SWNOVELS A Dose of Pretty Poison: Chapter 12
Two words for you: radio silence.
It’s been three days since Laiken stormed into my job, laid into me the way no other girl ever has, and walked out with my dignity in her hands. I’ve always known that Laiken was the no-bullshit type. It’s one of the things most guys find so attractive about her. But I don’t think I ever expected what happened.
As she stood there, giving me the verbal ass kicking I rightfully deserved, I knew there was nothing I could say. There was no excuse I could give her. Nothing that would justify the things I’ve done and the way I’ve treated her.
I’ve been an asshole, and messing with her when I knew about her feelings for me was fucked up. There’s nothing else to it.
And now I’m forced to deal with the consequences—which are all apparently in the form of Laiken’s silence.
OKAY, I’LL ADMIT, THIS is bothering me more than I thought it would. This is what I wanted, right? For her to realize she doesn’t want a going-nowhere guy like me? So then why is it that I still can’t go an hour without thinking about her?
I get to the rink a half hour before I usually would. Coach asked me to come early to show him the new plays I came up with. The sight of Laiken’s car in the parking lot tells me she’s inside, and I’m not entirely sure how I feel about it.
Classical music plays through the speakers as I walk through the front door, telling me that Laiken is most likely on the ice. The urge to watch her is strong, but I know I have no right to be anywhere near her. Not after everything. So, I turn into the locker room instead and drop my bag on the bench.
“Hey, Coach,” I say, popping my head into his office.
He looks up from his playbook. “Hey. Thanks for coming in early. Our upcoming game against Beaufort is an important one. While they may not be our biggest rivals, they’ve been making a lot of waves lately.”
I scoff. “And talking a bunch of shit while they’re at it.”
“Exactly,” he agrees. “So, I’m making it our mission to humble them a little.”
“Sounds good to me. I’d love nothing more than to knock them down a peg.”
The grin that stretches across his face makes me a little uneasy. “I’m glad to hear you say that. Come with me.”
Getting up from his desk, he leads me out of the locker room and over to the rink. Laiken has the whole thing to herself and she’s gliding around the ice with her usual unmatched skill. She has a way of making it look easy, and the only thing I can do is watch in awe.
Coach crosses his arms over his chest. “She’s good, isn’t she?”
“She’s amazing,” I all but whisper.
Her whole body launches in the air, and she spins quickly, making two rotations and landing a double axel like it’s the simplest thing in the world to do. Honestly, if she tried, she could probably master the triple, but then Mr. Zimmerman would never leave her alone about going pro.
Seeing her all in her element is mesmerizing. She’s confident off the ice—especially when she’s standing in the middle of the surf shop, laying into me and making me regret every wrong thing I’ve ever done. But on the ice? It’s like she’s the only one that exists.
There’s nothing she can’t do.
No one she can’t be.
Her whole world is inside that rink, and she owns every inch of it.
“She’s also going to be our secret weapon,” Coach says.
My gaze is ripped away from Laiken and over to him. “She’s what?”
He chuckles, as if this is exactly what he expected from me. “Laiken is going to teach you and the rest of the team skills that will make you better on your skates. Today, you’re all taking lessons…from her.”
Fate has always had a way of laughing in my face, and it must have teamed up with Karma for this one. The timing of this couldn’t be worse. Laiken hates my guts—rightfully so—and now I have to spend the next three hours with her.
Oh, and her brother, who can’t know there is anything off between us.
This should be a blast.
“You’re wasting your skills on the tiny tikes,” Coach tells Laiken as the music stops.
She comes over to the gate and uses her skates to stop short, spraying snow onto the floor, but all I can see are her legs. Isaac was right. They’re fucking perfect. And it pisses me off that he’s noticed it, too.
“You don’t know that,” she counters. “One of those kids could be the next Ilia Malinin.”
He chuckles. “It’s going to be the one who was picking his nose and wiping it on the ice, isn’t it?”
“Gross,” I chime in, using it as an excuse to talk to her. “Which one was doing that?”
It suddenly gets frigid in here, and it has nothing to do with the ice. She glances over at me, barely even acknowledging my existence before she turns back to Coach.
“I’m going to get a drink. Let me know when you’re ready for me.”
He nods in response. “Will do. Thanks, Laiken.”
She gets off the ice and removes her skates before walking away in her socks. Once she’s gone, Coach looks in the direction she disappeared to and then at me, letting out a long whistle.
“What’d you do to piss off Baby Blanchard?”
I cringe, rubbing the side of my head. “It’s a long story.”
His hand comes up to pat me on the shoulder as he snickers. “Oh, today is going to be fun for you.”
Hypothetically, if I were to punch him in the face, would I be removed from the team? I mean, at the very least it would probably get me out of the cruel torture he has planned. Maybe the risk would be worth the reward.
