AllFreeNovel
Share Us
LIAM
The shower is bliss, and the only thing to get me out from under the hot spray is knowing that Rachel’s waiting for me. It was the coolest surprise seeing her sitting in the stands. I have no idea how she got in, but I’m not complaining.
With a grin, I grab a towel, patting down my face and chest before wrapping it around my waist. The mood in the locker room is light and jovial, probably thanks to Coach ribbing me about my girlfriend.
I grin as more hassles are fired my way, whipping off my towel and flicking it at Riley when he gets a little too mouthy. The kid’s grown in confidence so much this year. It’s great to see him coming out of his shell.
But he still needs to know his place, and it’s with much satisfaction that I hear his yowl when I snap the edge of my towel on his bare thigh.
“Fuck, Liam.” He spins with a scowl that’s already breaking into a grin as Ethan gives his shoulder a light shove.
“Watch your mouth, kid.” He laughs, mussing up Riley’s wet hair.
The volume in the locker room rises as we throw a few friendly insults Riley’s way, but his comeback is cut in half by a terror-filled scream just as the door bursts open.
“What the hell?” someone yells. “Hey! You can’t go in there!”
“Liam!” Rachel shouts, bolting into the room and running at me like she’s being chased by a pissed-off polar bear.
“Ray.” I try to capture her in my arms, but she moves around me, cowering behind my back. She’s wet and shivering, her clothes icy cold as they brush against my bare skin.
What the hell happened to her?
I’m about to ask when there’s a scuffling sound outside the door, followed by a grunt and then a roar. “Rachel!”
“What the fuck?” Ethan murmurs, moving to block her from whatever’s coming.
He’s not the only one. As my hands reach around behind me, pulling her against my back, a wall of hockey muscle forms in front of us.
Whichever asshole is shouting her name barges through the door and comes up short as he’s met with a mass of riled testosterone.
Half the guys are still naked from their showers—wrapped in towels or just standing there like me, completely bare.
“Can we help you?” Asher growls.
The guy stumbles back a bit, wiping blood from his nose before pointing a shaking finger at her.
“She owes me,” he snarls. “I’m just here to get what’s rightfully mine.”
“Fuck off, peewee,” Casey warns him, but the little shit doesn’t listen.
“She’s mine! Hand her over. Now!”
“I am not yours,” Rachel mutters against my shoulder, then huffs and moves out from behind me. It’s an effort to let her go and do that, but she flicks my arms off with surprising force, her head popping up between Riley’s and Baxter’s shoulders. “I am not yours, Theo.”
Theo?
Well, fuck me.
My hands curl into fists before I can stop them.
“I don’t belong to anybody. You can’t own me.” Rachel lifts her chin. “And I don’t owe you anything.”
“That money was mine!”
“It was ours!” she yells back. “I earned that money too! I worked my ass off for us, and you just stood by while your friend beat the shit out me!”
Her voice rises to a roar as she muscles her way between Baxter and Riley.
