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“Sure.” Nikolai pushed away from the counter, got the glasses from the cupboard, and then grabbed a pitcher of water.

He knows his way around my kitchen.Why does he make my heart so happy?

“Maybe we can sit outside? The weather is so nice.”

“That’s a great idea, Bunny.”

Nothing in my life prepared me for the way this man smiled or what it did to me.

We settled on the garden swing, so close I only had to reach out a bit to touch him again.

Twenty-eight

Nikolai

Wehadourrematchgame against the Gators in Osterfeld two days after I first hugged Jules. We hadn’t touched any more except for a small hug to say goodbye, but his touch sat like a talisman on my chest.

I went into the game thinking that nothing could dampen my good mood. I was wrong. The Gators played dirty—even dirtier than usual. With their leading man, Chase Harper, traded, they had to rely on brute strength to get past us. And they did. I couldn’t even begin to count the penalties Bo, Luis, and I racked up.

Jarno Lipponen was one of the players I would never see eye to eye with. The worst part of the game was the moment he had me against the boards and gave me a black eye with the end of his stick.

I thought for a moment Bo would lose his temper and beat the Fox hybrid into a pulp.

“Lorenz!“ Coach called me over to the bench so the doctor could check my eye. It hurt, but I knew it was nothing serious. Whatwasserious was my murderous intent. I wanted toendLipponen.

“That bloody asshole!“ I snarled as I accepted a bottle of water from Søren.“That bloody motherfucking asshole.“

“Don’t let him get to you, Nikolai. The team needs you. Can’t you tell how much better they play now that they have you back? He’s not worth it.“

A couple of minutes later, Arne and I switched. Maybe Søren was right: the best revenge would be kicking the Gators’ asses so thoroughly they would have to scrape their deflated egos off the ice.

I’d never seen Guns protect his home like he had today. He’d always hated playing the Gators. You couldn’t blame him. The way Chase Harper taunted him relentlessly every time he’d hammered a goal past him would have gotten under my skin as well.

Not that we could allow their bully tactics to rile us. We had to be bigger than that. But sometimes you couldn’t, especially with an asshole like Harper.

We dominated the game. When the last third was over, we led by three goals.

I had hardly ever seen Nate and Max grin so big. After the game, we went out to a bar near the rink to celebrate our win. By the time I slipped into bed that night, I felt truly invincible.

Next morning, I got up and checked myself in the bathroom mirror. A deep purple bruise bloomed under my eye, giving me a reckless look.

Maybe Jules will want to fuss over me. Wouldn’t say no to that.

I peed and washed my hands, giving myself a sly grin in the mirror.

We arrived back at the rink in Veitsreuth around noon on Saturday. I’d left my car there so I could drive straight out to the labyrinth.

How the hell did I stay away from Jules a few weeks last time?

I had to force myself not to speed too much and drummed on the steering wheel when a tractor pulled out on the road a couple hundred metres in front of me.

Fuck!It was one of the tiny old ones that didn’t drive butcreptdown the street.

He indicated right after three long, impatient minutes, and I continued on the dirt trail.

A short time later, I arrived at the labyrinth. I snagged the last empty parking spot and jogged to the archway. Again I made sure no hikers saw me go through.

A low thrumming ran through the ground like an earthquake.