Cheap Shot by Brittney Mulliner
Reid
I didn't knowwhere Ethan had been staying for the past few nights, but he was successfully avoiding me. He was the last to arrive for practices and the first to leave, not giving anyone the chance to talk to him. That had to end today. We had a game, and there was no way we’d manage to pull off a win with drama hanging over us. We needed to be in sync with each other, and that wasn’t going to happen until we talked. I just hoped he would listen before throwing his fist in my face again.
None of the guys knew where he was. I’d assumed he was staying with another teammate, so it was concerning when I realized that wasn’t the case. Where was he sleeping?
Ethan had plenty of friends on the football, basketball, and baseball teams, so it was probably one of them.
Unless.
Could he have a secret girlfriend?
No, that didn’t make sense. He hadn’t dated anyone in years. Not seriously enough to practically move in. There was no way he could keep something that big from all of us. At the very least, Benjamin would know. Or Matt. He was the nosy one that got into everyone’s business.
If his exile wasn’t self-imposed, I would worry. He was dodging me because he didn’t want to face me, and that was his own mistake. I wasn’t going to hunt him down or search the campus to force him to talk, but I was willing to let him come to me.
I got to the locker room an hour earlier than necessary to wait for him. This was the one place he had nowhere to run, and he couldn’t skip the game, so I changed into my base layers then sat and waited.
It took twenty minutes for the next person to show up. Hunter walked in, noticed me, and shook his head.
“I hope you know what you’re doing.”
I narrowed my eyes. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
He dropped his bag to the ground and turned to face me. “Look, I’m not going to ask you if Haley is worth losing your best friend. Obviously, you already decided that she is. You can date whoever you want, that’s none of my business, but I’m sick of the tension between you two finding its way on the ice. You’re unstoppable together, but lately, you both suck. You’re playing horribly, and if no one else is ballsy enough to say that to your face, I will.”
His assessment stung. I wasn’t entirely shocked to hear it, although it was surprising that he’d shared his opinion so openly. He was usually a man of few words, preferring to slam guys into the boards or pull their feet out from under them to show his frustration.
I knew Ethan and I were off. That was why I was here.
“I’ve been trying to talk to him, but he won’t respond to my texts or calls and he hasn't come back to the room. That’s why I’m here. I want to clear things up before the game.”
Hunter grunted. “Good.”
Ah. There he was.
He got ready in silence, and soon, more of the guys began filtering in. My master plan was crumbling as I waited for Ethan to appear. I was hoping to have a chance to talk privately, but that possibility was slipping with each minute he didn’t show up. Was he going to walk in just in time to change and head out for the pregame warm-up?
I hadn’t even considered that possibility, but now it seemed like the most obvious choice. Of course, that was what he was going to do. It was what I would do. Actually, I’d already done it a few times this year to avoid confrontations.
Frustration washed over me as I stood and finished putting on my gear. My teammates began leaving to warm up, but I waited. Hunter was right. We weren’t playing the way we could because of the tension between us. It wasn’t fair for the rest of the guys to suffer due to our drama.
It was too late. If I waited any longer, Coach would chew me out, so I grabbed my helmet and stomped down the tunnel to the ice. I merged into the line closest to the bench and went through the shooting drills. On my second rotation, a voice caught my attention, and I looked to the corner where Benjamin and Ethan were talking.
How in the world did he get here without me seeing? There was no way he changed in the locker room. That coward must have used one of the training rooms and snuck by.
“Focus!” Matt shouted behind me, and I pushed forward to take my shot.
I passed the goal and stopped next to them. “Where have you been?”
Ethan glared at me. “Don’t worry about it.”
Benjamin looked between us then shook his head. “You guys have three minutes to figure this out, then you’re done.”
He joined the others while we studied each other. Ethan made no move to speak, so I started. “You’ve been missing for days. No one knows where you’ve been sleeping. You haven’t answered your phone. We were worried.”
“I’m here now.” Ethan blew off my concern. I barely recognized the man in front of me. Where was the guy that I knew almost as well as I knew myself? My best friend that I depended on because he never let me down?
“We need to talk, man. This is affecting the team.”
“Whose fault is that? I told you to stay away! Everything was fine. She was fine. Then you just had to get involved.” He practically growled the words.
“Yeah, I did. Because you weren’t there. She needed someone to listen to her, someone to watch out for her. I did that for you.” I sighed. “Then things changed.”
“I don’t care what you think you feel for her. Stay away.” He tried to move past me, but I grabbed his shoulder and pushed him back to face me.
“Look, I know what happened to Haley. She told me everything. I get why you’re protecting her, but I’m not going to hurt her. I care about her. A lot.”
He turned his burning gaze on me. “Forget it.”
