Page 28 of Don’t Leave (Stay #2)

CASSIDY

T he ice is the only place where I can lose myself. I pass the puck to one of my wingers and fall back to guard our goal. The last thing I want to think about is how my relationship with Cole has gone up in burst of flames.

How is it possible that almost a month ago, I couldn’t imagine us being apart?

And now?—

A hard hit from the left knocks me off my skates.

I crash into the ice before rolling onto my back.

Even with all my padded protection, it hurts like hell.

My eyes water as I fight to find my breath.

I haven’t taken a hit like that in years.

It feels like the very life has been knocked from my body.

I open my eyes and stare up into Sammy’s narrowed blue ones.

What the fuck!

I can’t believe she trucked into me like that!

When I’m finally able to suck enough oxygen into my lungs, it still takes a few moments before I can grit out the question. “What the hell, Sammy?”

She shrugs her broad shoulders, which look even more massive underneath all the padding. “Is it my fault that you weren’t paying attention?”

“So, that’s a reason to take me out?”

Is there something seriously wrong with this girl?

Like major mental issues?

The number one rule in hockey is that you don’t hurt your own teammates. And she just broke it. I just hope that’s all she broke.

My gaze swings to the rest of the girls who have stopped skating to form a tight circle around us.

It becomes apparent by the way most are shifting uncomfortably and avoiding eye contact that none want to get involved in this skirmish.

I can’t blame them for that. Sammy is our captain and I’ve only recently joined the team.

And well…she’s Sammy.

I wouldn’t want to go against the girl either. Even though I’m disappointed no one will stand up for me, I understand it. My entire body hurts as I scramble to my skates, unwilling to keep looking up at her from my sprawled-out position on the ice.

My temper rises as I skate toward her until our face cages are practically touching. What just happened has nothing to do with me being caught unawares and everything to do with her cousin.

“If you have a problem, take it up with me off the ice.” There is so much anger thrumming through me that I’m shaking. “Especially since we both know this has nothing to do with hockey.”

Eyes narrowing, she sneers, “And what if I want to take it up with you right now?”

There’s no way I can back down from this fight. I’d never be able to hold my head up again with this team and would have to quit.

As much as it sucks, I grit out, “Then let’s go.” I’m on the verge of tossing down my gloves and whipping off my helmet.

My heartbeat thumps painfully against my ribcage as she holds my gaze for a long, challenging moment. I can almost feel everyone’s collective breath being held as the tension in the rink ratchets up another notch.

This won’t be the first skirmish I’ve ever been involved in. Although, I’ve never been in a fist fight with a member of my own team.

Sammy cocks her head before saying loudly enough for everyone to hear, “Let’s grab something to eat after this and we’ll hash it all out then.”

My rigidly held muscles loosen as air rushes from my lungs in relief. I wasn’t looking forward to getting my ass handed to me in front of all these girls. I’m not delusional enough to think I could have taken her.

“Fine.”

Everyone splinters apart as if a fight didn’t almost erupt, and we’re back to scrimmaging again. Even though nothing has been solved with Sammy, it feels as if the thick undercurrent of tension brewing between us has been dispelled.

For the rest of our ninety-minute practice, I channel all my energy into the drills. When I get home tonight, I want to be so exhausted that I fall straight into bed and sleep without dreaming about Cole.

Once I’m showered, I wait for Sammy to grab her athletic bag before we walk out of the arena together. Neither of us say much as we slide into her crappy little Toyota. When she pulls into traffic at breakneck speed, I’m reminded as to why I scramble for alternative rides to the rink.

Her car should come with a warning label— not intended for people with heart conditions, high blood pressure, or nervous stomachs.

The girl drives like she’s qualifying for the Indy 500.

Bits and pieces of my life flash before my eyes as she squeals around another turn. Not wanting to encourage her, because I’ve realized my frantic pointing and high-pitched yelps will do that, I gnash my teeth together to stifle the screams gathering in my throat.

“Dawson’s Diner, okay?” She doesn’t bother to glance in my direction, instead keeping her gaze focused on the ribbon of dark road beyond the windshield.

Lips pressed tightly together, I reply, “Yup.”

Thankfully, it’s not far.

No more than two minutes pass by before she pulls abruptly into a parking space in front of the restaurant. Woozy from the manic drive over, my legs shake as I exit the vehicle.

Once we’re seated at a small table and my stomach begins to settle, I glance at the menu. The waitress delivers two glasses of water before taking our order and disappearing again.

Now that there’s nothing else to focus our attention on, Sammy and I glance warily at each other. She drums her fingertips on the table as I shift uncomfortably in my seat.

With a sigh, she breaks the brewing tension. “Look, Cassidy, I like you.”

I tilt my head at her opening line. “I’d hate to see what you do to people you don’t like.”

One side of her mouth hitches as she smirks. “Actually, you don’t want to see that.”

She’s right about that.

“But,” she continues, “my point is that I like you. And I really liked you with Cole.”

Thick emotion gathers in my throat as I nod.

