Page 113 of Home Game

I remained silent.

He stood up. “Zoey knows what she wants and she won’t be swayed by anyone.”

“What does that mean?”

“If she doesn’t like your dumb ass, she will not let you get near her.”

I watched as he dumped the kit and the towel back in the bathroom. “Change your shirt. I’m going to go do damage control.”

I didn’t want to go back out there. “Yeah, sure.”

CHAPTER 24

ZOEY

Tears blurredmy eyes as I watched Ryan stalk out of the room towards his bedroom. Krista rushed towards me with a wet tea towel.

I looked at her for guidance.

“Go give this to Jensen.”

I moved to Jensen’s side and touched his arm. His eyes softened when he looked at me.

“I have a wet towel.”

“Thanks,” he said gruffly. I watched as he blindly tried to wipe the blood from his lip.

“Can I help?” I asked.

He handed me the towel. I dabbed away the blood. Around us, the party started again. People resumed laughing and talking.

“It’s like they don’t even care.”

He managed a smile. “There is an old time saying, there was a fight and a hockey game broke out.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means if there is a group of people that are used to fist fights, it’s this crowd.”

“I don’t understand why guys have to fight,” I complained.

He shrugged. “It’s just how we settle things.”

“Are you okay?”

He nodded. “Yeah, but I think I’m going to head out.”

“Okay.”

“Want to walk me down to the lobby?”

“Okay.”

I made eye contact with Krista as we slipped out the door. We rode the elevator downstairs in silence. Once we got to the lobby, he motioned to the chairs near the fireplace. “Want to sit down for a while?”

“Okay.”

“I’m sorry for fighting Ryan at your party. My intention was never to get into a fight and ruin your night.”