Page 130 of Cross Checked
I looked at her, not Luke.
“You disagree?” I called.
Her cheeks went red enough to make the whole thing worth it. “I’m not participating in whatever this is.”
“This is community bonding.”
“This is ego with a stick.”
“Same thing.”
Her laugh came out before she could stop it. That was the sound I wanted. Luke’s expression went flat and he charged on the next play.
Predictable.
Men like him always got stupid when they felt humiliated. They forgot strategy and turned everything into punishment. I knew the type from hockey. Guys who threw dirty hits when skillstopped working. Guys who hooked, slashed, grabbed, chirped, and waited for refs to miss it because losing clean offended their sense of self.
Luke tried to clip my ankle behind the play.
I saw it coming.
I let his stick hit mine, used the contact to pivot, and shoved my shoulder into his hard enough to knock him off balance without making it look like anything more than competitive contact.
He stumbled not enough to fall but definitely enough for everyone to laugh.
Knox whistled. “Careful, Dempsey. Pavement bites.”
Luke’s eyes cut to Pip. Wrong move. I stepped directly into his line of sight as his gaze snapped back to mine. I smiled small and mean and saw that inner prick emerge just like I knew he would.
Got you.
The game kept going, but I stopped playing like it was a game and started controlling the entire street. Every pass he wanted, I cut off. Every lane he moved toward, I closed before he reached it. Every time he tried to build speed, I angled him toward the curb or into one of his own players. I didn’t need ice to dominate him. I didn’t need pads. I didn’t need a crowd.
I just needed him to understand there were men in the world he couldn’t intimidate.
By the time we stopped for water, Luke was sweating hard and breathing harder.
I wasn’t.
Pip stood near the cooler, handing out drinks to kids while pretending not to watch me. Her hair still fell over one side of her neck.
Still hiding.
I walked straight to her and her eyes lifted. Something in them softened before she could stop it, then sharpened when she realized I was coming right at her in front of everyone.
“Water?” she asked, holding one out like a shield.
I took it, but instead of stepping back, I moved behind her and hooked one arm around her waist again, pulling her against my chest while I drank over her shoulder. Casual. Public. Infuriating to the man watching from the street.
Pip stiffened for one second, then relaxed back against me.
“Cade,” she murmured.
“Pip.”
“My brothers are going to lose their minds.”
“They already lost them.”
