Bad Intentions: A Dark Hockey Bully Romance (Hellions of Hade Harbor Book 1)

“Good morning, I’m calling from the Hade Harbor Herald, and I wanted to ask you about finding articles published about ten years ago. I wasn’t able to find those online, so I’m wondering how I can get access to those?”

I scribbled down the address the lady gave me over the phone. The secretary at the Midnight Falls Chronicle was more than helpful and thankfully didn’t ask for any press credentials.

“Okay, and I can just pop in there and browse through the old editions? Great. I’ll come by later.” I was more than willing to skip tonight’s game to go to Midnight and see if I could figure out who had accessed the article.

“They’re closed on Fridays, dear. Come on Saturday… the third Saturday of the month has open hours.”

“Okay, will do.” The third Saturday of the month? It looked like the achieve didn’t get many visitors.

I hung up and tucked away the address of the small library that housed every edition of the Chronicle since its creation in the 1960s. It looked like I was going back to Midnight, but this time, I was going alone. I’d dragged Eve into enough of my shit. I needed to stand on my own two feet. Besides, I didn’t want Cayden’s wrath to extend to her. This was between me and him.

The rest of the week had been uneventful. I’d mostly hidden away in various classrooms, thrown myself into studying, and tried to blend in with the scenery as much as possible. Strangely, people were getting over it pretty quick. For some reason, they seemed to buy that it was a prank. My wild reaction to it should have spread like wildfire, but it just hadn’t caught on. Soon enough, the talk turned back to Cayden and his mysterious past.

Tonight was a big game. The winners would officially get closer to Nationals than Hade Harbor had been in a decade. My dad was anxious, hell, the entire school was anxious.

It happened to be against the Volcanoes, the team my coworker Tyler, played for. He was keyed up as hell and had been texting me all day.

I didn’t want to go and had already told my dad as much. Unfortunately, the disappointed look on his face had broken the remaining parts of my heart to pieces, so I was hanging out on the stairs of the rink, waiting for my mom to arrive. Eve had work, so I had to face watching Cayden play alone.

My phone vibrated in my pocket. My mom was running late. Perfect. Not only that, my dad wasn’t answering his phone, and she wanted me to go and find him to tell him good luck. Another little superstition before a game: my dad’s head wouldn’t be in the right place if he didn’t get a good luck from my mom before the buzzer.

I headed inside, moving down toward the locker rooms and my dad’s office reluctantly.

Players drifted about, some just arriving, others already dressed. Tension was in the air tonight. Josh was hanging out by the stairs. His nose wasn’t bandaged anymore, but his eyes were still bruised.

“Hey, are you looking for your dad? He just went into his office.”

Josh’s smile reassured me a little. It was nice to see a friendly face when I was so nervous.

“Thanks. Yeah, I have to deliver a very special good luck to him.” I gave Josh a small, tentative smile, my first since Tuesday, it felt like.

“Oh really? From who?”

“Is it me?” a loud voice boomed behind me, and suddenly arms surrounded me, picking me up and twirling me around.

I knew that damn voice.

“Tyler, put me down,” I protested. The last thing I needed was more gossip about me flying around.

Tyler complied, and Josh stared at him, starstruck.

“You’re Tyler Owens, right? From the Volcanoes. You’re a great player, man.”

Tyler grinned. “Thanks, dude, that’s always nice to hear. Lily never says it, like, ever.”

“Bug doesn’t really follow hockey,” Josh said.

Tyler frowned at him. “Bug?”

“Oh, it’s her nickname here,” Josh said, backpedaling.

Tyler looked at me. “Well, I guess Hade Harbor miscreants aren’t as creative as they like to think they are, right, Lil?”

“It’s fine, it doesn’t bother me. I’m used to it.”

“It doesn’t bother you, or you’re used to it?” Tyler pressed.

“I don’t care, seriously. Anyway, I need to go and see my dad real quick. Good luck tonight,” I said to Tyler and spun on my heel, crashing straight into an unforgivably hard body.

Cayden towered over me, a specter in black. He didn’t even sway when I bounced off him, reminding me of the first time we’d met and how he’d knocked me on my ass in the parking lot without even lifting a finger.

