Page 19

Brad

A lex had forgiven me, we were on a fresh new rink, and life was great.

Coach said major scouts were coming, ones from the East City Wranglers.

It was my last chance to impress, and I had to keep my promise to Alex.

Plus, the team had never been on this rink in the spring, which totally counted as a first time for us both.

As soon as we dumped our bags in our rooms, we threw on our gear and raced to the rink. We just needed to win this game, and we’d be in it for the finals.

Tons of people were pouring in from the home states. There were going to be camera crews, reporters, VIPs. We had one evening practice tonight before the first game.

And I was nervous. I didn’t usually get nervous, but I had to make sure I was completely ready for whatever was going to happen tomorrow. I had to be the MVP. I had to be the one who shone out on the ice.

We’d done our warm-ups and our laps, and Coach had split us into teams.

And, of course, he paired Alex up with Lance straight off the fucking bat.

There were two main rinks in the Bradford Bulls stadium, and we could hear them practicing with shouts echoing through the thin walls on the other side. It was their home rink, and they totally had the advantage. And they’d been training the whole time we were on the bus.

We needed to catch up if we were going to win.

We grouped ourselves around the barrier, some of us sitting, others hanging off it, and Coach gave us a rundown of plays to practice for tomorrow.

I kept trying to get Alex’s attention, but Coach had made us split into our teams. Alex was shoulder-to-shoulder with Lance, exactly like when I first caught the slippery asshole hitting on my friend.

Lance leaned in to whisper something to Alex, who gave Lance a huge fucking smile.

And Lance reached down, running a single finger along Alex’s arm like he was revving up to show him what else he could do with his hands.

That was it. That was the last fucking straw.

Alex was usually so serious about any game, and he was so wrapped up in Lance that he was ignoring Coach.

He said they hadn’t fucked, but that didn’t mean Alex didn’t have feelings for him. And it meant Lance was up with a chance for stealing the number one spot from me.

I had to talk to Alex properly about it instead of just glaring at them both since I found out.

I was adding punching Lance in his smug fucking face to my list of prep for the game tomorrow, just so he would stop looking at Alex like that. Or so Alex wouldn’t look at him. Or just something to stop the current coursing between them that should have been for me.

There was a crash from the other rink that sent a metallic echo through to ours, and the conversation stopped dead as the realization sucker-punched me out of nowhere.

Coach was still giving out instructions, but everything else faded away as I looked at my best friend.

And a pulse of hurt shot through me as Lance nudged him with his shoulder.

Because I was right, absolutely one hundred percent fucking right.

It shouldn’t be Lance standing there, pressing himself up next to Alex.

Lance didn’t know a single thing about Alex, not in the ways that mattered the most. That’s why I was his best friend. I was the one he was following his dream with, I’d been there through every moment of his life that mattered. I was every first he could ever have.

I was the one he came to college for instead of leaving for the big leagues.

And you didn’t do shit like that unless it fucking meant something.

I wanted Alex to have friends, yeah. I didn’t want him to feel like, I like, owned him or something.

But him dating someone was a totally different level. Because what kind of firsts would Lance get to see?

“Alright, boys, time to get into positions,” Coach shouted.

Alex didn’t even look at me as Lance chucked his arm over his shoulder. There wasn’t a single spec of hesitation as Alex slipped his arm around Lance’s lower back to hug him.

And jealousy rang through me like a fucking gong.

Lance squeezed him as they wobbled past me with a hand on the barrier and gripped each other for support.

“You okay?” Alex asked Lance quietly.

Another huge burst of jealousy flew through me as I looked at how close they were. He’d barely been dating Lance for a few weeks, but they were acting like they shared some deep fucking bond. Even though I’d been grinding my cock against him only days ago.

“Later?” Lance asked, just as he tugged him into his side.

“Yeah,” Alex murmured, dipping his lips to his ear. “The guys are probably going to the bar later. Or do you want to talk?”

Alex turned his head so they both locked eyes, holding gazes before Alex relaxed in his arms the way he always did for me.

“That would be good,” Lance replied with a gentle smile that felt more real than I’d ever seen him.

I just stood there, watching the way the two of them shuffled to the gate.

I should have shot forward, pulled Lance away from Alex, and demanded my hug. But I also wanted Alex to remember me. It was one of our most important rituals, and he just stepped out onto the ice with Lance and skated off without me.

