Page 8

Chapter 8

Aiden

“What the fuck do you mean our skates are missing?” I bellow, my voice carrying over the noise as I slam my locker door.

The entire room is in a disarray. One hour before the game and our skates are nowhere to be found. They were here last evening, lined against the wall for cleaning. This can’t be fucking happening.

“Boys, calm down,” Danny, our coach, is saying, one hand clutching a clipboard, the other fanning up and down. A bid to settle us, I suspect, but with this game on the line, there’s no soothing our anger and worry.

“We’re getting replacements sent down from the sports department pronto,” Coach tells us. “And yes, it will affect our warm-up routine, but there’s no stopping us, anyway. We’ve got this in the bag. The Foxes won’t stand a chance once we slide onto the ice rink.”

His motivational words would usually gas me up, but not this time. My mind is whirling, thinking, wondering who the fuck would be so daring. Yes, I smell sabotage. Someone came in and took our gear to fuck with our game.

“Are we going to address the issue, though?” I ask Coach, when the guys are done clapping. “Our skates are missing. They didn’t just walk out of here.”

Coach nods. “I already asked the security team to review the surveillance tapes to see what they find. Either way, we’re going to win the game—”

“It was Scarlett,” Noah announces, pushing through the small crowd. “I just talked to Mel. She put her on cleaning duty this morning…”

The sudden uproar drowns out the rest of his words. I clench my fists, anger rolling inside me. So much for giving her a fucking chance. I was right. She’s up to something.

I catch Cameron’s eyes and he shakes his head regretfully. Even my best friend is now converted, finally seeing the truth for what it is.

“ If the evidence proves that it was the intern, then we’ll deal with her accordingly,” Coach yells above the noise, his expression cool and unmoved by Noah’s accusation. “Until then, she’s innocent until proven guilty.”

That comment earns him another uproar, to which he fans us off, then expeditiously makes his way out the door. Noah slams his fist into his palm. “That bitch is going down.”

“No. Let me handle it,” I reply gruffly, a rush of anger flooding me. I’m not sure exactly who I’m more furious with; Scarlett for proving me right, or Noah for wanting to hurt her.

“Your methods of ‘handling it’ are too fucking juvenile. She’s messing with my future and locking her in a room wasn’t enough to scare her. Let me show her not to fuck with us—”

“No.” The room goes silent at my raised voice. I step up to Noah, glaring down at him. “You lay a finger on her again, you answer to me, understood?”

Noah scoffs, but his shoulders shrink a little. “Don’t tell me you’re going soft for that traitor.”

“No one’s going soft, but I’m not in the business of physically harming anyone. Or sexually assaulting them,” I add, narrowing my eyes at him. He shrinks even more, casting an accusing eye at Cameron.

“You’re crazy to think I’d fuck that trailer park trash,” he grumbles. “I was only doing as you asked; getting her the hell out of here.”

“No one asked you to be disgusting, Noah. Fuck you for making it seem like I put you up to this.”

“You wouldn’t have minded if it had worked, so fuck you, too.” Disgruntled, he throws the towel aside.

Cameron edges in. “Boys, we literally have forty-five minutes before a game we can’t afford to lose. Get it together.”

I slide him a dark look.

“Yes, as vice-captain, I’m pulling rank,” he snaps at me. “Guilty or not, you can’t let Scarlett affect our game. Let that shit go, at least until tomorrow.”

Knowing he’s right, I back down. Our spare skates arrive just as I’m done getting my uniform on, the sight of them somewhat calming me down. By the time we get to the arena, with the cheering crowd welcoming our arrival, the incident is tucked safely in the back of my mind.

For now.

The Greenfield Foxes are lounging at the bottom of the leaderboard, but the next two and a half hours prove that they’re hellbent on not keeping things that way. From the initial faceoff when the center beats me to the punch, swiping the puck before I do, I can already tell they’re going to make us work hard for the win.

Unluckily for them, I’m not opposed to working hard for anything. With a focused determination, I push forward, cutting the center on the underside and making a steal, then sliding it to Odean on the left wing. No way in hell will I make this easy for them, either.

It’s a vicious battle, with the puck sliding between the offensive and defensive goals, neither of us hitting our mark. Not until two minutes before the end of the game, when Cameron’s excellent stickhandling gets the puck past his opponent and right to me. The crowd goes wild when I slam it past the goal line, and it hits the back of the net.

There’s no coming back for the Foxes after this.

“That’s how you play a fucking game, bro!” Cameron screams at me, his eyes sparkling with glee behind the helmet. I grin back, slapping my gloved palm against his.

As I zoom toward the exit, my grin vanishes at the sight of the figure sitting in the stands. Scarlett. The fucking nerve of her . With my eyes fastened on her shifting restlessly in her seat, I quickly remove the protective gear from my body.

Just as I’m done, she spots me, then rushes to her feet, grabbing a bag from the seat beside her. I hurry to get my skates off and dash through the stands on sock-clad feet, almost knocking over a few people as I go.

She’s fast. Fuck . She also had the advantage of sitting in one place for an entire game while I’d been working my ass off. I pump my arms, stretching my long legs to gain momentum. Even so, I don’t catch her until we get to the tunnel that leads to the sports department.

Scarlett squeals as I grab her arm, pulling her to a stop. “Fucking hell,” I huff, grabbing my side with my free hand. “Don’t move.”

Despite my gruff command, she attempts to pull out of my grasp. I back her against the wall and cage her in with both arms, still catching my breath. Each deep inhale floods my senses with her sweet, vanilla scent.