“The fact that you were into Luke Wellington the entire time you were seeing my cousin seriously chafes my ass.” Fire leaps into her eyes as she leans toward me.

“I warned you in the beginning not to hurt him.” Her expression fills with disgust as she sits back again.

“You’re no better than that bitch Jackie. ”

“Luke and I have never been anything other than friends.”

Her eyes narrow. “I thought you two didn’t even know each other.”

There are three people at Western who know what happened to me last year and Sammy isn’t one of them.

Flunking out of college, getting kicked off the hockey team, drowning my sorrows in alcohol, and sleeping around isn’t something I’m proud of.

Frankly, it’s humiliating that I made such a colossal mess out of my life.

As much as I like Sammy, she’s Cole’s cousin first and foremost. Her allegiance will always be to him, and I wouldn’t expect anything less.

But her automatically jumping to conclusions without talking to me hurts.

I’d thought we were more than just teammates, I’d assumed we were on our way to being friends.

We have a lot in common, hockey being the most obvious.

Her mad driving skills, not so much.

That friendship stalled when Cole and I broke up. And that really sucks. I’d been hoping we could have a relationship independent of him. Obviously, that’s not possible.

I spent all my teenage years focused on hockey to the exclusion of everything else and it had been necessary to sacrifice my friendships along the way.

Brooklyn, a neighbor while growing up, was more of an acquaintance than anything else.

When I first arrived at Western, I kept to myself, needing to get my life back under control.

Making friends hadn’t been high on the priority list. Slowly, I’ve come out of my shell.

The tentative relationships I’m now developing feel important and I don’t want to lose them.

A long silence stretches between us as I debate how much to tell Sammy, if anything. There’s no way I’m ready to completely spill my guts to her. Honestly, she hasn’t earned my trust. But maybe if I give her some of the truth, she’ll better understand my relationship with Luke.

At this point, that’s all I want.

“Luke and I actually attended the same college last year and both played hockey.”

Sammy’s dark blonde brows knit together but I don’t give her a chance to fire off questions at me.

“We weren’t friends.” I pause before adding, “I only recognized him here at Western after I started seeing Cole.”

She cocks a brow. “You certainly seem chummy now.”

“Something happened last year—something I’m not going to discuss, but Luke was there, and he got me out of a really bad situation,” I add slowly. “Once we sat down and talked about it, it just seemed natural for us to be friends. We’ve never been anything more than that.”

Everything I’ve just revealed seems to roll around in her head.

Just as Sammy opens her mouth, our food arrives. We both thank our waitress before she takes off to check on other tables.

The smell of my cheese and mushroom omelet hits me and I realize how hungry I am. Tabling the conversation, we both dig in, demolishing our plates in less than ten minutes. There’s no slow, methodical chewing and savoring for either of us. After a ninety-minute practice, we’re both famished.

Once our plates are scraped clean, we both sit back and sip our waters.

“Why doesn’t Cole believe that you two are just friends?” Sammy asks.

Caught off guard by the question, I grapple for an answer before jerking my shoulders. “I guess it’s because Luke and I have been spending more time together.”

“Okay. Is there more?”

Gaze trained on me, she patiently waits for me to continue. I can’t help but fidget under the intense scrutiny, racking my brain for an explanation.

I clear my throat. “He thinks Luke is interested in more than just friendship with me.”

Her expression never falters. “Do you think that’s true?”

“Maybe.” I add hastily, “But nothing has ever happened between us. We’re just friends.”

With a shake of her head, laughter gurgles up from her throat.

“Come on, Cassidy! How would it make you feel if your new boyfriend was hanging around with another girl who you knew liked him? A friend ,” she uses air quotes around the word, “who is patiently waiting in the wings for your relationship with Cole to fall apart.”

Her face scrunches. “And Luke is Cole’s teammate.” She takes a lengthy sip of her drink as her expression changes, and she stares at me as if I’m nothing more than a bug smashed across the windshield of her deathtrap.

Heat rushes to my cheeks.

Is that how Cole viewed it? Like he’s being betrayed by not only by his girlfriend, but his teammate as well?

I think about all the times he caught sight of us together.

At the Union, looking as if I was going to let Luke kiss me.

Or when I left the Halloween party and grabbed coffee with him.

Right before we broke up, when I was at the library with Luke.

Instead of hearing about it from me, Luke was the one who inadvertently let the cat out of the bag, making it look like I was hiding it from him.

And lastly, I think about how angry Cole was on the ice and how they almost came to blows.

Shame fills me as I imagine how it feels from Cole’s perspective.

Unfortunately, I’m unsure if it’s too late to rectify the situation.

Cole could be hooking up with Vanessa.

Or Andrea.

I wince and think about all three of them together at the same time. It’s entirely possible the omelet I just wolfed down is going to make an unexpected reappearance.

Instead of saying anything more, Sammy sweeps her tongue across her front teeth as she silently watches me from the other side of the table.

My breath catches at the back of my throat as I realize that I’ve inadvertently sabotaged my relationship with Cole.