Tyler whistled loudly. “If it isn’t the star player himself, Cayden West. We’re more than ready for you this year. Your team might have changed, but that’s not going to help you,” he goaded.

Cayden was completely silent.

I glanced up at him. He stared at Tyler with a vaguely menacing look.

I stepped out of his shadow, and the movement drew his eye. He seemed anxious, a line pinching tightly between his eyebrows. His shoulders were bunched, and his lips were thin. When, exactly, I’d learned to decipher Cayden’s emotions just from his posture, I had no idea, but it couldn’t be a good thing.

“See you later,” I called in Tyler and Josh’s direction.

“Let’s hang after the game, Lil.” Tyler grinned at me.

I didn’t dare look at Cayden again as I left.

I hurried to my dad’s office and knocked.

“Come in!” His voice sounded harried.

I poked my head around the door. “Mom’s running late, and you’re not answering your phone. She says good luck.”

My dad grinned to himself and nodded. “Okay, now I can concentrate.”

“You’re crazy with all these superstitions and rituals.”

“Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it, and besides, I know you have your own little rituals on test days. Different pencils with different levels of sharpness, and whatnot.”

I nodded, admitting that much was true.

“I’ll see you in there, Lilypad.”

“See you.”

I turned back to the hall and noted how it had started to empty out. Tyler was gone; he probably shouldn’t have snuck away from his own team to begin with. Josh was gone, too, and there weren’t many people left in the hall. Despite the small numbers, I couldn’t have counted them if I’d tried, because one in particular was left. Cayden stood in the middle of the hall, intimidating in his padding and jersey. His eyes hit mine and felt like a touch.

Raw feelings bubbled up from where I’d stuffed them inside my chest. His gaze on me still felt like electricity. How long would it be before my dumb heart understood that he had written me off, just like that? How long until I got it through my thick skull that he was done with me? I hoped it was soon. I needed it to be soon. I couldn’t cope with the long, unfading disappointment, spiked by sharp betrayal.

He walked toward me, taking long, measured steps. My heart picked up its beat, nerves gathering in my belly. Is he going to speak to me? He paused just beside me, his dark eyes sweeping over my face. Tension rose between us like an oncoming storm. What was he going to say? His eyes were a mix of hurt and anger, just like mine. Before I could get too excited, he looked away, the unspoken words never leaving his mouth. He continued past me, leaving me alone and longing in his wake.

There was something wrong with Cayden. From the second the first buzzer sounded, he was off his game. It started when he crashed into Tyler, the Volcanoes’ centre, and they both went careening into the boards. My gaze stayed on them, even when Beckett picked up the puck and raced down the ice, sinking the first goal of the game. The stadium erupted into cheers, even as Cayden was given a warning and allowed to take his place in the center again.

As soon as the play was back in action, he hooked the puck to Asher, who raced down the side. Again, my eyes were pulled to Cayden, who’d once again gotten in Tyler’s face. Tyler ignored him, skating away and watching the play, until Cayden purposely bumped into him. Tyler turned to him, and soon enough, the two were fighting. Their teammates pulled them apart, and only Cayden was sent to the penalty box. He watched the game, his expression thunderous, as the Volcanoes made the most of the Hellions being shorthanded and evened the score.

When his five minutes were up, he burst out and scored in the first thirty seconds. Then he seemed to focus on Tyler again. After another collision sent them both into the boards, Beckett got up in Cayden’s face, and it looked like the two Hellions were about to throw down. My father was pulling his hair out, gesturing wildly from the edge as he watched.

Cayden and Beckett both got sent to the bench for a shift change, and their argument seemed to continue. Beckett stabbed a finger in my direction, and Cayden tensed even more.

When they got back out onto the ice, Cayden seemed withdrawn. He didn’t fight again with Tyler, but he didn’t score either. It was like he was muted and couldn’t switch back on. The Volcanoes took the lead.

As soon as the first buzzer sounded for intermission, I headed down to catch my dad before he went to the locker room. He was tense, his jaw clenched, his lips pursed. This game was important, and it wasn’t just the team’s hopes of Nationals that rested on it, but my dad’s future goals to coach college hockey.

“Dad, what’s happening?”

