Page 87 of In the Danger Zone
“He wouldn’t even listen to m-me. He just… He just m-made m-me feel like I was b-back in school all over again. Like I was n-nothing. And when… When he let A-Asher talk about m-my stutter…”
“He’s an asshole. Both of them.”
“He thinks I lied to him, that I lied about A-Asher and that I told his coach about what he did to m-me.” My eyes widened as I looked at Leena carefully. “I only told you and Evan about what happened. And you know about the check. I looked all over for it and it’s gone. Leena…”
Her eyes grew big too. “Daisy, I swear to God I didn’t tell his coach anything. I’ve never said a word to the guy. I swear. I kept my promise. I wouldn’t lie to you.”
My lips trembled. She sounded truthful, and Leena had never hurt me. She was my first and only friend and I cherished that. “I b-believe you. I’m sorry. I didn’t m-mean to sound like I was accusing you of anything. I just don’t know who told Coach M-Murphy about this. A-Asher wouldn’t do it. I didn’t. Evan’s the only other person I told, and I know it wasn’t him. Ugh, this whole thing is a m-mess.” Pressing my face back into my pillow, I let more tears fall.
Leena squeezed at me. “I don’t know who told Coach Murphy that. We were in the library that day. Maybe somebody overheard us? You know how busy that place is.”
I shrugged weakly. “It doesn’t even m-matter. Evan hates m-me. He thinks I lied about what A-Asher did. He’s n-never gonna listen to m-me. Why would he pick m-me over A-Asher?”
“Well, he did that before, remember? He chose you.”
“Only b-because he felt sorry for m-me,” I mumbled. It felt easier to conjure up that scenario. Maybe it would hurt less if I thought that Evan never liked me in the first place. I could move on from a lie. But it was so much harder to move on from something that felt so real and perfect. “He probably never even liked m-me to b-begin with. Why would he? He could have any girl he wants.”
“But he picked you, Daisy.”
“And that worked out really well for m-me.”
“Do you really think he never liked you? Ever? He did. I know he did and you know he did. He’s just too dumb to realize that you’re the good guy in this scenario.”
My head was a mess and I honestly couldn’t get a good hold of my thoughts. The pain was getting to me. “I don’t know. I’m so confused. Everything is upside down. How is it even possible for things to have b-been so good just days ago? And n-now… N-Now I don’t know what’s going on.”
“You should talk to him,” Leena whispered. “You need to explain to him what happened. He needs to know the truth. And you can’t let Asher get away with this. This is exactly what he wants. He wants to hurt you.”
“He always knew how to get to m-me… How to hurt m-me so b-bad that all I can do is focus on the pain that he’s responsible for. He loves that,” I said, my voice laced with bitterness. Asher was the only one who could bring out that side of me. “I’ve n-never hated a person until I m-met him. Part of m-me can’t even b-be angry at him for what he did. He told Evan the truth about m-me, about m-my family. He did what I was too scared to do.”
“Don’t. Asher’s a sociopath. That was all for his benefit. And Evan’s a dumb ass for falling for whatever lies Asher told him. Hockey players are idiots. Too many pucks to the head. Talk to him, Daisy. If you’re ready. And if you think he deserves another chance. If you don’t think he does, I wouldn’t blame you.”
Those words made me look up at Leena with wet eyes.DidEvan deserve another chance? “I m-miss him. I m-miss him so much it hurts. And I’m b-being so dumb. I shouldn’t even b-be thinking about him, b-but I’m here losing m-my m-mind. It isn’t fair.”
Leena gave me a small, sad smile. She lifted up a hand, stroking some of my hair out of my eyes. “I bet he feels the same way but he’s too proud to admit it.”
“After the way he talked to m-me, I don’t know if I can b-believe that.”
“Trust me. I bet he’s miserable without you. There’s no way he’s not.”
Leena said the words with so much confidence that I couldn’t help but feel like she was telling the truth. I thought about Evan. What was he doing? Where was he? Did he really regret his actions? If he did, why hadn’t he tried to call or text me? Maybe he had already moved on. It wasn’t like it was hard for him to find someone new. He had probably already found a new girl that could make him happy.
One that wasn’t a liar and a burden.
Chapter 39
EVAN
I was channelling all of my frustration into the game. I was a monster on the ice most of the time, but after everything with Daisy, I made sure to dial it up to a million. Heartbreak had taken over and I was taking it out on every guy that got near the puck. Once I was close enough to them, I made sure that they were up against the boards a second later.
The game felt like it was moving too fast. But that just gave me a chance to focus on something that wasn’t Daisy. Well,fuck. Nope. There she was again, right there in my brain. It had been a week since we broke up, since I ended things, since I sent her running out of the locker room crying.
Had those tears even been real? They fuckinglookedreal. But she had been a good actress.
Guilt hit me fast, but I shook my head, locking my eyes on to one of the guys on the Hurricanes who was getting way too close. I cut the guy off just in time, making sure he lost track of the puck. And thenfinally, the horn noise in the air signalled that the game had finally come to an end.
We lost. Four to two. I had expected a loss. But I didn’t think it’d be that bad. Tanner relied on me to make sure our defense was top notch. Tonight, I had failed him.
It wasn’t my best performance and Murph had definitely noticed that. I saw him eye me closely as I stepped off the ice, so ready to get out of my gear so I could just relax. But he shook his head at me and mimed out some words.My office. Now.
