Chapter 9
CHAPTER NINE
FEAR AND LOVING
NASH
Ineed some peace and quiet.
The game against UCLA was good, but it’s obvious that we’re in preseason from how beat I feel.
Hockey is always hard on the body, but it gets easier as the season progresses. It’s why Coach Harrison is very strict when it comes to conditioning. We need to get to the point where a game makes us tired but not feel like our limbs are made of wet noodles.
The proof is in the fact that I fall asleep the second my ass sits down on the mattress.
Usually after a game, I’m still buzzing with unspent energy for several hours, but not tonight.
I’m glad I didn’t let my teammates convince me to join them at that stupid party. Aside from the potential trouble of being caught socializing with the very cheerleaders who are supposed to be off-limits, I really don’t think that booze and noise are what I need right now.
That must be the last coherent thought because sleep takes me under.
What wakes me up is a shiver. I fell asleep on top of my comforter, with my hair still damp from the shower I took right before leaving the locker room.
I’m cold as fuck when I open my eyes and check the time on my phone. It’s a quarter past eleven and I might be in danger of hypothermia, but I’m now wide awake.
If I tried to get to sleep again, I probably would end up tossing and turning for hours. It probably sounds counterintuitive, but what I need is some fresh air, maybe even a run to loosen up my sore muscles.
Despite being summer, the nights can get quite chilly if the breeze that comes from the sea blows a little stronger, so I add a hoodie to the sweatpants and t-shirt I fell asleep in.
As I step out of our wing into the building’s main lobby, I can hear the faint noise of the party at Vaughn’s. It’s mostly chatter and laughter; I’m glad they’re being smart enough to avoid loud music.
While the training center is on the outer edge of town and we don’t have any residential neighbors, the building that houses the coaching staff is closer to the main building. They aren’t close enough to hear a party as long as there isn’t very loud music.
I wonder what they’re doing. Are they playing party games, like truth or dare?
I leave the building from the main entrance and walk around to the back, taking the narrow path that leads to the beach that’s otherwise accessible from the decks of the ground floor units.
Rather than going toward the voices and the laughter, I walk down the beach in the opposite direction.
The memory of the kiss between me and Taryn and of how I followed her into a bathroom when Gen upset her is as vivid as if it had just happened. Her soft lips, her perfect body, her tight, wet heat.
She’ll be hanging out with Tucker and Colsen. Will they look for a private spot like they did at the club on Tucker’s birthday?
I hate that thought, and I wonder if she’s thinking about me for even one second. Does she really miss me like Tucker said, even though she has two boyfriends who aren’t letting the rules in her contract deter them from being with her?
“Come to the party, let’s hang out. We don’t have to do anything crazy, just hang out with her and us.”
Tucker’s words earlier echo in my ears, and I almost let my feet carry me in the direction of Vaughn’s apartment.
But what if they aren’t just hanging out with our friends? What if Colsen and Tucker are sharing her right now? If they were doing the things I’m dying to do to her, I don’t think I could take it.
It’s much better if I stick to my guns and take a walk outside. Let the fresh air tire me and clear my mind. When I turn up to practice rested and ready to go tomorrow morning, it’ll be much easier to deal with whatever punishment Coach is going to dole out if the party gets busted.
It’s a clear night with a breeze that swept away this morning’s clouds. Despite some light pollution, once I walk a little further away from the building, a decent number of stars become visible in the black velvet of the sky.
The scent of the sea fills my nostrils, the murmur of the waves singing a calming song, almost a lullaby.
When I was in South Carolina, despite our college being in a beach town, campus was far from the actual beach. And summer training happened on a half-deserted campus, rather than a beautiful complex right on the beach.
I need to stay the course and have a great season to make sure that the LA Gladiators call me onto their roster rather than trading me or sending me to a minor league team to develop my skills.
Aside from the fact that playing in the minors could become a trap that’s difficult to evade, I’m excited to live in LA.
The Gladiators’ HQ and practice arena are in a small town right outside LA, and if I’m lucky, I could find a place to rent by the beach.
I could go swimming on days when we don’t have practice and in the off season.
I could go swimming now.