“I thought we were going over new plays today.” I groan. “If this was your plan, why did you have me come in early?”
He gives me a onceover. “Because the other guys follow your example, and I knew you would be the one to give me the most crap about this.”
“Well, you clearly didn’t think that one through,” I tell him. “What do you think Cam is going to do when you tell him?”
“You don’t think he’ll be okay with it?”
It takes everything in me to hold back a laugh. “Taking skating lessons from his little sister? Oh, yeah. I’m sure he’ll be thrilled.”
ALL OF US GATHER around on the rink, with Coach and Laiken in front of us. Half the guys are annoyed, while the other half are too busy checking her out—something I’m struggling to ignore. And then there’s Cam.
“You’re fucking with me,” he says with a shake of his head, in total denial.
Coach looks over at me and I smile, mentally telling him I told you so. I can see why he thought I would be his biggest problem when it comes to this. There is nothing about me that screams ballet on ice, and I’ve never had a problem refusing to do something.
For example, the practice I missed. When I came in next, Coach told me I would have to make up the suicides I missed. The last thing he probably expected was me to tell him he had a better chance of me smoothing out the rink with my tongue, and that he can fuck off and find a new co-captain if he doesn’t like it, but that’s exactly what he got.
This, however, is different.
Cam and Laiken are really close. They have a bond that most siblings don’t. But there’s always been a dynamic between them. Cam is the typical big brother—intimidating and protective to a fault when it comes to her. Laiken, on the other hand, is the princess in the tower. Don’t get me wrong, she can knock someone out without putting so much as a finger on them. If anyone else were to try to treat her like she needs them, they’d regret their words before they even finished saying them. But with Cam, she allows it.
Which is exactly why having to learn from her is a blow to Cam’s ego.
“I’m not,” Coach tells him. “You all have a lot of potential, but the place you need the most improvement is in the basics. Being able to control the puck will get you nowhere if you aren’t skilled on your skates.”
Isaac grunts. “She’s a glorified dancer on ice. There’s nothing she can teach me that I don’t already know.” He looks her up and down and smirks. “Unless she wants to take this somewhere more private.”
My jaw locks as Laiken rolls her eyes.
Cam turns to glare at Isaac. “Shut your damn mouth before I shut it for you.”
“Not this again,” Coach huffs. “Listen up. This is nonnegotiable. If you don’t like it, go ahead and sit out. But if you’re on the bench during this, you can expect to be on the bench during the game, too.”
Everyone groans, clearly not liking the idea of having to learn from a figure skater. Some of them are even taking issue with the fact that it’s Laiken. And as I stand here, knowing how much she would rather be anywhere else right now than in the same room as me, I can’t watch this.
“All right. That’s enough,” I say loud enough for everyone to hear me. “What’s wrong? Afraid of being shown up by a girl?” Looking at Isaac specifically, my brows raise. “What about you? Cause personally, I think she can skate circles around your ass.”
“Fuck off, Wilder,” he spits.
I shrug. “Prove me wrong then.”
Coach nods a silent thank you at me and then turns to Laiken. “They’re all yours. Good luck.”
“Thanks.” Her eyes meet mine for a second, but she quickly tears them away and addresses the team. “All right. In hockey, your most important tool is your stick, but in figure skating, it’s all about your body. Knowing where to place your balance is an underestimated skill set. For me, it means landing a double axel. For you, it means being able to skate faster than your opponent. And they can’t stop you from scoring if they can’t get to you in time.”
SPOILER ALERT: I SHOULD’VE sat the fuck out. Screw Beaufort getting their asses handed to them. It’s not worth it when I have to stand in the middle of the rink with a bunch of dudes, practicing a goddamn demi plié.
Where is the button to abort fucking mission?
“This is ridiculous,” Owen whines. “What in the world does ballet have to do with hockey?”
A devilish smirk appears on her face. “Good question. Let me show you.”
She skates over to the bench and grabs two broken hockey sticks and a roll of duct tape. Owen stays completely still with his eyes pinched shut as she tapes the wood to the back of his legs. When she’s done, she stands back up and looks at Cam.
“You two are going to race,” she tells them. “First one to the other side of the rink wins.”
Owen doesn’t look happy about it, but he walked himself into this bear trap. He and Cam line up beside each other, and when Coach blows the whistle, Cam takes off, but Owen is having a little trouble.
And by a little trouble, I mean he’s waddling like a fucking penguin.
He doesn’t even reach the middle of the rink by the time Cam crosses the finish line. Laiken giggles at his frustration, having proved her point.
“Bending your knees the right way is crucial to your speed.” She looks at Cam and nods toward the starting line.
The idea of racing Laiken doesn’t intimidate him at all. His cocky attitude comes out as he lines up next to her. But he should know that she never puts herself in a situation that isn’t going to go in her favor.
