Page 113 of Burn

Rosie grabs both of my hands, tears in her eyes. “Lex,” she breathes. “Holy shit!”

Oh my god is right.

What the fuck am I supposed to do now?

Adrian

Period two ends, and when Cally scores, tying things up just ahead of the buzzer, I can’t even bring myself to celebrate it.

I can’t believe I let them talk me into this.

Ronan shakes me by the shoulder, a broad grin on his face. “You fuckin’ ready?!”

“Fuck no,” I reply, reluctantly allowing my gaze to drift back across the ice to her seat.

She’s right behind our net, and despite the dimmed lights, I can see that she’s white as a ghost. Piano notes float out of the speakers, and the arena falls silent. The people who had stood up to leave begin to sit back down, exchanging confused glances.

Tonight, our announcer is Jason, who has perfected his wrestling announcer voice. It’s too exaggerated for this particular message, and I flinch when it echoes through the arena. “To the woman in the black hoodie in Section 103, Row A, Seat 5 — Adrian Liberty wants to say something. He asks that you wait in your seat after the game. He’ll come to find you. This song is for you — he wants you to know how lovely you are.”

I’ve been skating since I was old enough to stand, and I feel unstable on my skates for the first time in as long as I can remember. I reach out, anchoring myself to the boards.

This wasn’t the move.

Cally throws an arm around Ronan’s shoulders and sings along to the song, swaying back and forth. He’s tone deaf as shit, and I cringe at the sound of his voice.

In her seat, I watch a woman grab Lex’s shoulders and shake her. The woman’s expression is pure delight, a sobering contrast to the one on Lex’s face.

She looks horrified.

“I don’t know, guys. I don’t think —” I’m cut off when Brittney runs into the bench with wide eyes and a shit eating grin. “Oh, what now?” I ask, rolling my eyes.

“Eyes up, Adrian,” she directs.

I slowly lift my eyes, praying she didn’t… Yeah, she did.

Of course she did.

TheJumbotron, which had displayed the game score until seconds ago, now presents her face. Maybe I could have pretended I couldn’t see how much she hates this, but not when that reaction is forty feet wide. Ronan and Cally go still beside me as they realize this isn’t going the way they promised it would.

“Dude, chicks love a grand gesture!” Ronan had promised.

Cally was quick to agree, “Oh, one hundred percent. She’ll forget all about the cuffs.”

My gut told me she would hate this, and now my eyes are fixed on her face, confirming my suspicions.

Ronan clears his throat. “Hey, man. Let’s go to the change room.”

His upbeat tone is gone, replaced by trepidation. TheJumbotrongoes dark, the song ends, and the crowd cheers. I allow Ronan to pull me away from the ice. As we step into the hall, a woman leans over the railing from the stands and screams, “You can come find me any time, Liberty!”

I didn’t expect that kind of reaction from Lex, but I would have taken an awkward smile, a little laugh, fucking anything other than what I got. Anton glances up at me when I drop onto the bench next to him. He’s played exceptionally well tonight, and I know I should tell him, but I can’t bring myself to say a fucking peep.

His usual smug grin is missing, and the sympathy in his eyes makes me want to get violent as fuck.

“What?” I snap at him.

He brushes his sweat-soaked hair out of his eyes and shakes his head. “That wasn’t your idea.”

“Fucking clearly,” I shoot back.

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