SWNOVELS Puck Block : Chapter 40
Coach points at Emory. “Fine, but you better be back before practice time tomorrow. I don’t want any bullshit excuses about traffic either.”
Emory nods and then skates across the rink toward the locker room. Coach yells for me, and I move across the ice casually before doing a little turn and sending him a goofy grin. “I know, I know. I heard you. Don’t worry. We’ll leave at ten.”
“Ten?” Coach shouts. “That’s only three hours before practice!”
I laugh. “I’m kidding. We’ll leave at seven so we can beat rush hour. We’ll be back by eleven at the latest.”
Coach shoots me his usual you’re-lucky-you’re-good-at-hockey glare before turning his back and gathering his things. Aasher and Theo are the only ones left on the ice, and when I follow their line of sight, I slip. My stick flies, and they both turn to see what the commotion is.
What the hell is he doing here?
I bounce up like the rink suddenly turned into a trampoline and skate to meet them near the glass. My scowl deepens when I watch Knox smile at Taytum.
“Who let him in here?” I snap.
“Why does it matter?” Aasher looks over at me. “They’re out of the Frozen Four.”
“Yeah, Ford.” Theo brims with amusement, and I want to crosscheck him. “Why does it matter?”
Claire and Riley are both laughing alongside Taytum, but when they see that practice is over, they descend down the aisle to come talk to us. Much to my disapproval, Taytum and Knox do the same.
Fix your face, Ford.
I smooth out my features and nod to Knox. After all, he thinks we’re friends, since I was the one that set him up with the hottest girl at this university.
Too bad for him, she’s mine.
“Hey, man.” I choose to play it cool. “I thought you were heading back early this morning.”
“We’re leavin’ soon,” he says.
“And you thought to come check out our practice?” Theo asks.
He’s a little skeptical, but I’m not. I know exactly why he’s here.
Claire looks at her boyfriend. “Actually, he came by The Bex looking for Taytum and followed us over here since I knew where she was.”
The ice is likely melting beneath my skates. My heart is pounding harder than it ever has, and the thought of Knox touching her again is enough to send me sailing over the glass to strangle him. Thankfully, I have some restraint.
I slowly shift my attention to Taytum, and she’s looking right at me. I can read her like the back of my hand.
She’s fucking with me, and I don’t like it.
“Well, you found her,” I announce.
Both my teammates rush to stare in my direction, but I can’t stop glaring at Taytum. She blows me off, though, and turns to Knox.
I suddenly can’t see straight.
“Gimme.” She holds out her hand and wiggles her fingers.
Knox grins and pulls his phone out of his pocket. I’m sweating through my hockey gear. I don’t miss the way their fingers brush, and I don’t miss the way a rush of madness enters my bloodstream either. I look to the ice to see if the rink has somehow cracked from my anger, but I’m quickly brought back to the present when I hear Taytum say, “There. I texted myself from your phone, so now you have my number.”
I make a mental note to change her fucking number, because I’m clearly unstable.
“Perfect. Want to walk me out?” he asks.
“No,” I snap. “She can’t.”
Everyone turns to me, and I look directly at Taytum. “Come on.” I nod to the rink opening. “Emory needs you to meet us at the locker room so we can leave.”
“Emory can wait.”
I growl under my breath. “If you make him wait, he’ll just come get you himself, and you know how he is when you’re seen with a guy.”
Knox blows a puff of air out of his mouth. “I did hear some interesting rumors about your brother…”
Aasher and Theo both step in and back me up. “The rumors are true. Come on, girls. All of ya, on the ice.”
Claire and Riley obey, but Taytum is a whole other breed. I don’t give Knox another second to breathe. I bang on the glass and point at her. “Get down here.”
There’s a little twitch of her lips, and I know I’m fucked up over her because, instead of letting her have her fun, I threaten her. “I will come up there and get you.”
She crosses her arms, and I’ve lost my patience. I skate over to the opening and sit down on the first set of seats, drop my helmet, then start to unlace my skates.
I hear Knox say he’ll text her later, and when I glance at her again, she’s slowly walking down the steps in my direction. I re-lace my skates and wait for her to get closer. As soon as she’s within my reach, I swoop forward, and she yelps.
I hold her tightly against my front, and she pounds my shoulder pads with her tiny fists. “Stop being ridiculous and put me down.”
“You want to know what’s ridiculous?” I ask while skating across the ice to the other side of the rink. “You playing games with me.”
“I’m not playing any games!” she argues.
We’re the only ones in the rink, and that’s such a dangerous thing, considering I am completely unhinged.
We make it to the other end of the arena, and I do a quick scan, confirming we’re alone before sliding her feet to the ice. Her ribcage extends in my grip.
“Admit it. You just gave him your number in front of me to get back at me for this morning.” Taytum tries to look away, but I don’t let her. Her sweet gasp hits me square in the face when I force her chin to stay still. I squeeze, and she pouts.
“That’s not true. I gave him my number because we both agreed that last night was a one-time thing. Remember? You needed to get me out of your system.”
Dwelling on what was said before I fucked her doesn’t matter anymore.
“Of course I remember,” I say. “How could I forget anything about last night?”
“You seemed to do a pretty good job forgetting when your mouth was on Bryn’s a minute after it was on mine.”
I knew it. It bothered her.
“I was trying to play it cool so your brother didn’t find out that you were about to scream my name seconds before he came storming upstairs.” I feel myself leaning closer to her. The minute I left her room this morning, I told myself I could never cross the line again, and yet here I am, bending in half to kiss her again.
Anyone could walk into the arena at any given second, but seeing her smile at Knox made me want to do wild things to her in front of everyone–just to prove that she’s mine and not theirs.
“You make me crazy,” I admit. “Look at me…” I drop my head and laugh sarcastically. “I can’t keep my hands off you when it hasn’t even been five hours since I touched you last.”
“And yet, you expect us to travel in a car together and stay at home with my brother and parents watching our every move?”
“I thought having their eyes on us would help me keep mine off you.”
Taytum says nothing, and still, my fingers twitch to touch her in other places. “You’re going to have to keep me in line, Tay. So stop fucking with me on purpose.”
I promise myself it’ll be a quick kiss. Just enough to curb the craving. But I know it’s a lie. My hand falls to the crook of her neck, and I pull her in close. I suck the hushed words off her tongue and curse the sexy little noise she lets out.
I snap backward and glare at her.
“I’m so fucked,” I admit.
I quickly skate to the locker room and leave her with my taste inside her mouth, praying her brother won’t know that she’s left me with hers.