I step forward, and though Landon tries to grab my arm, I shake him off and storm over to Tate. He rivals me in size, and we stand nose to nose. “I get that you’re fucking hurting, I really do. But if you use that tone with her again, everyone is going to be asking how you got a black fucking eye tomorrow.”
Tate surprises me and pushes me in the chest. “I will do whatever the fuck I want! That’s what you have all done this entire time.”
Landon moves in behind me, ready to step in. “Bull-fucking-shit,” I spit. “He did all this so that you had a way to be yourself without repercussions. Grow a set, Tate—you’re an adult. If youwant to fuck a man, then do it. If you want to be angry or throw hands, let’s do it. But what you won’t do is make Abby feel responsible for your choices. You agreed to this, and you didn’t ask who was behind the mask. That is on you. So blame us all you like to make yourself feel better, but you know you wanted this, and you’re just too afraid to admit it.”
Tate swings, and his fist connects with my jaw.
It’s a hard enough blow to snap my head to the side, and I stagger back a step. The taste of blood hits my tongue when I lick the side of my lip. I’ve taken harder hits than that, so I grin through the pain and wipe my mouth with the back of my hand.
“Is that it?” I taunt. “Come on, Coach. You can do better than that.”
He swings again, and this time I catch his wrist, twisting hard and shoving him back with my shoulder. We crash into the concrete, but I don’t let him get the upper hand. My knuckles slam into his ribs as his elbow clips my cheek.
“Levi, that’s enough!” Landon roars, pulling me off Tate.
But all it does is give Tate time to get to his feet, and then we rush at each other again.
“Enough!” Landon shouts. “Both of you!”
Landon grabs me from behind, and I struggle against him. Then Abby moves in what I swear is slow motion, and I yell for Landon to let me go. He doesn’t listen; he just tries to subdue me.
She steps forward, putting herself in front of Tate. His raised fist, which is aimed at me, freezes in midair, and I cease struggling against Landon.
“Stop,” she says, her voice cracking.
His chest heaves, and he looks at us as if he wants to tear the world apart but doesn’t know how to without destroying himself in the process.
“I could have hit you,” he whispers, dropping to his knees. “Fuck, I could have hit you.”
Abby lowers onto her knees in front of him. “You didn’t. I understand that you’re angry right now and rightfully so, but you and Levi beating each other won’t solve anything. Now you will both have bruised faces and have to explain that somehow.”
“Shit, I didn’t even think about that. Dammit, now I have to call Thomas and explain before it gets to my grandfather. Shit, shit, shit.”
“He can just tell them he is dating you and I was jealous,” Levi huffs. “But I had better not lose minutes over this.”
Tate chuckles hollowly. “Of course that’s what you’re thinking about right now.”
“For what it’s worth, I didn’t do this to deceive you,” Landon says quietly. “I honestly wanted to get you out of my system, and I thought by doing this I would fuck you and move on. I’m sorry I didn’t think about how it would make you feel. I haven’t had to think about other people’s feelings for a long time.”
Tate looks up at Landon, his brow furrowed. “I’m just fucking scared. I lost everything once, and funnily enough, you now have everything I’ve ever wanted. You play formyteam and have a beautiful woman who you look at like she is your entire fucking world. I never wanted to be a coach; I was just lucky enough that it was an option.”
“For fuck’s sake, all I hear is wah, wah, wah,” I say, fed up with his wallowing. “You know as well as I do that you have an inheritance, and your family is loaded. Grow a set of balls and admit you’re scared of what other people think of you. Your family obviously doesn’t take you seriously, as your brother has no issue calling you tater tot in front of everyone.”
“Fuck you, Levi! But you’re right, I am scared. I don’t want to live off money I didn’t earn. What would you do if hockey was ripped away from you?”
“I’m the wrong person to ask, as I would be naked all day drinking cocktails and fucking. I play because I am fucking good at it—I know I am. But if it were to go away tomorrow, I wouldn’t care. I might actually enjoy sleeping in and eating so much junk food it makes me sick.”
Landon crouches down next to Abby and Tate. “I wouldn’t know who I am without hockey, so I get it. But I also don’t want to look back and regret not living my life because of it. If you can forgive us, we are not asking for marriage, or for you to come out, but our private life stays private.”
Tate snorts. “Levi’s private life is barely private.”
“Excuse me,” I say defensively. “You have seen me play a part in the media. It’s all an act; the up-and-coming models frequently seen on my arm were purely for publicity. I have no issues keeping things quiet because I do not want Abby to be dragged into the shit my sister was subjected to—it’s no one’s business what I do. Also, I don’t wanna date you, bro, you’re not my type. Your tits are not big enough.”
“Thank god, because I don’t know how Abby deals with the two of you. Can I think about it? This is a lot, and to be totally honest, right now I can’t move past how pissed off I am,” Tate replies.
“Take all the time you need. I’m so sorry I didn’t consider your feelings, but I was so caught up in building my platform and not living on ramen for the rest of my life,” Abby admits to him quietly.
I stare down at her in disbelief. Is she for real right now? Why is she not eating the food that we buy? There is enough to feed a small army!
