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“I don’t think so. I’ve been trying to remember how much I told him about you and what you were doing. I’m pretty sure I mentioned the thing with your mom and how you’d have to leave school, and then…” I squeeze my eyes shut. “I can’t remember if I gave him any new updates on you or if I ever said Nolan University.” My voice gets thin and strained. “Things have been different since I moved in and picked up that second job. I’ve just been so tired working such long hours, and we weren’t spending as much time together. You know, going on dates and stuff. I’d get home, cook dinner, and then we’d just schlump in front of the TV.” I shrug, my insides going crazy at the thought that maybe I did mention Nolan and maybe he knows Mikayla’s still here.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck!
Crossing my arms, I slump down in my seat, refusing to look at her while I navigate the wild fears coursing through me. I focus on the caramel sauce. It’s running down the mountain of ice cream like a spewing volcano. I feel like we’ve been eating forever and we’re not even halfway through it.
“It’s okay, Ray-Ray.” Mick gently nudges my ankle with her foot. “I won’t let him touch you again. He’s not gonna find you here.”
“What if I did tell him the name of your college? What if he remembers?” My nose prickles with the onset of tears.
Snatching the spoon, I tap it against my bottom lip, anxiety still ripping through me like a tornado.
“Hey, if he even comes near Hockey House, he’s gonna regret it. None of the guys in there will let him near you.” She ducks her head, trying to catch my eye, and I finally capitulate, no doubt looking like a nervous wreck. “You can stay. You’ll be safe there.”
“I can’t stay.” I shake my head. “I need to get out of the country. I have to?—”
“No.” Mick’s voice is so strong and adamant. “That asshole is not driving you out of the country. You should be able to live wherever the fuck you want. And right now, you need your best friend and a bunch of tall, muscly hockey players who will squish Theo like a bug if he ever shows up on our doorstep.”
The thought makes me grin for just a second, but then I wince.
Crap. It’s like wincing has become my new favorite expression or something.
I hate this.
“Not to be bossy…” Mick stops when I start to snicker. Her comical look of warning only makes me laugh harder. She starts laughing, too, wagging her finger at me. “You’re staying. No arguments, young lady. We need another vagina in that house anyway.”
I gasp, my cheeks going instantly red when I spot the elderly woman in the booth next to us bulge her eyes in horror and start shaking her head with a disgusted frown.
“Shh, stop talking so loud,” I tell Mick off.
But she just laughs and sings, “Vagina, vagina, vagina!”
I kick her leg under the table and she finally shuts up, giving the woman and her evil side-eye a bright smile.
I point my spoon at her, getting back on topic. “I’ll only stay if they agree.”
“Oh, they’ll agree. If you don’t get a rousing ‘Puck yeah’ by the time I’m done with my speech, I’ll give you a million dollars.”
Her wink and confident grin settle my nerves… until we pull back into the Hockey House driveway and I start to worry about what exactly Mikayla’s gonna say to get us a ‘Puck yeah!’
CHAPTER 12
LIAM
As soon as headlights illuminate the front of the house, I bolt out of my chair and run to the kitchen window.
“They’re back,” I call over my shoulder to Ethan.
“Would you calm down. They went for ice cream.”
“Oooo! Did they bring us some?” Casey drops the remote on the couch, vaulting over the back to stand beside me in the kitchen.
He has no idea what’s been going on, so I resist the urge to shout at him for being a jackass. Seriously, I need to find my chill.
And I will… if this ugly sensation would just stop eating at my insides.
The door clicks open, and the girls appear in the archway leading into the main living area to find four… no, six—Connor and Riley are here too—big guys staring down at them.
Rachel eases back while Mikayla’s face lights with a grin. “Perfect, you’re all here.”
