บททั้งหมดของ THE HOCKEY ALPHA WANTS ME: บทที่ 11 - บทที่ 20

Chapter 12MaxThe surgery went better than expected, but that didn't make waking up any easier. The anesthesia left me groggy and sick to my stomach, and my knee felt like it was on fire even through the pain medication.When I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was Mom sitting in the chair next to my bed. Her face was puffy and red, like she'd been crying for hours. She had tissues clutched in her hand and when she saw me wake up, fresh tears started rolling down her cheeks."Mijo," she whispered, reaching for my hand. "How do you feel?"I wanted to tell her I felt like my whole world had collapsed, but the words wouldn't come. Instead I just squeezed her hand and tried to smile.Dad was standing by the window, his back to us, but I could see his shoulders shaking. He was trying to hide it, the way he always did when he was upset, but I knew he was crying too. In all my twenty years, I'd only seen my father cry twice. Once when his own father died, and once when Sofia had gotte

Chapter 14Max"What do you mean?"My hands were shaking now. I could feel sweat starting to form on my palms even though the room wasn't hot. This was the question that had been eating at me for days. The one I was terrified to ask because I wasn't sure I wanted to hear the answer.How would I want to hear that my girlfriend's brother had a hand in my career ending injury, because he hates me."I mean, did you know it was going to happen?" The words came out in a rush. "Damon. The guy who stepped on my knee during practice. Did you tell him to do it?"I watched Ace's face carefully. Looking for any sign that would give him away. A twitch. A flash of guilt. Something. Anything.But his face went completely blank. Which somehow made him look more dangerous than when he was angry."I've seen you two together," I continued, my voice getting stronger as the suspicion that had been growing in my mind finally found its voice. "You and Damon. Talking. Laughing. Did he do it for you?"The si

Chapter 16MaxI didn't move, I just stood there holding the clothes he'd thrown at me, trying to process what was happening."I told you last night not to come back," I said.He looked at me with those dark eyes and for a second I saw something flicker across his face, hurt maybe, but then it was gone."Get dressed Max."His voice was quiet but there was steel underneath it, the same tone he used when he was about to do something that would piss off our coach or get him suspended.I wanted to throw the clothes back at him and tell him to get out, tell him he couldn't just show up whenever he felt like it and expect me to follow orders, but something in the way he was looking at me made me hesitate.He wasn't looking at me like I was broken, or like I was something to pity, he was looking at me like he expected me to fight back.And honestly? I was too tired to fight.I grabbed my crutches and went to the bathroom to change, my hands were shaking as I pulled on the jeans, I couldn't f

Chapter 18"Is that what this is?" I gestured at the ice bath, at the brutal cold we were sitting in together. "You taking care of someone who needs it?""Maybe.""That's not an answer, Ace."He was quiet for a moment, his jaw tight. When he finally spoke, his voice was lower, more serious than I'd ever heard it."This is me taking care of someone who needs it.""Why though? Yesterday you walked out of my room like you never wanted to see me again.""Yesterday I was angry.""At me?""At the situation, at your doctors for not pushing you harder, at the coaches for writing you off so fast, at you for giving up.""I didn't give up.""You were lying in bed feeling sorry for yourself instead of doing the work to get better."That stung because it was true, I had been feeling sorry for myself, wallowing in self pity and pain instead of fighting to recover."So you decided to drag me up here and torture me with ice water?""I decided to show you that you're not alone."The way he said it was

Chapter 20MaxThe walk back to my dorm should have cleared my head. Instead, all I could think about was Ace's smile on the ice, the way he'd looked at me in the parking lot, the warmth in his voice when he'd said "thanks for coming."I was so lost in thought that I almost didn't notice them until it was too late.Three figures stepped out from the shadows near the entrance to my building, blocking my path. I recognized them immediately, Daniel, Tyler, and Ben. Three guys from the basketball team who'd made it abundantly clear they believed my career was over.I kept my eyes forward and moved to walk around them, pretending I hadn't seen them. Maybe if I just acted like they weren't there, they'd let me pass without incident. I wasn't afraid of them, I'd never been afraid of confrontation, but I also wasn't stupid enough to pick fights I didn't need to have.No such luck.They shifted position, spreading out to block my path completely. I stopped walking, my jaw clenching as I star