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What?I come to a halt, making Seth stumble. “Dammit, Pippa.”
“It wasn’t Pippa.”
“Fucking Ryan,” I mumble. I don’t know which is worse. Guess it doesn’t matter. Neither of them can keep their mouths shut and they’re together. We’re all fucked.
“He thought you might need a friend.” Seth shrugs.
“So…” I drag out, waiting for what that means.
“So, you’re wondering why he told me, instead of telling a friend?” Seth cuts in, trying to make a joke. “I wondered that myself.”
“Fuck off.” I shake my head. “He told the right person. You are the right person. You’re just annoying sometimes, like now. As I said, I am not in the mood.”
“Good, glad we got that straightened out. I can sleep easily now. But that tells me nothing about your results. Am I about to lose my big paycheck?”
I flip him the finger as I roll my eyes. “You know it’s not too late for me to fire your ass and negotiate on my own.”
“Ha!” Seth claps to himself as he laughs. “We both know that’s never going to happen, so just answer me.”
He’s right; it’s not. I can’t be bothered dealing with that. “Doc says my levels are still high compared to my past levels, but have dropped closer to reasonable athlete level. He’s required to tell the coaching staff, but his recommendation is that I can still play.”For now. I still don’t see it as good news.
“Thank God,” Seth says, slapping me on the back. And while I definitely flinch, it seems more out of shock than anything else.
Is that progress?
We part ways when I reach the locker room, but not before Seth tells me to calm down, making me more pissed than I was before. And when I get to practice, it becomes so much worse.
Word gets back to the coaches faster than small-town gossip, and I can instantly tell that they’re worried. Even the guys on the team can see that I’m not being pushed as hard as usual. I honestly thought they’d ignore the information completely, but since there have been a few players with heart issues arising midgame recently, I can only guess they don’t want to risk it.
Thankfully, no one questions me about the strange energy in the air, and when practice is over, I rush off the ice, determined to continue that luck.The last thing I need is for whispers to start.
I’ve just stepped onto solid ground when Seth pops up from his seat, making me jump.
“Jesus, what are you doing?” I say, gripping my chest.
“I thought you saw me,” he says, raising his hands in the air. “Trust me, I amnottrying to mess with your heart.”
“Fine. But why are you still here?” I drop down beside him and pull off my skates, only turning his way when I realize he’s been quiet for too long.
“I have some news,” he admits and I groan.
Goddammit. “They’re not ready to start negotiations yet, are they?”
“Not yet, no.”
“Fuck.Fuck!” I try to whisper yell, but I’m apparently bad at it because several heads turn my way. “Shit.”
I storm off to the locker room, ignoring Seth as he calls out from behind me. Today is not my day, and I’m done with it.
Since I was the first one off the ice, I’m alone when I get inside. And after slamming the door shut, I rip my practice jersey over my head and throw it to the ground before taking off my protective gear and dropping onto the bench for a breather.
Just when I thought things might finally start working out for me… I should have known better.
I’m still lost in a fog as the door bangs open again and my teammates file in, their chatter working to drown out my thoughts.
But when someone squeezes my bare shoulders before running his fingers up my neck and ruffling my hair, all sounds turn to static, as a violent shiver runs through me.
“Don’t fucking touch me,” I yell, throwing my elbow back as I stand, connecting with my teammate Rick’s face. He cries out as he rears back and then yells in anger, shoving me against the lockers in retaliation.
