Chapter 25
MICAH
“Micah! Focus!”
From my place on the benches, I gritted my teeth as my dad’s voice boomed across the rink.
All I was supposed to be doing was capturing a few photos and videos for the Barracudas’ social media, yet my dad seemed to think I needed to fill my entire camera roll.
Raising my camera, I twisted the barrel of the lens, zooming in on Grayson.
So what if almost all the photos and videos I’d taken involved him in some way? He was the captain, after all. It had nothing to do with his commanding aura and the way he skated across the ice so gracefully, despite his size.
A wry smile twisted my lips. Who was I kidding?
I guess I was lucky that Ava and Cruz weren’t here to distract me.
If either of them had been at the rink and I had my camera in hand, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to resist photographing them.
And if my dad saw…I could explain the photos of Gray as part of my team photography, but of them?
He’d have questions, and it was something I wouldn’t be able to explain away.
Finally, morning skate was over, and I carefully placed my camera on the bench next to me, flexing my hands while I waited for the photos to transfer to my laptop.
As the players dispersed, my dad called Grayson over, speaking to him in a low tone.
Gray nodded before moving away. When he passed me, the corners of his lips kicked up, and I smiled back helplessly.
“Do you have something to tell me?”
My whole body jerked in shock. How had my dad managed to sneak up on me? I could’ve sworn he’d been at the other end of the benches a second ago.
“S-something to tell you?”
“I don’t like the rumors I’ve been hearing about you, Micah. What’s your angle here?”
“Rumors?” My voice was barely above a whisper, my throat closing in panic.
“Care to explain this?”
He slapped a piece of paper down onto my laptop, making the screen go crazy. Lifting the paper with a shaking hand, I turned it over.
I…I couldn’t breathe.
I. Couldn’t. Breathe.
Distantly, I was aware of a loud, urgent voice, and then I was suddenly surrounded by warmth.
“Hey. Hey. I’ve got you. Match your breaths to mine. In and out. That’s it. Can you do another for me?”
The fog began to clear as my panic receded, following the instructions of the calm, patient voice. But when I was able to breathe properly, I suddenly remembered.
A choked gasp tore from my throat, but the person holding me spoke low in my ear. “Hey. It’s okay. I’ve got you. It’s gonna be okay.”
How could it? I shook my head, biting down on my trembling lip.
A hand stroked through my hair. “Sorry about the sweat. And the padding.”
“Huh?” I blinked, taking in my surroundings for the first time.
I was straddling the bench, with Grayson behind me, his chest against my back, and his arms wrapped around me securely.
One hand rested on my sternum as he continued speaking in my ear in a low voice, reminding me to breathe.
Now he’d mentioned it, I was conscious of the fact that he was still in his full hockey gear after an hour’s intensive practice, but I didn’t care about any of that.
All I could concentrate on was the fact that he was warm, and solid, and here.
My unwilling gaze was dragged to the right, to a pair of legs covered in black pants, and up to my dad’s disapproving face.
Disapproving was a huge understatement.
“Explain,” he clipped out, stabbing at the piece of paper.
I swallowed hard. Before I could say anything, Grayson’s hand found mine, his thumb rubbing over my skin. “Coach Pierce.”
My dad’s gaze snapped to him. I couldn’t see Grayson’s expression since he was behind me, but I could hear the steel in his tone.
“Coach Pierce,” he began again. “Micah is very important to me.”
“More important than hockey?” My dad stared him down, and it chilled me to the bone because that was the same look he gave me. Not his star hockey player, the golden boy who could do no wrong.
Gray inhaled sharply, and then I felt him nod. “Yes, Coach,” he said. “Hockey is very important to me, and I never give anything less than one hundred percent. You know that. I put everything I have into it. But Micah… Yes. He’s more important to me.”
Fucking hell.
My dad was just as taken aback as I was, his eyes widening and his mouth falling open. He recovered quickly, though, returning to glaring at Grayson. “Perhaps some time off will help you to reevaluate your priorities. You’re out of the next game.”
