The cruel voice inside my head laughs maniacally at the chaos I’ve created, the same voice that my parents probably have insidetheirheads.
“Stop it Lucas!” I scream over the roar of men trying to kill each other.
“Get back” Miller growls at me, levelling me with a look I never thought could come from him. “What made you think this was a good idea? What the fuck were you thinking?” His words cut deep, hurting me beyond anything anyones ever done… because he’s right. WhatwasI thinking?
There’s so much going on, I don’t even know where to look. Everyone’s yelling, there’s blood all over the ice, people are being booted from the stadium and I’m at the centre of it all.
“Enough!” Tony’s loud voice cracks through the violence and forces everyone to freeze. He walks over to me calmly, glaring at everyone he passes until he finally reaches me.
I feel ashamed, especially because he’s looking at me with nothing behind his eyes. He’s angry with me… I can feel it.
His arms suddenly shoot out and tug me into him, taking me by surprise as he buries his face into my hair. His body starts to shake with silent sobs, holding me tighter with each passing second, “I can’t believe this happened to you, sweet girl” he cries. “Why wouldn’t you come to me?”
“I-” the words die on my lips as the pain I’ve been feeling for the last week crashes into me for what seems like the millionth time. Sobs wrack through my body while I grip onto Tony’s suit like it’s the only thing keeping me grounded, and an overwhelming wave of nausea hits me. Everyone else is silent while my not-father and I hold each other close, at least I thought they were silent because of us…
Someone hugs me from behind, trapping me in between two body’s. I look up just enough to see it’s Chris, and the realization hits me that I can no longer go back to how things were, everyone knows I’m linked to him now. Everything has changed.
thirty-one
LUCAS
My fists are flying into Nathan's face with more strength than I thought possible. I’ve never been so angry in my entire life… but the anger that’s sitting low in my stomach isn’t all because of him. I’m mad at myself too.
For thinking she would ever hurt me like that.
For hurting her.
For believing things that weren’t true.
“I’m going to fuckingkillyou” I bellow, watching blood pour from his face like a fucking fountain.
A sick smile comes across his lips and whatever amount of humanity I was holding onto, disappears. I couldn’t care less if I kill him right now, in front of all of these people. Sure, my career would be over, and I would never get the chance to live my dream… but it would be worth it if I knew he could never hurt Claire again.
“Stop it Lucas!” I hear Claire yelling over the sounds of my own heartbeat, but it just fuels my fire even more.
“She was a pretty good fuck” Nathan laughs, “you should try it some time.”
What a piece of fucking shit.
I line my fist up for another punch when Tony’s voice rips through me and forces me to freeze. I watch him walk up to Claire, whisper something in her ear and then hold onto her close. She sobs in his arms while everyone watches, and by the looks on the other team's faces, they finally realize that there’s a girl at the centre of all this.
It’s almost as if they didn’t know what was going on, like they didn’t see that it'stheirteammate who caused all of this.
Everyone’s eyes leave the two of them as Chris steps onto the ice, they watch him walk towards his sister and wrap her in a tight hug, alongside Tony, with awe. They don’t realize the relationship those three have, and I’m not quite sure I completely do either, but I’m sure they don’t know that it’s a familial bond and not a romantic one.
Camera lights flash as the crowd eagerly takes photos, excited to see one of the most famous hockey players instead of being sensitive to the events unfolding before them.
I turn back to Nathan, “if you ever lay a finger on her again… I’ll fucking kill you.” I shove him one more time for good measure before getting up and making my way towards the girl with a golden heart.
Mygirl with a golden heart, although I don’t know if I can even call her that after everything that’s happened.
“Claire, I’m so sorry-” I say, reaching out for her.
Chris holds up a hand, “don’t even try.” The look in his eyes tells me everything I need to know, he’s not playing around, and I’ve lost my chance at ever getting her back.
Coach wraps a hand around her shoulder, turning her away from me, “let’s get you home.”
She’s walking away from me and I’m completely helpless to stop it. I feel like she’s slipping through my fingers.
