23. Aurora
AURORA
The final buzzer cuts through the rink, and the place explodes instantly. People are on their feet, clapping, shouting, the rookies pouring onto the ice while the Colton U Midnight Wolves celebrate the win.
But all I can see is Cole’s fist connecting with Chase’s jaw.
My gaze drops to the ice. Logan and Austin are skating lazy circles, both of them grinning, and Isabella’s down by the bench talking to Coach, both of them frowning toward the tunnel Cole disappeared through.
I told him not to fight.
Just once, could he have listened to me?
I tug Cole’s jacket tighter around myself and head for the stairs.
“Holy shit,” Maisie breathes, hurrying after me. Her hand brushes my elbow as we get swept down with the rest of the crowd. “That was… intense.”
“That was stupid,” I mutter.
She glances over, her brows lifting. “You okay?”
I give her a shrug, even though my whole body still feels wound too tight, panic and anger buzzing under my skin. “Fine. Just tired.”
It’s a weak excuse and we both know it, but before she can say anything else, Austin slams his glove against the glass and grins up at his girlfriend.
Maisie lights up straight away. “I’ll see you tomorrow?” she says, already angling toward him.
“Yeah,” I say, waving her off. “Go congratulate your boyfriend.”
She practically skips the rest of the way down, and I let out a chuckle as I make my way toward the tunnel leading to the locker rooms.
I spot the Westbrook guys filing off the ice, Chase in the middle of them with a towel pressed to his lip, blood smeared across the white Westbrook crest.
His head lifts and his eyes land on me, but then they drop, lingering on the jacket around my shoulders.
I watch as his mouth tightens and something ugly flashes across his face just before one of his teammates throws an arm around his shoulders and steers him toward their locker room.
I head the other way and wait by the door as the guys start heading out, showered and dressed. One after another, they pass, and still no Cole.
I wait.
And wait.
And wait.
But Cole never comes out.
Holden comes through the door next, and his eyes land on me, his brows lifting a little when he sees me standing there, but he keeps walking without saying anything. It makes sense why he wouldn’t want to talk to me after I canceled our date.
I swallow, and before I can talk myself out of it, I shove through the door.
The locker room is almost empty. Austin’s the only one in there, already dressed, and his brows shoot up the second he sees me.
“Aurora? What are you—”
I cut across the locker room toward Cole’s cubby, ignoring Austin completely. He’s standing there with a towel hanging low on his hips, water still sliding down his back, catching on the hard lines of muscle.
He looks up when he hears me, his brows pulling together. “What are you doing here?”
“What the hell was that?” The words leave my mouth before I can stop them. “What part of ‘don’t get into a fight’ did you not understand?”
His eyes drag over my face, and for some reason my attention snags on the drop of water sliding slowly down his throat.
He lets out a short, bitter laugh. “You’re still worried about golden boy? Even after he cheated on you?” He shakes his head and drags another towel through his wet hair. “If you want me to say sorry, it’s not happening.”
“I don’t care about Chase,” I snap.
Cole’s mouth twists. “Could’ve fooled me.”
“I don’t,” I say again, narrowing my eyes. “But he knows now. He knows we’re—” The word catches and dies in my throat, because I still don’t know what the hell to call this. I shake my head. “Why did you fight him?”
He shrugs. “Felt like it.”
A laugh scrapes out of me before I can stop it. “Of course you did.” My hands clench at my sides. “God, you’re so immature. All you do is fight. You can’t deal with anything unless you’ve got something to hit so you can feel tough.”
His eyes darken when he turns to face me. “He was talking shit about you,” he grits out. “That’s why I punched him.”
My brain stutters. “What?” My voice cracks. “Why… why would you do that?”
He looks away, lifting his shoulder in a shrug. “Beats me.”
I stare at him, trying to make sense of it. “But… you hate me.” My brows pull together. “Why would you care what he says about me?”
His eyes move over my face and his jaw locks again, water dripping from his chin. “Doesn’t matter how I feel about you. That doesn’t give him the right to call you a slut.”
My stomach drops so fast it makes me feel sick.
After three years with him—three years of being loyal, of shutting down every guy who even looked my way, of never giving Chase a single reason to doubt me—that’s what he calls me.
A slut.
My eyes fall to the floor, my throat tight and my stomach twisting into a knot.
Cole’s fingers slide under my chin and tip my face back up. “Don’t,” he says. “Don’t let him make you believe that shit for a second.”
I blink up at him, and instead of the dark, hard expression I expect, I’m met with warm brown eyes, softening with light flecks in them I somehow never noticed before.
His thumb brushes slowly over my cheek, and my stomach flutters like crazy.
My eyes drift shut before I can stop them, my pulse kicking harder when the rough pad of his thumb brushes over my bottom lip.
Snap out of it.
My eyes open, common sense rushing back in.
This is Cole Ellis.
I do not get to stand here having flutters over him.
His gaze drops to my mouth, then lower, landing on the leather jacket still wrapped around my shoulders.
“That my jacket, Viper?” he asks, the corner of his mouth lifting.
I manage a small nod, which is humiliating, considering I seem to have forgotten how to speak.
His smirk deepens when his eyes lift back to mine. “I like seeing you in something of mine.”
For a second, I forget why I came storming in here in the first place. All I can focus on is the warmth of his hand still lingering against my face, the clean smell of soap on his skin, and the look in his eyes that makes my whole body go still.
It’s a very long, dangerous second.
I pull myself together and take a step back, putting space between us until his hand drops away. “It doesn’t mean anything,” I say, tugging the jacket tighter around myself. “I was… cold. That’s all.”
His smirk only deepens, and that annoys me more than it should because he knows I’m lying through my teeth.
I turn and head toward the door before I do something stupid.
He laughs behind me, the sound sending a shiver straight down my spine.
“See you around, Prescott.”