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My lips purse. “And I think you should be paying attention to the game.”
“Probably,” he says with a laugh. “But you have a way of stealing my focus, Kate. And do you want to know a secret?” He bends closer, his lips brushing against the shell of my ear. “I like it. Because when I focus on you, the world around me doesn’t seem so shitty.”
The referee blows his whistle in time for us to catch a tussle on the ice. Depp, one of the players I’ve met at Theo’s house, is on the ice clutching his wrist as Theo shoves an opposing player, and Colt skates up to them, his arm cocked back, ready to deck the guy. It happens so fast I’m not even sure I register everything. Theo, Colt, and the player on the opposing team are taken to the penalty boxes on the other side of the rink while Depp skates back to the bench.
“Fuck,” he yells as Russ orders him to take off his glove.
“I’m fine,” Depp seethes.
“Get your ass up, Depp,” Russ demands. “Let’s take a look––”
“I said I’m fine!”
“Mack!” Russ calls over his shoulder, his weathered face wrinkled and angry.
Mack drops a kiss to my head. “Be right back. Stay here.”
I nod while he heads toward the bench as the opposite team scores a goal, and Depp curses all over again.
After analyzing Depp’s wrist, Mack demands, “All right, let’s go. We need a closer look.”
“It’s nothing,” Depp grits out, ignoring Mack as he collapses on the bench and watches the opposing team make another dash toward our goalie, Tukani.
“Listen up, man.” Mack steps in front of Depp, blocking his view of the ice. “You can play the rest of the game, gritting through the pain, potentially fucking up your wrist even more,andwind up needing surgery. Or, you can get off your ass, walk with me to the back room so Russ and I can take a better look, and be back on the ice before you know it.”
“Back the hell up, Mack,” Depp argues, pushing to his feet. “I can still play. It doesn’t even hurt much.”
His face is red, and sweat is clinging to his forehead. I can’t decide if it’s because he’s in pain or if he’s mad he’s standing by the bench when he clearly wants to be on the ice right now.
“Then, you might even be able to finish the game,” Mack offers. “But we need to take a closer look to be sure you aren’t playing with a broken wrist.”
Depp shakes his head, refusing to give in to Mack and Russ’s request. “If it’s broken, you can fix it after.”
“Or you can fuck it up so much during the next two periods you spend the rest of the season in a cast warming the bench.”
Depp’s upper lip curls as he tears his attention from the ice and gives Mack an angry stare. But even with his skates, Depp doesn’t tower over him. Nope. They’re the same height, and clearly, Mack isn’t afraid of the player. In fact, it looks like he’s ready to go head-to-head if he needs to. And it’s hot as hell.
“I’m not a pussy,” Depp growls.
“Never said you were. But if you cause permanent damage to your hand because you want to look like a man to the other guys on the ice, you’re letting your team down. They deserve better. Come on.”
This time, Depp shakes his head but storms down the tunnel, passing me in the shadows while Mack, Felix, and Russ follow behind him.
Blake was right. Mack’s level-headed. Compassionate. He didn’t even bat an eye at Depp being a dick. He saw what needed to be done and handled it.
I can’t help but envy the bastard, though I refuse to acknowledge why.
There have been so many times I’ve seen what needed to be done but was too much of a coward to acknowledge it, let alone handle it the way it needed to be.
Arms folded, I try to make myself small as the team finishes the rest of the game. Depp doesn’t return with Mack or Felix.
LAU loses one to three. The rest of the team files to the locker room, and the stands slowly clear out, leaving Theo and Colt on the bench staring at the scuffed-up rink, the loss heavy on their shoulders.
I should leave. Give them a minute to lick their wounds. But Theo’s supposed to be my ride since Macklin’s gone, and I don’t know where to go or what to do. Instead, I stay quiet, hidden in the shadows of the tunnel, giving them space until they’re ready to leave.
“You gonna tell Ash?” Theo asks Colt.
I frown, surprised.