“What are you doing?” she pants, pushing at my chest.

“Talk, Scarlett,” I order gruffly, getting a thrill either from the fear in her eyes or her hands on my body. “Where the fuck did you dump our skates?”

“What skates?”

“Oh, don’t play dumb with me, sweetheart . The ones you cleaned this morning,” I snap.

“I left them on the stands when I was done. Melissa came and inspected them, so you can ask her. Why would I take them, anyway?”

“We both know the answer to that,” I reply. “Now, quit testing my patience. Tell me where you took them.”

A flash of annoyance replaces the fear in her eyes for an instant. “Are you even listening to me? I didn’t take them . There are simpler ways to get back at you—”

Her words halt on a sharp breath as I tilt her chin, leveling her fiery eyes with mine. “You’re a smart girl, Scarlett. Keep crossing me and it won’t end well for you.”

“You don’t scare me.” The slight tremor in her voice and the rapid bouncing of her chest betrays her. Stepping closer, I grab her ponytail, malice burning bright and hot inside me as her pupils dilate with renewed fear. She jerks her head away as I run my fingers through the thick, golden locks.

“Such beautiful hair,” I murmur, slowly releasing it, watching as it falls in clumps on her voluptuous chest. “I’d really hate to see it decorating the floor.”

Rabid terror fills Scarlett’s eyes. Ah. It seems I’ve found her weakness, after all. She pulls her hair away from me. I grab it back, this time wrapping the silky locks around my hand.

“Let me go, Aiden. Please,” she begs.

That quivery, emotional plea shouldn’t turn me on. Yet, my cock swells in response, straining against my pants. Scarlett jumps when I slap the wall behind her. Satisfaction runs up my spine as she whimpers. “Fuck with me again, Scarlett,” I whisper against her lips. “ I dare you .”

A gentle sob leaves her mouth when I release her. Her body rocks as another sob escapes, then another. She wraps her arms around her middle, leaning against the wall as I back away. Something moves in my chest that oddly feels like remorse. Ignoring the sensation, I turn and walk away.

It’s all a farce. She’s only playing me. Not a single tear did she shed just now. I’m not going to believe she’s half as innocent as she portrays. Coincidences don’t exist in my world and until I get proof otherwise, my finger will keep pointing right at Scarlett.

She’s the one.

“I mean, we were all happy as fuck to win the game, but running out of your gear was mad extra,” Cameron greets me with amusement as I enter the locker room. He cocks his head to where my stuff is resting on a leather bench between the lockers.

“Lucky for you, I snatched them before Scarlett got her hands on them.”

I sit beside him, rubbing my socked feet on the floor, slightly wincing from a sudden sharp pain on my right ankle. A surgery done five years ago always makes me worry whenever I feel any discomfort there.

“That was a joke,” Cameron says, nudging me.

“I saw her in the stands,” I reply. “She came to watch the game.”

“And?”

“She has never watched a game.”

Cameron scoffs. “Hundreds of people fill those seats, Aiden. There’s no way of knowing for sure.”

I can’t tell him that I do know for sure , so I just shrug. “I got rid of my skates and chased after her.” At his alarmed expression, I add, “Just to find out what she’s up to. I didn’t hurt her or anything.”

Except threaten to cut her hair off. Scarlett would never guess that I’d rather go bald than have her lose that head of beautiful, golden locks that I’m secretly obsessed with. I can still feel its silkiness through my fingers. I’m still battling with an urge to run them through her hair again.

“What did you find, pray tell?” Cameron asks as other teammates file into our space.

“Nothing,” I reply in a low tone. I don’t want to incite the other guys with talk of Scarlett. We’re on a high from this win and I want to keep it that way.

I peel my shirt off as Coach enters the room, his expression perplexed. “Listen up, boys,” he bellows over the chatter. The noise quickly dies down.

“I have good news and bad news,” he announces.

“Throw away the bad news, Coach!” Andy, a reserve, calls out. “Good vibes only.”

“Trust me, you’re going to want to hear this. Good news is, the janitor found the skates in an empty dumpster around back. Bad news; someone wiped the surveillance cameras. There’s no proof of anyone moving to and from the locker room with anything suspicious.” He looks directly at me. “Including the intern.”

I purse my lips. Noah scoffs. “She still did it. Obviously, she’s not working alone.”

His words perk me up. It’s quite possible, isn’t it?

Clearly, I’ve been looking at this wrong. All along, I assumed Scarlett had it out for me, but maybe not. Possibly, she’s working for someone with a grudge.

Maybe someone who tried out for the team and didn’t get in.

It could be a rival team that wants to take us out of the competition.

Scarlett has no brothers, no male friends—no friends for that matter. Could it be a secret lover, someone she has kept under the radar?

“You okay?” Cameron asks.

Blinking wildly, my focus zooms on him. “Yeah, why?”

“You’re wringing the shit out of that shirt. What did it ever do to you?” he jokes.

I glance down and my undershirt is almost mangled in my grip. I toss it beside me on the bench. “I’m good.”

“Don’t let this get your spirits down,” Coach is saying. “You played a damn good game and the best is yet to come. There’s absolutely nothing and no one strong enough to stand in our way. Don’t you ever forget that.”

“Right on, Coach!” Michael yells and the team cheers. I get to my feet as Coach walks out. He’s right about one thing: no one is going to stop me from making it to the finals. Unlike him, I’m not leaving anything up to chance. Whoever sent Scarlett, they’re in for a rude awakening.

Time to kick things up a notch.