Page 3

Liam

Six months later

I shouldn’t have agreed to take up Joe’s shift at the diner this evening.

No, it’s not because I’m a bad friend. It’s because the Thunder Knights, the town’s beloved hockey team won their first game of the season tonight.

The dining area is packed with loud, boisterous hockey fans who’re all ravenous for food. Wearing the team’s signature colors, gold and royal blue, they’re noisily recounting the highlights of the game and shouting at me from different directions.

It’s so damn chaotic tonight, the orders are piling up faster than I can scribble them all down.

“Hey, is our order ready yet?” someone hollers from a nearby table.

“I’ll go check, Sir,” I mutter, hurrying toward the kitchen.

The kitchen is just as noisy and chaotic as the crowd outside. Smoke and the delicious aroma of grilling meat hit my nostrils as I check the order number on the dishes that were just put on the counter.

Grabbing a massive tray, I pile up all the plates of burgers and glasses of milkshakes and make my way out of the kitchen. Weaving through the crowd, I barely manage to dodge a celebratory high-five between two overexcited kids in hockey jerseys.

A curse gets trapped between my lips as I grit my teeth and place the tray on a table surrounded by young women and their boyfriends. Before I can place the dishes before them, they reach out for the glasses of milkshakes, nearly knocking them in the process.

Were these people watching the game or actually playing it? Everyone is acting like ravenous dogs who haven’t been fed for days!

Picking up the empty platter, I turn around and suddenly collide with a wall. At the same time, a loud roar erupts in the diner as people start shouting and screaming, drowning the clatter of the fallen tray.

Dazed, I blink, trying to figure out what’s happening.

A broad chest comes into my focus. As I slowly raise my gaze, I’m captured by a pair of stormy-gray eyes. A jolt goes through me, kicking up the memory of a thunderous night and a churning sea.

“Pirate,” I gasp, the name falling out of my lips before I can stop myself.

As I take in his stony expression, I realize he doesn’t recognize me.

The young man standing before me is the same guy I pulled out of the ocean a couple of months back when I was living in Long Island.

He’d been soaked to the skin back then, his midnight-black hair plastered to his forehead. His lips were split and swollen while his entire body was peppered with dark bruises and scars.

As I stare at him now, he’s almost unrecognizable. He towers over me, wearing dark jeans, black sneakers, and a Thunder Knights team jacket.

“What the hell’s wrong with this kid?” someone from behind Pirate mutters, breaking the moment between us. “Does he not want us to enter this place?”

“I think he’s bedazzled from colliding with our star center,” a second guy in a Knights jacket comments. He drapes a long arm over Pirate’s shoulder and grins at me. “Can you find us a table, Shortie?”

Anger shoots through me at his callous comment but I purse my lips and step away. Bending down, I pick up my tray just before the hockey fans flock toward Pirate and the surrounding men in the Knights varsity jackets.

“You guys were awesome tonight!

“Go, Team Knights! Go Thunder! Yeah!”

“Hail the Knights!”

The entire diner echoes with the deafening cries of the hockey fans. I’m carelessly shoved aside as they gather around the players.

Pirate is so tall, that I can easily glimpse his face over the sea of fans. A smug grin is plastered over his face as he soaks up the adoration of the crowd.

I guess he doesn’t remember me , I realize, feeling a stab of disappointment.

Even though it was just a night, I never forgot about the vulnerable young man I saved from drowning in the sea. His dark gray eyes had been as unfathomable as the sea itself but he’d allowed me to help him.

I could tell he was in a lot of pain that night, both physical and emotional, so I never forced any questions on him. He’d even refused to tell me his name.

Is this the reason he didn’t reveal anything about himself?

Pirate is a star hockey player for the Thunder Knights and the whole town seems to hero worship him. I’ve never been into any kind of sports but even I can tell he’s popular.

“Liam,” a familiar feminine voice rouses me from my thoughts.

“Hey, Liz,” I say, glancing toward the owner of the diner. She’s in her late forties and is dressed in an impressive blue dress that matches the Knight’s blue jersey.

“You need to focus, Liam,” she says with a shake of her head. “It’s going to be a very busy evening for us. I can’t have you spacing out in the middle of things.”

“Sorry,” I mutter, hurrying toward the kitchen.

The counter is overflowing with plates of prepared food. Sarah, one of the other servers, grins at me before starting to pile up her tray.

“Is it always this crazy after a game?” I ask, joining her.

“Oh, this is nothing,” she says, sniggering. “Tonight was just the first game of the season. You should see the town when the Knights play against the Silver Bears or the Raiders from UPenn. It’s absolute mayhem in all the diners and bars on those nights because the fans keep getting into fights.” She hoists the heavy tray in her hands and winks. “Welcome to Knightswood, Meyers.”

A dry chuckle escapes me as I load my tray and head out after her.

I had no idea Knightswood University would have such a craze for ice hockey. The only reason I transferred here for my final semesters was to work at their state-of-the-art laser lab in the Physics department.

Noise and chaos engulf me the moment I step back into the dining room.

I want to take another look at Pirate and see if he’s really forgotten about me but I never get a chance. The place is so crowded I have to be extra careful with my heavy tray and avoid colliding with the overexcited sports fans.

I soon get into a rhythm, taking orders and delivering them to the droves of ravenous hockey enthusiasts. Almost three hours pass by before I get a chance to take a break.

