20. Chapter 20
Chapter twenty
~ZED~
The heavy oak door of the storage room clicks shut behind us.
I slip my hand to Lilly’s back as we approach the heavy double doors leading back to the main ballroom and gently turn her around.
Lilly looks up at me. “What?”
“Hold still.”
Her brows immediately pull together. “What are you doing?”
Several pieces of her hair have escaped the arrangement she walked in here with. One pale strand is hanging across her cheek, and another has come loose near the back.
I brush the first strand away from her face and tuck it carefully behind her ear. Then I find the loose pin at the back of her hair and work the section into place again, moving slowly so I don’t pull.
Lilly goes quiet as she follows me with her eyes.
“You’re staring,” I murmur as I try to recreate her hairstyle the best I can.
“You’re fixing my hair,” she states flatly.
“Well, I fucked it up.” I finish tucking the last strand into place and let my fingers trail once over the back of her head, checking my work.
I straighten the delicate strap at her shoulder where it twisted, then smooth my palm once down her back.
“There.”
Lilly does nothing but keep looking at me with an odd expression on her face. I hook a finger beneath her chin, tilt her face toward me, and press a kiss to her forehead.
Her cheeks flush a deep, beautiful pink, her chest expanding with a breath under her gown.
She’s so beautiful. I wonder how one asshole could ever make her question it.
I also don’t have to wonder who ‘blond boy’ is anymore.
Liam Richards.
The guy is a walking, talking joke in the league. A third-line nobody who makes headlines for showing up to games hungover after spending the night getting wasted and fucking puck bunnies at local clubs. According to every source and locker room rumor out there, the guy is a certified trashbag.
How a woman like Lilly ever let a pathetic excuse for a man like Richards touch her is completely beyond me. I guess the bastard is good at putting up a front.
But her father is a legend on the ice. He had to have known what a piece of garbage Richards was...so how the hell did he allow that relationship to happen?
If Coach was somehow okay with Lilly dating a pathetic loser like Richards, maybe he won’t be too mad about me?
I almost scoff at my own logic. I’m fucking gaslighting myself.
And yet Lilly dated him.
Which means one of two things. Either Coach didn’t know nearly as much as I think he should have. Or he did, and somehow still thought that was acceptable.
Then again, Liam is not on her father’s team, unlike me. He makes the tabloids for getting drunk and fucking groupies.
I’ve got words like premeditated murder still hanging around my name no matter how much hockey I bury them under.
We’re not exactly in the same category.
Either way, it doesn’t fucking matter. There isn’t a force on this Earth that could keep me away from Lilly.
“Zed, wait,” Lilly whispers suddenly, her hand shooting out to grip my forearm, halting me a few feet before the ballroom entrance.
I stop and look down at her. Her eyes are wide, dark with lingering arousal and panic.
“I... I need to go to the bathroom first,” she murmurs, her eyes darting nervously down the intersecting hallway toward the ladies’ powder room.
A small smile tugs at the corners of my lips. I lift my hand, tilt her chin up with my thumb, and lean down to plant a kiss on her soft lips.
“No,” I murmur against her mouth.
“Zed, I just want to—”
“I know exactly what you want to do, Lilly,” I cut her off, my mouth dropping to her ear. “I’m not letting you wipe me off you.”
“What if I have to pee?” she snaps, but it’s breathy.
“We both know you don’t,” I counter.
She pulls back to look up at me, her full bottom lip sinking between her teeth to hide a small smile.
The double doors to my left open. The sound of the ballroom spills into the hallway, snapping both our heads toward it.
I straighten away from Lilly as soon as I see who’s stepping through the door. Dominic’s eyes find mine, and he pauses as the door slips closed behind him. His narrowed eyes dart between Lilly and me before his broad chest expands with a deep breath.
“Dom!” Lilly squeals with a panicked smile.
“Hey,” is all Dom says to her, not taking his eyes off me.
His gaze is harsh, locking onto mine with an immediate, unmistakable hostility that makes my jaw tighten.
“Mercer,” Dom says, his voice flat. “I was looking for you. You got a minute?”
My hand slides around Lilly’s waist, pulling her flush against my side, anchoring her to me. Lilly tenses beside me, sensing the sudden spike in tension. She subtly tries to take a step away, her hand dropping from my arm.
