Page 16 of Cheap Shot

“Are you kidding me?” Becker scolded. “We just survived a verbal beat down, and you guys are thinking about some girls?”

“You guys need to focus,” I agreed. “We all need to keep it together for the next few weeks, or things will explode.”

Hunter held up his hands. “Got it.”

Kevin had the decency to look guilty. “Yeah, sorry.”

“Time’s up,” Coach Weston called. “Split into teams.”

We broke apart into our lines and played as hard as we would in a real game. None of us wanted to be the weakest link today.

I was moving back to position for a faceoff, and movement in the stands caught my attention. I caught a glimpse of brunette hair. My heart hammered and the whistle blew, but I missed the drop a second after realizing it wasn’t Haley.

“Come on, Bayman,” Ethan shot at me as he passed.

Great. I was just as bad as the others, letting a pretty face distract me. She was the last thing I should be thinking about, now or ever. She was off-limits.

Sweat dripped down my face, back, and arms by the time practice ended, and we were dismissed to the locker room. I pulled off my gear, cringing at the soggy pads, and ran a towel over my head before sitting down in front of my locker. I needed a moment to catch my breath and lower my heartrate before showering, so I reached into my bag and checked my phone. There were four unread messages from my dad.

That was enough of an anomaly to pique my interest. I opened the thread and read, growing more annoyed with each word. My grip tightened, and I barely contained the urge to throw my phone across the room.

“What’s wrong?” Ethan asked as he stepped up next to me with a towel wrapped around his waist and his hair leaving a wet path behind him.

I lifted the phone and let him read for himself.

He sighed and straightened. “He thinks he’s being helpful.”

“He’s being insulting,” I corrected. Dad sent me contacts to reach out to about internships or jobs for the summer. Which would be great for nearly every other senior on campus. But for me, it was a reminder that he didn’t actually believe in me. Like my business degree, those were just a part of a backup plan. For when I didn’t make it into the NHL. Why did he bother putting me on teams, buying me new gear, and paying for additional training my whole life if he didn’t think I’d make it to the pro level?

I’d asked him before, but he told me I was looking at it wrong. He was providing me with the best possible chance of reaching my dreams while also making sure I had options. None of my friends’ parents did that, at least not so blatantly.

“Hey, forget about him. I need your help with something.” He pulled on his shirt, then checked that no one was listening to us before leaning in. “I heard someone kissed Haley at that party, and I need your help hunting him down.”

My heart jumped into my throat, and I closed my eyes to keep from reacting any further. “Where’d you hear that?”

“One of the guys on the soccer team told me he saw her but didn’t get a good look at the guy. Just that he was taller than her and had brown hair.”

This was the perfect opportunity to fess up. Admit that it was me, but I hadn’t known who she was at the time. Ask for forgiveness. He might understand.

“I’m going to kill him when I find him.”

Or not.

“Can’t she make her own decisions? What if she wanted to kiss him?” I was getting dangerously close to outing myself, but I didn’t understand this version of Ethan. He hardly cared about anything or anyone outside of hockey. He never mentioned Haley before she moved here, so what was the big deal?

“There are things you don’t know,” he said cryptically. “There’s no way she’d ever choose to kiss someone. Especially at a party where she didn’t know anyone.”

What? He thought some guy forced himself on her? That’s why he was so mad?

There was no way I could let him find out it was me. Not now.

“Sure. I’ll help you.” Find someone else to blame.

Chapter 7

Haley

I lied. I wasn’t doing okay. I was surviving, but the first week of school was almost over. I’d managed to sleep two full nights and only had one panic attack when I sat down to plan out my study schedule and realized how much I had to do. At least I found all my classes, made it on time, and didn’t see my brother or his fans. Those were the tiny victories I had to remind myself of, otherwise I wouldn’t make it to the end of the month, let alone the whole school year.