Page 7 of Bitter Pucking Rivals

“You’re not the only one who was stuck on a bus for eight hours,” Theo says dismissively, finally putting his stick down in front of him. He leans against it as if it’s a fence.“Just say you’re trash and we can all move on.”

That’s it. The fuse I’ve been keeping in check for so long this entire match—no, this entireday—has just gone off. Slowly, I skate towards my enemy, seething with anger.

“Hayden, whoa. Hey, calm down.” Declan calls out as he tries to skate as fast as he can towards me to stop me, but he’s not quite used to all the goalie equipment attached to him, so he’s stumbling along the ice a bit.

Xavier tries to get in between me and Theo as I approach him. “Come on, Parker, it’s just a stupid practice game. There’s no need to?—”

I push Xavier aside rather roughly, but he manages to follow by my side. Pretty soon, Declan’s at my side as well, and I’ve already made quite a commotion that even Julian and Ansel are starting to make their way over to me. The refs are whistling for us to get back in position, but the shrill tone of the whistle only serves to aggravate me even more.

Standing a few feet away from me now is Theo. He’s still wearing that smug look on his face and leaning against his hockey stick as I size him up.

“Fuck you and your stupid truce,” I spit, swinging my stick upwards in a blaze of fury. As I do, I can feel nothing but my heartbeat as Theo’s ocean eyes morph from pompous to indifference. Countless voices around me are trying to yell at me to stop, but my stick is already swinging downwards, breaking as it makes impact on Theo's hockey stick. A brittle crack echoes throughout my ear as his hockey stick flies in the air and lands on the ice split in two, sliding along with the piece of mine that broke off.

Silence lingers in the air. I’m not sure if it’s because my ears are ringing too much and I can only hear my own heartbeat, but I can’t hear anyone else. I’m just staring directly at Theo’s eyes, refusing to back down.

Before I know it, Julian has me by the jersey and is pulling me to the benches, his usually calm but strict demeanor now angry and disappointed. “I ask you to do one thing. Keep a cool head and not make a scene, and you can’t even do that.” He scolds me in the sharpest tone I’ve ever heard him use, shoving me off the ice so hard that I almost trip and fall. “Shower and cool off, Hayden. You’re not coming back on the ice today,” Julian barks, not giving me a chance to speak.

Following his suit, Xavier also drags Theo off the ice with the same force, but to Theo’s dismay, he actually trips and falls onto his ass. “Get your fucking mouth in check, Theo, or you’re gonna regret it.” Xavier reprimands his fellow Wolverine, but his voice is a lot more unforgiving than Julian’s. I watch the two captains skate back into the ice and apologize to the refs on our behalf. After that, Xavier subs us in with players from the other colleges, not giving us much thought anymore.

This is the first time I’ve ever been kicked off the ice, but strangely, I don’t feel guilty. I can’t even stand being next to Theo right now, so I walk back to the locker room, not paying any mind to him as he trails behind.

CHAPTER NINE

6:16 pm

HAYDEN

Theo followsme into the locker room because of course he does. He clearly wants to make my life miserable. There’s no shortage of locker rooms in this massive facility, and yet Theo has to trudge in here along with me and continue to be a thorn in my side. I run the shower in the background as I get out of my clothes, hoping the sound of the water will help soothe my rage. “Can’t you go change in another room?” I ask in the most reserved tone I can muster. “In case it’s not clear, I kind of don’t want to be around you right now.” My temper is still boiling, the rage pulsing through my body and making me feel warm. I take my shirt off, hoping the chilly locker room air will help cool me off.

“My stuff is here, dipshit. Plus, what makes you think I’ll obeyyou?” Theo dismisses me, taking off his jersey as well as he runs a towel through his wet hair. He hasn’t learned his lesson, and apparently I haven’t either, as I’m not ready to let this go.

“Oh, I can tell from how you play that you obey no one. All you ever think about is yourself, and everyone else is shit compared to you, isn’t that right?” I’m nearly foaming at the mouth at how fucking furious he makes me. “Praise Theo! Hail Theo! He can’t do anything wrong because he’s Theo!” I parade around the locker room, flailing my arms around with frustration.

Theo’s indifferent face scrunches. “At least I’m not dragging my feet just because I hate who I’m teamed with,” he counters, finally showing emotion as he stands up and walks towards me. He effectively stops me from walking around the room as he blocks the way and continues his seething takedown. “Oh, poorme.I don’t like what I’m doing, so I’ll make it everyone else’s problem. Poorme, pityme. Fuck you, Hayden. I’m so sick of this in-distress act you put up so everyone adjusts toyou!”

“I’m not the one who’s spouting useless shit to his own teammate out there on the ice!” I ball my fists at my side and fight the lightheadedness that’s suddenly threatening to strike.

“News flash, idiot, the world doesn’t revolve around you!” Theo pokes at my shoulder as he comes closer to my face.

I let out the deepest breath I’ve ever exhaled in an effort to control my trembling fists. “Don’t touch me,” I warn Theo, my voice low and almost inaudible.

Theo walks one final step, his forehead almost touching mine. Ever a dickhead, he slowly raises his hands in front of my chest. “I won’tobey you, Parker,” he says, his voice just as hushed and dangerous. Fearlessly, he shoves me roughly, his bare hands making contact with my exposed chest and making me take a few steps back from his strength.

This is it. The moment I completely and irreversibly lose my mind. No matter how hard I try to rein myself back in, I can’t bring myself to do it. It’s like my body has disconnected from my brain and it’s moving on its own as all my senses feel heightened and the heat of this stupid locker room turns me into a different version of myself. Nothing makes sense anymore.

Nothing.

Because I can’t even begin to explain to anyone why I’m doing what I’m doing while in the fit of my rage. All I know is that I press my lips against Theo’s aggressively, and he groans into the kiss as his hands travel up my back. I pull his hips against mine roughly. Our mouths feel like they’re fighting rather than kissing, and it happens in an instant, but something shifts and suddenly every single cell in my body feels alive.

This is a first. I have never kissed a guy in my life, but when Theo pushed me, it lit a fire that I hadn’t known was extinguished. My impulses took over and I wanted to do nothing else but dominate him—but not in the way I’d been wanting to dominate him moments before. Somehow my focus went from fighting to fucking, and I don’t know where this will leave me when all is said and one.

Mindlessly, my teeth lightly graze his bottom lip, which earns another moan—this one more lustful than the last. He’s not speaking so much as grunting, but the guttural tone gets me going all the more as my cock twitches delightfully, begging to be attended to. Everything is so heat-of-the-moment that I don’t even realize that I’ve pushed him right next to the showers as the sound of running water intensifies in my ear, and Theo and I seem to share the same idea as we begin to remove each other’s gear, all the while our mouths are still clashing against each other in a heated rage.

“You’re fucked in the head, Parker,” Theo says the moment we split for a breath, his blue eyes dark and his pink lips swollen. Being dominated by me is a good look for Theo, but the vexed expression in his face still manages to piss me off.

“Yeah?” I challenge, letting go of him and putting my hands up in the air as my hockey pants start to fall from my hips. “Then we can stop this. We can pretend nothing happened,” I tell Theo, creating a small distance between our bodies. I don’t know where my self-control is coming from, especially as I’m seeing his beautiful physique slowly being exposed to me.

Theo looks down at my crotch, and I can see the outline of my raging boner peeking through the top of my gear. He looks back up again and swallows hard. “You’re sick,” he says, which earns an eye roll from me.

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