Frost shakes his head. “We can’t afford to do that, not when we have so much riding on the line.” He purses his lips. “Handle your shit off the ice.”
My heart pounds harder in my chest and I give him a curt nod, my teeth clenching to the point where it feels as if they’re going to crumble beneath the pressure. He’s right. Switching up lines while we’re tied is a bad idea.
And Aiden’s team winning might send me over the edge.
The second intermission is over and we all file back down the tunnel and onto the bench. I squirt some water into my mouth before heading over to the center of the ice for the first faceoff of the third.
Things start off as expected. We maintain possession of the puck for more time than the other team, although their goalie’s a brick wall tonight. We have more shots than them and with all the saves he’s making, it’s just padding his stat sheet.
Volkov ends up losing an edge skating toward their net and barrels into the goalie, knocking the net out of place. Play stops and the ice crew comes out to clean the snow from the rink. Some of the guys leisurely skate around, keeping their blood moving.
And then Aiden Scott comes past.
“Hey, pretty boy,” Aiden calls out as he slowly skates by on his way to the bench. He lifts his chin, a smirk pulling on his lips. “How’s my ex been for you? Did she show you that little trick I taught her with her tongue?”
Nausea rolls in the pit of my stomach and I’m immediately on my feet, rage rushing through me. I can’t stop myself as I lean over the boards, grabbing him by the front of his jersey, pulling him closer. “Careful, Scott. I’ll turn your face inside out if you don’t watch what the fuck you say about her.”
“Oh, I’m so scared.” He fakes a terrified look. “You must not be that important to her. When I saw her last, she didn’t even mention you.”
What the fuck? He’s trying to get to me and it’s working. He can say whatever he wants about me, but he needs to leave her name out of his fucking mouth.
Shaw grabs my arm, his grip firm as he tries to pull me away from Aiden. “Matty, not now.”
“Yeah, Matty, not now,” Aiden mocks.
“Shut the fuck up,” I bark at him, tightening my grip on his jersey. “You don’t get the privilege of speaking about her, do you fucking understand me?”
“Matteo!” Coach Ford’s voice booms. “Let go of him.”
I release him with a shove, even though I want to knock that stupid fucking smirk from his face. The refs don’t see the exchange and Aiden skates off, rubbing at his chest as if I actually did something to him.
“What the hell was that?” My uncle's voice calls from behind me.
“Nothing,” I look at him, shaking my head. “Sorry.”
He stares at me for a moment, his gaze hard, the muscle in his jaw tightening and then he looks back out at the rink.
He has every right to be pissed, but so do I. And Aiden Scott has had it coming for quite some time now. I glance over at the other bench. I could easily hop the boards and be over to him in a few strides.
“Wait until he’s back on the ice.” Shaw says, bumping into me, as if he can see me formulating a chaotic plan inside my head. “There are too many of them over there.”
The blood whooshes past my ears and I glance at Shaw. He gives me a knowing look, bobbing his head before releasing my arm. He pats the top of my shoulder. “Just wait ‘til he’s back out again.”
I’m on the edge of my seat, my hands resting on the top of the boards as I stare out onto the ice, watching as play commences again. We end up scoring, just before I head out for my next shift.
The rage simmers inside, a steady boil to the blood in my veins as I push harder, hitting a few of their guys just on sheer principle. I glance over at Aiden as I’m heading back to the bench for the next guy to come out. Aiden’s about to hop over the boards when we lock eyes. He pushes his tongue against the side of his cheek and winks as his skates hit the ice.
Motherfucker.
Their team ices the puck and play momentarily stops. Aiden’s skates hit the ice.
“FORD! COME ON!” Volkov yells for me, slapping his stick against the boards.
“Better go, pretty boy,” Aiden calls over to me as he starts to skate backwards. “Tell J to give me a call after she’s done with you. You’ll get bored with her and I’d gladly reminder her what a good fuck actually looks like.” He winks at me.
That’s it. That’s all it takes for my self control to go directly out the fucking window. It’s like he’s asking for someone to put him on a stretcher and I am more than happy to deliver.
I charge at him, my blades cutting into the ice as I rush toward him. He’s laughing maniacally and doesn’t even bother to dodge me. Instead, he takes the hit, but he stands his ground.
