Page 76 of Puck Lust

Okay, maybe he’s not a complete dickwad.

Sam gives me a small smile as Brixton leaves the room. He leans down next to me and whispers against my ear. “Go have a good time tomorrow. You need it, and Carter is the perfect person for you to be around. He’s obviously in this with you. And we’ll do whatever we can to keep Jeremy safe. I promise. I’ll get in touch with a few people who might be able to help us track him down, keep an eye on things.”

“I appreciate that,” I say, my voice tight. He gives my shoulder a squeeze and walks out of the room.

When Carter and I are finally alone, I collapse into a chair.

“You know, we could have come up with a different way to handle that,” he says. “You flew off the handle like a lunatic after Sam asked you not to.”

My jaw drops. “How can you even say that after everything I told you about my past? Was I really supposed to just ignore what I saw? What everyone saw?”

“I’m not saying the guy’s innocent, but you needed to leave this up to people who have actual power in these kinds of situations. I think it’s possible that you did project onto the guy and it pissed you off when Brixton called you out on it.”

I suck in a breath. “Look, maybe I went a little too far, but…”

I want to tell him. I want to tell him so badly.

“But what, Jack?” Carter’s voice softens. “Tell me. I’m on your side. I always was. And we’ll figure it all out, okay? Please be honest with me. I want to understand.”

Would he, though? Could he?

And if he doesn’t, then what?

Well, I already know what.

He’d break my fucking heart and I’d be left picking up the pieces.

My arms drop onto the table in front of me and I slump forward. “It’s bad. Really bad. And believe me, the assault on Jeremy’s father isn’t the only thing that can crush my career.”

TWENTY-SEVEN

carter

“You’resure it’s okay that I came for the party, right?”

I pause for a split second while I pull our bags from the bed of my truck because after a three-hour long ride, no. I’m not sure about anything.

Videos of Jack beating the crap out of Jeremy’s dad are all over the Internet, and there’s already rumbling online about endorsement deals he might lose because of his sudden burst of violence and aggression in the presence of the kids he’s supposed to be a role model for.

He shut down his phone after everything went sideways at Play It Forward, but I can’t keep my eyes from sweeping over headlines and stories and comments on my own devices.

We’re nothing without our fans and supporters. He’s already got haters attacking him for his sexuality, and now he’s got a whole host of new disgust pouring in. It’s going to blow back on the team, hang over us like a dark cloud. The guys are already feeling the brunt, and it’s going to get worse before it gets better. Maybe a public statement will help, but only if Jack is genuine in what he says, and based on his reaction to Rex’srecommendation, it didn’t seem like he was a fan of groveling to get himself back into everyone’s’ good graces.

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little bit worried about myself and how it’d look if people knew I was aligned with Jack. He had good intentions when he took after Jeremy’s dad, yeah, but he opened himself to a total shit storm when he threw that first punch.

And dammit, I hate myself for feeling that way. For always questioning myself and my abilities and how the world sees me. Maybe it all stems from living in the shadow of my dad and then being pitted against Jack in our earlier years. I fucking hate how that insecurity still controls me, even after all I’ve accomplished.

“Yeah, they’re all excited to finally meet you after all this time since you never met back in junior hockey days,” I say, smiling at him to ease the troubled expression on his face. Jack is always so strong and confident about everything. He may be a little too impulsive at times, but he does what he believes is right. He takes responsibility. He battles anyone who tries to attack who and what he is, without caring about consequences. He’s strong, Willful. So hearing the questioning tone in his voice makes my heart clench.

He blows out a breath. “Good. I’m glad to get away for a little while, even if it’s only overnight.”

“You speak to Rex today?”

His jaw tightens. “Once and then I shut off my phone again.”

“Probably a good move. The party will take your mind off things for a while. My family can be pretty, ah, distracting.”

We walk up the short flight of stone steps. I stick my key into the front door lock of my parents’ large, white colonial style house, but before I can twist the handle, the black doorswings open and my entire family swoops down on us, pulling us into the foyer.

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