The whistle blows once more, and they’re off. You can tell Cam is pushing himself more than he was before, but he doesn’t stand a chance. Laiken crosses the finish line a full three seconds before he does, and she barely even breaks a sweat while doing it.
“Dude,” Aiden laughs. “You just got your ass handed to you by your sister.”
Cam flips him off. “I’ve never claimed to be the fastest on the team. If she beats H, then I’ll be impressed.”
Laiken looks away at the mention of me, but she mumbles a quiet fine and skates over to the goal line. I follow suit, spraying a little snow her way in an effort to lighten the mood, but it doesn’t work.
“You two ready?” Coach asks. “Laiken, you need a minute? You just got done racing Cam.”
“Nope,” she answers confidently. “Let’s get this over with so they can apologize and we can get back to ballet.”
Chuckling, he blows the whistle, and we push off the ice at the same time.
I have to win this. Not that I don’t respect Laiken. I do. But I have a reputation to uphold. And yet, even with pushing my absolute hardest, it’s not enough. She’s at least a foot in front of me as we cross the line.
Both our skates turn to the side and snow sprays the wall.
I drop my head and laugh quietly to myself.
That’s twice in one week that I’ve gotten my ass handed to me by her.
With a hand on her hip, she turns to the rest of the team. “Anyone else?”
All knowing they don’t stand a chance; they shake their heads.
“Great.” She gestures for them to continue. “Now that we’ve settled that, let’s get back to demi pliés.”
“Wait!” someone shouts, and Cam looks like he’s in his own personal hell as Mali runs up onto the bleachers with her phone tightly in hand. “Oh, thank fuck. I thought I missed the good part.”
“Amalia!” Coach shouts. “There’s no recording practice. You know this.”
She grins widely but doesn’t put down the phone. “Don’t worry, Coach! This video is for blackmail purposes only. I promise.”
Lucas stops and tilts his head at Mali. “Your name is Amalia?”
“Watch it,” she growls. “You’re looking less like a Lucas and more like a Lucy in this video. You do not want to be on my bad side.”
His eyes widen in fear.
It’s no secret that Mali doesn’t bluff.
If she doesn’t like you, you’re pretty much fucked.
BY THE END OF practice, I’m spent. Exhausted doesn’t even begin to explain it. My legs ache in places I didn’t know could ache. But just by executing some of the things she showed us, I can see how they’ll be beneficial. We’ve got the basics down. It’ll just take some time to perfect it all.
“Mali, come on,” Cam begs.
She shakes her head, smiling like the cat that caught the canary. “No way. You couldn’t pay me to delete that video.”
“Hey, just be glad she didn’t get one of Laiken beating you in a race,” I tell him.
Mali’s jaw drops as she turns to look at Cam, and he sighs.
“Thank you so much for that,” he grits through his teeth.
Laiken comes over with her bag on her shoulder. “If he hadn’t told her, I would’ve.”
Her hair is thrown into a messy bun on the top of her head, and she’s wearing a pair of shorts and a hoodie, but fuck, she looks so good. Maybe it’s the way she keeps putting me in my place, or that I’ve been desperate to see her since the moment she stormed out of the shop, but it’s so easy to get lost in everything she is.
I let myself look at her for a moment and then tear my eyes away, not wanting Cam to catch on. Although, he seems to be leaving.
“Okay, well, before you give her even more ammunition, I’m going to go.” He walks backward to the door and then he’s gone. Only Mali, Laiken and I remain—except for Aiden, who hasn’t gotten his ass off the ice yet.
“If only his trial hadn’t happened yet,” Mali says. “We could have shown that video to the judge. ‘Your honor, does this pointed toes princess look like a threat to you?’”
Laiken chuckles and shakes her head. “You’re fucked up.”
“I know,” she answers proudly.
“Look, guys!” Aiden yells.
We all turn to see him gliding around with one leg lifted behind him. When he realizes he has our attention, he stands up straight and raises his arms above his head like in ballet.
“I’m feeling fabulous,” he calls, but as he goes to do a trick, he wipes out like a freshly born baby gazelle.
Mali shakes her head slowly. “How does Coach not make him wear a helmet at all times?”
“I feel like the damage is already done at this point,” Laiken replies. “Are you ready to go?”
“Yeah. Are you going to follow me?”
She nods, and just before they go to leave, I can’t hold myself back. My hand moves before I can think it through, and Laiken stops when she feels my fingers lightly grabbing her hand.
“Can I talk to you for a minute?” I ask, hating the way she actually manages to make me nervous.
Glancing down at our hands, she looks like she might agree, but then she pulls herself out of my grasp.
“No.” My hand falls to my side as she takes a step back. “The time to talk was around the same time you ignored me and made me feel like I was just a game to you. It’s too late for that now.”
Mali looks impressed as Laiken grabs her arm and walks out of the rink, leaving me feeling like I may have fucked up even more than I thought.