Page 5 of Love and Defects 1
Chapter Two
Graham
I didn’t want to leave Sterling by himself after our discussion. Especially not after everything he’d been through. Hearing his tormentor’s voice in his head? That was scary shit. I was worried about Sterling and wanted him as close as possible so I could keep an eye on him.
But I had hockey practice, and Coach would have my ass on a silver platter if I skipped. It wouldn’t matter to him that I was trying to help a friend through something. Everyone on the team knew I was bisexual, including Coach, and he’d just see it as me skipping out on practice and my team for a bit of fun.
I sighed and quickly got dressed in my gear before skating out onto the ice where most of everyone was already at. I began warming up with everyone else, trying to get my head in the game so I could make sure practice went well. I needed it to go well because unlike my best friend, I didn’t have wealthy parents I could fall back on. Hockey was my future. Becoming part of the NHL was my sole focus—well, besides maybe trying to get my best friend to fall in love with me.
My parents had done the best for me that they could. My childhood was filled with happy memories, and they loved me dearly. I knew I could turn to them when I was in need. But financially, our lives kind of sucked. College was only part of my future because of hockey. I’d busted my ass in high school to get a full-ride scholarship. My mom, who had been working two dead-end jobs so she and Dad could afford for me to play, had burst into tears when I got my scholarship.
And to the school in the nation that had the best hockey team at that.
Dad had been working long, exhausting hours for as long as I could remember as a general laborer, and that day, when he smiled at me, I knew he thought all those exhausting days and all of the traveling he had to do for work was worth it.
And I wanted to continue to prove to my parents that supporting this dream of mine and working long, exhausting hours was not in vain.
“Bro, what the fuck is up with you?” I heard Collin ask. I glanced over to see who he was talking to and ground my teeth together at the sight of Darren next to him.
“Thought I was finally going to get some from Sterling, but the asshole can’t even get hard. Can you believe that?” Darren asked him. “Fucking asshole wasn’t even worth the time I spent trying to get him in bed.”
I jerked to my feet, my blood pulsing hotly in my veins. “Watch what the fuck you say,” I growled. I wasn’t above pummeling someone on the fucking ice—not even a teammate.
He barked out a laugh. “What—you think you’re going to get some from him, Graham? Good luck. He’s a prude and doesn’t put out for anybody. Not worth the time, if you ask?—”
I body-slammed him to the ice. Grabbing the front of his helmet, I yanked his head up and smashed it back to the ice. “Don’t fucking talk about him like that!” I barked.
Darren flipped me off of him before jamming his elbow into my side hard enough to knock the air from my lungs. When he tried to stand up, I kicked my legs out, knocking him back to his ass.
“Break it up!” Coach barked, storming onto the ice. “Darren, Graham, get up now!” he shouted.
I stood up from the ice but couldn’t resist shoulder-checking Darren hard once he got up, making him stumble. The only reason he didn’t fall was because Collin steadied him from the other side before quickly retreating. They all knew I wasn’t one to mess with, and everyone on the team knew how protective I was of Sterling.
Darren was lucky I’d even let him close to my best friend, but that was before I knew how much of a fucking douchebag he was. Now, I was regretting it. Sorely. Because if I had just told Sterling that messing around with Darren wasn’t a good idea, then he wouldn’t be suffering right now. Sterling listened to me when it came to advice. I could’ve saved him from the shit he was going through.
“Both of you get in my office,” Coach snarled. “The rest of you start practice.”
I quickly followed behind Coach to his office, and I could feel Darren at my back, though I didn’t turn to look at him. But if he opened his mouth about Sterling again, I was going to snatch that helmet off his head and bash him in his face with it.
“Sit.” I dropped into a chair across from Coach’s desk, and Darren took the one next to me. “I don’t know what just happened out on that ice, but it will not happen again, am I clear? Both of you have too much going for you to allow whatever is going on to destroy your careers.”
“Yes, sir,” I grunted. Darren nodded.
“Boy, I cannot hear pucks rattling around inside your head,” Coach snapped. “Use your voice that you were so eager to use to get Graham riled up.”
“Sorry, Coach,” Darren muttered, but not before he shot me a dark look. I just rolled my eyes. Asshole. “I understand.”
“Good. And you’ll both understand why you’ll be doing extra drills after practice is over and why you’ll also be helping the staff clean the rink and bleachers, yes?”
I bit back a sigh. Fuck. That was even longer I had to be away from Sterling. It made my skin crawl. But nonetheless, I nodded and said, “I understand, Coach.”
Darren mumbled an affirmative as well. Coach waved us out. “Get out of my office and get back on the ice. I expect silence from both of you unless you absolutely need to speak.”
We quickly left the office. Darren shot me a scathing look. “Good fucking going, Hurley,” he quietly snapped, calling me by my last name.
I cut him a side-eye. “Maybe if you weren’t so busy running your mouth about Sterling, this shit wouldn’t have happened.”
Before he could retort even a single word, we stepped out onto the ice. I skated away from him and joined in on the drill, focusing on practice and letting everything else fade away for the moment.
