And the temperature in the room plummeted.
"Let. Her. Go."
Each word fell like a stone.
Nate's grip loosened. Just a fraction. But he didn't step back. Didn't drop his hands.
"This is between me and my girl, old man. Walk away."
"She's not your girl." Calder's voice was gravel and ice. "And if you don't take your fucking hands off her in the next three seconds, I'm going to break every bone in them."
Something flickered across Nate's face. Uncertainty. Fear, maybe. Hidden beneath layers of ego and entitlement.
But he still didn't move.
Calder did.
He crossed the room in three strides. Grabbed Nate by the collar andyankedhim backward. Threw him away from me like he weighed nothing.
Nate stumbled. Caught himself against the bench. Straightened with fury written across every line of his body.
"You really want to do this?" Nate snarled. "Over her? She's just?—"
"Shut your mouth." Calder stepped between us. A wall. A shield. "Before I shut it for you."
Chapter 24
Calder
My hands were already on his collar before my brain caught up. I slammed Nate into the wall hard enough that his skull cracked against concrete. Hard enough that his smirk finally faltered.
"You touch her?"
The question came out strangled. Raw. I barely recognized my own voice.
Nate's eyes flickered. Just for a second. Then that goddamn smile crawled back across his face.
"What if I did?" He leaned into my grip. Testing me. Daring me. "You gonna hit me, Dad? In front of her? That'll look great for your little redemption arc."
My fist tightened in the fabric of his shirt. Every muscle in my body screamed to finish what I'd started. To wipe that smirk off his face with my knuckles.
But he was right. And he knew it.
"Touch me," Nate said quietly, "and I take her down with me."
The words landed like a blade between my ribs.
I saw it play out in slow motion. The headlines. The photos.Disgraced NHL Coach Assaults Player's Ex-Boyfriend.The investigation that would follow. Questions about my relationship with Billie. How close we'd been. What I'd done.
Nate would burn. But Billie would go down with him.
And I couldn't let that happen.
My hands shook. Trembled against his collar. Every instinct I had roared at me to break him. To make him hurt the way I hurt.
But I let go. Stepped back. Fists still clenched at my sides.
Nate straightened. Smoothed his shirt. That smile spread wider. Victorious.
