Page 40

Chapter Forty

I wasn’t sure when I became a hockey girl, but suddenly every home game the Harbor Wolves had, my butt was in a seat, and Maggie was in one beside me.

Though she had a better reason to be here than me. She had a brother and a boyfriend on the team. I just had a roommate.

Not that Maggie saw the difference.

“So, any love declarations yet?” Maggie asked a moment after Liam scored a goal.

“Sorry, but no.” I laughed.

“Really? I figured by now there would be since you guys have been inseparable lately.”

“Not true.”

“Oh, you’re not?” She raised her brows in a challenge. “What about all the ‘ Liam and I are cooking dinner,’ or ‘Liam and I just ran to the grocery store’ or ‘Sorry, Maggie, I can’t hang out. Liam and I are watching a movie on the couch like we’re a 40-year-old married couple.” She rolled her eyes at the last part.

“Stop.” I groaned. “It’s good to be friends with the person you’re living with.”

“You’re wearing his jersey.” Maggie arched a brow with a smirk.

“To support him!” I said in a high-pitched voice. “It doesn’t mean anything!”

I didn’t tell her that he’d insisted.

I also didn’t tell her that I’d been sleeping in his bed every night for a week.

There was no point. Besides some very much-needed cuddling, he hadn’t so much as kissed me, which only proved what I already suspected. He didn’t like me, and whatever was happening between us was strictly platonic.

“Whatever.” She held her hands up. “I’m going to let you two figure this out yourselves.”

“Thank you,” I said, doing a double-take when something on the ice caught my eye.

As always, whenever we watched a game, my eyes were always glued to number twenty-six. I could spot him in seconds, wherever he was on the ice, no matter how fast he was moving.

That was why, when a player from the opposing team body-slammed someone against the ice, I knew at once that it was Liam.

I let out a shriek, flinching as if I were the one who took the hit. It was drowned out by the sound of the entire arena gasping with me.

“Calm down, .” Maggie put a hand on my knee to stabilize me, but I could see even she looked concerned about the intensity of the crash.

“What the hell was that about?” I asked Maggie, never taking my eyes off Liam, who used the weight of his shoulder to push the guy off of him.

“It’s their rival team,” Maggie explained, “These games tend to get a bit more… aggressive than most.”

“That was a targeted hit, Mags!” I yelled, standing from my seat, wishing I could break the glass to get to him.

The crowd was roaring as Liam and the other player went at each other until eventually, they both dropped their gloves to the ice.

“What are they—why are they doing that?” I asked, panic rising in my voice. “Why aren’t they stopping this?”

Both Liam and the other player were throwing punches like wild while the ref just skated around them, watching.

“It’s hockey. Fights are encouraged.”

To my surprise, the roars of the crowd weren’t ones of protest—but, like Maggie said, encouragement.

“This is crazy!” I looked at her in absolute panic. “This is like The Hunger Games! You have to stop them!”

“, sit down.” She tugged me back into my seat. “Before you give yourself a heart attack.”

“I can’t watch,” I said, hiding my eyes. But somehow, not knowing what was happening was worse. Especially when the crowd “oohed” and “aahed” at things I couldn’t see.

I opened my eyes just in time to see a fist connect with Liam’s face. I imagined the crunch it made and screamed when I saw blood pour from his nose.

I covered my mouth to stifle the gasp, panic settling in my chest. The other guy had gotten his fair share of bangs and bruises, but he wasn’t bleeding the way Liam was. My hands curled into fists by my side as I watched the refs finally break it up.

“Is he going to be okay?” I frantically asked Maggie.

“It’s just a nosebleed,” Maggie said. “Trust me, he’s had worse.”

“ Worse? ” I asked, appalled. “Hey! Why aren’t they taking him off the ice?”

“Because the game isn’t over,” Maggie responded as if it were obvious.

“But he’s hurt!” I said, watching as they merely wiped the blood away and sent Liam back out to play.

Maggie laughed.

“I don’t know if I can keep coming to these games if it gets worse than this.”

“Protective girlfriend vibes.” Maggie nodded. “How cute.”

I didn’t bother to deny it.

The game lasted another excruciating fourteen minutes.

Thankfully, Maggie knew which hallway to bring us to that would lead us directly to Liam. She brought us to a restricted section, flashing her last name to get us past the security guards, but I didn’t even worry that we were going to get in trouble the way I usually would. I just needed to see him.

The hallway was crowded with hockey players filtering in and out, staring at Maggie and me like the intruders we were as we infiltrated the space outside their locker room.

A door opened a few dozen feet away, and Liam walked out.

“Stay cool,” Maggie said, but I was already running.

“Liam!” I called as I rushed toward him.

His eyes jerked to mine in shock, widening slightly as I moved toward him. My hand came up, reaching out to touch the bruise blooming on his face already.

