Puck Prince (Houston Scythes Hockey #1)

54. Callie

54

CALLIE

Summer is still petrified. She’s frozen in place, not even breathing.

I shake her. “Why did you come here?”

Before she can answer, Miles stands and looks in our direction. Summer turns her face away, ducking into the shadows. And Miles grins. It’s a smile that makes my skin crawl.

Then someone yells his name from inside the gym, and he saunters away.

As soon as the door closes behind him, I grab Summer and yank her into one of the bathrooms down the hall and lock the door behind us.

Summer is still hardly breathing, her eyes somewhere else entirely. “I didn’t think I’d see him,” she whispers.

“Summer, he plays for the Scythes. This is their arena. Surely you knew?—”

“He’s engaged. He’s supposedly quitting to go into sports announcing. I just thought… I hoped…”

“Does Owen know?” I ask.

But of course he doesn’t. If he did…

“He’d kill him, Callie.” Her voice breaks. Tears are streaming down her face. “I can’t do that to him. Owen would murder Miles if he knew the truth.”

I open my mouth to argue. Because holy fucking shit this is insane. But what argument could I possibly make? I didn’t tell Owen about Spencer for the exact same reason. I lied and omitted the truth to keep him from getting in trouble.

“Please don’t tell him,” she begs. “He’s put so much at risk to keep me and Nicky safe. I don’t want him to jeopardize that by smashing Miles’ face in with a hockey stick.”

Nicky whimpers in his sleep, and Summer holds him closer. The look on her face tells me what I already know: we have three minutes before he’s full-on sounding the baby siren.

“Alright,” I agree. “Fine, I won’t tell him. But I have to get you out of here. Let me distract the guys. While I’m talking to them—to him—you make a run for it.”

Summer envelopes me in her arms. “Thank you. Thank you so much.”

I don’t tell her that she shouldn’t thank me yet. As she well knows, things with Miles are never as simple as they should be.

I force myself down the hall to the gym.

“Well, look who’s back!” Heath pulls me into a side hug when I walk through the door. He, Dax, and Miles are suiting up to get on the ice. I don’t know where the rest of the team is, including Owen. But the only person I can afford to worry about is right in front of me.

“It’s good to be back.” I offer a smile; all the while Miles is locked in my peripherals. He’s just as intently staring at me.

He saw Summer. I know he did. And if I had to guess, he knows why I’m here, too.

“You guys hit the ice. I’ll be out in a second.” Miles waves to the other two men. “I need to ask Callie here some questions.”

“You hurt again, Solomon?” Heath asks. “It’s a good thing you’re retiring. You’re getting rusty.”

“I’ll show you who’s rusty after we get out on the ice. I’m giving you a head start.”

Heath and Dax laugh and head out, and I barely resist the urge to drop to the floor and hug their ankles. I don’t want to be alone with Miles.

The moment they’re out of earshot, Miles turns to me.

His smile is gone.

His eyes are dark.

And he is terrifying.

“Where is she?” he growls.

“Who?”

Miles grins, sucking air through his teeth. He takes a cocky step closer to me, and I want to run. I want to scream. But I hold my ground.

If he tries anything, the other guys will hear. He can’t get away with anything right now.

“Don’t play stupid, Callie. I know you know who she is to me. Who Nicky is to me.”

“Does Alisha know?” I’m being bolder than I have any right to be. Maybe my lip gloss has magical fearless properties, after all. “You already have a fiancée and a baby. Why don’t you just leave Summer alone?”

“Because what’s mine is mine. That bitch took advantage of me; not the other way around.”

“And how the hell do you figure that? You hurt her. You’re the reason she’s afraid.”

His reptilian smile only broadens as he takes yet another step closer. “Are you?”

“Am I what?” I ask, meeting his empty eyes. I feel like this man can smell fear.

“Afraid.”

“For Summer, yes. For Nicky, yes. And for every girl who trusts guys like you?—”

Miles cuts me off with a gritty laugh. “Guys like me, huh? Tell me, Callie Coleman: what kind of guy am I?”

“You’re like so many hockey players. A cocky asshole who pretends to be one person in front of the cameras, but someone else when no one is looking.”

“You know all about hockey players, don’t you?” He could be talking about Owen, but the way he says it, I know he isn’t. I hold my breath, waiting for the blow. “I may be easy to dig up dirt on, but so are you. University graduate who went straight into a PT for her alma mater. It didn’t take you long to work your way to the top. Or work your way under someone.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I lie even as I begin to shake.

“So the name Spencer Santos means nothing to you, then?”

I pale, and I know he can see it.

“Looks like we both have secrets.”

