“Shut it, Dax, unless you want something bad to happen,” Lucas interrupted coldly.
“Oh, right, I’d love to see that,” Dax snapped.
“Just try it,” Jack replied, pushing forward and raising his hands. “I'll…”
“Stop it!” Anna snapped as Fox jumped up and forcibly pulled Lucas back, and Matt did the same to Jack, and she was the only thing left standing between Dax and a terrible decision.
“Just…stop.”
Anna’s eyes burned and her heart pounded painfully in her throat. This was a disaster! If even Jack couldn’t think straight anymore…
Shit. It was only going to get worse, wasn’t it? Two dozen hockey players wouldn’t remain quiet about the drama that had unfolded in their locker room that day. The press would get wind of it. They would pounce on them first, and then find out about Melody, and…
Her heart clenched bitterly and her hands began to tremble. She couldn’t live with it – she wouldn't be able to deal with making Melody unhappy. She couldn't mess up her life like this.
Shit, what a mess she’d made. She didn’t want any of this anymore.
She should have just been honest and told her brothers everything. She hated that Lucas was suddenly just another secret. He deserved better.Shedeserved better! She wanted something real. Something adult. But the price she’d have to pay for it would be so damn high.
Bile rose in her throat. Lucas had been right about how seeing her would just mean drama. She should never have gotten involved with him. He couldn’t be with her and protect Melody. It wasn’t possible. Her life was a shit-show! Her brothers would always be abusive idiots, and Melody would be the one who suffered.
“Shit,” she whispered, rubbing her eyes.
She couldn’t do that to Melody. She couldn’t do it to Lucas. It wasn’t fair. And it had been selfish of her to try with him anyway. Unless...maybe if...
“Okay, everyone out,” she muttered, taking a shaky breath. “I need to talk to Lucas.”
“What?” a dozen hockey players answered.
“We’re not going to do shit!” Dax said.
Jack snorted. “Anna, we...”
“Damn it, just for once, do what I tell you — and not the other way around,” she interrupted, a warning tone in her voice. “My wishes are just as important as yours, understand? So out! Now!”
Dax stared at her, mouth gaping. Maybe because she’d never talked to him like that before. Maybe because there were tears in her eyes. She was angry because it hurt. Life shouldn’t be this hard.
“Fine. Come on,” Jack muttered gruffly, wrapping his arm around Dax’s shoulders and pushing him out the door.
“Hell, do what she says,” Fox chimed in loudly, looking at his teammates — all of whom followed.
The locker room emptied. It was just her and Lucas.
“That went...great,” he muttered harshly.
She smiled, but at the same time, rubbed her eyes. The first tears were seeping out. She knew what she had to do. It was what she wanted. What she needed. And maybe everything would be okay — but probably not.
“Hey, hey, it’s okay,” Lucas whispered, taking her face in his hands and wiping away the tears, a frown between his brows. “It’s okay.”
“No, Lucas, it’s not.” She swallowed hard and opened her eyes, looked into the face she could stare at for years without getting bored. “That just now was...incredibly big drama.”
“I know.”
“And it won’t stop.”
“I know,” he repeated. “I’ll speak to your brothers. They won’t tell the press. They love you, so...”
“But the media will eventually find out,” she whispered.
