“Okay, everyone, out to the ice.” Anze gives the command to the stunned players and slowly every one of them filters out the locker room without a question or remark, only throwing a few more curious glances at Sava and me.
I draw my arms around myself, feeling both out of place and the center of current chaos.
Soon enough, it’s just Severin and I left in here. Just our two heart beats fighting one another. His back is to me as he still faces the wall where he had pinned Frank seconds ago.
“You didn’t have to do that.” My voice sounds small and timid but the muscles in his back bunch and coil before he takes a deep breath and walks back to what I assume is his spot and starts putting his protective gear back on.
“No one puts their hands on you and lives to see another day, Aurora,” Severin states, as if it’s as simple as that.
But his eyes don’t meet mine, and somehow that hurts worse than anything I’ve experienced in my life.
“How’s your face?” he asks tightly, still not looking.
“My face?”
“After the other night…the bruise…” Sava sucks in a sharp breath, and my hand flies over to my cheek where I’ve hid the mark under a layer of makeup.
“It’s fine.”
He nods, the muscles in his back bunching, and then stills.
“What are you doing here, Aurora?” He looks up, storms swirling in those golden orbs as he pulls the blue Outlaws jersey over his head.
“I just told you, I was looking for you.” I shift from one foot to the other.
“What are you doing in Boston? What are you doing at the game?”
I swallow the lump of truth I’m still too terrified to admit. “Electra made me come.”
Severin’s jaw clenches. “Electra, huh…” He gets up from his seat abruptly, picking up his stick in one hand and the helmet in the other.
“Yeah.” My teeth sink into my lower lip, tasting the lie on it. “She was all mad at Exton—”
Before I have a chance to finish my sentence, Severin pushes past me and storms out the locker room.
“Severin! What are you…where are you going?” I run into the hallway, following him, and nearly collide into his coiled body when he stops abruptly.
“To the game, Aurora.” He starts walking again, slow in his gear, but stops when I yell out.
“But—but…your head! You’re injured! Severin! Stop!”
“What does it matter to you, Aurora? We’re nothing, right? You came here for Electra.” His gaze penetrates me from the inside out.
“I-I did.”
“Great, then.” Sava starts walking again and with each step he takes I feel that thread crack more and more. I start to shake as my breaths come in shallow pants, my heart skipping every other beat. I feel him slipping away and my mind grows hazy, dark and desperate for another breath.
“I can’t lose you.” I whisper the truth that reaches him despite the hushed tone and the fear coating it. He draws to a halt. “When I saw…” I swallow and take a drag of that much needed air. “When I saw you lying on that ice…all that blood…Sava…” My voice cracks with emotions that’ve been clogging up my heart and he whips around, his eyes catching the lone tear sliding down my cheek. “I asked you. I begged you to leave me alone from the start but now it’s too late, Severin! It’s too bloody late because I think my heart only beats right when you’re around. My lungs can only draw full breaths when you’re next to me and I can’t lose you!”
I’m still crying and shaking when I feel him close the distance between us. Both the helmet and the stick fall to the carpeted floor with a dull thud as Sava drops them and gathers my face in both of his hands.
His lips seal against mine that same second as if he couldn’t wait another moment. As if he’s drowning and I’m the only source of life for him.
Like he is for me.
“It was too late from the second I met you, Lychik,” he says softly. “It was always going to be too late.”
Severin pushes me up against the wall, his lips never leaving mine as we devour one another. My hands fist his jersey. His hands trail down my neck to the curve of my breasts until they land over my hips, and he squeezes hard, imprinting himself on my skin there.
