Page 10 of Captured Love

Blaise shrugs, not pushing it for now. He’s a good friend, better than I probably deserve these days. The kind of guy who will wait until you’re ready to talk, but who won't let you suffer in silence too long either.

As we drive, my thoughts drift back to Selene despite my best efforts. To the night after the party when we talked for hours before anything physical happened. To her ridiculous theories about aliens and the genuine passion she had for her job at the library. To the way she fit so perfectly in my arms as I fucked her.

Fuck.

“We killed it last game,” Blaise says, breaking the heavy silence. “If we keep that up, scouts are going to take notice.”

I nod though my mind is only half present. Hockey has always been the one constant in my life, the thing I could throw myself into when everything else went to shit. Now even that feels tenuous.

“Wilder said you bailed on him last night,” Blaise adds casually.

“I wasn’t feeling it. Did he come home yet?”

Blaise gives me a quick nod. “Yeah, he was headed into the shower just before I knocked on your door.”

“So hopefully that means he won’t be late for practice. Last thing I want to deal with is hearing Coach put his foot up his ass for delaying things.”

“Touché, but what’s been up with you?”

Ah. Now it’s time for Blaise to start pushing, I guess. “What do you mean?” I know my attempt at deflecting won’t go unnoticed.

“Just that you’ve had a bigger stick up your ass for the last week than you usually do.”

I let out a sigh, long and exaggerated. He probably deserves an explanation, but I’m not sure I can even articulate what’s going on in my head.

“I’m just stressed, man. School, the season, everything. I’m bracing for a fight so don’t be surprised if it happens…on the ice of course.”

“Everything?” he asks, raising an eyebrow. “Does ‘everything’ have a name?”

How the hell did he figure that out? I stay silent, watching the snow that has accumulated on the sides of the road. Blaise is perceptive; he probably has some idea already. Have I really been more grumpy than usual?

“Look,” he continues when I don’t answer. “All I’m saying is that if you need to talk, I’m here. Or if you just want to bitch and moan, that’s cool too.”

“It’s nothing,” I say finally. “Just trying to figure some shit out.”

We pull into the rink’s parking lot and Blaise kills the engine. He doesn’t move to get out of the car yet, and I know we’re not done. Great.

“Knox,” he says, turning toward me. “You know I’ve got your back no matter what. But you’ve gotta stop internalizing everything or it’s going to eat you alive. I don’t want what happened between you and Asher to happen again. We’ve got to keep everything together.”

I think about what happened between Asher and me and how we almost came to blows because I called him out on his feelings about Isla. Now look where I am. Except it was obvious Asher loved Isla.

That is not the case here. I’m convinced the sex was so good that she has my brain scrambled. Not to mention I came faster than I ever have in my life.

“We’re good,” I tell Blaise, even though I’m not sure if we are. “There’s nothing you need to worry about.”

He nods and opens his door, cold air rushing into the car. I follow suit and grab my bag from the trunk.

Inside the rink, the familiar smell hits me, and I feel like I’m home. It’s comforting in a way that almost makes me believe everything will be okay. The scraping of blades on ice echoes through the hallways as we make our way to the locker room.

Most of the team is here and my eyes land on Levi and Asher, who are talking to one another in front of the stalls. I’m willing to bet they are talking shit like usual. Levi gives me a smirk as we walk in, and I just shake my head. Idiot.

“Sanchez! Dalton!” Coach Johnson’s voice comes from the doorway. “Nice of you to join us.”

“We’re early, Coach,” Blaise says, but Coach is already walking away.

“Wilder better not mess this up for all of us,” Asher says as turns to look at us. “Where the hell is he?”

“I’m right here, sweetheart.”

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