Page 28 of Bad Wolf
“We got a problem?” Gunner says quietly enough that only I can hear as he skates a little ring around me.
“No, there’s no problem. I didn’t really get to have a break during bye week, did I?”
He rolls his eyes. “Is that your story? Because it won’t fly here. Just take a look up the ice.”
I grit my teeth at being caught in a lie when I see Rex practically standing on his head in front of the goal, while I’m blowing smoke out my ass.
“You even stayed at our house to save on your commute this morning.”
“So what? You get with my sister and all of a sudden you become an overbearing Madden too?”
He comes to an abrupt stop in front of me. “Knox you’re hungover, more so than fucking usual. You didn’t go out and you weren’t getting your dick wet all night. You were sitting in my kitchen, in the dark, drinking.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “Did you snitch to Coralie?”
He narrows his eyes right back. “Nah, not this time, but I won’t hesitate to tell Coach if this continues. Don’t confuse my role in your sister’s life with the A on the front of my jersey. Stop it now, don’t let this become a thing.”
He skates off before I can respond, although I don’t know what would have fallen out of my mouth if he’d stayed. I can’t pinpoint the exact reason why I’m doing this to myself.
I see Wren one time, and suddenly I’m in a tailspin.
As I head down the chute to get changed into my cool-down gear, my mind, for the millionth time, goes to how gorgeous she looked, and the effect she still has on me.
I was drawn in as a teenager. As an adult, the pull is even stronger.
As I calibrate the treadmill to the right settings, all I can picture is how the curvy swell of her hips and the natural pout of her lips would be enough to bring any man to his knees.
Add into that the thick mane of shiny black hair that falls in waves around her face, her perfect tits, and the way her eyes change color with her mood, turns me into a weak man and I’m not proud of it.
She’s even more beautiful than I’ve let myself remember. It agitates me when I think of how many men get to leer over her tight little body for hours on end every goddamn night. How badly they must want her, and then, my mind races down a darker path.
A path that wonders how many of those men she might have taken to bed.
So I punish myself for the jealousy that buzzes through my veins over a girl that I vowed to never think of again. Drown out the need and the want to go to her. Dilute the craving that ignited in my blood when I saw her again.
The alcohol sends me into a dead sleep, only for a few hours, but it’s necessary because it only gets worse at night. She plagues my dreams and—
“Knox, shit. Why are you still in here?” My brother’s voice brings me out of my thoughts. I wipe my face with the bottom of my tank, but it does nothing because it’s already saturated with sweat.
“I was just doing a few cool-down miles.”
“Knox, it’s been ninety minutes. You’ve been on this treadmill for an hour and a half. Look!”
“So?” I grimace because suddenly the burn in my legs is unmistakable.
“So? We just had practice and a weight session. Slow down right now.” Jason starts messing with the buttons and eventually, the speedometer settles to a slow walk.
“Get your shit together! Right fucking now! We play Montreal in twenty four hours,” he says, reaching out for my shoulder so I’ll look at him. The seriousness that flashes across his face has me holding his gaze.
“I’m fine, Nerd. Stop panicking,”
He runs his hand through his hair, “Look. I can’t imagine how hard it was seeing her like that, and if you want to talk things through, I’m here. We’re all fucking here for you. I don’t know what you’re punishing yourself for, but you gotta stop now before it drags you under like last time. You nearly lost your spot at a D1 college, Ace, this is the NHL.”
“Hey. Calm down. I got this. I just got carried away on a treadmill.”
“Okay.” He runs his hand through his hair,again. “Okay. Yeah,” he nods. “Let’s just go home.”
I give him a big pat on the shoulder as I try like hell to keep the grimace off my face and the stiffness in my gait to a minimum.