I felt Grayson’s body jerk, his breath stuttering, but he recovered quickly. “No. You need me. Especially in the next game. We need those points. We have to win it, and we both know I’m the strongest player.”
“No one is indispensable.” A calculating gleam came into my dad’s eyes. “In fact, if hockey is that unimportant to you, maybe we should reconsider your position as team captain. Smith is more than capable of stepping up.”
I saw red. Tearing myself away from Grayson, I launched myself to my feet. “That’s so unfair! Hockey means everything to Gray! He’s a great captain. You’re punishing yourself.”
“How dare you? This is all your doing,” my dad snarled at me.
An arm slid around my waist as Grayson rose from the bench to stand next to me. “Please don’t speak to your son that way,” he said quietly. “It’s disrespectful. You wouldn’t allow your players to speak like that to anyone. Practice what you preach.”
I swallowed around the sudden lump in my throat.
“Maybe it was my doing. I don’t know. But Grayson is important to me, too.
” My voice shook, and my whole body was trembling as I dared to talk back to my dad this way, but for the first time, I felt like I wasn’t alone.
Gray was a warm, solid presence by my side, and we were in this together.
He had my back, and I had his. “I care about him.”
“So, what does that mean? You’re together or something?” His lip curled, and he spat the word “together” at me. “What about Ava Hayes? Cross, I thought you two—”
“Ava is a very close friend.” Grayson squeezed my side, and I got his message. If my dad was reacting so badly just from a photo of Grayson and me leaving the hockey house, hand in hand, he would have a complete breakdown if he knew that Ava was our girlfriend, too.
“Ava is a much more suitable partner than him. Hell, anyone would be more suitable than him.”
Grayson took a deep breath before he spoke, his body a tense line against mine.
“Him? Your only son? The incredible, talented man standing next to me? Unsuitable? How did you come to that conclusion?” While my dad stared at us, his face turning redder and redder, Gray continued.
“I have a question of my own. Where did you get this photo? Have you been spying on us? Because that’s illegal. ”
“Sp-sp-spying?” my dad spluttered. “How dare you! That photo—I found it when I stopped by my office before practice. Someone slipped it under the door.”
“Hmmm. And your first thought wasn’t concern that someone is illegally spying on the hockey house, but that you were going to confront your son for holding hands with his partner?”
There was a lump in my throat growing bigger and bigger as warmth spread through my body. The way Grayson was standing up for me, remaining calm and reasonable in the face of my dad’s anger…
Speaking of my dad’s anger… I could see something else on his face now. Something unmistakable that I’d never seen before.
Shame.
Holy fuck.
“Yes. That is concerning,” my dad said eventually.
He scrubbed his palm over his mouth. “Micah, just…stay out of my way. I don’t want to see your face.
Cross, you’re in the next game, but if I see even a hint of trouble from you, you’re out.
No second chances. I’ll reconsider my stance on your captaincy, provided your conduct remains exemplary. Now get out of here.”
I scrambled to collect my laptop and camera bag with shaking hands as Grayson carefully picked up my camera, cradling it in his palms.
He led me to the locker room, which was now empty. Slumping down onto one of the benches, I placed my head in my hands and exhaled shakily. “Fuck. That was… Fuck.”
“Yeah.” Grayson cupped the back of my neck, massaging lightly. “Your dad is an asshole.”
“I know.” I sighed. Lowering my hands, I looked up at him. “Are you mad that he knows about us?”
“No. Never.” Grayson’s response was immediate and decisive. “Yeah, it was a shock, and the photo is disturbing because it means our stalkers are stepping up their tactics, but I’m not ashamed to be with you.”
“Gray.”
He dipped down, brushing a kiss over my lips, and then straightened up. “I need to shower. We both have classes in twenty minutes, and then we’re meeting Ava outside the library.”
“Okay.” I waited until he was next to his own locker before I finished what I wanted to say. “I’m not ashamed to be with you, either.”
“Look how small this camera is!” Ava was seated on my lap, peering at Grayson’s desktop screen. “Battery powered, infra-red, motion sensor… I think this could be what we’re looking for.” She clicked the computer mouse, adding it to our basket.
