Page 114 of Burn

I like this guy. He’s no bullshit, and rarely serious, so to see him looking at me with a flat expression really twists me up.

“Whose idea was it?”

“Brittney and these two fuckin’ numbskulls.” I nod toward Ronan and Cally, sitting across the room.

Anton flicks his gaze to them, nodding. He looks contemplative for a second before he says, “Any of them know her as well as you do?”

Ah, fuck. I don’t even know her that well, not really, but I do know her better than they do, and I knew this was a bad idea. I can’t admit that, but my silence tells Anton all he needs to know.

“That’s what I thought. I have a feeling you’ve got some killer instincts, man. Listen to your gut. Not these morons.”

With that, he stands and strolls out of the change room.

Ten minutes later, when the rest of us follow him, heading back to the ice, I can’t even look at her seat. My friends don’t seem to struggle with it, though, and Cally nudges me, nodding toward her. “Well, that’s gotta be a good sign.”

“What’s that?” I ask.

“She’s still here.”

I don’t let myself look, instead trying to get my head back in the game.

With five minutes left on the clock, Ronan yells at me from the bench, “Liberty, pull your head outta your fuckin’ ass!”

Our coach looks seconds away from a fucking aneurysm, and his voice is so hoarse that I can’t even understand the shit he’s spitting in my direction. Everything feels off. I feel like afucking baby deer on my skates, my stick feels too big for my hands, and the puck seems like it has a mind of its own. When it connects with my stick, I fire it toward Wes, and instead of going where I fucking sent it, the puck slides untouched past the far goal line.

Fuck. Sake.

The ref’s arm shoots up, and the whistle is blown. “Number 55 — icing!”

Excellent.

My teammates shoot incredulous looks at me, and from the bench, I hear the coach threaten my life.

Beer league hockey, you fuck.

I lower myself into position, waiting for the puck drop, and a forward from the other team — number 12 — can’t resist the opportunity. “She dump you during intermission, Liberty?”

I bite down so hard that my jaw makes a creaking noise.

Don’t pick a fight.

“You serenade every chick who sucks your dick?”

I suck my teeth, and he doesn’t miss the click sound it makes. He laughs, and just as the puck is dropped, he adds, “Your mom sucks pretty good dick. Maybe I’ll play a song for her at our next game.”

Eight out of ten guys resume the game, but number 12 doesn’t make it three feet before I tackle him. He’s still laughing when I land my first punch, and he keeps laughing when I earn myself a two-minute penalty and a strongly worded warning from the refs about fighting.

From the box, the coach glares across the ice, swiping across his neck, informing me I’m done. When my time runs out, I skate back to the bench, where I’ll sit out the last fewminutes of the game. Something on my face must change his mind about screaming at me, because he mutters something that sounds a lot like, “fucking ape” and proceeds to ignore me for the last two minutes.

The last thing I want is overtime, and when Cally snags the puck from the other team and makes a break for their net, every single person in the arena jumps to their feet, chanting for him. The crack of his stick connecting with the puck somehow rings out over the noise, and it soars into the upper corner of the net.

Beer League Hockey.

It’s all I can think of as the team celebrates winning our home opener.

Cally smiles when he skates to the bench, colliding in a group hug with every guy but me. Ronan turns to look at me and says, “You’re still the Assistant Captain, why don’t you also try being a good fucking role model.”

I go through the motions, congratulating Cally on the game-winning goal, then we go to thank Anton for such a killer first game. By the time we line up to shake the other team’s hands, the arena is clearing out. Number 12 takes one last opportunity to get under my skin, and as our gloves connect, he says, “Guess she didn’t go for it, eh?” His eyes bounce to the section behind me, where Lex sat.

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