Chapter 31
HAILEY
“Those Riverside roaches!” Zoe sat up in her bed, her eyes blazing. “Ugh, the more I think about it, the angrier I get!”
“Right? How dare that bastard try to body-check our Captain?” Sarah was changing into a pair of shorts, but that didn’t stop her from ranting either.
“Lord knows if our coaches hadn’t been there, I’d have made sure to gift him three shiners, that bastard.”
Something was wrong. Because as I listened to my teammates rant, I knew that I should have been feeling angry, insulted even, at what that Riverside bastard had tried to do to me, but I wasn’t.
Instead, the only thing I was thinking about was the way Lively freaking Summers’ face had gone all red when I’d thanked him, and the way my brain kept insisting that it had to be the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.
And not only that, but what he’d said just kept on ringing in my head like a smoke alarm:
“You beat them fair and square…Your play wasn't bad for anyone. Heck, it was hella good.”
And if there was a smoke alarm ringing in my skull, then there had to be fire. Thing was, I didn’t want to figure out where it was. I slouched further into the oversized bean bag chair that had swallowed half my body.
The relaxation room at Blackwater Bay was supposed to be a sanctuary; all warm lighting and comfortable seating, with a fireplace crackling in the corner and board games stacked on shelves.
But tonight it felt more like a trap, with “Game Night” scheduled on our itinerary and mandatory attendance for both teams.
Because it simply meant that I couldn’t avoid—
"And did you see the way Summers slammed that asshole's face into the ice?" Dani was saying, her voice thrumming with vindictive pleasure. "God, that was satisfying ."
—Lively fucking Summers…and all the weird emotions just hearing his name stirred inside my belly.
“I know , right?” Dani piped up from her perch on her bed. “I never thought I’d be so proud of him for anything, but here we are!”
“Right, Hailey?” The girls turned to face me and I started.
I blinked, dredging up what was left of my focus. “Oh. Uh, yeah.” I said, and my answer was a little sharp, but they didn’t seem to notice.
“I can’t believe I’m actually starting to think the guys might not be as bad as we thought they were,” Zoe said.
“Well, Randy did tell me what went down last year when, you know, the incident happened.” Dani said, her tone tentative. “Apparently, the guys who’d gone on a rampage in the rink had been the benchers!”
“And Lively had gotten so pissed that he’d kicked them off the team before even the Coach had had the chance to.” Gina finished, and they both looked at each other before devolving into laughter.
“Man, those Rink Runners are real gossips, aren’t they?” Zoe said, and the girls all made sounds of agreement. “Looks like we’ve all gotten the lowdown without even asking for it.”
The sound caught in my throat, because her words pierced me the hardest, really.
Because I actually couldn’t believe I was starting to think that way, too.
Especially about Lively Summers himself.
I should've been angry about Derek's cheap shot, about the way the Riverside Rebels had tried to break me down on the ice.
Instead, my mind kept replaying a completely different reel:
“My lady knows her hockey. You got a problem with that?”
I hadn’t meant to hear that, either, but now I couldn’t get it out of my head, and something twisted in my chest. He’d said ‘my lady’ .
‘His’ lady. I’d been too freaked out so I’d pretended I didn’t hear it, but…
now I couldn’t ignore the uncomfortable warmth spreading through my chest. I'd been trying to ignore it ever since this whole rink-sharing arrangement began, but it only seemed to grow even worse with each minute I had to spend with the Rink Runners… with him .
"Do I make you uncomfortable, Hailey?"
Yes. Yes, you do , I answered silently, because this version of Lively Summers—the one who watched my back on the ice, who matched my rhythm like he'd been born to it—was nothing like the irritating bully I'd convinced myself he was. This version was—
I buried my face in the bean bag, trying to smother the thought before it could fully form. But it persisted, stubborn as the man himself: he’s actually kind of cool . And, oh my God, I couldn’t believe I’d just thought that with my free will. Fuck.
“Crazy,” I whispered under my breath, “you’re losing it.”
Sarah's head suddenly snapped up, her eyes going wide. “They're here.” The words were barely out of her mouth when the door swung open, and the Rink Runners filed in, a wave of masculine energy and boisterous laughter that instantly filled the relaxation room.
My body went on high alert as if someone had jabbed me with an EpiPen.
“ Ladies ,” Logan Kelly threw his hands up. “Did you miss me?”
