Page 49 of Arctic Titans of Northwood U: Volume 2

I wouldn’t say I took out my frustrations on Cole. I would have been harsher had it been Spencer, the gloating fuck, or Grayson, the liar. But the need presented itself together with the opportunity, and I slammed Cole against the boards. It was only as hard as it needed to be.

He grunted.

“Good?” I growled, just to be sure.

“Yeah.” He pushed himself back. He looked into my eyes and folded his lips, then spun away from me.

When I felt the weight of a gaze on the back of my neck, I turned to see Grayson slowing down. He looked like he was in pain.

In the next heartbeat, everything went wild. Spencer and Caden clashed, drawing Grayson’s attention away from me. Beckett had the puck, taking it across the rink with Asher dashing by his side, abandoning his position to assume mine. It was madness, but I had failed to keep myself focused.

Grayson didn’t get to turn around quickly enough. He crossed into Sawyer’s space, as he had probably expected Spencer to send the puck his way when a chance showed itself. Sawyer, on the other hand, didn’t hesitate. Even though Grayson presented the threat, Sawyer was swift to meet him. He had always been the fastest among us. Despite his smaller frame, he was the perfect goalie, moving as swiftly as a cobra, he struck out. The bloodshed that followed had nothing to do with hockey.

My heart cracked even when I thought it couldn’t break any further. Sawyer slammed into Grayson, yelling profanities. The crowd booed and the referee and coaches exploded with shouts and warnings and demands to stop this madness, but Sawyer tackled Grayson on the ground and wrestled for power. “You fucking asshole,” he spat. “You hurt my friend. You hurt my best friend. I’ll fucking kill you.”

Grayson didn’t move.

He didn’t even try to fight back.

If it was a power play to make Sawyer stop, it failed. But I wasn’t so sure. He took a hard punch to the side of his ribcage, gasping, but his limbs were locked to the ice even though I couldn’t see how Sawyer was pinning him down. In truth, it was a poor attack, and Grayson had several ways to fight back.

I didn’t know what I was doing until I found myself throwing my stick away and grabbing Sawyer’s shoulders. “Stop,” I yelled. “Stop hitting him.”

Sawyer’s rage ran wild. He cursed and gave Grayson another gut punch, making the traitor exhale sharply. Jordan appeared next to us, helping me drag Sawyer off of Grayson. For all the tackling, he hadn’t hit Grayson that many times, but even this was too much. He risked his career, he risked his scholarship, and so much more. I was furious with him when I stumbled and fell to my knees next to Sawyer. “Don’t do this,” I commanded him hoarsely. “Stop!”

“He broke you, A.” Sawyer’s voice quivered with rage and sorrow. It matched precisely what I had been feeling for the past two days.

The referee was with us, yelling, but a buzz of adrenaline filled my ears. Sawyer was sent off the ice, which he did with his head held high. The boos he received broke me even more, but then I turned to the crowd flocking around Grayson.

Fear spread through me like wildfire. It was as though the chaos had helped me keep my walls intact, but now it was gone. And with the chaos, my shield disappeared. My love, I thought, then felt a stab in my chest. No more.

I approached the crowd of players from both teams as Grayson slowly straightened. His eyes were red, and a trickle of blood came from his nose. No more than I’d gotten on several occasions playing, but enough to make me want to cry.

I sucked in a breath of air while players shouted around me, demanding, explaining, and threatening. I wanted to know if he was alright. Grayson looked through the crowd and straight into my eyes.

He didn’t blink. He held my gaze for one long moment, then turned away slightly. “I’m fine. Just clumsy. Nothing happened. Nothing happened!” He pushed his guys back. “Give me some space.” He passed through the crowd and away from me, repeating that nothing had happened.

What the fuck was wrong with him?

I looked around. Coach Murray was red with rage. Sawyer was on his way to the locker room, brimming with fury, listening to Coach Murray’s lecture as they went. And Grayson was yelling at everyone to calm the fuck down because he had started it.

It wasn’t what I had seen. With all the love I had for Sawyer, I had to admit he had exploded unprovoked.

I saw Grayson talking with his coach and the referee, but both men shook their heads angrily. Coach Murray was pointing a finger at Grayson and the group, yelling something at Sawyer.

Beckett swept in and grabbed my shoulder. “He got what he deserved,” he ground through his teeth.

“What’s happening?” I asked. I had to shout as the crowd grew louder. Some cheered, others booed. “What’s gonna happen to Sawyer?”

Beckett blew out a long breath of air. “He got ejected from the game. He’ll sit out a few, I guess. But I wish it was me.” He looked into my eyes, and I didn’t doubt him. Then I searched for Grayson in the crowd, and he looked like he was fighting several people at once, all of whom were probably telling him he had done nothing wrong.

A minute later, we resumed the game, although nobody was sure of what was going on. Emotions were too wild in me to let me pay attention. I knew a few things; Grayson returned to lead the Breakers against us, Coach Murray sent Oliver to replace Sawyer, and we lost.

Although most of the Breakers cheered and celebrated, I saw Grayson sulking and sliding away. He looked over his shoulder while his teammates yelled, whistled, and cheered, and he looked at me for a moment. He wasn’t bleeding, he wasn’t bruised.

Sawyer was almost tearful with anger when we got off the ice and found him. He apologized countless times to Beckett and the entire team for costing us the victory. To be fair, we had been slacking in the second period, and the victory had been growing less likely with each minute. That was what Beckett pointed out to the whole team in the locker room. “We were already losing,” he said loudly enough for everyone to stop and pay attention. “It’s not an inspiring thing to hear, boys, but it’s true. You all saw it. What Sawyer did wasn’t right, but in my book, he’s still a hero. He stood up for our friend. I think any of us would have been proud to do the same.”

Although my teammates didn’t erupt in cheers, a murmur of agreement rippled through the locker room.