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I hope that assistant coach doesn’t get in trouble. He was just being nice.
Resting my chin in my hand, I watch the Zamboni clean up the ice after practice. The driver ignores me like I’m not watching him, obviously wanting to finish up quickly. I get the sense that home time is looming because no one else is in the rink area, and I bet once Mr. Zamboni is done, he’ll be cutting out for the day. People are probably in offices and the various rooms around the arena, gathering their things and getting ready to go.
As soon as the red machine lumbers off the ice, the silence that descends is almost unnerving. I get up and wander down the steps, standing by the plexiglass and staring at the smooth ice.
I wonder if I should go wait outside the locker room, but I’m already not supposed to be in here, and I don’t want to bump into the head coach or anything. Maybe I should go wait outside. But what if Liam comes looking for me in here?
I amble along the edge of the rink while I wait, not even looking up until I feel that prickling sensation on my neck. The fine hairs stand to attention under my collar, and I jerk still.
Rubbing at the spot, I tell myself to stop being so stupid. There’s no one around to give me these creepy chills right now. Even so, I can’t help looking over my shoulder… and that’s when my blood runs cold.
Standing two steps above me, his hands shoved into his jacket pockets and a dangerous glimmer in his eyes, is the guy I never wanted to see again.
“Theo,” I rasp, stumbling back as if he’s real. Surely he can’t be. I’m hallucinating or something, right? Because it’s impossible that he’d be here right now.
Even so, I keep walking backward until I hit the door leading out to the ice. It swings open behind me… and Theo’s still standing there with this look on his face that’s cold and terrifying.
I freeze, my insides turning to concrete when my ex-boyfriend slowly walks down those stairs.
He’s moving.
He’s real.
Shit, shit, shit! This nightmare is actually happening!
“Hey, cutie.”
“Wh-What are you doing here?”
“I’m here for you, of course.”
My breath hitches and I inch back, my hip hitting the low wooden doorframe. “How’d you find me?”
“You dropped your phone in the parking garage. You know, when your shitty little friend mutilated Matt’s balls.”
I swallow, my hands sweaty as I fold my arms and grip the edges of my jacket.
“It took us a while to finally unlock it, but we got there in the end, did some research, and figured out you were in Nolan.”
My belly starts to shake, jumping and skittering when he stops right in front of me.
“I’ve been here for a little while, looking for you, trying to spot you in the crowds, asking around until finally someone pointed me in the right direction. Then I decided to follow you, get a glimpse of what you’re up to.” His dark eyes take on a look of malice as he growls, “So… you’re fucking a hockey jackass, huh?”
“Theo.”
“What about us?”
“There is no us,” I manage. “We ended the second you let Matt beat the shit out of me.”
He scoffs. “You were being difficult.”
“And you were being an asshole.”
That insult scores me a cracking slap across the face. I gasp, my head whipping to the side as fear skitters through me. Matt must be rubbing off on Theo. I can just imagine what he’s filled his head with, spurring him on, encouraging him to teach me a lesson when he found me.
Shit. Shit! He’s gonna hurt me. He’s gonna?—
Stop it. Don’t let him treat you this way.