The silence that greeted his announcement was all the answer he needed.
“Pfft!” The other guys burst into laughter, and Logan’s expression fell.
“Aw, come on now, not even you, partner?”
Sarah scrunched up her face at him, even though her eyes twinkled. “Ew.” She said, and the guys roared even more.
“Oh shit, it sucks to be you, Kelly.”
The commotion didn’t bother me, though. No, what did was…
Lively Summers, freshly showered judging by the damp hair curling at his temples, dressed in a soft-looking grey hoodie that made his shoulders look even broader than they already were.
What bothered me was the way his eyes found mine immediately, like he had some kind of built-in radar programmed to track me.
His face broke out into a bright, but no less sly smile that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, and my eyes narrow immediately. “Ladies,” he greeted, gaze never leaving mine despite the plural. “We promise to go easy on you this time.”
I just arched a brow back at him and, somehow, his grin widened, if that was even possible.
Those blue eyes of his were twinkling with enjoyment, as if he was waiting for me to say something.
Anything. But I had a feeling that engaging him right now would only make this chaos roiling in my damn brain way worse than it already was.
But I also couldn’t ignore him completely, either. Doing so would just be like trying not to think about a pink elephant—the more I tried to ignore his presence, the more aware I became of exactly where he was in the room.
“Uh…Okay, so, are we doing this thing or what?” Dylan cleared his throat, and when I looked up, it was to find all the guys looking at me with shit-eating grins on their faces. “Or are we starting things off with a sexy staring match between our captains?”
What the hell?
“What?” I snapped, supporting my weight on my elbow, eyes flashing. “Do you guys have some kind of humiliation kink like your captain over there?” I jerked my thumb towards him. “Why do you want me to cuss you out so badly?”
There was a beat of silence, before the guys burst out into laughter, throwing their hands over their mouths to mute the sounds.
“Oh, shit, Cap’s been fucking outed!” Evan said as the others held their stomachs.
I arched a brow at their theatrics and looked at my teammates.
Gina just shrugged back at me, but I caught a glimmer of amusement lurking in her eyes.
Meanwhile Zoe’s shoulders were trembling and, honestly, the girls looked like they knew something I didn’t.
Like they were all in on one big inside joke.
“We’re sorry about our Captain’s… oddities ,” Logan drawled from his spot beside Dylan. “We’ve just learned to live it.”
I scoffed. “And it’s obviously rubbing off on all of you,” I said, but this only seemed to make them laugh even harder.
“Quit that.” Lively’s voice spread through the room, sounding closer than I’d expected, and I barely stopped myself from jumping.
I turned my head to find him hunkering down near me, those eyes still on me.
And then, before I could even say anything, he dropped down next to me, his body creating a dip in the beanbag that made me slide toward him.
“Hey!” I protested, but he just turned and flashed me that annoying grin of his.
“This seat taken, Hailstorm?” He drawled back at me and I immediately wondered why the hell I’d let this bastard bother me at all.
But I couldn’t even focus on that rage because my entire right side felt like it was on fire.
Every small shift he made sent awareness skittering across my skin, and I found myself holding my breath whenever his arm brushed against mine.
The scent of his soap—something clean and vaguely woodsy—was definitely going to be a distraction.
If it wasn’t already . I mean, I already couldn't focus on anything except cataloging the points where our bodies almost touched: shoulder, elbow, knee.
“So,” Logan called out from where he was sprawled on the floor, “what are we playing first? Monopoly's gonna take all night.”
“And Summers cheats,” Dylan added, not looking up from the cards he was playing with in his hands.
“I do not cheat,” Lively protested beside me. “I'm strategic.”
“You literally stole money from the bank last time,” Matt pointed out.
“That's just part of the game.” This defense was weak, however, like he’d lost all interest in the discourse altogether.
“Then,” Matt started, his eyes twinkling with a mischievous light that put me on edge instantly.
I didn’t like that look in his eyes. Not one bit.
“Since we’re all up for it…Truth or dare!
" He announced, and I watched in horror as all our teammates' faces lit up like they'd just been told Christmas came early.
"Oh my God, yes!" Zoe practically bounced in her spot. "I haven't played that since high school!"
So what, you little… I shot her my patented captain's glare—the one that usually made freshmen quake in their skates—but she just grinned back at me, completely immune. The betrayal stung.