Scooping it up, I take off. Our winger is skating side-by-side with me before Duncan comes up behind me for an illegal check.
“What the fuck?!” I yell from the ice.
The crowd is in an uproar as the refs miss it entirely.
“Poor baby, Dax. Not getting his way.”
Anger is erupting inside me in full force as I pop off the ice and chase Duncan down. The last thing I want to do is let him score. Not while I’m on the ice.
I’m skating hard but Noah is with Duncan. He blocks the shot off his stick and sends it into the net.
With play whistled dead, the two of them get into it.
“He’s not worth it,” I tell Noah, pushing the two of them apart.
“He thinks he can get away with that shit?” Noah spits out.
“I already did, Fields. Get over it.”
Noah bumps me out of the way, but I grab his elbow. “You know what Coach said.”
“Aww. That’s right. Skate back to your bench and get your leftovers,” he says.
“Excuse me?” I drop Noah’s arm and get in Duncan’s face.
“You think you’re better than me?” There’s a sneer on his face. “You’re not. You’re not the better hockey player. You’re not the better boyfriend or better person. You’ll always be second place. Chloe’s only using you to keep the bed warm until she decides she wants me back.”
That’s it. I can’t take it anymore. I throw my stick on the ice and connect my gloved fist with Duncan’s jaw.
Every thought flees my head as I pound my fists into my brother. An anger I’ve never felt is raging through me.
“You fucking dick. When did you become such an asshole?”
Duncan recovers and gets a few hits in, knocking me on my ass.
“Me?” Duncan spits blood from his mouth. “You’re the one that came after me.”
“Because you attacked Chloe!” I lunge at him again, but Noah holds me back.
“He’s not worth it,” Noah tries to tell me.
I break out of his arms and get one more punch in before it’s the ref standing between the two of us.
Fuck.
Fuck.
I’m out of the game. Instigating a fight away from the play? That’s a game misconduct penalty. I’ll be lucky if I’m not suspended. It makes the hate burbling up inside of me grow, threatening to explode over the ice.
“You should listen to him.” Duncan nods at Noah, goading me on. “Although I’m pretty sure his sister might be worse than Chloe.”
And now it’s Graham holding Noah back.
“You couldn’t have kept it together?” Bode is escorting me off the ice.
“You should have heard what he was saying?—”
“He was doing it to get under your skin and now you’re ejected.”
