Page 82 of Worth the Risk
“Um, no thank you,” I tell him hastily. “I just need to see Luca and make sure he’s okay.”
“We were hoping you’d steal the show, girl.”
“No. Not at all. I just need to speak to him and warn him about what’s going on.”
“I think he’d know something was amiss if he saw you on the Zamboni.”
“But so would everyone else, including whoever is out to hurt him!” I don’t specify that Coach Woodward is the main issue, because I want to keep this as close to a few people as possible. Elsie only knows I needed to speak with Luca urgently.
Upon our arrival at the Zamboni entrance, Ben points down a long hallway. “The locker rooms are down there. I snuck a peek at the Seattle one, and damn, it’s crazy impressive.”
“The actual room, or the boys?”
“Both, girl. Always both,” he winks. “Seattle has the sexiest men in the NHL.”
“Our boys hear you saying that, they’re likely to be pissed.”
Ben scoffs. “Please. A good fourth of our boys are at least bi.”
I stop and stare at him. “Seriously?”
He nods. “Ask me how I know, my sweet Georgia peach.”
“If you’re planning to go into detail, I think I’d rather it remain a mystery.”
“Ruin the fun for me, then. But cute that you still refer to the team as your boys, Hannah.”
“They aren’t the problem,” I mutter.
Suddenly, Ben pushes me to the side. “Shit. Turn around and cover your face.”
Confused, I do as he asked. Before I can inquire to the issue, I hear Woodward shouting at everyone. Ben just saved me from a very awkward run-in.
“Santo!” Ben calls. “I’d like to check your knee out before you go back on the ice.”
“Hurry the fuck up!” Woodward snarls.
“Wait a minute, then go into the locker room, girl,” Ben murmurs over his shoulder.
“Okay,” I whisper. I turn slightly, watching as the team walks down the hallway toward what I assume is a separate entrance to the ice for the teams. As soon as Woodward is out of sight, I briskly walk to the locker room. I stand behind Luca, listening to him chat with Ben.
“Nothing wrong with my knee,” Luca says.
“I know. You’ll thank me in a minute,” Ben replies. “You sure are getting your ass handed to you out there, though. Anything else hurt?”
“My entire fucking body.” Luca tilts his head to the left, and I see his profile. I audibly gasp, my hands coming to cover my mouth, as I see welts, bruises, and dried blood dotting along his neck, onto his chin, and across his cheek.
“Luca!” I cry out. He swivels in shock and barely catches me before I launch into his arms.
“Pixie, what are you doing here?” he asks, his voice muffled against my hair.
I let out a stream of gibberish, my voice becoming more and more unrecognizable as my emotions catch up with me.
“Baby, you need to slow down, I can’t understand you,” Luca says quietly, grabbing my shoulders and pulling me away from him to look me in the eyes.
“Luca, your face,” I say miserably, reaching up to gingerly touch his lips. He winces as I touch a fresh cut. One eye is swollen, and his nose looks broken.
“Not my best look, I know,” he jokes. “Most minutes I’ve had on the ice in a while, though.”