My fingers toy with the zipper of my hoodie, but I decide against it when a gust of cold wind comes from the sea. If I want to swim, I should probably bring a towel and my swimming trunks. Besides, it’s better to do it during the day when I can see what other creatures are in the water with me.
I don’t think there are many sharks around here, but you never know, and I would rather be safe than sorry.
I walk a little more and, like I thought, the fresh air and the sea breeze do the trick, and before I know it, I’m yawning. Ready for a little snack and my bed, I begin walking back toward the apartment building.
The party, however, has spilled onto the beach.
I hear my teammates before I see them and make the snap decision to walk back inside from the side entrance, even though that will force me to go through the basement.
Before crossing the spot where some people are hanging out with solo cups in their hands, I pull my hoodie up to avoid drawing attention.
It’s the only way to make sure I don’t get spotted and guilted into staying for just one drink. It’s a universal law that it’s never just one drink, and I’m really not in the mood to party.
There’s a short flight of stairs that from the back entrance goes down to the basement, and I can get to the elevator from there.
Everything happens so fast that I barely understand what’s going on.
The overhead lights come on the second I step inside, and the fire door slams shut behind me.
These eco lights are dim as fuck and motion activated, so as I stop, slightly disoriented, I’m plunged into darkness, but it’s short-lived.
Flashes of light come from further down the hallway, and I spot someone in a tank top and shorts running toward me.
Even before I can make out her features, I would know that blonde hair and those shapely legs anywhere.
It looks like Taryn is running from something. My hunch is confirmed by the scream she lets out when she sees me.
My legs spring into action, pure instinct driving my movements the same way they do on the ice.
Whatever scared her, I’m here now and I’ll protect her.
But once she realizes that I’m going toward her, Taryn turns around and begins running in the opposite direction.
Why is she running from me?
Taryn is fast, but I have almost a foot on her and my much longer legs help me eat the distance between us faster than she can run.
I grab her shoulder, and she turns to face me. For a second neither of us move and it’s enough for the lights above us to go out.
She screams again, scared out of her mind.
I can feel her fear, and for a second, I’m confused. How can she think I would ever hurt her?
Then I remember pulling my hood up so my teammates wouldn’t stop me when I walked past them. My face is still hidden by the hood and in the stupid dim lights of this basement, I can only imagine how I looked when she saw me.
“Taryn, it’s me.” I say.
That doesn’t do the trick, and she sobs, her body shaking in my grip. “Please don’t hurt me.”
I pull the hood off my head with one hand and take two steps closer, pushing her against the wall. The movement is enough to activate the lights, and she finally sees me.
“Nash?” She blinks, as disoriented as I was a few seconds ago.
I switch on the light on my phone so we don’t have to keep moving to keep the lights on.
“It’s me, Trouble.” Fuck, she’s so beautiful. I can’t help myself but touch her. I run my knuckles over her cheekbone. “Did I scare you?”
Her eyes are wide, reminding me of a wild animal that has been cornered.
She nods. “You did.”
It doesn’t make sense. “Sorry, it wasn’t my intention.”
“Wasn’t it? Look at yourself. Head to toe in dark clothes, with a hoodie hiding your entire head and face. I saw you coming toward me and I thought …”
“What did you think? We’re basically in a compound. Who else could I be if not one of the hockey players, or maybe one of the staff?”
She pushes against my chest, but I don’t budge.
“I don’t know, ok?” she huffs, frustrated. “I was watching a true crime documentary about a serial killer, and usually I watch that stuff with Jodie. Maybe watching it alone at night wasn’t my finest idea.”
I agree with her. “Maybe not. What were you doing alone, by the way? I thought you’d be at the party.” I point behind me.
“No,” Taryn sighs. “I was tired, and I didn’t feel up to it. I decided to get ahead on mine and Jodie’s laundry since it’s almost the weekend and everyone will be fighting over the laundry room then. Are you coming from the party?”
That explains her presence down here. “No. I didn’t feel like drinking and all that noise either.”
We look at each other for a long moment. Neither of us speaks, and I study Taryn’s face.
The moss green of her eyes is so deep and intense that I could lose myself in it. I know her pink lips are even softer than they look, and I clench my fists, fighting the urge to kiss her, to touch her again.
She holds my gaze, her back pressed against the wall, and I’d give every cent in my bank account to know what she’s thinking.
TARYN