Todos los capítulos de Pucking Around with Fate: Capítulo 161 - Capítulo 170

POV: GunnerGunner collapsed into bed and closed his eyes, exhausted, bruised, and just glad to be off the road for a few days.Despite the challenges of adjusting to his narrowed role on the team, Gunner was still trying to apply some of the advice he'd gotten from Cooper. If he wanted to become a player worth something, somebody worthwhile, then he had to keep focused, and that included pushing the dark thoughts out of his mind long enough to focus entirely on his game. No thoughts about him. Not during a game.It was his stuff to deal with, and on his own time.He'd been pushing that pain out of his mind for over a year now, so he should have been a expert by now.He was trying. Back at the Soul Slayer's Arena, it had felt possible in the moment. But back in the real world, under the pressure of game time.His home arena was hardest. Everywhere he turned, he saw an empty seat, a vacant chair, the place where his father would come and smile and cheer him on as often as he could at h

POV: KhyleKhyle held the partially deflated bag of loose frozen produce, wrapped in a dish towel, to his cheek while the TV in the foreground flickered with meaningless images. The sound was down beyond hearing, his apartment too quiet and still, a sharp contrast to his racing thoughts and foul mood. He fought to ignore the silence-shattering hum of his phone, though every buzz against the table felt like it was drilling straight into his skull. He had lost count of how many times it had gone off in the last hour, each vibration another small assault he wasn't in the mood to endure. He wondered, briefly, if he could unplug the world the way he'd unplugged the TV's volume, if silence could be chosen rather than just endured. Maybe if he sat here long enough, unmoving, the world would forget it had a claim on him at all.Dark amber eyes glared in empty disappointment at the screen as it lit up, vibrating across the table while he resisted the urge to reach out and actually pick it up.

POV: KhyleThe temperatures had dipped even further into the minuses as the day wore on, the wind gusts strong and sharp against the face. Winter was giving it her last all, bringing in a sudden arctic cold front before she finally blew herself out.When Khyle had stretched and groaned his way out from under warm heavy blankets that morning, the wind had been howling past his bedroom window. Whipping and brittle against the glass. They'd called for a sudden arctic low, bringing strong winds. But it had even sounded cold out there.And yet, here they were at sunset. Ever undaunted by the weather. The two of them.At the Jäger family home.It was what was inside the house that Khyle found daunting. He was going to meet Gunner's mother again. And see Gunner's family home for the first time. And all in the name of good will and furniture assembly.They'd pulled up to the house from opposite directions, but nearly in tandem. Now, as they headed up the driveway to the two-story home, a rush

POV: Dual, Khyle and GunnerThey both stopped talking as he entered the room. Looked at him. And Gunner took another fortifying breath to steady himself."Here." Gunner thrust the screwdriver at Khyle, pointed end out like the parry of a sword.Khyle watched him with studying eyes from the edge of the kitchen island, and took it, the tug between them as it left his hand, noticeable.He had been down there for several minutes and something had changed in the quality of his presence, the way a room changes before a storm when the pressure drops and the air goes still and the birds stop. Khyle didn't know what had happened in the basement. He had a rough idea of the shape of it. He filed it and looked at the TV mount.Khyle got up and went to the TV stand. Petra went back to work at the counter.It left Gunner standing there useless for a moment. Forgetting what he was meant to do. Until the phone rang."Gunner, could you get it," Petra smiled, hands already submerged into a bowl of fill

POV: Dual, Khyle and Gunner alternatingSkates against hard ice, or rubber on miles of open blacktop. Sometimes, they both helped clear the mind when nothing else would.He didn't know exactly how long he'd been driving. He just drove until the city lights turned to stars. Or until the stars replaced the city lights. Again, he didn't know.But when his chaotic thoughts slowed long enough to realize how far he'd gone, he found himself somewhere just outside the city limits, speeding down a quiet, dark stretch of dual highway, hugged by rotting snowbanks, deep ravines, and shadowed pine trees.Gunner let his foot sink like a lead weight, pushing the car from a buck thirty to one forty. Letting loose a moment longer before he'd have to rein it in for the next off-ramp. Settling right into the edge of a hefty street racing fine if he got caught. But there was no one to see it, and no cops in sight. Hardly anyone on the road as the forecast weather started to settle in. He pushed it down s