“You think these people play fair?” Perez dropped a skate onto the rubber floor. The hollow clatter echoed off the metal lockers. “The administration is already looking for a reason to dump you.”
My hands stopped. “How do you know that?”
Perez checked over his shoulder before leaning in a fraction. “I pay attention. And I know how this school operates.” He let the silence sit for a beat. “Look, I don’t care what kind of extra arrangement you have going on with the captain’s little brother. But if people start putting pieces together, the fallout won’t land on him.”
“We’re just studying.”
“Don’t bullshit me. I see how you track him. And I see the way he watches you back.” He scratched the side of his chin. “If whatever this is blows up, the Johnston kid gets a transfer to another rich school. But you get a one-way bus ticket back home.”
Cold sweat broke across the back of my neck.
“Just keep your eyes in your own zone,” Perez murmured. At that, he grabbed his towel and stood up, heading for the showers without looking back.
I dug my fingers into the canvas straps of my duffel, hauled it over my shoulder, and walked out.
I had to cut this thing with Karter off tonight before my entire life caved in.
The attic hallway was freezing. A harsh draft leaked through the old window, making me glad I still had my coat on while I hung back in the unlit corner near the stairs.
Karter came up the steps five minutes later. As soon as he neared his room, I stepped directly into his path and used my size to box him into the narrow space. Locking my knees, I fell back on being a prick.
“We’re done,” I told him.
Karter stopped and pressed a hand flat against the plaster wall. “Done with what?”
“All of it.” I waved a hand at the empty space between us. “The recovery room. The parties. Don’t even look at me at the rink. We just stop.”
He worried his lower lip with his teeth. “Nobody knows anything, Aleksey.”
“Angel knows.”
Karter dropped his hand. “Perez?”
“He practically spelled it out for me in the locker room.” I crowded a step closer. “And Morris pulled me in this morning to tell me the administration is looking into my distractions off the ice. They are actively hunting for a reason to cut me.”
“They don’t know about us,” Karter argued, shaking his head. “They’re just monitoring your probation.”
“You don’t get it. If this blows up, you walk away fine. But I don’t have a safety net.”
Karter’s face went completely hard. “Right. I forgot. I’m just the rich kid playing around.”
“That’s not what I said.”
“It’s what you meant.” He stepped up to me, refusing to shrink away from my size. “You think I don’t know what I’m risking? My dad would pull me from the roster before the rumor even hit the internet. Elliot would probably never speak to me again.”
“That is not the same thing as losing your only way out.”
“My dad made me do a post-graduate year at some prep school after I already had my diploma. Said I needed moredevelopment. What he really meant was he didn’t want me on the same ice as Elliot, dragging down the family name.” Karter’s words came out hard and fast. “He’s been waiting for me to fail since I stepped onto the ice. You think he’d protect me from a scandal? He’d use it as proof he was right about me all along.”
The air in the hallway grew still.
“So don’t stand there and tell me I walk away fine.” He stepped closer. “Stop acting like you know what my family is.”
I opened my mouth. Nothing came.
Karter planted both hands on my chest and shoved me back a step.
“Stop acting like you’re the only one taking a hit,” he said, his voice carrying in the quiet hall.
