Page 7 of Fall For Me
There’s fire in his eyes. Oh, he’s getting mad. Good. I’ve been pissed off for a long time.
“Absolutely pathetic,” I spit.
He skates towards me until he’s so close that if he bent down a foot, we’d be nose to nose. I glare up at him and keep going.
“You hand out high-glove chances as freely as you offer your bed to puck bunnies, which is alot. Do they drop to their knees as fast as you do,Mac?”
“Sounds an awful lot like you’re jealous.”
“Sounds an awful lot like you need to watch your five-hole. Your stick placement is inconsistent.” I look down at his crotch with an arched brow.
“What’s going on here?”
I jump at the sound of Carter’s voice booming across the ice from behind the boards.
Sean begins skating backwards, his eyes still locked on me. “It was a misunderstanding, Doc.”
“There’s no misunderstanding. You’re a misogynistic prick who seems to forget who the hell I am and who raised me. I may not be a professional hockey player, Sean, but I can sure the fuck skate circles around you.”
“Hannah!” Carter yells, wearing a scowl with his arms crossed. “Meet me in my office. We have some things to discuss.”
Skating toward the boards, I snatch up my water bottle and take a drink, then start to exit the ice, wishing like hell Sean didn’t always bring out the worst in me.
“Just so we’re clear,” Sean calls out behind me, his voice causing me to freeze. “The comment I made earlier wasn’t meant for you; I was talking to Aiden. You’re right, he’s weak on his left side.”
Spine stiffening and both hands gripping the boards, I stand at the exit, but I don’t turn to face him. After everything he’s put me through, the last thing I want is to feel bad for cutting him down. I take a step out of the rink, and he drives the knife deeper.
“And I haven’t been with anyone since you.”
“Yeah? Well, there’s been plenty since you,” I lie.
Does he honestly expect me to believe that in the course of a year, I’m the only one he’s been with? What a crock of shit.
After stripping off my skates, I leave without a word and follow Carter to his office, taking a seat across from his desk. Resting back with my arms crossed, I wait for what I already know is coming. The door clicks shut before he rounds the desk and plops down in his chair.
“I allow you to work with Aiden because you’re good—more than good. You have an eye that most don’t. And with your dad away on his honeymoon, it’s been nice to have someone who’s had a lifetime of his training and knows what she’s talking about, but if you’re gonna come down onto my ice and put doubt into my player’s head, you can stay upstairs.”
His face blurs as tears begin to sting the back of my eyelids. I press my fingertips to my eyes, then take a deep breath and school my expression.
“Jesus, Hannah,” he sighs, running a hand through his hair. “What you said out there might take me weeks to undo. Do you realize that?”
“Yes, and I’m sorry. Not for what I said to him because he’s a jerk and deserved it no matter how untrue what I said might’ve been. But I’m sorry if I made your job harder.”
“I know you’re hurt, and you don’t want to hear this, but it’s been months.”
In other words, it’s time to move on. Well, that’s easy for him to say, considering the universe hands everything to him on a silver platter. Oh, you’re in love with River? Here . . . how about you wake up married to her. You want a Stanley Cup? Here’s three . . . four if you count this year’s trophy as a coach. You want a baby? Why settle for one? You can have twins!
I love Carter to death; I do, but how dare he? He has no idea all the shit I’m going through. Not that I’ve been open with anything, but still.
“This subject is off limits,” I say, standing up and striding to the door.
“Before you go, I’m gonna tell you the same thing I tell my players: keep your drama and personal life off my ice.”
Fuming, I storm out of his office and head back to mine to grab my purse and keys.
Aspen, my new stepsister and boss, pokes her head in the door. “Oh good. I’m glad I caught you. Can you grab me something from the Burger Joint and bring it back?”
“Of course. What do you want?” I ask, even though I’d prefer to go anywhere but there.
