AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“She came to meet me here because we’re headed to dinner together after practice,” I answered for her. “Isn’t that right, babe?”
Violet frowned slightly, but I gave her a look that encouraged her to play along. I could hardly tell my brother she was here just so we could show ourselves off in front of her ex. And Parker would have called bullshit if he thought I’d asked her here simply to watch us practice. Dinner was the only thing I could think of that made sense.
“Yeah, dinner, right,” Violet said, quickly masking her surprise.
When Coach started yelling at us from across the ice, I knew we’d pushed our break too long.
“That’s our cue,” Parker said, winking at Violet before skating off.
I gave her a quick smile. “I won’t be too much longer,” I said. “Enjoy swooning over my stick skills…”
“I wasn’t actually…”
I grinned and skated away before she could finish the sentence. I knew perfectly well she’d been joking. Still, I enjoyed making her worry, for a few moments at least, that I might actually think she’d meant it.
I approached the last fifteen minutes of training with renewed vigor. There was something about knowing Violet was watching me that made me want to work even harder than usual. I chose to ignore the fact that she didn’t seem particularly interested in hockey. My efforts couldn’t have been subtle because Matt skated up to me as we were headed off the ice at the end of practice.
“Trying to impress a certain someone?” he asked with a smirk.
“Don’t know what you mean.” I shrugged, trying to act cool as I sat on the bench and pulled off my helmet.
“Well, if you were, it seems you failed,” Matt added.
I looked up, and he nodded toward the entrance to the rink. “Looks like you’ve got some competition.”
My stomach twisted as I followed his gaze and saw Violet talking to Hoffman. Her arms were crossed over her chest, and she didn’t look happy to be anywhere near her ex, let alone speaking with him. The sight of them together stirred something inside me. Was it anger? Jealousy? Nerves? Something else? All I knew was Violet looked uncomfortable. We were supposed to be making sure Hoffman saw us together, and I hated that she was having to confront him on her own.
“What’s Hoffman playing at?” Matt continued. “Saints players aren’t allowed in here until we’ve finished our practice.”
“I’m not sure,” I said. “But I’m going to find out.”
“Need backup?”
“With Hoffman?” I scoffed. “Nah, I’ll catch you in the locker room.”
I didn’t wait for a response before I headed over to join Violet.
“Just leave me alone, Jeremy.” I caught Violet trying to end the conversation as I arrived at her side. Now I was closer, I could see she wasn’t just slightly uncomfortable around Jeremy. Every inch of her body seemed to radiate with disgust and anger, and even though she was speaking softly, her words were laced with venom.
I didn’t hesitate as I slung my arm over Violet’s shoulder. Her body was stiff beneath me, but the moment she glanced up into my eyes, she relaxed, and I could clearly see how grateful she was.
“The arena’s closed to Saints during our practice, Hoffman,” I bit out coldly as I turned to face Jeremy. “You know that.”
Hoffman’s eyes narrowed on my arm draped over Violet’s shoulders, and it took him a moment to fully turn his attention to me. “Apparently, the rule doesn’t apply to all Saints.” He glanced at Violet.
“Violet might go to your school, but that doesn’t make her a part of your team,” I replied. “Besides, we’ve already made you an honorary Devil, haven’t we, babe?”
Violet nodded, but the movement looked strained as though she was struggling to keep calm and play along with our act. Clearly, whatever Jeremy was saying to her before I arrived had rattled her.
“So, what are you doing here?” I pressed Hoffman.
The guy had the gall to smirk at me. “Just checking on my girl,” he said. “I got to practice early and saw her come inside. Thought she might have been looking for me…”
“I already told you; I didn’t come here for you.” Violet’s words were edged with steel and her gaze far colder than the ice beside us. For someone so sweet, she was also someone I didn’t want to get on the wrong side of.
The smirk slipped slightly from Hoffman’s face. “I find that hard to believe.”
“Well, believe it.” she continued, pressing into me a little more. “I came here to watch my boyfriend. We’re going to dinner, and I arrived early so I could catch the end of his practice.”
