Puck Princess (Houston Scythes Hockey #2)

6. Owen

6

OWEN

Have you talked to Summer?

Are you with her?

I know you’re upset, but please call me.

She’s in trouble. Go to Pour Boys.

Summer is with Miles.

I’m standing outside of Summer’s apartment, facing off with a terrified babysitter who is prepared to whack me over the head with a frying pan for both scaring her and waking Nicky up with all my pounding on the door, when Callie’s texts come through in a rapid fire burst.

I came here to talk to Summer, but she wasn’t answering her phone. Or the door.

Now, I know why.

With a quick apology and a mental note to tell Summer her babysitter is a real keeper, I sprint out to my car and race to Pour Boys just praying a cop doesn’t stop me.

Meanwhile, my mind is also going eighty miles per hour. I don’t know why I never suspected someone on the team of being Summer’s ex. I thought she stopped coming to my games because it would be too rowdy for Nicky. Same with not coming out for drinks anymore. It’s not like she could bring a baby to a bar. But it went deeper than that. She stopped asking me about work entirely. And when it did come up, she’d changed the subject. I assumed it was because she was sick of hearing about my job. Now, it all makes perfect sense.

It’s also why Pour Boys after a hockey game is the last place I would’ve thought to look for Summer. Because of the crowd outside, I have to park blocks down the road. I sprint to the entrance, and the line of people down the block tells me they’re at capacity or close to.

Johnny, the bouncer, lets two blonde women in ahead of everyone else. Then he looks at me. We share a nod, and I squeeze past the line of people and through the door.

The place is an absolute madhouse. If the owner doesn’t shut things down soon, the fire department will. I search the crowd for Summer or Callie, but even from my high vantage point, there’s not a chance of finding anyone in this mayhem.

“O!” Dax claps me on the shoulder. “Where the fuck you been, bro?”

“Where’s Callie?”

“She was here. There. Somewhere. Idonfugginknow. ” He’s blasted. Great.

“She was looking for Summer.” Lance appears out of the woodwork of drunkards. He’s slurring too, but not as much.

“Where’s Summer?”

“She was talking to Miles,” Lance says. “Everything okay? You still look like shit.”

“And where’s Miles?” I press on, ignoring him.

“He left with Summer.” Lance frowns. “But for real, O. You look?—”

“And where is Callie?” I interrupt.

Dax squints his eyes before a lightbulb flickers above his head. “She went after Miles and Summer! Fucking fuck, this is a hard game, but I think we got all the answers right.”

“I gotta go.” I shove my way back to the entrance. I faintly hear Lance call my name, but there isn’t time.

It’s easier to scan the crowd out front, but I still don’t see any of the faces I’m looking for.

“Fuck!” The outburst earns me a few worried looks, but my reputation has handled worse today than a few public curse words.

“Hey, Sharpe.” Johnny’s deep voice gets my attention. “You need somethin’?”

“I’m looking for Miles.”

“Went around the corner a bit ago with a redhead. A blonde went looking for him, too.”

“Thanks, man.” I dart down the alley, inspecting every person I pass. When I get to the back of the building I don’t know where to go next. I’ve hit the end of the line.

Then I hear them.

“Leave me alone!” The terror in Callie’s voice is a bucket of ice water in my veins. I run across the street and see them halfway down a dark alley. Miles has her pinned against the wall.

His hands are all over her.

“I swear to God I will tear your fucking clothes off if you don’t give me your—” he says to her.

“Get your fucking hands off of her!” They both stop and turn. My feet are moving faster than my thoughts as I rip down the alley towards them. My sights are locked on Miles, fully prepared to destroy him.

“Well, if it isn’t the white knight.” Miles is grinning. Always grinning. I used to trust that grin. To think he was a chill guy. A solid guy. A friend.

I was wrong.

Now, I see the darkness lurking just under the surface. And he’s going to pay for it.

I throw all my weight into his chest, slamming him against the wall. “If you ever touch either of them again?—”

“You’ll what?”

I meet his gaze, my blood running hot in my veins. “I’ll fucking kill you.”

We’re close enough that my threat spits across his face. He flinches back, but his response comes out cocky as ever.

“Go ahead and try.”

It’s all the invitation I need.

