CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
EMMETT
Curtis Freeman—the Scorpions forward and general asshole—comes barreling toward me on a breakaway, but it’ll be a cold day in hell when I let this arrogant prick get the better of me.
The Kronwall I give him is hard enough to send him crashing into the boards, but soft enough to keep him conscious.
“That’s for putting our key defenseman in the hospital last season, you fucking piece of shit.” I deliver my sentence with a smile as he slowly climbs to his feet, adjusting his helmet.
He squares up to me, knocking his visor against mine. “Schneider had it coming, and he knew it.”
“Williams,” I bite out. “His name is Tommy Williams now.”
“Okay, okay. Either one of you needs to drop your gloves or we restart the play.” The ref plants a palm on each of our chests, putting some distance between us.
Freeman’s eyes burn with a desire to fight, even if his smaller frame doesn’t stand a chance against me. I’ve been fighting my whole hockey career; he’s barely out of diapers.
“Rein it in, Curtis.” Scorpions forward, Jessie Callaghan, slides toward us. After tipping his chin at me in acknowledgment,he turns his attention to Freeman, voice dropping low as he tells his center to get a fucking grip on himself. “Are you trying to put yourself in the emergency room? Show a little goddamn respect for what happened last season. Williams nearly died!”
“Come on now, Curtis.” Tommy pulls up next to me, chewing on the corner of his mouthguard. “That’s no way to make friends when you’re already two to one, down in the third. Besides”—he knocks his glove against Freeman’s helmet, a patronizing move designed to taunt him—“Richards here would destroy you with his first punch.”
“Why are you still here,Schneider?” Freeman accentuates Tommy’s former last name, hoping to get a rise out of my teammate.
If there’s one guy on this team you don’t want to piss off, it’s one thousand percent Tommy. However, luckily for Freeman, Tommy only fights when he needs to these days, frequently opting to take the moral high ground.
“I save my punches for people who are worth the effort,” Tommy retorts.
“Are we going to fight or play?” The ref intervenes again, raising his voice so we can hear it over the crowd.
It’s wild in here tonight, and this exchange with Freeman has only fueled the fire. After the incident between Freeman and Tommy last season, there’s been a ton of speculation leading up to tonight’s game, including whether Tommy would slip back into his former ways and crush Freeman in a fight.
“We’re going to play,” I reply, eyes tracking to the Jumbotron.
The chances of Billie showing on-screen are slim to almost zero, but I keep my eyes locked on it for a moment longer, letting her know that even when I’m mid-game, she’s always on my mind.
“That wassome goddamn performance out there tonight!” Coach Morgan moves around the locker room, bumping fists with each of his players in his usual postgame routine, whether we win or lose.
He stops in front of me, pressing his lips together in thought. “Of all the guys I’d want in that position tonight with Freeman, you would’ve been my first pick. Good work killing the breakaway, even better work putting Freeman back in his box.”
“Where he fucking belongs,” Archer adds right as he bumps fists with Coach and dumps himself down beside me on the bench. “Top of the league, bro. I can feel another Cup coming on.”
“Don’t fucking jinx it,” I jest, pulling my jersey overhead before getting to work on unlacing my skates.
“Are you gracing us with your presence at Lloyd’s tonight?” he asks, an unmistakable twinkle in his eye. He knows that Billie and Scott are here tonight since Darcy was the one who met them at the arena entrance. “Or are you entertaining at home instead?”
Pulling off my second skate, I sit down beside him. “Has anyone ever told you that you’re the world’s most annoying teammate?”
He makes a face akin to pride. “From time to time. But my question was a serious one. Are you coming out to Lloyd’s?” He leans closer, dropping his voice to barely a whisper. “And are you bringing Billie?”
My eyes grow wide at the memory of when she not only caught sight of my dick, but witnessed her name tumble from my lips as I brought myself to the edge with thoughts of how she’d suck me so well.
“No one can hear what we’re saying,” Archer declares, casting his hand around the room, the rest of the team either heading for the showers or deep in their own conversations.
I shake my head at him. It’s been nearly a week since I dropped Billie and Blake back home that fateful morning, and not a single word has been exchanged between us since. I’m prettysure that she wants to die of embarrassment, and I’ve been thinking about turning Catholic, mainly for the benefit of a confession.
I jerked off to thoughts of my best friend’s only daughter.
And I fucking loved every goddamn second of it.
