Page 139 of Unloved

“Henry, please, just go. We can talk about it tomorrow.”

That voice is Carmen, I know it. The same thread of snark embedded into every word until you don’t know her real meaning.

“No. It’smyhome. Let me through.”

I’m at practice—not there, I almost have to remind myself.

That has me jumping up, pulling on my sweats and almost tripping over my feet, trying manically to get to the commotion in the foyer—no, at the front door.

Carmen is at the door, hip to the frame, blocking someone from getting in.

“Can you just come back tomorrow? You weren’t supposed to be back until—”

“Let me in, Carmen.”

I can’t focus. My skating is choppy, shots sloppy and wide. Toren accused me of playing keep-away once, but this time I really am.

Instead, I try to poke the bear—aka Toren Kane.

Protectiveness rises in me like a tidal wave, ignoring the niggle of wrongness that pinches at my mind.

Carmen eyes me over her shoulder before slipping out and shutting the door behind her.

It makes me pause for a moment. She’s tried to shut me out over and over, but I want her to see how much I care.

I open the door, heart pounding, ready to defend Carmen—show her how much I care.

“What’s going on?” I ask, eyeing the tall older man in a full suit standing across from Carmen. I come to stand by her side, arms crossing over my bare chest as I flick my eyes between them.

She looks… embarrassed.

“Everything okay?”

Toren doesn’t go for it the first few times, even as I wait for his quick clip to my shoulder and shove into the boards once he’s playing defense against me. He’s brutal, but he’s more controlled with the team. Purposefully so.

“Oh my God,” the guy laughs. “You’ve got to be kidding, Car.”

“Henry,” Carmen sighs, rolling her eyes. “Don’t—”

“He’s a fucking kid, Car. Please tell me he’s not a fucking student.”

She doesn’t say anything, her cheeks practically glowing bright red now.

Carmen’s hesitation works like a confirmation, and he shakes his head, eyeing me with a strange, sympathetic expression.

I don’t want that Kane—I want the asshole who almost ruined Rhys’s career, who nearly killed him.

“Leave him alone. It’s… it’s nothing.” She steps forward, looking back at me regretfully. “Freddy, can you go? We’re—”

“What?” I ask. It’s not the right question, but I feel lost and confused. “I thought… I thought we were like—I love you,” I blurt. It isn’t what I should’ve said. Carmen curses and Henry laughs before stepping past us toward the door.

“Sorry, kid,” he says, patting me sharply on the back. “I doubt she mentioned me, but I’m her husband, Henry.”

I flinch, rearing back like he might try to fight me. But he shakes his head. “She does this a lot. It’s fine.”

“Playing nice now, huh?” I chirp, pushing him as he circles me. “I saw the video of your freak-out. The one that got you banned from Harvard—”

Wrong, wrong, wrong.Everything about this wrong and backward, and I cannot figure out what I’m supposed to do.

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