“,” he breathed, leaning into the palm of my hand on his cheek.

“Oh, God.” I bit my lip. “This looks awful.”

“Not so bad,” he said, green eyes blazing into mine.

“Are you okay?” I scanned the length of him. “I was so worried. I thought that guy broke your nose.”

I fumed, anger igniting at the thought of his rival player. If I were five inches taller and one hundred and fifty pounds heavier, I would’ve let that guy have it.

“I’ve had worse.” He laughed softly.

“So I’ve heard,” I muttered under my breath, still stroking his cheek.

“Hey!” Liam’s teammate called. “Get a room!”

Liam scowled at him as he passed by.

“He’s just mad because he doesn’t have a beautiful girlfriend here to worry about him,” another chimed in.

“You’re right,” The first one sighed dramatically. “That’s exactly it. Hey, . When you’re sick of him, want to give me a call?”

“Get the hell out of here.” Liam swatted the air where his teammate had been a second before.

Then he turned back to me, face relaxing when he saw the way I was still scanning him for bodily harm.

“Relax,” he said, shaking my shoulders. “I’m fine.”

“Do you promise,” I asked, reaching up just once more to trace the injury.

“I promise,” he responded absolutely. “Are you ready to go home?”

Liam always referred to it as home, which made my chest ache as a reminder that I didn’t have one of those. At least not a permanent one. But what I did have was a mother who needed to be picked up from the hospital.

She’d called before the game, but I’d risked the wrath she might have for me by not coming the second she called, telling her that I was at a hockey game and would be there when it was over.

Still, the entire time the clock ticked, I panicked, worried about the reaction I would get showing up late to pick her up. For my whole life, we’d run things on her timeline, but now? I figured I needed some things on my own terms if I was going to hold onto any semblance of a normal life.

“Actually, I, uh.” I looked around nervously, trying to make sure no one was listening. “I’m not coming to the apartment.”

He stilled immediately, face going slack.

“Where are you going?” he asked off-handedly.

I looked around once more before answering. “I have to pick my mom up. She’s getting discharged today.”

“That’s great.” For some reason, he let out a breath of air, relaxing his posture. “I’ll drive you.”

My body tensed at those words.

“No, thank you. It’s okay.” I shook my head violently.

There was absolutely no way I was letting Liam anywhere near my mother. Her behaviors were unpredictable, and her moods were tumultuous at best.

I knew that after going through withdrawal, she’d at least not be slobbering drunk, but the fear of what she might do was always with me.

“Why?” he asked.

“Because I don’t want to put you out.”

“Nothing you could do would ever put me out. I want to take you.”

“She lives far out of the way. It might take time for them to finish her discharge papers…”

“I don’t mind. I can drive you.”

“I don’t want you to,” I blurted out.

He flinched, and I immediately felt like the biggest jerk in the world.

“Oh,” he said, “Okay, then.”

“I didn’t mean it like that.” I sighed.

“It’s fine,” he said, a wall going up between us.

“It’s just that I’m embarrassed,” I admitted,

“Embarrassed?” His whole demeanor changed, going from closed off to perplexed in seconds. “Of what?”

“Of my mom,” I said, stepping closer to him to shield myself because somewhere along the way, he had become my safe harbor, and I found solace in his touch.

Even though he was upset with me, he still took me in his arms, letting me hide against his chest as he questioned.

“Your mom?” His voice sounded confused. “Why would you be embarrassed about her?”

“She can be aggressive. And blunt. And sometimes really rude. But other times, she’s fine.” I groaned. “I don’t know. It’s complicated. I just never know how she’s going to be, so it’ll make me more anxious bringing you into that situation when I don’t even know what to expect from her.”

“She’s not a reflection of you, ,” he said softly, hands running through my hair. “She could set my car on fire, and I wouldn’t hold it against you in the slightest, okay?”

I snorted at his dramatics. “That’s only because you have like a million dollars to afford a new one.”

“Well, yeah. That helps.” He laughed, and I could picture his eyes rolling as he said it. “So, will you let me take you? Please?”

I couldn’t fathom it. That Liam Brynn, who had just been a superstar on the ice, whose face had just been blown up on a Jumbotron while thousands of people cheered for him, was asking to be part of my messy life.

“Fine,” I relented, sagging against him. “But don’t get scared off by her if she’s acting up. I promise I won’t let her hurt you.” I meant it to be teasing but also sort of a warning.

Dave had only ever met my mother a handful of times in our six-year relationship, and those few times had been too much for him. I couldn’t bear the thought of Liam taking off because of something my mom said or did in his presence.

But Liam apparently didn’t know the extent of what she could be like. I had explained it to him, but that was different than seeing it in person.

“The only woman who can hurt me is you,” he said as casually as if it were something he said every day. “Besides, I already took a few hits tonight. What’s a couple more?”