I hit him, hard. But he’s powered on adrenaline, same as me, and he shakes it off and hits me back. I don’t feel the blow, but I hit the ground. Before I can get up, he kicks me in the stomach.

“Stop it!” Callie shrieks, grabbing onto Miles. He shrugs her off, shoving her into the wall. It gives me the two second rebound I need to get back up and charge him.

It’s a replay of what happened at the game. The brawl on the ice. But this time, there are no cameras. No refs. There’s no restraint and nothing holding me back.

For months, I’ve been looking for the man who hurt Summer and threatened my nephew. And he was right there the whole time, preying on and threatening Callie. He’s hurt everyone I care about, and it’s enough that I want him gone. Period.

“I trusted you,” I seethe, slamming him into the concrete. “You were my teammate. My friend.” I hit him again.

“And you were a pussy.” He grapples for control, but I pin him to the wall with a shot to his chest and an uppercut that clacks his teeth together. “You think this team is a family, but this world is every man for himself. If someone gets in your way, you have to step over people. Even if it means treading on them.”

“Tread on this.” I hit him again. His nose makes a sickening crack. Blood gushes down his face, gathering on the concrete around his head.

And I hit him again.

And again.

“Owen.” Callie’s voice comes to me from far away, garbled like I’m underwater. The rage surging through me blots everything else out.

“Owen, stop!” This time it’s Summer. She grabs my shoulder, trying to pull me off of him. I get in one more hit before she shoves me onto the ground. “He’s out cold.”

“That’s not good enough. I want—” She doesn’t let me finish the sentence.

“He can’t pay child support if you kill him, dumbass.”

I’m breathing heavily, trying to pull myself back from the bring. But with the adrenaline pumping through me, I’m like a drag racer without a parachute. Then I turn and see Callie.

She's on the ground against the brick wall, shaking.

Summer moves out of the way as I crawl to her.

“I’m sorry. I’m— Did he hurt you?”

If he did, fuck child support. I have more than enough money to take care of Summer and Nicky. Killing Miles would be worth every single penny.

Callie shakes her head. “No, I’m okay.”

Good. That makes it so much easier to be mad at her.

“What the fuck were you thinking? Why—” My fingers curl into her hair, pulling her forehead to mine. “Why did you come here alone?”

Callie’s lips tip into a smile, and I let myself feel the tiniest bit of relief. She’s okay. “For this.”

She presses a button and Miles’s voice fills the alley again. He’s still out cold on the pavement, but every single one of his threats are replaying on Callie’s phone.

Summer cackles. “Holy shit, you’re amazing.”

“I think I got everything. His threats and him admitting what he did to me and to you.” She looks up at me, beaming with pride. “I think I got him.”

I’m so relieved and proud and grateful that I pull her to me again, kissing her forehead.

She clicks a button and saves the recording to her phone before sending it to Summer.

Summer nudges Miles with her toe, flinching when he groans. “We should go before he wakes up.”

“Are you going to be okay?” Callie asks.

Summer brushes it off like what just happened was nothing—like we pummel her abusive baby daddy every Wednesday. “I just want to go home.”

I wipe the blood from my mouth with the back of my hand. “Are you sure? You can come to my place.”

“I have to relieve the babysitter. And I’m pretty sure, with the swat team you have stationed around my apartment at any given time, my place is probably safer. Plus, I don’t think he’s going to be coming around any time soon.”

Callie grimaces down at Miles. “Is he dead?”

“Unfortunately, he’s still breathing,” I grit out. “He’s just going to be in a world of hurt when he comes to.”

“Even more reason to leave,” Summer insists.

The three of us walk out of the alley like we’re coming back for war. Two fights in the same night is a lot even for me. I could probably drive, but I could just as easily leave the rental overnight and let Callie drive.

As we pass Johnny, he gives me a hard stare. Probably because I look worse than I did ten minutes ago.

“You find what you were looking for?” he asks.

I nod. “There’s a dude fucked up back there. Might wanna have someone check him out when you have time.”

If Johnny ever smiled, he’d be smirking right now.

“He never liked Miles much,” I tell Callie as we leave the noise of the crowd behind. My arm is around her, but honestly, I think she’s steadying me more than I am her.

“He’s got a good intuition.”