Before I could stop him from leaving, the buzzer went off, signaling the end of the pregame warm-up. I followed him as we joined the rest of the guys waiting to get off the ice to head back into the locker room. That hadn’t gone as planned, but hopefully, it was enough to help us both focus on the game.
I should have known betterthan to think we were done. Ethan wasn’t one to give up or give in, but I thought he could at least push things to the side long enough to focus on the game for the sake of our teammates.
He spent the first period ignoring my calls and signals for him to pass to me, costing us at least one goal. Benjamin was yelling at him, and the coaches picked up on things and began threatening him to get his act together or he’d be the reason for double practices tomorrow.
The rest of the guys groaned and urged him to focus, but he spent every free second glaring at me like I was at the top of his hit list.
By the end of the second period, Coach Hiller changed our lines so we weren’t on the ice together anymore.
“You two will deal with this later,” Coach Weston said in a low tone behind me. I nodded and scooted away to make space for the guys coming in.
We were down by one when the third period started, and I could feel the blame from the guys being directed at me and Ethan. This should have been a relatively easy win, but the two of us were screwing it up.
“Forget about him for twenty minutes, Clarkson. That’s all we’re asking.” Benjamin shook Ethan’s shoulder with a bit more force than necessary.
“She deserves better,” I heard him growl back.
“Maybe, but right now that doesn’t matter. You’re being selfish, and we can’t afford to lose this game. Scouts are watching our every move. We don’t have the luxury of having off days or bringing our personal lives onto the ice. Just block him out and play like I know you can.”
Ethan grunted and shoved away from Benjamin, moving as far down the bench as he could.
“You need to fix this later,” the captain commanded while wiping his face with a towel.
“I know.” It was my plan as soon as the final buzzer sounded.
Haley deserved the freaking world and more. I knew I wasn’t good enough for her. No man was, but I was going to try every single day to be worthy of her.
Ethan swung his leg over the boards and slapped his stick against the side, waiting to push off. He shot a glare over his shoulder. “Don’t screw this up. If you hurt her, you’re done.”
I understood. He would destroy me, and I would deserve it.
“Got it.”
His eyes held mine for a moment before he jumped and rushed to the far side of our zone.
He and Matt worked together, slipping past the defense. Ethan sent the puck right to the tape of Matt’s stick, who spun and backhanded it straight at the goal. It was a perfect angle, and the buzzer went off, signaling the tie.
Benjamin slapped my back. “It’s up to us now.”
There was a threat under the words, and I nodded. After he won the face-off, he called out a play we’d been practicing for the past few weeks, and I fell back, allowing him to pass to Becker, then dodged to the far side of the ice and got in position. Becker passed to me, and I rotated to hit it across the width of the rink to where Benjamin was waiting without even checking that he was ready.
I knew he would be where he needed to be, and when I finally looked up, it was just in time to see the puck sail past the goalie’s glove and into the net.
I cheered and joined the guys surrounding Benjamin.
There were only three minutes left on the timer, just enough to stress about our opponents scoring but not too long to play a solid defense to keep them at bay. I watched my teammates run down the time until the final buzzer sounded and everyone jumped off the bench to celebrate.
I was the last to join, not feeling all that great about how I played. I knew the coaches were disappointed, and I’d face the consequences later. Right now, I wanted to make things right with Ethan. If he’d let me.
I waited for him to head to the locker room and jumped in behind him.
“Can we talk?”
He waited until we were in the privacy of our team area before turning and facing me. “What is there left to talk about? You lied to me. You betrayed me.” His jaw clenched. “It was you at the party, wasn’t it? You’re the one that kissed her.”
There was no point in lying. Not anymore. “Yeah, it was me.”
His body seemed to deflate at my admission. “I can’t believe you.”
“I didn’t mean for it to happen. I didn’t even know who she was that night. It wasn’t until she came to our room the next morning that I realized it.”
“And you just pretended like nothing happened?” He scoffed. “You’re supposed to be my best friend. I asked you to watch out for her because she’s been through hell and needed friends, and you crossed a line. She needed people to have her back.”
“And I have!” I couldn’t control my temper anymore. “I have been there for her more than you have. I’ve talked to her, listened to her, protected her, and where have you been?”
His eyes narrowed to slits. “You don’t know everything, Reid.”
“Exactly! I don’t know because you refuse to tell anyone.” I threw up my arms, completely exasperated.
“Bayman! Clarkson! Sit down and shut up!” Coach Weston’s stern voice echoed through the room.
Every single guy dropped to the benches, completely silent.
Ethan glared at me for another moment. “We’re done.”
He walked away as my stomach dropped. He might as well have punched me in the face. That would have been less painful. We might have pulled off winning the game, but I just lost my best friend.
Did I make a mistake?