Page 34 of Secret Obsession
“Shit,” Coach yells.
He skates for the door. I go for it, too, and I’m right on his heels getting to the girls. They’re locked in, Amanda’s hand—more like a claw—digging into Willow’s neck. She hits Willow with her other hand, a true punch that lands across Willow’s cheekbone.
My anger spikes.
Willow drags Amanda forward and knees her in the stomach. When Amanda folds, Willow grabs her by her hair and twists. She uses her momentum to send the girl flying forward, and she just barely catches herself on her forearms.
Coach hoists a shrieking Amanda off her feet before she can regain her footing, and I use my size—and padding—to herd Willow against the wall. Her chest is heaving, and her jacket is off. Her shirt is ripped, and she’s got blood trickling down her neck.
“Fuck.” I shake my head at her, knowing that this was my fault—but also being unable to deny that this is the hugest fucking turn-on I’ve ever known.
Willow just got in a fight, and she’s still smiling.
Well, okay, she’s scowling. But she’s standing. Bloody and bruised, and she would’ve kept fighting even longer. In fact, she was owning Amanda. Another minute, and she would’ve had the older girl running for the hills.
“Look at me,” I command, wanting to ride the exhilaration with her.
Willow’s gaze tips up to mine.
I drink in her anger, which seems to rise like a tide in her. Until she’s pushing at me, shoving with all her strength. For all the good it does, I barely rock back a step. And I’m harder than I’ve ever been, although it fucking sucks to have the cup blocking it. It’s a motherfucker when you’re turned on… not that it happens very often.
Anyway, it does the job of hiding my emotions, at the very least.
“Good thing your first opponent was more your size,” I say.
“Get out of my way.”
I glance over my shoulder. Coach has disappeared with Amanda, and half the team seems to be crowding in the doorway—but the front two, Greyson and Steele, seem unbothered about letting anyone through.
“If I let you go, she’s just going to jump you with her friends,” I reason.
I lean down, my decision made. She doesn’t seem to understand what I’m doing until my hands are on her thighs and my shoulder catches her stomach. She squeals when I stand with her over my shoulder, and I turn back to the ice.
“Get an ice pack from first aid, would you?” I ask Steele.
He nods in affirmation and slips past me.
My teammates make a hole for me. I skate directly to the penalty box, where I set her on her feet and push her backward. She looks around slowly.
“Stay,” I order.
She glowers at me.
I roll my eyes. “Unless you want to get jumped?”
“Shut up.” She sits on the bench, leaning back and crossing her arms. She’s going to freeze in two seconds flat with her arms bare.
But I don’t quite have it in me to do anything else nice for her.
Luckily, Steele arrives with both her jacket and an ice pack. And bandages. He hands the lot to me, although I don’t miss that Willow knows I forgot about her jacket.
Fucker.
And now I want her to be warm? What kind of sap am I?
“Here,” I grunt, tossing the supplies at her. Her jacket falls to the floor. I slam the door shut again and point down. “Latch this.”
I stare her down until she moves forward and locks the penalty box door. It’ll save her if someone slams into it, at the very least.