We’d given her a rundown of everything that had happened this morning, and to say she had been enraged was an understatement.
Enraged on our behalf. Enraged that this stalker was spreading their fuckery outside our group.
I had no idea how Cruz was going to react, but I had a feeling he’d have a similar viewpoint.
Speaking of Cruz…
“We need to talk about Cruz.”
“Do we have to?” Grayson muttered from his position on his bed. He was lying stretched out on his stomach, tapping at his phone screen, obsessively researching anything and everything that could help us.
“I’m worried about him,” Ava said immediately. “Meeting Big Dog early tomorrow morning?”
Gray immediately stiffened, his gaze flying to mine. “What the fuck?”
I grimaced. “He got an assignment from Big Dog while we were with him. I asked him about it, uh—” I glanced at Ava. “—after you fell asleep. He didn’t tell me much, just that he has to go to the quack church at four a.m. for further instructions.”
Grayson’s brows shot up. “The quack church?”
“Uh…I think he meant that weird cult one. You know, the New Horizons Fellowship of Enlightenment.”
“No, I don’t know.”
Ava cleared her throat pointedly. “Let’s cut to the chase. Are we going to follow him there? Discreetly. Just in case anything happens. I…I care about him, and I hate that he’s under Big Dog’s thumb.”
“I care about him, too,” I said firmly, my gaze sliding to Grayson’s. He looked resigned, and it made me smile.
“Okay. I guess it’s our turn to be the stalkers,” he said. He cleared his throat before grimacing. “Speaking of Cruz—not that I want to—I need to tell you what happened with him.”
Ava and I both stared at him, and he groaned, dropping his forehead to the bed.
“Was it sexual?” I asked, and that startled a laugh out of him.
“Absolutely fucking not,” he said immediately, lifting his head.
I noticed the flush to his cheeks. Interesting.
“He took me to meet a guy. Teclas. He did some shit with Cruz’s phone that means he can trace the next text we get.
The guy said Cruz owed him a favor in return, but he didn’t specify what the favor was.
I’m… Fuck. You know what Cruz is like. No fucking self-preservation.
That’s why I’ve been so pissed off with him.
He’s putting himself in danger, and he’s not consulting any of us. ”
Ava huffed out a breath, slumping back against me. “I don’t like the sound of this. Being able to trace the texts would be useful, but not at his expense. Can you tell us exactly what happened?”
My arm tightened around Ava’s waist, and my chin hooked over her shoulder as Grayson gave us a rundown of everything that had happened when they’d paid a visit to the hacker.
Unease swirled in my stomach. Everything was spiraling out of control.
It seemed as if we had a way to get some of the answers we desperately needed, but at what cost? Who were we tangling ourselves up with?
When Grayson was done, Ava sighed. “Cruz needs to be careful. He’s not invincible.”
“I know.” Grayson’s mouth thinned. “We’ll make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid.”
I nodded, and some of the tension disappeared from his expression as our eyes met. He flashed me a quick smile, and I returned it before pressing a kiss to Ava’s temple.
“Okay, now we’re all in agreement that we’ll all watch out for Cruz… Please, let’s change the subject to anything but him,” Gray said.
Ava straightened up. “Oh, I have something. Micah, did you see the flyers for the Blackwell photo exhibition? All Blackwell U students and local residents are eligible to submit photos, and I’m sure the flyer said something about cash prizes.”
Gray leaned forward. “Photo exhibition?”
I groaned, burying my face in Ava’s shoulder. “There’s no point in talking about it. My professor wanted me to submit a portfolio, but my photos aren’t good enough for that level…” Trailing off, I shook my head, and Ava’s hand lifted to smooth over my hair.
“You are good enough,” she murmured.
“Micah—” Gray began.
“Please, can we drop it?” I begged.
When I lifted my head, I saw Grayson and Ava exchange glances, but thankfully, they dropped it. Ava launched into a story about one of her sorority sisters who had been caught in a compromising position with her boyfriend in the library, and I let myself relax, her soft voice soothing me.
For a few minutes, I could almost pretend that our lives were normal.