Page 63 of Shots & Echoes

Chapter 10

Knox

The rink was silent before dawn, the only sound the sharp slice of my skates cutting through the ice.

I hadn’t slept.

Not a fucking wink.

Every time I closed my eyes, I saw him.

Langley’s stupid fucking grin flashing in my mind like a taunt, that easy, bullshit smile lingering like a ghost I couldn’t exorcise.

And her.

Laughing. At him.

Like he fucking mattered.

The anger curled through me, hot and suffocating.

I slammed a puck into the net, the crack of my stick against the ice echoing through the empty rink. The shot ricocheted off the back bar and came flying toward me, but I barely felt it. Didn’t fucking care.

I grabbed another puck and fired again. Harder.

Still not enough.

The morning cold bit at my skin, but it was nothing compared to the heat coiling deep in my gut, burning hotter every time I thought about Iris smiling at him.

She shouldn’t be smiling at him like that. Like he was worth her time. Like he was worth her.

Each slap of my stick against the ice fueled something darker. Something I didn’t want to name.

I gritted my teeth and pushed harder, faster, trying to drown it out with sheer force, with the familiar rhythm of drills that used to keep my head clear.

Control.

This was about control.

About focus.

She needed focus—she needed to keep her goddamn head in the game if she wanted that jersey.

But I knew better.

This wasn’t about hockey anymore.

This was about owning her.

Claiming her.

And I’d been lying to myself for too long now.

The rink brightened with early morning light, casting long shadows across the ice as I drifted into another drill. Pacing like a caged fucking animal.

My breath came heavy, frustration thick in the air.

I took another shot—wide.