I parted my lips, but Gage’s voice rolled right over me.
“Seems to me you’re a bit hung up on her,” he said. “An unhealthy kind of strung up.” His tone was lethal, and I arched a brow at him over my shoulder.
His look screamed that he’d explain later.
Good.
Turning my attention back to Archer, I stepped deeper into the room, closer to him.
“You will agree to leave Chloe alone. Now.”
His eyes twitched—the cocky asshole clearly wasn’t used to being told what to do. “Or what?”
I glanced over my shoulder, then back to him. “They won’t be strong enough to stop me.”
“We won’t stop you,” Rory added, his voice coated in raw anger.
“And we’ll all testify to the Coaches, the CEOs, fucking everyone, that you attacked him,” Warren said.
Archer’s shoulders dropped a fraction, but a smirk shaped his split lip. “Little slut,” he said. “She fucking all of you or just one?”
Red—the room drenched in it.
My vision vibrated.
My fingers begged to tear flesh.
But again, that hand at my shoulder, tethering me. They were risking their own positions on the team to be here for me.
I wouldn’t waste that.
“She’s family,” Gage said when I couldn’t speak.
“You don’t fuck with ours,” Rory said.
Archer rolled his eyes, the motion too casual, like this was some meaningless argument about whose dick was bigger.
Mine was.
“Yeah,” he said, shrugging as he sunk his hands into his pants pockets. He leaned against the table. “Your precious little puck bunny has already made it very clear.”
I growled.
He laughed.
Fucking prick laughed.
“Then why the hell were you still talking to her?” I snapped. “The texts—” I knew they were from him, even if I didn’t know what they said, that same cold terror had been in her eyes earlier tonight. “They stop. Calls, emails. All forms of contact stop.”
He sighed. “Yes,” he said. “I should’ve known better than to try to mold a groupie into the real deal.”
“She’s not a—”
“Don’t kid yourself,” he cut me off. “She was with me for over a year. Lived with me. Said yes when I asked her to marry me. With me until my status was no longer useful to her.”
Jealousy coated my skin.
She’d said yes.
I thought I might vomit on the floor. But I knew she hadn’t left him because of his status.
“Does it annoy you,” he began, lowering his voice as he stepped closer to me, “when she does that thing with her voice when she comes?”
Gage’s arms flew around me, joining Rory’s as I attempted to go after him.
“Such a temper,” Archer said, tsking me. “You can have her. Spoiled goods and all that.”
I slowed my breathing, relaxing enough that the guys let me go.
“No contact,” I said. “Or I will end you.”
He smirked. “Like I said . . . she’s already made that clear to me.”
I wondered then if she’d been the bitch on the phone.
What had she threatened him with?
It didn’t matter.
Archer’s eyes flashed to mine, hateful and arrogant and this side of crazy. “This ordeal has made it clear the only thing she had going for her was the sex. And even that grew boring toward the end.”
A loud crack rang in the room as my fist connected with his jaw.
Hard enough he fell to the floor with a grunt.
Just one hit.
I held all others back.
Reeled them in like calling back flames.
“Stay gone,” I said, stepping backward as the guys filed out of the room.
We left him there, grunting and hissing and laughing.
“Fucking psycho,” Rory bit out as we made our way out of the arena.
“You think he’ll listen?” I asked as we all stopped outside of Gage’s SUV.
“Yeah,” Gage said, nodding. “I do. You could see it. Whatever she told him, threatened him with, it was greater than his need to fuck with her.”
“You simply helped seal the deal,” Warren said.
“Good hit, by the way,” Rory said, a grin on his lips.
“Fuck,” I said, my body feeling like it was hit by a truck.
“Did you tell Coach the truth?” Rory asked.
I shook my head. “I can’t risk her job like that,” I said. “Besides, we ended it. Last week.”
Gage winced.
“That’s why you’ve been miserable to be around,” Warren said.
I shrugged.
“Just because you ended it doesn’t mean it’s over,” Rory said.
I furrowed my brow. “That’s exactly what it means.”
“And yet . . . today happened.”
“Today would’ve happened regardless,” I said. “I would’ve had the same reaction if I walked up and heard anyone speaking to Nine or Paige or Bailey like that.”
They all flinched, seething at the thought.
“Exactly,” I said. “Thanks for being here.”
“Always,” Gage said.
“Now,” I said. “You need to fill me in.”
“All right,” Gage said. “Let’s head to my place since the girls are at Rory’s.”
I nodded.
“But you really need to consider telling Coach the truth,” he continued. “It may get you off the bench.”
“It may lose me the job completely,” I fired back.
“Or,” Warren said, “you may find a solution to this problem, get your head out of your ass, and finally get the girl.”
I shot him a glare as I climbed into the backseat of Gage’s car.
I didn’t have the luxury to dream like that.
I’d already been broken too many damn times.
Chapter 20
Chloe
“Are you sure you need to do this?” Bailey asked the next morning at breakfast.
Rory and Warren had slept over at Gage’s, claiming a boy’s night was in order. I was grateful for the solo girl time last night. For the comfort and support of friends to help keep me distracted, keep me from crumbling over what I was going to do.
“I’m sure,” I said, my fingers wrapped around the paper coffee cup Rory had dropped off earlier before heading to the rink for practice.
Coffees for each of us plus enough double chocolate muffins and pastries to feed twelve girls. He was definitely a keeper.
“I don’t like it,” Nine said, ever the one to say exactly what was on her mind. She shifte
d Katherine in her arms, having retrieved her early this morning from Warren’s mom.
“Agreed,” Paige said, feeding Daphne applesauce while she giggled in her high chair.
“Bentley wouldn’t want you to do it.” Bailey’s eyes were on Ethan as he padded barefoot around the room.
So much love. So many woven stories resulting in the kind of happiness I didn’t dare dream of.
Didn’t matter—didn’t stop me from picturing a baby.
Bentley’s baby.
With his eyes and my hair and his tenacity.
Tears threatened to prick my eyes, but I forced them down. I was done crying. Now I was acting.
“It’s not up to him,” I said. “This is my choice. I won’t cost him his career.”
I never would.
Even back then, all those years ago, I had been at risk for ruining his dream.
Ten years hadn’t changed much.
“Don’t come crying to us when this blows up in your face,” Nine said, not a hint of maliciousness in her tone. “Because it will and you’ll be miserable wherever you go without us.”
I smiled softly at her. “You’re right about that.”
These past couple months, they’d become the best friends I’d ever had.
Closer to family—and when the last of my family barely remembered me—it was warm and comforting and hurt all the same.
Because she was right.
Not only had I lost Bentley, I was now losing them too.
“You three are the sisters I never had,” I said, tickling Daphne’s foot in her high chair. I pushed back from the table. “I’ll miss you, and I can’t thank you enough for all your help.”
They moved like they would rise to give me hugs, but I stopped them with my hands raised. “I can’t afford to go into the office with mascara running down my face,” I tried to tease. “I’ll call you when I know more.”
I hurried out the door, sliding behind the wheel of my car that Gage had so graciously driven over late last night.
The drive to the rink went by entirely too fast, but that was just as well.
No time for me to overanalyze, to change my mind.
“Coach?” I asked in his opened doorway.
Thankfully, practice had ended an hour ago and there was no sign of Bentley anywhere. If I saw him . . . I wouldn’t have the strength.