Page 107 of Pucking Them
“Who have you pissed off?” Neve points her bottle at D’Angelo. “Apart from me.”
D’Angelo gives a sharp smile. “Do you want the full or abridged list of people who would want to use my cock as a puck? Let’s see… There is coach, Bronwyn, Lee, Anderson, Colton, and…actually, it’s a longer list than I thought.”
“Why don’t we focus on destroying Wilder?” My gaze hardens. D’Angelo lifts his brow in surprise. “You spend your life caring for us. This time,I’llcare for whatever bruises Wilder painted on you. Then I’llwreckhim for daring to lay a single hand on my man.”
Shay twists to stare at me. “You are fucking hot when you’re protective, love.”
“How?” D’Angelo’s piercing gaze fixes on mine; there is a questioning in its depth, which I am desperate to quieten.
Did he believe that I would be fine with his taking a beating for Shay? That it was his role as a dom to suffer to save his sub?
This time, it will be me teaching him a lesson about our relationship.
“Sticks at dawn?” Cody’s eyes glint.
“Code,” Michael warns. “No starting hockey wars.”
“We don’t need to.” I boldly meet D’Angelo’s gaze. “The worst punishment you could give a peacock like Wilder is to steal his chance of winning the Stanley Cup. This will be his last season, as it is yours. He will be obsessed with the Penguins beating the Bay Rebels. His entire sense of self, as well as his career, will be wrapped up in proving that he is better than you. His parents are wealthy, supportive, and expect him to beperfect. When I found out that my husband was hiding a double life from me, it made me face the hard truth that as the daughter of a Stanley Cup winner, I was just another trophy to him.”
“Does that mean the Stanley Cup is Wilder’s true obsession?” D’Angelo’s gaze becomes as wicked as mine is. “If we win the games this week, then we take away his lifelong dream. I’m feeling better already.”
“Wilder had a vision board set up in our bedroom. It was filled with close-ups of hands gripping the cup, champagne-soaked winners in the locker rooms, and phrases in bold likeSTANLEY CUP OR FAILUREandWINNING IS WHO I AM. To be fair, when he was fucking me, I was never sure whether he was more focused on the board than me.” I wrinkle my nose. “Wilder’s fantasy of hoisting that cup would make him come faster than anything else. It’s his ultimate fantasy. His nightmare would beyouholding it instead. How about we make the asshole’s nightmare come true?”
D’Angelo and Wilder have been rivals since college both in love and on the ice.
D’Angelo has me now.
Wilder’s image of himself will be shattered, the moment that D’Angelo leads the Bay Rebels to victory over him.
For once, I understand Eden’s drive for revenge.
Unfortunately, the games are currently tied. We must win three more games.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Freedom Mansion
Shay
I lieon my back in bed stargazing through the skylights. I study the endless night sky, loving how safe it makes me feel.
I am small in the face of its looping infinity.
The Bay Rebels tied with the Penguins this evening, forcing the game to go into sudden-death overtime.
We had been so close to winning.
Well,until we lost.
I bite my lip.
Yet the stars don’t care. Cosmic campfires, which are almost as old as the universe itself, the stars may not know that I am warming myself at their side every time that I look up at them. But they still keep me company on nights like this when I can’t sleep.
Because as small as it should feel that we lost in a hockey game, it is still bloody important to me.
And I am always alone with my insomnia.
I sigh, squirming further under the sheets.
