Page 12 of Ice-Cold Obsession

I watch him for a moment, trying to understand what drives him. Is it ego? Ambition? Or is there something else underneath all that arrogance?

He skates hard, pushing himself through the sprints and stick-handling drills. There’s no one watching him now. No teammates to impress or a coach to please. It’s just him and the ice.

And he’s still going at it as if his life depends on it.

I pack up my camera and get to my feet, making a show of heading toward the exit, just in case he’s doing all this for me. But once I’m out of sight, I hide behind a column near the rink entrance.

Gabriel is still skating, and after a few more minutes, he finally stops and heads toward the locker room. I wait until he’s inside, and then I move quietly down the hallway.

The locker room door is cracked open, and I can hear the water running. I shouldn’t be doing this. I should just leave and go edit the photos.

But I step closer and peer through the crack in the door. Gabriel has his back to me and he’s completely naked. His shoulders are broad, and his back is muscled in a way that makes it clear he spends a lot of time in the gym. Every line is defined.

But then I notice something else.

A bruise spreads across his ribs on the left side, and it’s dark and ugly.

I stare at it, trying to figure out where it came from. A hit during practice? A fight? It looks painful, but he didn’t show any sign of it on the ice.

My eyes drift lower, and I catch myself staring at his ass.

It’s a nice ass.

Like, really, really nice.

Fuck.

I blink, forcing myself to snap out of it. What the hell am I doing? I’m not here to ogle Gabriel, think about how attractive he is, or how good he looks without any clothes on.

I’m here to destroy him.

I step back from the door and turn, heading quickly down the hallway before he can catch me. My heart rate speeds up, and my face feels hot.

That was stupid. I can’t let myself get distracted like that.

Gabriel is the enemy, and I need to remember that. No matter how good he looks or how talented he is on the ice, he’s still the person who drove my sister to her death.

And I’m going to make him pay for it.

Chapter 6

GABRIEL

I’M SCROLLING THROUGHthe team’s social media account on my phone, and the more I look at the photos Scarlett posted, the more annoyed I get.

There’s Ron diving for a save, Leonardo celebrating a goal... and even fucking Taj gets a feature shot, celebrating after scoring during a drill.

And me? I’m barely there, in the background or partially cut off. One photo has me setting up a play, but the focus is on the guy receiving the pass instead of me making it happen.

What the fuck?

I click on one of the photos and zoom in. The composition is good, the lighting is perfect, and she knows what she’s doing behind a camera. That makes the whole thing even more frustrating because it means she’s doing it on purpose.

But that doesn’t make any sense. We barely know each other. Why would she go out of her way to exclude me from the photos?

Unless she’s playing some kind of game and testing me to see if I’ll react.

Most girls would’ve put me front and center in every shot. They would’ve made sure everyone knew I was the star, the captain, and the guy who matters most. But Scarlett isn’t doing that, and I can’t figure out if it’s because she’s clueless or because she’s trying to get under my skin.