“Can you empty the bin, Liam?” Maggie, the head cook, hollers at me just as I’m taking a sip from a bottle of water.

“Yeah, sure,” I say, gulping down a mouthful of water.

Screwing on the cap, I move toward the overflowing bin and bring out a huge, bulging garbage bag. It’s so heavy, I have to nearly drag it out to the back of the diner.

A fresh cool breeze plays with my curls as I drop the bag in one of the dumpsters. My breaths come out in loud pants as I lean against a wall and gaze up at the sky.

It’s a moment before I realize I’m not alone. Just as I’m straightening up, someone pushes me against the wall.

“Hey!” I retaliate, feeling the hard impact on my back.

“Don’t make a sound,” a deep voice warns as thick fingers wrap around my neck.

“Get off me!” I shout, trying to push the stranger away from me.

“I told you to be quiet,” the assaulter says through clenched teeth. His fingers tighten around my neck, nearly cutting off my air supply.

I try to see who it is but his hood is up, shielding his face.

He’s taller and bigger than me. I hate to admit it, but he’s also a lot stronger than me. My fingers scrape uselessly against his hand and wrists, trying to break his hold on my neck.

“What do you want?” I manage to force the words out through my constricted windpipe.

“You recognized me, didn’t you?”

His fingers loosen slightly, allowing me to focus on him. Now that I’m no longer fighting for air, I recognize who’s got me in a chokehold.

“Pirate,” I blurt.

The name immediately has him choking me. “What the hell are you doing here?” he asks, bringing his face so close to mine I can feel his hot breath on me. “Did you follow me here? Are you here to expose me? Are you here to blackmail me?”

Hot fury bubbles up in my chest as I raise my foot and kick him in the knee. “What the hell are you talking about?”

A grunt escapes him but he doesn’t let go of me.

“You told me you were a Physics major at Kingston U,” he says, his dark eyes boring into me. “Did you lie to me?”

“I didn’t lie,” I say, continuing to struggle against him.

“Then why are you here?”

“What’s it to you?”

“Answer me!” he hisses, slamming me against the wall.

Pirate is built like a tank and his body vibrates with pure raw power. I feel like a rag doll in his hold but instead of feeling scared, I just get angrier.

“I transferred here,” I snap. “Professor Blanton wanted me to join his team here to finish up my research project. I’m here to use the laser lab so that I can gather the data I need. My transfer has nothing to do with you. I didn’t even know who you were until tonight. To be honest, I still don’t know what your name is, asshole.”

My rage-fueled voice must’ve finally made him see sense because he finally loosens his fingers around my throat and takes a step back.

“I will kill you if you tell anyone about what happened back in April,” he says in a threatening tone. He steps forward, crowding me against the wall with his massive body.

This close, I finally get a good look at his full lips and his rock-cut, clean-shaven jaw. His dark eyes glitter in the gloom as his fingers grip my chin.

“Mark my words, Liam. I can end your life in this town if you dare to tell anyone about my secret.”

The way he says my name has me feeling things I shouldn’t be feeling when he’s being such a jerk. Gulping air, I try to sort out my scrambled thoughts.

“What kind of a person do you think I am?” I throw back at him. “I saved your life back then. Why would I hurt the person I tried so hard to save from being drowned?”

He freezes.

“I won’t tell anyone about it,” I reassure him despite wanting to punch his handsome face. “You don’t have to worry about me.”

“I need you to keep shut about the other thing as well.”

“What other thing?” I wrack my brains, trying to figure out whether he left me with any secrets. The asshole didn’t even tell me his name! “Wait, are you talking about being gay?”

A sudden vulnerability flashes in his eyes. He’s quick to hide it though. Reaching out, he grabs my hair and yanks me close to his face. “I swear I’ll finish you if you breathe a word of it to anyone.”

“I don’t need you to keep threatening me,” I hiss through clenched teeth, glaring up at him with a challenge in my eyes. “Not that it’s any of your business, but I’m gay too. Even though I’m open about it, I’d never out someone who’s still struggling to come to terms with their sexuality.”

Pirate looks deep into my eyes, searching for something.

“Liam! Are you out here?” Maggie’s voice cuts through the suffocating tension in the air.

Pirate’s hold on me slackens as he twists to look over his shoulder, allowing me to take the chance to push him away.

“I’m over here!” I shout to Maggie. “I’ll be right there!”

“Hurry up already,” her voice floats toward me. “It’s time to close up shop.”

I glance back at Pirate and find him studying me with a strange look in his eyes. He doesn’t stop me as I walk past him and hurry toward the diner’s kitchen.

I’m almost at the door when I realize I still don’t know his name. Turning around, I look for him around the dumpster area but he’s gone.

Adrenaline continues to course through me, my heart racing at a hundred miles per hour from my interaction with him.

Pirate is dangerous.

I have no doubt about it but a part of me also wants to soothe his fears.

Ice hockey is a brutal sport. People expect these players to be hyper-masculine and unapologetically aggressive.

Since Pirate is not open about his sexuality, he must always be living in fear, shame, and guilt. He must be constantly worried about the reaction of his teammates, coaches, and fans if they ever found out he’s gay.

Even though I hate the way he treated me just now, I can’t help but feel sorry for him. Balancing love for the sport and the fear of rejection can’t be easy.

Was this the reason he walked into the ocean in the middle of a storm without caring for his life?

I want to help him but my brain tells me to stay clear of him. He’s lethal and he might very well keep his promise and destroy both me and my heart.