Page 120 of Home Game

I pinned his neck with my stick and I put my face to his and spoke in a slow, measured voice. “Who are you?”

“What the hell?” I heard Mica yell from behind me. “Jensen, grab security.”

The guy, with his greasy face and beady eyes, tried to spit at me. I swung hard, hard enough that his entire head flopped to the side with the impact of my fist.

“You think that hurt,” he winced.

“I’m just getting warmed up,” I hissed, tossing my stick above his head, so I could use my other fist. I connected with his nose with a satisfying crunch. My next hit connected with his jaw. Blood was spurting now.

His moan sounded like music to my ears.

“Parker, stop this,” I felt Mica’s arms around mine. I fought him, but Mica threw all his weight against me, and pushed me off the guy.

“He hurt Zoey,” I grunted.

“Shit,” Mica lifted his head. The guy was scrambling to his feet. Mica grabbed his foot and his shoe came off in his hand. The man took off around the corner, exiting out of the opposite doors at the exacttime Jensen and security entered from the other side of the washroom.

“Get off me,” I seethed at Mica. I rolled over onto my knees, my eyes searching for Zoey. She sat on the floor, beneath the hand dryers, her arms around her knees. Her big blue eyes wide with fright. I moved to kneel in front of her.

“Are you hurt?”

She looked up at me with such pain and trust and then she burst into tears. “He took my phone.”

“What is going on here?” Security barked behind us.

I pointed at the door. “A man wearing a black coat and now only wearing one shoe, attacked Zoey, held her captive in this bathroom and stole her phone. Go get him.”

The two men looked at each other and then took off out the door.

I took Zoey’s hands in mine. “I will keep you safe, okay?”

Her face scrunched up so hard, she couldn’t speak, but she nodded.

“Let’s get her out of here,” Mica spoke from behind us.

I got to my feet and then with tenderness, helped lift her to her feet. I put my arm around her.

The four of us walked towards the lockers. The group of fans parted in silence, watching with wide eyes as we approached.

When we got to the gate, Mica jumped to one side. I lifted Zoey over into his arms. Behind us, Jensen carried our sticks. A security guard looked at me with surprise as I ushered Zoey into the locker room. The level of nudity of my teammates caused her to duck her head.

I steered her towards the private lounge that was banned from the media, family and pretty much everyone else.

“Do you want to talk now?”

She shook her head.

I motioned for her to move further into the lounge. “Wait here. I’ll be out soon.”

Without looking back at me, she disappeared into the emptylounge. Assured that no one could reach her there, I stripped off my gear. Around me, reporters interviewed players. I had done nothing exceptional in the game, so I prayed that they'd leave me be. Wrapping my towel around my waist, I headed to the shower.

Mica was already there. Here we could talk. Away from the media reporters and the cameras.

“What happened?”

I stepped under a stream of water. “I saw her. She looked scared, and she took off. That fucker went after her. I found them in the handicapped stall. He had one arm around her neck and one hand over her mouth.”

“Shit. I understand now why you looked like you were going to kill him.”

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