“Mutually assured destruction,” I grit out. “If you tell anyone, I’ll?—”

“You’ll what? You have a lot more to lose than I do. Don’t think for a second that I care about Owen’s career because I don’t. Watching that pretty boy hog the limelight year after year has been nauseating. So give me what I want and maybe, just maybe, I won’t destroy what you hold so near and dear.”

“And what is it you want?” I ask as he takes another step closer.

I shift back, but that’s what he wants. We move, almost in sync, until he’s tangoed me up against the wall and out of sight of the other guys. I feel myself shrinking.

“Where exactly is Summer staying? I found the complex but couldn't find her . I even looked under Owen’s name.”

“I don’t know.” It’s not a lie.

“I can see to it that you never work in hockey again,” he snarls. “I can see to it that Owen never speaks to you again. I can play this so many ways. But right now, I have too many loose ends. Too many people to worry about, and if you aren’t going to help, I need you out of the way.”

He leans over me, and I slam my hands to his chest to try to hold him off.

But it’s all a sick game to him, and he leans against me hard enough to snap my arms. His mouth is close enough to mine that I can taste his breath. While he still has a sick grin on his lips, his eyes are cold and haunting.

I feel the tears hot in my eyes. I have to get away. I have to?—

Just then, I see Uncle Randy behind him.

“Solomon?” he snaps. “What the hell is going on here?”

Surprised, Miles pulls away. “Coach. We were just?—”

My heart moves faster than my brain. Because I know what it looked like.

I could tell my uncle that Miles was threatening me—coming onto me—and he might believe me. But then I’d have to explain why.

Summer would be in danger.

Owen would wreck his career for one shot at destroying Miles.

And those are consequences I can’t bear.

So I do the stupidest thing I have ever done.

“It’s my fault,” I blurt out.

Miles’s eyes slice over to me. Uncle Randy looks flat out confused. “Callie?”

“It was me, Uncle Randy. Miles asked for my help stretching before he started drills, and I… I took it too far.”

“What?” Both of them ask at the same time. But I plow through the moment of confusion, making sure there’s no space for any other explanation.

“I know it was wrong. I made a mistake.”

“Is she telling the truth?” my uncle asks Miles.

Miles doesn’t seem to know what to do or say. He runs a hand through his hair, probably feeling every bit as dazed as I do.

To my relief—and my dread—Uncle Randy takes that as a yes.

“Miles, you’re excused for now. Callie, come to my office.”

I follow my uncle out of the room. As I pass Miles, I don’t look at him, but I can feel his eyes on me.

As we walk down the hallway to my uncle’s office, it takes everything in me not to break down.

I’m stumbling through a nightmare as I shuffle into his office and drop down into his desk. The exact place I was when Owen charged in and lied about our relationship.

Part of me hopes he’ll show up and save me again right now.

But the office is quiet until Uncle Randy sighs. “Callie girl, what are you thinking?”

I will the tears back. He’s not mad; he’s disappointed. And it’s killing me.

“I wasn’t.”

“Clearly.” He walks around his desk and sits down, studying me. “I put my neck out when I hired you.”

“I know.”

“It was a risk. For the team, for my own career, for every one of those men out there. I’m responsible for their success, Callie. It’s not just about me.”

“I understand.” My heart is shattering one piece at a time.

“It was bad enough when you got involved with Sharpe. I should have shut it down right then and there, but I didn’t. Do you know why?”

I wait.

“Because I thought maybe it was real. Call me a sap, but I saw something in you two. I saw something that I recognized. You’re aunt and I…” My Uncle Randy pauses, and I know where he’s going. The very idea of the words I know he’s about to say feel like I’m having open heart surgery without any anesthesia.

“Your aunt and I were fire and ice. Everyone we knew and loved told us we were either going to change the world or destroy it. I thought I saw that in you and Owen. Hell, it’s why I didn’t say anything when I found out about the baby. But now… Obviously, I was wrong. I was wrong to put your relationship—to put you before the team.”

“What are you saying?” I ask softly. Even though I already know.

It’ll only be a matter of time before everyone finds out about this. Before it goes viral. My reputation will be ruined. My career will be over. My life will be over.

Uncle Randy can’t even look at me as he says, “I’m going to have to report this, Callie. You need to pack your things.”

I bite my lip to keep from crying. I don’t want to make this any worse on Uncle Randy than it already is. I put him in this position. I didn’t give him a choice.

I turn to walk out, but just before I open the door, he clears his throat. “You broke my heart, Alley Cat.”

With that, mine explodes into a million pieces.

But even as I start to sob as I walk down the hallway, I know I did the right thing. Even if it cost me everything.