Page 99 of Hot As Ice

The problem is we have to pass right by Hunter to get to my car. Some people walking out of the arena notice Hunter too, but they give him a wide berth. The way he’s looking, I don’t think anybody wants to mess with him, least of all me, but it’s me he has a problem with. I take a deep breath. I’m not going to cower. Squaring my shoulders, I walk to my car, Derek at my side.

“Stevie.” Hunter’s voice is an icicle.

“Keep walking,” Derek tells me in a low voice.

“Don’t fucking walk away from me, Stevie.”

I stop in my tracks. Derek stares at me like I’ve lost my mind. “It’s okay,” I tell him. “I got this.”

“I’m staying right here,” he says.

I nod and turn toward Hunter. “What?”

“Come here.”

My stomach clenches. He’s never used that tone with me. I should tell him to fuck off. I should turn and walk away. I walk toward him and stop a few feet in front of him. Lifting my chin, I silently dare him to do his worst. “I’m here. What do you want?”

His gaze pointedly drops to the ‘Dump Him’ on my shirt and he laughs sardonically. “Cute. Very cute. You fucked up our winning streak and I’m suspended from the next two games, so we’ll probably lose those too. Are you happy now?”

I swallow and force myself to look into his eyes. “Yes.”

“Hmm.” He pushes off his car and comes to stand toe to toe with me. It takes a considerable amount of strength on my part not to take a step back. I hate that I have to crane my neck to look up at him though.

Hunter grabs the side of my waist. It doesn’t quite hurt, but it’s an uncomfortable feeling. Derek takes a step toward us. Hunter’s blue eyes are glittering with rage and I have no idea what he’s going to do next. His gaze sweeps over my face for too many seconds. The hollow feeling in my chest grows. He looks really hurt. It’s not just rage in those eyes, it’s pain too.

I open my mouth to say something when Hunter abruptly lets go of my waist and steps back. “Bye, Stevie,” he says, and I think my heart cracks.

thirty-one

hunter

IT TOOK A WHILE, but we finally got him.

We found the asshole who sent the tip about me and Stevie to the Concord Courant. His name is Joseph D. Watson. The same creep who attacked Stevie outside the diner. Her old boss.

It doesn’t surprise me that he would be capable of that. He tried to rape Stevie, after all. He’s a fucking rodent. Jamie had to pull some strings with his cousin who works for the police department, and the cousin traced the IP address after saying he could get in big trouble for it and blah blah blah.

I wish it hadn’t taken so long, but I’m happy I finally know who the fuck I have to kill. This is why you kill rapists the first time and don’t let them live to do anything ever again. Lesson learned. I won’t make the same mistake twice. I just can’t figure out how he even knew about the arrangement to notify the school paper.

It doesn’t matter though. The only goal in my mind is finding him and killing him. I’ve been having the worst three weeks of my life. First, the whole gossip debacle with the paper, then Stevie ignoring me for two weeks, then my team losing our winning streak. For the record, I don’t regret breaking Axel Bauer’s nose. Not even a little bit. I’d do it again and suspension be damned. I should’ve broken his nose years ago, back in high school. Another lesson learned.

My fist making contact with his face and blood gushing out everywhere was a thing of beauty. I’m pretty sure I’ve replayed that moment in my mind a million times since. The fucker had been chirping at me the entire game. I can usually ignore stuff like that, but he was talking about Stevie, calling her names, and asking how much he’d have to pay for a night with her.

I fucking lost it.

But none of that compared to seeing Stevie at the game with another guy. I got the weirdest pain in my chest when I saw them sitting together. It felt like literal heartbreak. And then I could barely think, and when Axel started chirping, it was fucking over.

I haven’t texted Stevie since that night.

I wanted to kiss her when I saw her outside the arena, even though I was pissed as fuck at her. That’s how I know I’m truly a goner. I thought I’d be okay with our arrangement forever, but now I know that’s not true at all, and I was only lying to myself.

I should’ve been different, opened up more. I should’ve figured out another way to get close to her without offering her a sex contract to bind her to me. I should’ve been more emotionally available.

Now I don’t know if I’ll ever get her back.

To make matters worse, I’m supposed to have brunch with my dad and Celeste this morning. It’s the last thing I want. I’ve been avoiding my dad since the wedding celebration, but it’s early December now and Christmas is coming up fast. I’m going to have to see them a lot more often, and all without Stevie by my side.

I drive to Wildfire where I’m meeting them for brunch with all these thoughts on repeat in my head. I haven’t been sleeping well either, and the more I think, the less I sleep, so tonight will be another sleepless night. It’s enough to make me want to jump off a cliff. The valet takes my car and I walk into the restaurant, stopping by the hostess stand and giving her my father’s name.