Page 110 of Ice Queen

“He hurt Kait bad enough for her to beg a stranger to hide her to get away from him.”

Reed’s jaw tightens, Wilson’s head snaps in Sterling’s direction. Wilder’s jaw is almost on the floor, and Monroe’s hands are clenched around his stick.

“He’s here for her, not us. I’m just in the way.” I shake my head, looking over my shoulder at the girls. Lettie and Hannah wear matching looks of concern. “We win, we can get him out.”

They all nod, the air shifting between us. We might not have liked the guy, but now? Now there’s no hope in hell for him. The previous line comes in, ending our little powwow. But I got what I needed to say out, they know, I know. It’s only a matter of time.

Lundquist hops the boards, and Wilder and I climb out. The Sharks are being true to their name today, a series that hasn’t been this hard so far has turned into the fight of our lives.

I was unwilling to let this go any further than tonight when we got here, but now, knowing what I know, there’s no other option. This ends now. My stick hits the ice, lying flat to block a shot before it even gets to Andrews. Put all the bullshit this man has put me through aside, he hurt her.

“On your left,” Monroe yells.

My hips move fluidly, eyes laser-focused on the puck as if it’s the only thing holding me together. He passes it to me, and I snag it from between the legs of a Sharks defender. Skating around the back of the net, I pass it to Wilder, who sends it rolling across the boards in the opposite direction back to Monroe.

He passes it back to me, and the second it hits my stick, I flick my wrist, making a beautiful wrist shot over the left shoulder of their goalie. I raise my hands in the air, stick waving as my teammates push me into the boards.

I look to where Kait should be, but she’s not there. My heart sinks, but then Lettie juts her chin toward the box. My eyes lift, and there she is, jumping up and down next to my sister and parents like she’s always been part of the Samuels fold. She’s here, she’s safe, and that asshole can’t get to her as long as he’s down here.

I slide back down the bench, grabbing my water bottle and spraying some in my mouth. I look back toward the box, but she’s no longer standing by the window, nor is my sister. My mom has her hands tucked underneath her chin, head resting against my dad’s shoulder. It’s then that I realize they’re on the Jumbotron.

I snort, shaking my head when my dad starts dancing with her like he always does.

“Get your head in the game, Samuels.”

I gently set my water bottle down before jerking my neck to the side until it cracks, and then I slowly turn to face him.

Sterling is right behind me, jaw tight, clipboard hanging at his side. It’s clear he still thinks he’s holding something over me. A man like him thrives on the assumption that he’s the most dangerous man in the room. That very assumption is the exact thing I’m going to use against him.

But for now, I need him to see my face, to know without having to say a single word, that something has changed. I let the silence stretch, holding his stare just long enough to see the first flicker of uncertainty cross his face. Then I smile. Slow, with zero urgency, letting him know I have all the time in the world for this.

“Yes, Coach,” I spit, before turning back to the ice, hopping the boards a few seconds later. When I set up on the faceoff circle, I look up at him and wink.

We score one more in the second period, and unfortunately, so do the Sharks. Kait doesn’t come back down, not that I blame her, but I want to see her up close. I want to score and feel the way she brightens up the room. Because even here, on the ice, doing what I love to do, it’s her light I crave.

The clock winds down, one more period to go. I can do this, right?

“You alright?” Reed asks once I get my jersey over my head and sit on the bench in the locker room.

I nod, but he doesn’t buy it.

“I know you want to say something, spit it out.”

I chuckle darkly, running my hand through my hair. “I knew from the start this guy was shit.” My eyes cut to Sterling, whose back is to the room while he writes something on his clipboard. “I don’t know why it’s me he’s after, though. He was here months before I ran into her again.”

He shrugs, eyes moving to Sterling before they come back to me. “How’s Kait holding up?”

Just the mention of her name right after seeing him makes me slightly more murderous. It’d be so easy to go over there, pull that stupid suit jacket over his head, and shove him in one of these lockers and snap the lock closed. Leave him in here to sweat the rest of the game.

A small smile tugs at my lips. Pride flowed through me when she put herself in front of me to keep me from doing something stupid. “She’s strong as hell, man, but I don’t trust him to leave it alone.”

He nods his understanding, pushing his knee into mine. “She’s one of us.” The conviction in his voice has my head turning toward him. “We protect our own.”

My jaw slackens at his words. All this time, I’ve been afraid of not being enough to save her. Not being able to protect her, I forgot I have an entire team, a whole group of friends who are willing to do the same.

Not only that, this woman who begged me to help her get out of a bad situation literally put herself between me and the door. Standing strong in who she is, confident in her ability to handle the situation that threatened to break her. God, my woman is the strongest person I know.

“Yeah, we do.” My lips pull up at the corners because she’s right. She doesn’t need to be saved, but hell, if we won’t do what we can to keep her safe. The clock in the locker room beeps, giving us our five-minute warning. Pulling our gear back on, Coach Stevens gives us his usual speech, we’re winning, keep it up, this is the game we’ve been working hard for all this time. But all I can focus on is the snake in the grass, still hiding in the corner of the room.