“Move, idiot,” Tommy growled from beside me, pushing at me, knocking me against the barrier to get in front. I couldn’t tell if he was scowling at me or them, but it didn’t make a difference. He shook out his arms, chucking his stick into his other hand before he stepped onto the ice and glided away.

I clung to the barrier as the other guys filed out.

They left me standing there like a fucking moron. I tracked Lance and Alex as they did a loop around the outside of the rink while other guys got into position.

I couldn’t even see their stupid faces because of their masks, but the way they stuck close to each other and how they had been smiling and laughing and flirting was gross.

Or it made me feel gross.

Or whatever.

I was the last one to the gate and Coach gave me a frown.

I forced myself out of the daze. Whether Alex and Lance were together or not, I wasn’t here to get wound up because I possibly, maybe, just realized I sort of wanted Alex away from Lance for other reasons.

If he was with Lance, he was further away from me. So I might really lose him.

Last time I almost lost Alex, it made me even more determined to get to the big leagues so I could be with him. I wasn’t letting an asshole like Lance take him from me.

I adjusted my stick as I gritted my teeth, shaking off the total feeling of wrongness that swept over me as Lance and Alex sailed past me again.

***

We were so fucking close. Alex and Lance’s team kept stealing the puck, but we were one up. We just had to stop them.

There were still ten minutes left of the practice game, but every time Lance and Alex passed to each other I went psycho. I couldn’t stop it. I wanted to tear them apart to stop the way they kept checking in with each other as they soared across the ice, even though Tommy and I were doing the exact same thing when we were on.

They were too tight, too in sync, too cozy with each other. If we were playing the real match, they wouldn’t get away with basically hugging on the ice.

Well, maybe I was exaggerating because I couldn’t look anywhere else, but that wasn’t the point!

Because they played really fucking well together.

I mean, Alex was good. No matter which way you looked at it, Alex was a fucking legend. That’s why the Wranglers picked him up last year.

But he and Lance were stars on the ice together, too.

“Brad!” Chase shouted from his defense position, shooting the puck toward me. I pushed it, already on the move toward the net. The more practice we did here, the more prepared we’d be for tomorrow. That much was fucking obvious, but it didn’t stop my flare of anger as Lance fixed his sights on me.

The echoes of the rink beat off me as I kept my head down, shoulders loose, barreling toward that asshole.

He threw Alex a look, and they glided away, totally in sync, knowing exactly where the other one was going.

With Alex on the left and Lance surging toward me, I sliced up the ice. My focus stayed on the puck and their positions, but they were closing in fast with a pincer attack. Tommy was too far away for a guaranteed shot, but I took it, anyway. I only had to get far enough forward to shunt it past Lance and we’d be off.

The ice screeched under my skates as I twisted to take the shot. That, combined with the slick blades of Alex and Lance, were the only sound I heard as I angled my stick and aimed straight between the pair of them.

And Lance shot out his stick and blocked it with a loud clack like it was nothing. He whooped as he skated past me, turning on the tip of his blade toward our net, Alex following in hot pursuit.

Frustration blazed through me as they sped down the ice to the goal. Chase and Porter kept up, but I could already see Lance was going to get it.

It was like they were dancing. It didn’t matter how much I pushed myself, all I could see were their backs as they raced away from me.

They easily dodged my teammates to get thirty feet from each other.

It was a quick shunt from Alex, a catch from Lance, and suddenly the puck bounced off the back of the net.

There were only thirty of us in the rink, but the cheers that went up were bouncing on the ceiling.

But that wasn’t the worst of it.

Because, as soon as they skidded past the net, they curled back around each other, and Lance dragged Alex into a hug.

And I choked as rage burst through me.

He stole my shot, he stole my position, and he was stealing my best friend.

I sped toward them, closer and closer, the heat building inside me as I stayed fixed on them.

My hands shook as I clenched my stick, jaw tight, my heart thumping in my ears.

I wasn’t slowing for a single fucking second, not when Lance pulled back from Alex, keeping one arm on his shoulder, bumping his helmet against Alex’s like some fucking kiss on the forehead.

I couldn’t take it.

I could have stopped, swerved just before them, but my vision went red and all I could see was that picture I imagined of Lance and Alex fucking.

Like when I was making a play for the goal, I zeroed in on Lance.

All I felt was my fired-up blood rushing through my veins as I angled my body down, and lowered myself so I could pick up speed, and I smashed Lance straight into the barrier.