The second the door closed behind him, I stalked across the room, flipped the lock, and then lay back on my bed, shoving my sweats down. I stroked myself hard and fast, barely managing to lift my T-shirt up and out of the way in time before I was coming all over my abs.
I gritted my teeth.Fucking Cruz Martinez.
I was laser-focused throughout the game, concentrating only on my immediate priority, which was to win. With two minutes left on the clock until the end of the second period, the Barracudas drew ahead with a 3–2 lead, when my rebound shot sailed through the netminder’s legs to give me my second goal of the game. I exhaled, grinning and exchanging congratulatory fist bumps and backslaps with my teammates. For a moment, I almost forgot about real life.
It only lasted for a moment, until the period ended and I glanced up to catch a flash of blonde hair behind the player benches.
My eyes connected with Ava’s, and the fear in them stopped me in my tracks, a chill trickling down my spine.
Pulling my helmet off, I mouthed,What’s wrong?
She shook her head, mouthing a reply.Nothing.
There wasn’t even a tiny part of me that believed her. I skated off the ice with my teammates, unease churning in my stomach. When we were in the locker room, I powered up my phone, checking to see if I had any texts from Ava, Cruz, or Micah.
Nothing.
I tapped out a quick message to Ava, asking her what was wrong again.
“Texting your girlfriend, Cross? Or is it your boyfriend?” Miller nudged me, and my head flew up, my heart pounding and my eyes wide. His brows rose. “Why are you so jumpy, bro?”
Rubbing my palm over my face, I counted to five in my head before I turned to face him, pasting on a smirk. “Jumpy? Me?Do we need to talk about the time you screamed like a fucking banshee when Smith hid in the pantry?”
“Fuck you, Cross,” he mumbled to whistles and jeers from our teammates. It descended into good-natured ribbing, and I exhaled, relieved that he’d bought it. Slumping back on the bench, I clasped my phone in my hand, willing Ava to reply.
My phone remained silent.
All too soon, it was time to return to the rink.
Ava never replied.
We filed back onto the ice for the final period amidst the deafening cheers of the home crowd, and I reminded myself that I needed to stay focused and get through the rest of the game. If I even allowed myself to think of anything else, even for a second, I’d risk falling apart, and that could never happen. I was the captain. People were relying on me. Ava was safe right now. I’d made sure to get her a seat front and center, right behind the player benches, and she was surrounded by her sorority girlfriends. She was highly visible, and to me, that was the safest way for her to be at the moment, especially after we’d taken the initiative with our stalker last night. We’d shown our hand and they now knew we were onto them.
Twenty minutes. That was all I needed to get through. As I took my position, I became aware of my thigh throbbing, reminding me of what I’d been through. I hadn’t been lying when I’d said I’d had worse injuries playing hockey, though. It was easy to put the pain aside, with the knowledge I’d have to deal with it later, and I pushed myself harder, flying across the ice. Somehow, I made it through the final period. Although the Barracudas didn’t score again, we managed to hold our lead.
When the game ended, I showered and changed at lightning speed, ignoring Coach Pierce calling after me as I burst out of the locker room on a mission to get to Ava as quickly as possible.
I spotted her among the crowd of students milling around near the doors, and I strode over to her, wrapping her in my arms. “What’s wrong?” I murmured, dipping my head to her ear.
“Not here,” she whispered. I nodded, taking her hand and leading her out to the parking lot. When we were safely inside my SUV with the doors locked, I turned to her, cupping her chin.
“Tell me what’s wrong.”
Her lip trembled as she held up her phone. “I-I already texted Cruz, and his guy is tracking the number.”
“Tracking what number?” I said slowly, taking the phone from her unresisting grip. I already knew the answer, but when she spoke again, I exhaled harshly.
“I got another text.”
My gaze dropped to the screen, and my eyes widened, nausea churning in my stomach.
No.
35
X
The high of the game was all around us. Everyone was cheering up and down, screaming the name of their so-called captain.
