Chapter 33 Chase
Rudy’s been like this for an hour, pacing back and forth. Watching him stirs the anxiousness in me, because I did that. I caused this.
“Last chance, Pretty Boy,” Rudy says.
“Everything’s fine,” I reply.
Wrong answer.
The first shove into the boards is pure frustration, hard enough to rattle my damn teeth. The second is undeniable anger. And the third… Yeah. That one’s meant to hurt.
“What the fuck did you do to him?” Oliver asks, holding his hand out for me as I stare at the ceiling, star-fished on the ice.
“Nothing,” I say through gritted teeth as I accept his hand and let him haul me up.
“Do I need Daddy Hayes to put him in a time out?” Oliver smirks.
I shake my head. “I got it handled.”
“Sure looks that way, Pretty Boy,” Oliver replies, sarcasm dripping from each word.
We continue to run the drills. I think Rudy’s given up on attacking me until the boards bite into my spine…again. I grunt as I stand and watch Rudy skate off. He’s literally carving his anger into the ice and straight into me.
It only gets worse after that. Puck after puck slams into my pads, my hips, my ribs. Every hit laced with the same fucking question.
What aren’t you telling me?
My fingers twitch around my stick as he stops short just to spray shards of ice into my face. All of a sudden, the two hundred foot rink shrinks around me.
And when the last spray of ice cracks over me, so do I.
“Fine,” I bark, throwing my hands up. “It’s her mom. She’s in Huxley Bay.”
Rudy’s stick clatters to the floor, and he curses, giving me one final shove that sends me to my ass. He skates off the ice at lightning speed. And I know—right then—that I’ve screwed up the dynamic between the brother-and-sister duo.
Rudy burns holes into my floor while I lean against the doorframe and Erin curls into herself on my sofa. Her hands disappear into her sleeves, a reflex I haven’t seen in a long time. All I want to do is wrap her up in my arms and whisk her somewhere far away from all of this.
Rudy’s rage isn’t aimed at his sister. It never has been, but thanks to him prying the truth out of me earlier, the guys overheard us in the locker room. Now they know her deadbeat mom is back, too. They don’t know the details, just that the woman who abandoned Erin is suddenly in Huxley Bay.
I haven’t told Erin the guys know. It’ll only make her spiral more. She’s already consumed by guilt for not talking to Bella yet.
What a clusterfuck.
The room holds its breath, waiting for Rudy to crack or settle.
“Griff,” Erin croaks.
His pacing stops.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about my mom being back. Or what I saw her do,” Erin’s voice wavers, pleading. “I was going to. I swear. Don’t be mad at me, Griff—please.” Her voice quivers, cutting through the quiet.
By the looks of it, Rudy’s trying to control the storm of emotions inside of him.
“I’m not mad at you, Goose,” he chokes. “You’ve carried this alone for years. I can’t imagine… I’m sorry you felt like you couldn’t tell me.”
Erin rushes to him. “That’s not it, Griff. You protected me every day. I was scared telling anyone what I saw would cause more problems. If I wasn’t so scared of the consequences I came up with in my head, I would have told you everything.” There’s nothing but truth behind her words.
“You were just a kid, and she…” The rest of Rudy’s sentence dies on his lips. “If I ever see her, I’m—”
“No.” Erin cuts him off, a cutting tone I’ve never heard before. “No threats. Don’t think about her. I won’t allow you to put yourself in a position where you’re even near her.”
“I’m gonna take a walk,” Rudy mutters.
He leaves without another word. The door clicks shut, and guilt punches me square in the gut.
I caused this fracture.
I lit the fuse.
Erin covers her face and sinks into the sofa.
I move toward her and crouch down.
“What can I do?” I ask.
“Don’t let Griff do anything that will hurt his career,” she whispers. “He’s worked too hard.”
“Nothing’s going to happen to him, Erin. He’s hurting for you, not hurt by you.”
I take her hand and kiss her palm.
“I’m sorry I told him your mom’s here,” I admit, guilt swirling inside of me. “I should have pushed back harder.”
“I don’t want you taking any more pucks to the head for me, either.”
I huff out a laugh and press my forehead to hers. “I’d take a hundred if it meant you weren’t carrying this alone.”
But even as the words leave my mouth, I feel her slipping away into her head—somewhere I can’t reach. Along with her weak smile, a shadow crosses her eyes. Maybe there’s a truth she doesn’t want to share.
My bones know it.
There’s a door she’s keeping locked, even from me.
I rise and offer her my hand. “Let’s make tacos.”
She lets me pull her up. I keep her close, tucking her into my side, wanting to believe I can shield her from it all.
As we walk into the kitchen, her mouth opens, but then it closes.
And I know I’m right.
She’s withholding.
I don’t know why she’s not ready to tell me—it stings being on the outside—but I trust her.
She’ll come to me when she’s ready.
She always does.
I lace my fingers with hers. “It’ll be alright, Erin.”
She looks up at me and sighs.
Her fingers tighten around mine, cold and uncertain.
“I’ve been in Huxley Bay since I was twelve,” she says quietly. “I’ve never looked for her, and I changed my name. I don’t know why I’d be on her radar, but I know in my gut that she didn’t come here to open a hotel. It’s a front.”
“Brax will figure it out,” I tell her. But even as the words leave me, a knot begins to twist in my stomach.
Brax knows more than he’s letting on.
And whatever he’s found, whatever hunch he has… He’s worried, and Brax doesn’t get spooked. Not easily.
Erin’s voice pulls me back.
“The best thing I can do is continue to stay out of her way. Trouble can’t find me unless I go looking for it.”
I bite back the truth. I think trouble’s already here, circling her like a force field we can’t see.
“You’ll be safe with me,” I whisper, tilting her chin up until her eyes meet mine. “You don’t have to pretend with me, either.”
Her lip wobbles, and tears well in her gorgeous eyes. “I’m—”
“I know,” I whisper. “You’re scared. I can see it.”
A tear slips down her cheek. I cup her face and brush away the pain with my thumb. Her skin is cold beneath my hand. The fear has already seeped straight into her flesh.
“I’ll do whatever I can to keep that fear from pulling you under. Lean on me. Whatever you feel, it’s never too much for me. Don’t hide. Don’t pull away.”
Her lips tremble.
“I’m right here, sweetheart,” I whisper. “Always.”
She nods, but I still feel it.
That locked door.
And whatever’s behind it?
It’s coming for us.