“I’ll give you guys some spac—”
“No,” I cut her off.
Say whatever the fuck you came to say in front of her.
“Thank you, Lilly.” Dominic’s jaw tenses, and he doesn’t sound at all thankful. The silence between us stretches.
Lilly places a gentle hand on my chest, her eyes pleading with me to de-escalate.
“Zed, it’s fine,” she murmurs softly, her voice a soothing balm against the violent current in my veins. “Really. I’ll just go to the ladies’ room and then find Jessica and Melody.”
Dominic doesn’t break eye contact with me, but his voice softens a little as he directs her. “Table two.”
“Thanks.” She glances up at me before she tries to step away. When I don’t let her, her gaze hardens. “Zed,” she reprimands, and I reluctantly let my hand trail down her back.
My eyes track her as she walks away, watching the elegant swing of her hips as she exits through the heavy double doors.
I slowly turn my head back to Dominic. The captain is staring at me like he wants to knock my lights out.
And I’m just waiting for him to try.
The bruise from the locker room doesn’t show from here, but I know where it is. I know exactly what my elbows left on him. And he knows exactly what his words left on me.
I don’t wait for him to set the terms of this conversation. I’ve never played defense off the ice, and I’m sure as hell not starting now.
“If this is about Lilly, save your breath.”
“It’s your funeral, not mine,” Dom responds, his tone icy.
My eyes narrow in confusion. What the fuck is this about?
“The kids are about to be brought in. You better leave,” Dom says flatly, adjusting the silver cufflink of his tuxedo.
My brows dip as my eyes scan his expression. He’s entirely serious.
“...What?” The syllable leaves my throat rough, completely uncomprehending.
“You won’t be near them from now on,” Dom adds with finality.
I hear the words. I understand the sentence. But some part of me still refuses to believe he actually said it out loud. Dom’s had my back for months, gentle-parenting me and begging me to interact with these kids.
I can’t process whether he’s being serious or if this is just some twisted, sick bait to get a reaction out of me again.
“You’re treating me like a child predator now, Moreal?” I raise a brow.
I’m waiting for the backpedal, for him to clarify what he means. I get neither.
“I’m treating you the way you treat yourself.”
“What the fuck does that mean?”
“I mean you’re not allowed to be around them anymore.” Dom holds my gaze. “If you want to act like you contaminate every single thing you touch, then you can use the side exit and get the fuck out of here before they come in.”
“You think I’m a danger to them?” I ask quietly.
“I think you think you are.” He nods. “So I’m making the call for you. Leave and get your head straight. Come back when you can be around them without making them cry.”
I want to hit him again. My hands flex once at my sides. His eyes flick down to them and back up, his jaw tightening.
“Go fuck yourself, Dominic.” My face is blank.
He nods once like that’s close enough to compliance. “I’ll see you at practice.”
My mood has soured significantly. This is my team and my ice.
And now a bunch of kids are infiltrating my space, forcing me out.
This is not what I had in mind when I supported Dominic in this fucking ambition to play hero and create a Hockey Youth Academy.
Every dollar I’ve given them was out of a desire to help these kids but also to get them off my rink as soon as possible.
Theirs is still being built, and I thought more money meant they’d get out of my face faster.
I never thought it would come down to this shitshow.
It’s not my fault they keep shoving kids my way when I’ve told them not to.
“You sure do love your high horse, don’t you?” I say, my voice dropping so low it’s barely a vibration against the upbeat tempo of the jazz band.
“I think something in this room will hurt you,” he says. “And then you’ll hurt everybody else trying not to feel it.”
“So you’d rather piss off your goalie than explain to a bunch of kids what boundaries are?” I snarl and tap a finger against his chest, mocking his captain’s patch. “Very smart...Captain.”
“Look at yourself,” Dom murmurs. “You attacked a man out there—”
“Like you haven’t had your fair share of fights,” I cut him off.
“Zed, your head’s not right. I don’t know how you plan on telling Coach you’re fucking his daughter, but if you want a sliver of a chance with her, I suggest you leave now. Don’t give him a reason to be afraid for her too.”
He completely misses the fucking point of what I just said and instead gives me this high-and-mighty exile bullshit.
He’s also right.
The double doors open when a waiter pushes through with a service cart. Kids’ cheers spill in from the ballroom for a few seconds before the doors close again.
