Page 34 of Pucking Snowed In With My Ex

“Bitch,” Alex growled as he grabbed me by the front of the jacket and shoved me off. I landed on my back in the cold snow.

“I hope you rot in hell,” I yelled and kicked at him as he crawled towards me. I caught him across the jaw with my boot, and he groaned as his head jerked to the side.

“You’ll pay for that,” he snarled and grabbed at my legs. “This will be even sweeter than three years ago,” he said, his eyes filled with whatever manic fantasy he had playing out in his mind. My fingers burned from the cold, but I grabbed handfuls of snow and chucked it at his face. He yanked one of my boots off and tossed it away, his hand gripping my ankle, and panic seeped in to mingle with the rage.

“Cal!” I screamed at the top of my lungs. “Cal!”

“Shut up,” Alex said, jumping off of me. He grabbed my leg and dragged me off the path out of sight from the house.

My instincts screamed to do whatever I could to be seen and heard as the images I’d suppressed broke free and came racing to the surface. I rolled sideways as I screamed Cal’s name and managed to break Alex’s grip on my ankle. Without hesitation, I kicked at his knee with my booted foot. Alex swore as I connected hard, and he dropped to the ground.

I leaped to my feet, but my joints were sluggish from the cold, and my clothes were saturated with snow, making me slow. I tried to run, but it was more of a jerking limp with one boot, and I hadn’t gotten very far when Alex tackled me from behind. Tears streamed down my face, but I wasn’t giving up. I screamed even though it felt like I was choking on the snow.

“Shut up.” Alex rolled me over and smacked me across the face. The pain took a second to register against my numb cheek.

“Never!” I spat at his face as he loomed over me, with my hands locked above my head. “Never again. I would rather die than have you touch me again.”

His evil eyes darkened. “Stop lying! I know you want me. No one else would do what I did to have you,” he growled as he wrapped his hands around my throat. I clawed at his arms. “Stop lying to me,” he said again as I gasped and thrashed under his weight.

I expected my life to flash before my eyes as my air supply was cut off, but I didn’t see the past. I saw my future with Cal. We got married and had kids. I cheered him on at his games and was terrified every time he took a hit. We grew old together and watched our grandchildren run around while we held hands in our rocking chairs—so many dreams.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CALLUM

I had no idea what woke me, but my heart hammered in my chest. The sun was already shining in the room, and I leapt from the bed.

“Skye?”

I yanked on my jeans and grabbed a sweater as I ran out the bedroom door. She could be making coffee or breakfast, but the panic running through my body was so intense that I couldn’t ignore it.

“Skye?” I called out louder this time. “Skye, answer me,” I said, reaching the stairs.

Conner poked his head out of the bedroom door. “What’s going on?”

“I have to find Skye,” I answered and jogged down the stairs.

“Is she missing?”

“I don’t know, but something is wrong.”

Running through the living room and kitchen, I noticed nothing was turned on, so I ran down the stairs to the lower level and straight for Alex’s door. My heart was pounding hard, and images of the night of the party and what I’d walked in on played like an unwanted reminder behind my eyes. If she was in there, I needed to know. I grabbed the handle and burst through the door, but the room was empty.

“Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck.”

“What the hell is going on,” Tyler asked, coming out of his bedroom.

“Did you hear Alex leave?” All the guys were slowly congregating on the lower level in different stages of dress.

“What? No. He’s gone?”

“Yes.”

Tyler crossed his arms. “Good riddance if you ask me.”

I looked at him, unable to keep the terror off of my face. “No, you don’t understand. Skye is missing, too.”

“Oh fuck,” Tyler swore and darted back into his room and came back out, yanking on a sweater. He grabbed my shoulders. “Look at me. We’ll find them.”