Clipped by Love (Bellevue Bullies #2) (24 page)

Biting into my lip, embarrassment floods my face as I nod slowly. I don’t even try to explain myself because there is no excuse, but I do know that everyone is just eating that up. They want me to fail, but I won’t. Little hiccup. No big deal. I look from my dad to look at, hell, anything but Jayden, but somehow our eyes meet. His eyes are dark, holding mine as he slowly shakes his head. I don’t know what the fuck that means, but within seconds, my embarrassment is gone and only white-hot anger is there.

Who is he to shake his head at me?

Lining up for the next drill, I refuse to fuck up and I don’t. Not even the next four plays, and I feel back to normal. When Jayden rushes the puck up the middle, past the forwards and defense, I follow up behind him for support, but he doesn’t need it. He has a clean shot, or so I thought. I don’t see the defense rushing his left, and before I know it, he’s dropping the puck off to me. I take it, wristing it right over the goalie’s left leg pad.

It is a beauty of a play.

“Attagirl, Moore,” Jayden says in a way that I somehow confuse with sex.

Looking up, I watch as he sends me a nod before skating off.

What happened to not talking to each other?

And why are those two simple words giving me butterflies?

Damn it!

When practice is over, I look up at my father as he looks down at me, shaking his head. While I thought I did okay, he apparently has decided I sucked ass.

“You think you’re gonna get captain with that performance? Shake the nerves, Bay, that’s fucking ridiculous.”

I look down, mortified, as I nod. “Yes, sir.”

“What the hell happened? You were sloppy, not disciplined, and I’m pretty sure that’s the worst I’ve ever seen you play.”

Shrugging my shoulders, since that’s probably not true, tears still sting my eyes. I can’t admit why he might even be kinda right. Hell, I won’t even admit it to myself. “Just rusty, I guess.”

“Rusty, eh? I’ll fucking knock that rust off! Tomorrow, six a.m., we’ll be on the ice.”

Camp doesn’t start until eight, which means I’ll be going to bed as soon as I leave this place. But he’s right. I fucked up. Gotta pay the price. “Yes, sir.”

“Go, get out of my face,” he yells before turning and throwing his clipboard across the ice. It’s easy to say he’s a little intense about hockey, and I know he should be. Still, it doesn’t make getting yelled at any better. As I skate toward the boards to get off the ice, he yells, “How am I supposed to back up that you’re the best when you perform like that?”

Looking back at him, I say, “You’re not.”

“That’s right, and believe me, I won’t say it again until you prove it to me.”

“Yes sir,” I answer again. “Tomorrow will be different.”

“It better fucking be,” he yells and I turn, getting off the ice to head to the locker room.

My dad may be hard on me, even a bit mean, but it’s for the best. I need to be pushed, I can’t get sloppy, and if I’m honest, that’s what I was today. I’m not one of those girls who cries because Daddy is hard on me. I crave it because I’m not perfect. He told me all the time as a child that it’s okay to think of myself as a glow stick because you have to break them to make them shine. And that’s what he’s done to me. He’s broken off all the things that could hold me back and has allowed me to shine.

I can’t let him down.

Today though, I allowed Jayden to throw me off my game, and that can’t ever happen again. He won’t be there to support me when I’m a crying ball of mess because I don’t make the NHL. No, he’ll be playing, so why should I allow him to fuck with my game? As I fight back the tears, since disappointing my father is the one thing I refuse to do, I try to push away my nervousness. I thought the nerves were eating me up before, but as I get closer and closer to the locker room, my heart is sure to come out of my chest. I’ve never had to share a locker room with guys before, and I’m not sure what to expect.

When I reach the door, I can hear the guys in there laughing and cutting up. Sucking in a breath, I go to push the door open, but before I can, Dad is brushing by me, slamming the door back and then entering the room, causing the guys to fall silent. Following behind him, avoiding all eye contact, I go to the spot by the door that has been assigned as my locker.

“Another thing,” Dad yells through the locker room. “I forgot to tell you boys this earlier, but Moore will be sharing the locker room with you and she will live in the same house with you. Do I approve of this? No. Will I kill anyone who touches her? Yes.” He lets that sink in and then says, “That’s it. See you boys bright and early. Eight a.m.”

As Dad leaves, everyone turns to look at me. Since some of the guys are already naked, I put my head down as I fall onto the bench before reaching down to take off my skates.

“How the fuck do they expect us to share our space with this cunt?” I hear someone say, and I close my eyes, undoing my skates.

“What? Scared I’ll make fun of your small dick?” I say with as much gusto as I can manage.

