their hands out? That's literally a reflex. Guess she figured all that lip filler would cushion the blow.”
He stops walking and turns to me, eyes narrowed. “She's a bitch, not a threat. You can't just—”
“She tripped, Cody. No one shoved her off a building.”
“Atlas—”
“Nobody talks to you like that.”
He pokes me in the chest. “I don't care. I handled it. I didn't need you to—”
I tower over him, holding his gaze. “Nobody. That's not negotiable.”
His nostrils flare. “I mean it, Atlas. Don't do that again.”
No point responding because I'd have to lie, and I'm not going to stand here and promise my boyfriend I'll let someone disrespect him. That's not happening. Not today, not ever.
I tug the brim of his hat. “Heard what you said back there.”
He rubs the back of his neck, cheeks flushing. “Yeah, well . . .”
“No judgment from me, Little J.”
He looks at the ground, thumb rubbing over the strap of his bookbag. “I’m dyslexic.”
So that’s why he was upset about his grade.
I lean down and kiss his cheek. “Like I said, no judgment from me. Now, come on. If we haul ass, we can beat Hunter back to the dorm and raid his marshmallow stash. He hides them in a different spot every week, like some kind of paranoid squirrel.”
He rolls his eyes so hard I swear he just saw the back of his skull. But then he bites his bottom lip. “Uh, there is one thing I have to tell you. But don’t freak out, okay?”
“I make no promise.”
“Atlas.”
I chuckle and waggle my brows. “What is it?”
He mumbles something about me not being serious, then swallows hard. “At practice today . . . Some players were missing. Even Coach Harper wasn’t there. Then Coach Nieminen met with the team after practice . . . Henneman got shot.”
A chill crawls up my spine, goosebumps covering my forearms. I stop walking and grab his upper arm to spin him toward me. “What?”
“I don’t know much else, but he’s okay. He’ll just be out for a bit.”
Heat flushes through my body as I pull my phone out.
Me: Find Rua. Now
Hunter: Why
Me: Cody said Henneman got shot. Rua would fucking know what’s going on
Hunter: You have our little Titan
Me: Yes
Me: Get fucking answers, Hunt
Cody places a hand on my forearm. “Calm down.”
“No.” I grab his wrist and pull him along to the parking lot.
“Atlas, slow the fuck down.”
My pulse is pounding in my ears, drowning out everything. When we get to the bike, I shove the spare helmet into Cody’s chest.
He huffs. “Would you just—”
“Put. It. On.”
“Atlas—”
“You're not leaving my sight until we know what happened. And if whoever did this comes anywhere near you, I will take them apart piece by piece and make sure no one ever finds what's left.”
Cody glares, but I don’t give a shit. He could be next.
Except whoever shot his teammate will have to go through Hunter and me first. Too bad they have no fucking idea about the monsters we are. Monsters who will do anything to protect what is ours. Even if that means keeping our boyfriend tied up in our room to keep him out of harm’s way.
Because no one is taking Cody Jenkins away from us.