Page 50 of Bad Wolf

“Get a grip, man,” he says as a parting shot.

This cannot get back to my parents. And damn it, I’m nearly twenty-five years old. It’s ridiculous to think they could have any bearing on this nightmare, but who am I kidding? We’re no ordinary family.

I need to find a way through, but first I need a fucking shower and an IV of coffee. I’ve got twenty-four hours to hydrate and sleep the world’s worst hangover off and then get ready to play Denver.

CHAPTERTHIRTEEN

KNOX

One week later

Another early morning flight,another nightmare. Honestly, I don’t even know what day it is. This time I wanna say we’re headed to Winnipeg, or maybe it’s Calgary.

Maybe.

Ice is ice, right? Doesn’t matter whose logo is painted in the middle.

I’m locked in the bathroom for half of it and trying to stay under the coach’s radar for the other. Sitting next to Callan, the quietest of us all, attempting to sleep as best as I can because being hungoverandpissed at my brothers feels like a full-time job.

It’s not like we haven’t had fights before, there have been many, and tons growing up. It’s mainly when one of us has taken a joke too far or completely overstepped, as is the case with the current situation.

At practices and during games, Casey and me are as fluid on the ice as we ever have been. That’s instinct and years of playing together. I’ve managed to make it look, on the outside at least, that I’m coping better. Jason has backed off slightly and my mother hasn’t appeared in a cloud of worry, baked goods, and Chanel No 5.

The tension off the ice is suffocating though. Claustrophobic almost. For as much as we bicker, we’re all there for one another, and as I said before, we’re not just in each other’s lives out of obligation and sibling duty; we’re friends.

Or at least we were.

Jason knew more than he was letting on, and finally confessed what I already suspected when we dumped our bags in the room we’re sharing on this trip—that Scott is in deep, just like Casey.

It doesn’t sit well that he goes to work putting his life on the line every time he jumps onto his truck and we’re not speaking, but he committed the cardinal sin and for that, I’ll make him pay.

Wren didnotend up flying back to Miami after a short stay in the city, as was made obvious by her showing up everywhere. No, it’s been twenty-six days since she moved in with Scott.

Moved. In.

I might hate that we’re on the outs, but I feel justified in my actions. Casey went behind my back and Scott thinks I’m overreacting and has taken Wren in.

These feelings are only making the bitterness take hold, which in turn makes me say, fuck ‘em all. Where’s the loyalty? The solidarity? And once those thoughts swirl and take flight, that’s when the shutters fall down.

That’s when the anger and resentment peak.

Combative. That’s my default setting of late. No,scorned.Can a man feel scorned? Well, that’s what I’m going with.

What’s worse, I haven’t picked up my mom’s calls in days, which is definitely going to tip her off.

These cold, stony emotions take ahold of every fiber of my being until I don’t even feel like myself anymore and I lash out. Or act out.

Want to know how many women I’ve left a night or game with? Fourteen. Want to know how many I’ve actually slept with? None. Zero. And I’ve had e-fucking-nough.

My dick and I are not on the same page at all. It’s utter mutiny. He isn’t even doing his job right when it comes to other women. He’ll just be there, pleading whiskey dick like in the bar, or in the back of a cab, or on a walk back to her apartment.

Trying to feel something,anythingfor somebody else.

But whenever Wren’s around? He flexes and grows painfully hard and nothing I do is able to alleviate that kind of pressure.

And it’s happening a lot. I’ve seen her more than I care to because Wren is everywhere.

“Hey Knox, good hustle out there. You’re doing some great work with the second line,” Casey smiles. We just beat Calgary—see I knew it was Canada—four-two. The win song streaming out of the away dressing room speakers at a deafening volume.

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