Page 35 of Secret Obsession
But she just makes me so crazy. All I can do is skate away—otherwise I might completely lose it.
12
WILLOW
My head throbs. I’ve got strands of long hair caught in my fingers, and I frown as I drop them to the floor beside me. I didn’t think I held Amanda’s hair that tightly—it was my initial instinct as she clawed at my neck, probably trying to do the same thing. Except my short hair helped me out and she couldn’t get a good grip.
Their coach returned to the ice after dealing with her, spared an ugly glance for me, then continued on with practice as if nothing was wrong. Maybe Amanda pled her case in the parking lot, and he’s just gearing up to deal with me after practice.
So here I sit, my jacket newly zipped up to my collarbone, the bandages secured against my neck where her nails broke my skin, and the ice pack held dutifully to my aching cheekbone.
After another forty minutes, if that, it seems like the team is done. Coach Roake knocks on the glass, waiting for me to unlatch the door to the penalty box. It swings inward, and he looms in the doorway. He scours me for a moment, seeming to take stock of my injuries.
“Fighting happens,” he finally says. “I understand that. So this is your one warning. Pull a stunt like this in my arena again, and I’ll bring you to the dean of students for misconduct myself. Clear?”
“Yes, sir.” My voice is hoarse. I don’t remember using it with much vitriol. Did I scream?
“I’m closing practices for the rest of the week,” he adds. “So if anyone comes crying about it, I’ll be pointing them toward your feud with the other girl. Are you going to press charges?”
I blink. “Um… on Amanda?”
“Yes.” He raises his eyebrows. “We have security cameras, I’m sure you’d have evidence. If you’d like her to be arrested for assault…”
“No.” I understand why Amanda was so furious. I would be, too, if I was her. “I don’t want to press charges. I don’t want anything to happen.”
He shrugs. “She’s going to lose her position at this school either way. But this is a discussion for when I’m not in the middle of practice.”
I nod. He leaves me there and skates away, exiting the rink and following the players out. I stay where I am, my body thrumming with energy.
Fuck, I feel—
I don’t know. Somewhere different than the limbo I’ve been floating in since Knox ended things. I’ve done everything I can to avoid thinking about the empty cavity in my chest.
Miles can punish me all he likes—it’s not going to make me feel anything else.
Okay, maybe a little lust.
Don’t go there.
Coming face-to-face with Knox was not how I saw today going. And then Miles. And then Amanda. She really laid into me, but I could tell she was hurt by my post, too. I didn’t have a chance to defend myself or tell her that I was hacked before she was on me.
It was survival after that.
Movement catches my eye. I look up, finding Miles skating toward me. He’s lost his pads and, helmet. The doors at the far end of the rink are open, and a Zamboni rumbles through it. He steps up into the penalty box, and my breath catches.
It’s too tight in here, and with him now filling the space, it’s like all the oxygen was sucked out.
He takes my hand holding the ice pack and pulls it away from my head.
“You might have a shiner in the morning,” he says.
I don’t know what to do with that.
Or him.
“Nothing worse than my sister and I would give each other,” I manage, tugging my hand from his grasp. “I’m going home.”
“I’ll drive you.”
