Page 15

Gunner

I eye Chloe from the corner of my eye but stay quiet.

I want to talk to her but don’t have a clue what to say.

I’m very aware of how badly I’ve messed things up in the last hour or so, but I don’t have a clue how to fix it.

I try to stretch out my long legs, but there’s no room.

I’m irritated and feel like I’m about to come out of my skin.

I need to get to the rink and skate off some of this frustration; I need the ice beneath my skates.

I need to not have Chloe’s soft body nestled against mine in this seat, even though both of us are trying our best not to touch each other.

I need to erase the image of her in that outfit she wore to bed last night.

I shift uncomfortably in my seat.

Who knew a pair of shorts and a tank top could be so enticing?

Who knew they could even be made of silk?

I shake my head, but I’m pretty sure I will never get the image of Chloe dressed that way out of my mind.

All that soft skin on display.

.

.

I nearly groan.

Hockey.

Focus on hockey.

I need to focus.

We have a game in just a few hours.

But try as I might, I can’t get my attention off the woman next to me.

I hate that she was so sick during the night, but I’m also angry with her.

“Did you eat the plate I had made for you?” I ask, turning to her.

Coach pulled me away, and I finished eating at his table.

I lost sight of Chloe after that and didn’t see her again until she got on the bus.

She shakes her head.

“Did you eat anything?” I ask in exasperation.

“No.”

She doesn’t even look at me, and I resist the urge to shake her.

I snap my mouth shut, so I don’t say something I’ll regret.

I don’t understand why the woman won’t take care of herself.

I’m angry at her, but I’m also angry at myself.

I hadn’t realized how thin she’s gotten.

I noticed last night.

She’s also so pale, and those circles under her eyes keep getting worse.

It’s no wonder, though, if every night is like last night.

Anger stirs in my belly once again.

I move my leg restlessly; I need to be there already.

I put my earbuds in and close my eyes.

I need to find my center before we get to the game.

It’s a lot harder than I realize with Chloe right next to me and her perfume drifting towards my nose every time she shifts positions, which is plenty.

I wonder if she’s feeling as unsettled as I am.

We finally arrive at the arena, and I’m the first to my feet.

Normally, I’d let everybody else go first, but I need to get off this bus before I lose my mind.

I stride down the aisle and out into the fresh air.

Since I’m the first one off the bus, I help Cameron unload all the luggage.

I put Chloe’s bag next to mine, intending to carry it for her.

But when I finish unloading, her bag is gone.

I grab mine, throw it over my shoulder and turn, looking for her.

I catch sight of her, and my stomach tightens.

She’s standing next to Zac.

He says something, and she smirks.

It’s not a full laugh, but it’s more than she’s given me lately.

A wave of pure jealousy rushes through me, surprising me; but it doesn’t keep me from striding over to them.

When I get to them, I wrap an arm around her and pull her into my side.

“Ready?” I ask, looking down at her, purposefully ignoring my teammate.

I hear Zac snort, but I continue to ignore him, hoping he’ll get the memo to walk away.

Thankfully, he does.

Chloe raises an eyebrow.

“Your caveman is showing.”

I don’t have a response to that, so I don’t even bother trying to come up with something.

She starts to pull away, and I let her, even though I don’t want to.

I’m equal parts irritated with her and worried about her.

But right now, I have a game to think about and a team to lead.

“Do me a favor, Liessman,” I say, using her last name like she always does to me.

“Eat something,” She turns back to me, rolls her eyes and walks away.

I can’t help but watch her as she walks away.

Seeing my name on her back does something to me.

It feels dangerous because it makes me feel something that she’s not…

Mine .

“You’re staring,” Seb says as he throws a hard elbow into my ribs.

I cut him a look but don’t say anything.

We start inside, and I force myself to focus on the task ahead.

This is why Chloe is so dangerous to me; it’s why I turned her down four years ago when she was new on the job.

I had just been named team captain, something I’d been gunning for.

I was finally making something of myself.

After I became captain, I made a pledge to myself that I would put the team first and give it my all.

I was the leader after all, and our team would rise and fall on my leadership.

So, it was easy for me to turn the new PR agent down, as beautiful as she was.

What’s been harder has been not regretting that decision nearly every day since then.

It seems ironic that the very woman I’ve spent four years trying to keep my distance from has now been thrown literally into my arms.

And while I was serious, I wouldn’t want any other woman than Chloe to do it, she represents a temptation I’m not sure I’m strong enough to withstand.

In the decade I’ve played hockey, no woman has ever tempted me the way Chloe does.

The need to make sure she’s safe, cared for, happy, and now—eating is becoming all-consuming.

It’s scary, and I’m doing everything in my power to keep it from taking over.

But like with hockey, everything I put my attention to, I do with one hundred ten percent.

And it’s been really hard to not give that much attention to Chloe, the one woman that has the potential to take my attention off where it needs to be.

“You good?”

