Page 25 of Neo (Valencia Ice Mafia #1)

neo

“What do you want me to do, Cap?”

“Just keep an eye on her.”

“Um, well, how should I pull that off since I’m always with the team?”

“When you’re not on the ice, you watch her.”

“No disrespect, but that sounds kind of like a stalking charge and my mama ain’t–.”

“You think I give a fuck about that?”

There’s a hierarchy in the Valencia Suns, and all freshmen are at the bottom of it. We call them grunts. They have to do their thing on their ice and they have to prove their mettle as part of the team as well.

Most of the starters are upperclassmen and we all adopt one newbie as our personal errand boys. According to the university bylaws that might be classified as hazing, but we like to call it team building.

While I used Keith to drive me and Violet around on our first date, my actual personal grunt is Deuce. He’s a good kid from Colorado Springs who shits, eats and breathes hockey and is eager to please, so I have him keeping an eye on Violet for me. Now that people know that we’re together, and especially after what happened at the Gamma house, I feel more protective of her than ever.

“So, is it okay if she knows I’m there, like if she sees me?” Deuce asks nervously.

“No, it’s not okay,” I tell him, as if it’s the stupidest question he’s ever asked. “Keep your distance, grunt.”

“What I think Neo’s trying to say, Deuce, is that he doesn’t need you to follow her around like some kind of deviant. Just ask around about her. She’s new to the school and doesn’t know many people,” Bass tells him. “Cap just wants to make sure no one, you know, fucks with her.”

Bass is unofficially in charge of all the new players on the team. Nobody assigned him the job, he just enjoys it and the grunts believe he’s their ally because he comes off nicer than me…until he isn’t.

“This is where she’ll be.”

I text him the address of Kennedy’s apartment.

“Okay.”

It’s obvious that Deuce is uncomfortable with his assignment. No doubt he has a conscience or some such shit, but what he’ll soon learn is that I don’t share that same burden of having a moral compass. I pretty much do what I want on this campus without impunity and I don’t care that I can.

Now that I’ve touched her, tasted her, and Violet is officially mine — there’s an inexplicable pull that I feel toward her - a pull that’s as strong as the gravitational force between the earth and the sun.

Some might even call it obsessive.

She’s all I think about.

It’s scary though, because she makes me feel things that are out of my character. I feel the need to spill my guts. Share all my secrets. Talk about emotions. Even talk about Jake. She may be one of the few people on this campus to see a part of me I rarely share with the world. And if that ain’t some scary shit, I don’t know what is.

A few weeks ago, my only purpose in life was winning hockey games. I am living the life Jake was supposed to have. We’re so close to a championship, I can see it. And I’m so close to a pro offer I can taste it.

But now Violet has completely turned all of that upside down. And I can’t fuck that up, which is why I’m going to protect what the two of us call our own little private “love bubble” at all costs.

“Wear this,” I tell Deuce, handing him a black baseball cap, free of VCU branding. “You see anyone unusual approach her, you let me know, especially those Gamma dicks or Bender.”

Deuce nods solemnly, the wrinkles on his forehead deepening. He’s struggling to hold my gaze, his eyes constantly darting around the locker room. It’s a typical reaction from someone who’s been given a task that doesn’t quite align with their established worldview. Again, I ignore.

Bass gives me one of his cautionary looks. The kind that tells me I’m walking a fine line between being captain of this team and a straight up psychopath, so I try softening my approach.

“It’s just surveillance,” I reassure Deuce, although I’m not entirely sure I’m telling the truth myself. “She won’t even know you’re there.”

Deuce takes the hat, swallowing hard. “You’re sure this is alright, guys? I don’t want to get kicked out of the program.”

Before Bass can answer that, I raise an eyebrow at Deuce and shrug. “Do you trust me?”

He hesitates for a moment before nodding, the tension in his jaw loosening slightly. “Yeah, Cap, I do.”

“Then do what you’re told and all will be well.”

As he walks out, pulling the cap low over his eyes, I can’t help but question my sanity at this point, and so does Bass.

“You know I’m always down for having a grunt prove loyalty to the team, but this is a wild ask, even for you, bro’. Deuce is nobody’s private detective.”

“Are you questioning my ask of a grunt?”

“Uh, fuck yeah. They’re my grunts and I know you about as well as I know anyone. Keeping tabs on some girl is not what you do. You spend more energy dodging them than protecting them. I know you like Violet a lot, but is there something else going on, or does she really have your head this spun around?”

“Violet is not just some girl, Bass. She’s my girl, so watch your mouth.”

“Well, damn, I never thought I’d see the day.”

“Welcome to a new world order, motherfucker.”

“And I guess surveillance is part of every new world order,” Bass laughs at me.

“You’ll see when you meet the girl who turns your head and splits it wide open. I can’t wait.”

“Yikes, that shit sounds painful.”

“Yeah, but in the best way possible.” I grin.

After Bass leaves, I sit alone in the rink; the silence echoing off the cold ice and empty seats. I think about my meeting with Coach again and all that is at stake. I finally took one of my father’s calls and let him say his piece. The conversation went just about as well as I thought it would…badly.

I grit my teeth when the door to the rink creaks opens and the last person I feel like seeing walks inside.