“I don’t know. It’s Cade. He’s distracted, and we could lose like this. He has to get his head back in the game, and now. Keep your eyes open for me—I can’t find him anywhere, and I need to speak with him before the end of intermission.” My dad bustled away.

I took my water bottle from my bag, just as my mom came running into the crowd.

“Oh, thank God, I thought I’d missed more than the first period.”

“No, you’re fine, which is more than I can say for the Hellions.”

“Are you serious? Cayden is still so upset?”

I shrugged. “He’s been in the penalty box nearly three times already. I’m not sure if that’s upset or unhinged.”

“Upset, of course. He’s been upset all week, ever since that unfortunate article came out. You can understand why. Now everyone is talking about him, and he’s a private person. It must be hell.”

“Yeah, invasion of privacy is the worst. Sometimes people get what they deserve,” I muttered, my mood turning sour when I thought of my journal. “I’m just going to get some air, okay? I need to cool down.”

I left the busy seating area of the rink and headed for a side door. With one push, I was outside at the back of the building, blissfully alone. The cool night air calmed me, and I took long, bracing breaths. I tilted my head back and stared at the purple evening sky. Night was creeping in, and I stood in the dusky twilight. I wasn’t going to feel sorry for Cayden. Nope. Not me. So, his dreams were going up in smoke. It wasn’t my fault, even if he thought it was.

There was a slight scraping noise, and I realize that someone was leaning against the wall beside the door. Eyes fell on me. Familiar eyes. I wasn’t even surprised that he was here. It was like we just couldn’t stay apart. We kept getting pulled together. I was stuck in his orbit, a small, pale moon to his blazing sun.

I turned and looked at him, curious how he was faring after the first period of the game. He’d inflicted a lot of damage, but he’d taken a lot of hits, too.

His head leaned against the wall behind him, his eyes unreadable as he watched me. I thought of the confession he’d made when we were fighting in the locker room, about how I’d broken his heart and endangered his future. Even though it wasn’t true that I had spilled his secrets, the truth remained that he was distracted and unfocused, and if he wasn’t careful, the chance to play college hockey would slip through his fingers.

It wasn’t my fault, I knew that, but still, seeing him right now, defeated and wretched, I couldn’t help but feel the tiniest bit sorry. His dreams could die tonight. No matter how mad I was at him, I didn’t want that. The little boy who’d hung the torn dream catcher in the window of Jack’s dirty trailer deserved more than that.

“You’re choking, West.” My voice came out strong. Meeting Cayden in general had made me stronger in a lot of ways. Nowadays, I apologized far less than I used to, which was a dramatic improvement.

“I’m aware,” he replied quietly.

“So, do something about it.” I folded my arms over my chest and stared him down.

“Why do you even care? You should be happy. I’ll go back to Midnight Falls, and your little boyfriend, Tyler, can celebrate his victory.”

I frowned at him. “Tyler isn’t my boyfriend.”

Cayden snorted. “He wants to be.”

“Yeah, right. Stop trying to start fights with him and concentrate.”

Cayden pushed off the wall and came toward me. “Concentrate on what? The fact that everyone in the audience is thinking about my past, about how I don’t belong…that I’m a killer, a wolf in sheep’s clothing knocking at your door in the night…” He trailed off when he reached me. “It’s not easy to concentrate when everyone is waiting to see what you’ll do, if you’ll blow, if you’re normal.”

“Then stop thinking about everyone. They don’t matter.”

“And you, Freckles? I didn’t peg you as the type to move on so quickly…Tyler Owens must have just been waiting for his chance, biding his time.”

I rolled my eyes. “What does that matter to you? I broke your heart, remember? I don’t exist.”

His eyes drifted closed at my words, and he swallowed hard. Sweat broke out on my brow. Was he regretting his harsh words? Did I want him to? It was best to change the subject.

“I thought that nothing matters but your dream, right? Stop fucking it up. I thought you were the best?”

My goading tone could have annoyed him, but it didn’t seem to. Instead, his eyes shot open and narrowed, a hint of challenge lighting up the blue pools.

“I am the best.”

“Prove it.” I shrugged and headed inside. I couldn’t get too close, or I’d lose the battle to stay cool and aloof. I felt his eyes on me the entire way inside. It warmed me in a way I hadn’t felt all week.