Everyone starts to laugh, but then it just goes silent. Looking up, I see Jayden standing in front of me, his hands on his hips. But his eyes aren’t on me, he’s looking at the team. “Let’s get one thing straight. Like Coach said, she is part of our team. Do we call our teammates cunts? No, we do not,” he says, his voice carrying through the locker room. “We will not treat her like a pariah. She is our sister, I guess. We take care of what is ours, and if I hear one more person call her something derogatory, I will take you out.”

No one says anything, and all I can do is gape up at him. Snapping my mouth shut, I say, “I don’t need you to defend me.”

He nods, looking back at me. “You’re right, but this is my team, and they won’t disrespect their teammates.”

“It’s not your team,” I say, standing up. “Not yet.”

He scoffs, his eyes burning into mine as he crosses his arms across his very chiseled chest.

Not that I noticed or anything.

I don’t even see that the towel he wears is hanging low on his hips, that a little line of hair is going down to the spot I so desperately wanted to explore at one time. But no more. He is my enemy.

“You can try, but you won’t get it, Moore. Not while I’m breathing.”

“Then I guess I’ll need to cut off your air supply, because this team will be mine.”

I hear a few people laugh and even some oooh out, but Jayden doesn’t move; his eyes are glued to mine. Challenging me. “We will see.”

“Yeah, we will,” I say, glaring back at him. Shaking his head, he turns his back on me and heads to his locker. Which is right across from mine. Sitting down, he crosses his legs before leaning back in his locker, taking his phone out. Looking around, I see all kinds of expressions. Angry, annoyed, and even some look apologetic.

Actually only Jace and Markus look apologetic.

Sucking in a deep breath, I sit down and take my skates off, wiggling my toes before hanging them up. I’m about to lean back in my locker to wait until everyone is done, since I am not getting in the shower with thirty other guys, when Jayden’s voice carries through the locker room again.

“Where you going, McCarthy?”

Looking up, I see McCarthy pause and point to the showers. “I’m going to shower.”

“No. Moore goes first.”

Huh? What?

“The fuck? No way, I’m not waiting for her to wash her hair and shave her legs,” he spits back, glaring at me before looking back at Jayden.

“There are thirty-two of us and one of her. I don’t expect her to wait on all of us, and I really don’t think it’s appropriate for her to be in there with us,” he says before standing, towering over McCarthy. “So we will wait. Because that’s what a gentleman does, and I’m sure she won’t be long.”

“She can go home for all I care. I’m not waiting.”

“Yes, you are. Or like you suggested, you can go home.”

Sputtering, he glares before yelling, “Why are we making special accommodations for some bitch?”

Glaring, Jayden takes a step to him and says, “Because that bitch is part of our team.”

“I’ll show you both a bitch,” I say, but they ignore me, and really, I’m glad they did. There was no point in clarifying that other than to make myself feel better.

“Fuck that,” he says, and when he starts to walk, Jayden presses his hand into his chest.

“You go into that shower before her or even when she is in there, not only will I kick your ass, but I will make sure Coach knows about it. He is trusting us to be respectful to her. Maybe you weren’t raised that way, but I was, and since you are on my team, we are going to do things my way,” he says, and then Jace and Markus flank him, all of them staring McCarthy down.

You could cut the tension with a blade.

It’s so thick I’m choking on it, but finally, McCarthy is shaking his head as he backs up. He then turns, heading back to his locker. Looking over at me, he says, “Hurry the fuck up.”

Now, I know I should be grateful, even be glad that Jayden stood up for me.

Maybe even swoon a bit, but I’m not a normal girl.

So, of course, that means that I’m fucking pissed.

S
tanding up, I glare over at McCarthy and say, “No, please, be my guest. I’m not ready to shower yet.”

McCarthy eyes me before looking back over at Jayden. Jayden then asks, “Are you sure?”

I nod. “Yup.”

“Fine,” he says, waving me off. “Hurry up, boys.”

It’s like a damn cattle drive. Everyone rushes toward the shower and I’m standing there, not only pissed the hell off but also a little intimidated. How am I supposed to take over a team that already feels that Jayden is the captain? The whole day, they’ve basically been at his beck and call. They respect him, and I know they’ll vote him right away. But I know my dad doesn’t do votes, he picks. Which means, if he picks me, I won’t get any respect here.

Holding Jayden in a hostile gaze, I ask, “Can I talk to you?”

Jayden meets my gaze and raises his eyebrow. “Me?”

“Yeah, you,” I say and then I storm out of the locker room. I don’t hear him behind me until I reach the side doors that lead outside. When I go out, I turn, crossing my arms over my chest. I’m only wearing my socks, girdle, and tank, and thankfully, he’s put shorts on.

Thank the heavens.

But damn, he is gorgeous.