Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 67160 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 336(@200wpm)___ 269(@250wpm)___ 224(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67160 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 336(@200wpm)___ 269(@250wpm)___ 224(@300wpm)
“Do it. I dare you.”
To the average observer, I bet our conversation looked tame. Schultz had a shit-eating grin on his face and I was mostly calm…but not quite. There were five minutes on the clock. I could make it a couple of minutes more and not come undone. I hoped.
Nope. Ten seconds later, he was at it again. “Kendra told me, you know. She wasn’t specific. I just put together that you don’t have a girl. You have a guy. I’m right, aren’t I?”
“Fuck off.”
“Sure thing, buddy, but you never said who does who. He looks like he has a big dick. Can you get the whole thing in your—”
I checked him so hard, his head hit the plexiglass. He dropped his stick, pulled off his helmet and his gloves, and came at me, cocking his fist and punching my jaw. The flash of pain acted like a triple shot of adrenaline. I chucked off my gloves and my helmet too and started swinging. I heard gasps from the crowd, whistles screeching, and people yelling, but it didn’t stand a chance against the white light. The only way out of that tunnel involved pain. I connected once or twice more until someone pulled me away. I looked down at the blood on my knuckles and my jersey, then over at Schultz’s smug expression just as he mouthed, Thank you, Captain.
I wasn’t sure what he meant until I was in a quiet locker room struggling to get dressed as quickly as possible. I couldn’t deal with my guys looking at me like an alien while Coach lectured us about sportsmanship, selfish play, ugly execution. I pulled a T-shirt over my head and concentrated on putting my shoes on without wincing.
My ribs hurt and my jaw felt swollen. In the melee at the end of the game, Schultz and I had been hustled off the ice and treated for minor wounds. I’d been released first, so I hurried to the locker room, speed-showered and was mostly dressed before the team trickled in. I didn’t know where Schultz went, and I didn’t give a fuck. I just wanted out.
Call it cowardice if you want, but as the seconds ticked by and my internal fight or flight mechanism went bonkers, I realized I had three choices…confirm, deny, or stay silent. I was a fighter, for sure. But I wasn’t in this alone. I couldn’t out Sky.
I zipped my bag, picked up my stick, and slipped out the side door. I raced to my car, threw my stuff in the trunk, and took a deep breath, willing my hands to stop shaking. Typing a simple text message was hell.
I’m going home. I need to talk to you but I—
Tap, tap, tap.
I dropped my phone on my lap and jumped in my seat. Sky rapped on the window again and motioned for me to open the door. I obeyed quickly, then turned on the engine, and peeled out of my parking spot before he had a chance to fasten his seat belt or ask questions.
“What the fuck happened?”
I couldn’t respond right away. It took everything I had just to concentrate on getting the hell away from the rink. And that didn’t feel right on so many levels. Ice was my happy zone. It was the one place that felt like home no matter where I happened to be. Michigan, California…zipping through traffic and running red lights to make a getaway while an ancient Alice in Chains song blasted in the background seemed surreal. And wrong.
But I didn’t know how to make anything right. Or if it was even possible.
I slammed on my brakes behind a truck when traffic slowed around campus. Then I wedged my hands under my thighs and glanced over at Sky.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered.
“For what?”
“Everything.”
“Colb, it’s gonna be okay.”
“No, it not. I’m…”
“You’re shaking,” he said, rubbing my arm and reaching for my chin. “Geez, you’re gonna have a black eye. What happened?”
I jerked away, continuing down 7th Street before turning left on Bellflower, screeching around the corner and into my apartment complex. I killed the engine and pulled the key from the ignition…and froze. Fuck, I had nowhere to go. I didn’t know if Elliot was home, but I couldn’t waltz through the door with Sky, especially when I looked like this. He’d want to know what happened. I have to tell him, and then he’d know too and…
Oh, my God.
This was what Sky meant about coming out. This shit was real. And scary. I didn’t think I could do it.
I covered my mouth to silence a scream bubbling in my throat and let the first tear trickle down my cheek unchecked.
“I don’t know what to do,” I choked, swiping at my face.
“Colby, you’re scaring me. Tell me what—”
“They know about us.”
“Who knows?”