Page 21 of Captured Love

I scowl at her. “Thanks for the rescue. Both of you.”

“What are friends for?” Hailey responds with her mouth full. Isla just shakes her head and takes a more dainty bite of her own slice.

We move to the side of the room, away from the rush of people still trying to get a slice or two. I keep my back to Knox, hoping that out of sight will mean out of mind, but it's not working. Every nerve in my body is still on high alert from that short interaction.

And I hate myself for it.

9

KNOX

It feels as if I’m skating harder than normal as I push myself through drills. Each stroke that I take is more aggressive than the last. Focus, dammit. But my mind won't cooperate. I curse under my breath as another pass slips past me, clattering uselessly against the boards.

This is supposed to be my escape, the one place where everything else fades away. But today, even the ice isn't enough to clear my head. Selene's face flashes through my mind for the hundredth time, and I grit my teeth, trying to remove the image.

I shouldn't be thinking about her. Not now, not ever. But I can't seem to help myself. There's just something about her that gets under my skin, no matter how hard I try to ignore it.

Not to mention seeing her during an environmental presentation this weekend hadn’t been a part of the plan, yet here we are. Now I can’t stop thinking about her, and I’m annoyed about it.

The scrimmage starts, and I throw myself into it with a vengeance. Maybe if I skate hard enough, hit hard enough, I can finally shake this restlessness that's been plaguing me for the last couple of days.

But my frustration only builds as the minutes tick by. My teammates are moving too slow, too sloppy. Don't they realize we have to keep our shit together in order to get into the Frozen Four? I grit my teeth and push harder, my muscles burning with the effort.

And then it happens. One of the rookies thinks he's hot stuff and tries to maneuver past me with a fancy move. Instinct takes over and I lash out, slamming him into the boards with a satisfying crunch.

“What the hell, Sanchez?” he yelps, struggling to his feet.

I don't answer, just skate away without looking back. I can feel the tension rippling through the rest of the team, see the wary looks they exchange when they think I'm not looking.

But I don't care. They don't get it. They don't know what it's like to have your head so screwed up that you can't think straight. I take a deep breath, trying to calm the anger that is dancing in my veins.

Get it together. You're better than this.

But am I? Sometimes I wonder. Hockey used to be the one thing I could count on, the one place where I knew exactly who I was and what I was doing at all times.

Now, with Selene lurking in my mind at all times, I'm not so sure anymore.

And that is what scares the hell out of me.

Coach blows the whistle and signals for me to come over to him. I’m not surprised and do as he asks.

“Sanchez,” Coach Johnson says. “A word.”

Great. I tug off my helmet and run a hand through my sweat-soaked hair, breathing heavily as I glide over to him.

“What the hell was that?” he asks, and I can see the anger bubbling under the surface of his usually calm exterior.

I shrug, though I know it won't do me any favors. “Just playing hard, Coach.”

“Playing hard?” He tightens his grip on his clipboard, white-knuckled. “You're playing like a damn wrecking ball. We're a team, Knox. You don't take your problems out on your teammates.”

“I know,” I say, but he cuts me off with a sharp glare.

“Do you? Because from where I'm standing, it looks like you've got a death wish or something. You think scouts are going to be impressed by this kind of bullshit? By you injuring your own guys?”

My jaw clenches at his words. The scouts have been a sore spot for me all season. I've put everything into this year, my last shot at making an impression before the draft. The idea that I could be sabotaging myself is almost too much to take.

“Look,” Coach says, his tone softening slightly. “I know you've got a lot on your plate right now, but so does everyone else. You need to find a way to deal with it that's not going to tear this team apart. We need you, Knox. But we need you in control.”

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