I need to get the hell away from Dom and the mirrors he holds up to my face before I shatter them across his jaw.
“Enjoy your little pageant, Captain,” I bite out as I take a slow step back from him.
Dom watches me, his expression softening with relief as I turn away from him.
“Tell Lilly I had a sudden emergency,” I spit over my shoulder.
I head straight for the exit, my mind a storm of fury. I find the door and toss my weight against it.
The night air hits my face. I let the door close behind me and stalk toward the valet podium. I’m so fucking tired of everything and equally as furious.
The urge to call Dr. Simon is short-lived. I don’t need him. But this week I’ve already called the person who can help me. If I call her again, she’ll know I’m close to losing it. I want her to know I’m okay. I need to be okay for them.
The man standing at the podium turns to me when he sees me approaching.
“Your ticket, sir?”
“Black Pagani,” I instruct him as I hand him the ticket.
“Right away, sir.” He nods with a smile.
I pace the asphalt for no more than a minute before he brings the car.
“Hey!” Lilly’s voice comes from behind me, making my heart kick.
I don’t turn toward her as the man steps out of my car.
“Thank you,” I tell him and hand him a folded hundred-dollar bill. He takes it with a smile, thanks me, and steps away.
“Zed, wait!” Lilly shouts again.
I don’t want her seeing me upset. I don’t want to give her a reason to be afraid of me more than I’ve given her already. I’m not in a good headspace right now, and I need to go lick old wounds before I start ripping out throats.
But there’s a darkly satisfied part that relishes the fact that she came running after me.
“Zed, what happened?” Lilly gasps, sprinting onto the asphalt, the hem of her dress bunched up in her hands, her heels clicking frantically against the ground. She comes to a stop to my left just as I step toward the car. “Dom told me you were leaving.”
“I am,” I tell her, catching the disappointment in her pretty blue eyes.
Fuck. I hate that.
“Go back inside and have fun.”
The words feel wrong the second they leave my mouth.
“I’m not going back inside,” she pleads, her voice a frantic, heartbreaking sound as she steps right between me and the open car door, refusing to let me isolate. “Please tell me what’s happening. You look so angry.”
“I am.”
The hesitation that follows is small, but I hear it anyway. “At me?”
“No.” The word comes out before she finishes the question. My hand closes gently around the side of her neck, and I pull her toward me to give the top of her head a small peck. “No, never you, snowflake.”
“Then what?” Her eyes search mine.
I don’t have an answer I can give her. Especially not here and not now.
“Something I need to deal with.”
“Can I help?” Her brows pull together, but her eyes remain worried.
That nearly fucking does me in.
My sweet girl.
“No.” I shake my head. “Not with this.”
I see the hurt before she can hide it.
Fuck.
“I’ll see you soon.” I slide my thumb across her cheek. “Go back inside. Please.” The word comes out between my teeth.
“No.” She shakes her head. “I’m not leaving. Is this about Dom? What is happening with you two?”
I grab her face, pressing my mouth to hers. Her lips part under mine, and I slide my tongue inside her mouth.
Stop asking. Stop.
My tongue moves against hers as I grab her by the waist and ease her out of the doorway. Once she’s distracted, I pull away and slide into the leather seat.
“Go, Lilly.”
I slam the door shut and put the car into drive. My hands grip the steering wheel as I refuse to look at her. I don’t want to see the hurt on her face if I look out the window.
I start to lift my foot off the brake—
Click.
My head whips around as the passenger door is yanked open. A flash of red silk fills my vision as Lilly gets into the seat beside me and closes the door.
I stare at her, unbelieving, the air in the cabin instantly heating with the scent of her perfume and the residual adrenaline of our bodies.
“What do you think you’re doing?” I ask, my brows dipping even further.
She grabs the seatbelt and buckles it with a decisive, sharp click, turning her head to lock her beautiful eyes with mine.
“I don’t want to be in there without you,” she says, her voice full of stubbornness that completely catches me off guard. “You look like you’re about to kill someone. I’m not letting you drive off alone like this.”
Something hungry and pleased coils inside me.
“I’m not driving you back home, Lilly,” I warn. “Once I start driving, there’s no way out.”
“Drive, Zed,” she whispers.
“You really need to work on your self-preservation, snowflake.”
That gets me the smallest flicker of a smile from her.