Aiden’s voice snaps me back to the present as he walks beside me down the long hallway to the guest locker room.

The media lines the sides of the hallway, taking our pics.

We ignore them and keep our focus straight ahead.

“Yeah.”

“Want to talk about it?”

I look over at him and smirk.

“On a scale of one to ten, how hard was it to ask that?”

He doesn’t even look at me.

“Eleven.” I shake my head.

Aiden’s known for his fists, not his words.

Though he has changed a lot since marrying Brielle, he’s still pretty quiet.

“You seem...off.”

His words are like a blow to my chest.

This is exactly why I have no business thinking about Chloe when I have a job to do, a team and an entire franchise depending on me.

“I’ll get back on track.”

He glances at me.

“Everything good with Chloe?”

“Fine. Everything is good. We’re keeping everything strictly professional.”

His silence seems to say everything.

But there’s no more time to say anything because we arrive at the locker room, and it’s time to focus.

The rest of the afternoon passes quickly, and soon, it’s time to step out on the ice.

I feel my entire body relax as soon as my skates touch the ice.

Everything else fades away as I let myself fall into my pregame routine.

I need complete focus tonight as we play our LA rivals.

Every game in our season is important, but some games feel like more.

And this is one of them.

They kept us from a run at the Cup last year, and we’re ready for payback.

“Gather around,” I shout when it’s almost game time.

My teammates gather around me.

“Nothing else outside of right here right now matters. Right now, it’s just us and them. They kept us from the Cup last year.” I let the sting of my words settle.

“It’s time for some payback; it’s time to remind them who we are.”

“That’s right!” Sebastian shouts, pumping his fist in the air.

I put my fist in.

“Green Thunder on three. One, two, three.”

“Green Thunder!”

“Let’s go deliver a slapping they won’t forget,” Zac shouts.

And then we head out, ready to take the ice.

We skate out, amidst the booing.

It doesn’t shake me in the least; I’m used to it.

We stand off to the side as the home team gets their time.

I get into that place where nothing can touch me, and where I am one hundred percent focused.

We take our places as soon as it’s time, and I’m ready to get this game going.

Aiden takes his place in the center for puck drop.

He wins it, and we’re off.

They come after us, aggressive and fast, which was what we were planning on.

We’re ready for them.

The first period is an intense back and forth with neither of us scoring.

I keep an eye on number sixty-seven.

He’s been causing problems all night.

Aiden’s checked him in warning several times, but I have a feeling he’s going to become more of an issue.

When we step back out onto the ice for the second period, I skate next to Aiden.

“Watch your back with sixty-seven.” He nods, confirming he heard me.

We take our places, and the puck drops.

They get this one and they’re off.

Rico keeps them out, and Zac gets it and sends it to the center where Aiden’s waiting.

He sends it to Sebastian, and I race to catch up.

Sebastian fires, but it’s deflected.

Aiden gets it to me, and I fight to get it in.

But their goalie clears it and sends it down the ice.

Dylan gets it back and sends it to Aiden.

And that hit that I was warning him about comes.

Number sixty-seven gets Aiden at the boards.

I’m already almost there, and I get him off Aiden and scramble for the puck.

I get it out of there and to Sebastian.

I keep sixty-seven in my view as we continue to play.

They manage to score, and I feel the score deep inside.

We gather up.

“Next one is ours,” I tell them.

“We’ve got this. Watch your backs for number sixty-seven. Aiden, you good from that hit?” He nods, and I trust him to know his body.

He’s used to taking brutal hits; we all are.

But that one he took was especially brutal.

I glance at the clock.

“We’ve got four minutes. Let’s make it count.”

And then we’re right back at it.

The time ticks away, and we get several looks at the goal but can’t get it in.

We're trying to dig the puck out of the wall, when another fight breaks out. There’s been multiple tonight. Most of them they’ve started, but Aiden’s been at the middle of almost every one of them. When sixty-seven gets Rico, though, it’s me that slams him into the wall. He swings around, ready to fight; but the refs call it and he heads to the penalty box.

“You good?” I ask Rico as I skate past him. He nods.

“Let’s make this count,” he tells me.

I nod. We’re in a power play, and we’re going to use it. “Let’s do this!” I shout to my teammates. Adien’s got the puck and we crowd the goal. It’s a fight, but we’re not giving up until we score. I get the puck and fake left and fade right and shoot. Score ! Sebastian slams into me first and then the rest of my teammates. We celebrate for a moment. It feels good, but we’re not done here. We need another score; we need to win.

We head back to the center for the beginning of the third period, energized from our goal. We’re ready to do this. We win the puck drop, and Aiden sends it to Sebastian, and he’s off. I’m across the ice from him and take it when Sebastian sends it to me. I advance on the goal and shoot, but their goalie keeps it out. Aiden digs it out from the wall and sends it, but they intercept it. I skate hard and fast. Suddenly, the world flips upside down, and white hot pain shoots through my shoulder.