While Vikki is very attractive, she’s dressed in one of those curve hugging, crop top and legging sets. The kind of tacky outfit that doesn’t leave much to the imagination. The kind of outfit that once upon a time was the only way a girl could dress to get my attention.

It’s funny how things change.

Violet wore the biggest sweatsuit she could find when I first went over to her place and all I could think about were creative ways I could try talking her pretty ass out of it.

“Hey, Neo.”

“What are you doing here, Vikki?”

“My dad has already spoken to Coach Mike, but he wants an update from his number one player.”

Shit.

“How’s your dad doing?” I ask her.

I miss Coach Dixon. He was tough when I first arrived at VCU but he had a strong belief in what I could bring to the hockey program. Without Coach Dixon’s tutelage, I’m not confident that I would be captain of the Suns or scouted for the NHL.

“He’s still doing rehab every day and cutting out his beloved cigars. It’s an uphill battle, but he’ll get there. He misses all of you.”

“He’s a legend. If anyone can get back on his feet, it’s him.”

“So…Dad would love to see you. Maybe talk about these pro offers you supposedly have been getting? You should come visit with me one day next week.”

I hate she knows about my business when there are so many people closer to me who don’t, but there are a lot of things that Vikki gets to overhear by being so close with her father.

“Vikki–”

“What?” She feigns innocence.

“We’re not together, so let’s not pretend that we are.”

“There’s no need to be a dick about it. I know we’re not together. We could never be a couple because you’re incapable of real human emotion. I just wanted you to visit the man you claim is your inspiration for wanting the collegiate championship this year.”

“My affection for your father is not up for debate. I will visit Coach with the rest of my teammates when he’s up for it.”

“Why can’t you go with me?”

“That wouldn’t be a good idea. Plus, last I heard, you’re fucking Bender Price.”

“Oh, is that it?” Her face brightens. “You’re jealous?”

“Not even a little bit. I’m just pointing out that you’re in a new relationship, just like I am. We should respect our new partners and keep our distance.”

“A relationship?” She scoffs. “You?”

“Did I stutter?”

“Are you trying to wife up one of the puck bunnies now?” She laughs mockingly. “You can’t make a hoe into a housewife, Neo. Everyone knows that.”

I keep a stone face. “I would appreciate it if you would respect me and my girl and stop popping up everywhere. You’re not invited.”

“Popping up? This is the school hockey rink where my father is the coach. I always belong here.”

“Your father isn’t here right now and last time I checked, you aren’t on the team.”

“Wait, you’re serious?”

“Very.”

She paces for a moment, then faces me once she thinks she’s figured it out.

“Is it the freshman?” she asks in horror.

“Who it is doesn’t matter.”

“You are throwing me aside for a fucking freshman?”

“How can I throw you aside when we were never together to begin with, Vikki?”

“Oh, that’s how you’re playing it now? Pretending like we didn’t have a relationship?”

“We were occasionally fucking each other.”

“Exclusively!”

I was sleeping with Vikki exclusively, not because she was my girlfriend, but because I don’t slide my dick into every random girl that bats her eyes at me. That’s how you get a damn STD or a baby before you even make it to pro.

“Well, now I’m exclusively with someone else. End of conversation.”

I stand.

She peers up at me with what I believe is a phony wounded expression, but for a brief moment I feel guilty, especially because it was so obvious to everyone but her why I even bothered past date one with her in the first place.

Vikki staggers back, her dark eyes shimmering with tears and her lip quivering. She wraps her arms around herself as though she’s hugging the heartbreak that’s ripping through her.

“That’s it? Just like that?”

“Just like that.” My cold reply hangs in the air, a heavy finality that severs the invisible thread between us.

Her tears spill over, leaving faint trails on her cheeks. It was harsh, but this conversation needed to be had. She sent Bender to my party to send a message, an obvious attempt to make me jealous, but this is my response.

I should feel something, remorse, pity... anything. But I feel nothing other than an overwhelming urge to get away from her.

I turn to leave when she throws one last accusation my way. “You used me! You used me and my father to get ahead in your career and now that he’s not coaching this year, you’re just tossing me aside.”

I stop at her words, my hand freezing on the doorknob to the locker room. I have stepped on some folks on my way to the top and there may be some truth to what she’s said, but I keep my voice steely as I reply without turning back, “You knew what this was from the start, Vikki.”

With those words hanging in the air between us, I walk out of the rink and toward the locker room area, shutting the door behind me. It closes with a quiet click, but inside me it feels like a loud bang.

As I walk down the hallway, I hear a blood-curdling scream of anger, and the guilt inside me stirs once again. I’m not proud of what I said or what I’ve done, but I push those unproductive feelings down and remind myself that this was necessary. Fucking my way to team captain was never my goal or end game. It was just a coincidental by-product of sleeping with the coach’s daughter, but now it’s time to move completely on from Vikki and all that she represents.

I’m not who I am because of the people I know, but by what I can do on the ice. And it’s time that I stand completely in the power of who I am and what I bring to the table with or without her and Coach Dixon as my allies.

I’m Neo fucking Major.

Ice Mafia king.

Puck magician.

The future of this sport.