28. Hayden

By the timethe plane touches back down in Portland, the sky"s lightening to the dullest gray. The security footage from Cassidy"s apartment has been erased, and I"ve sent the pictures I took of her on the burner to her anonymously.

If this doesn"t get her to move in with me, I"m going to have to take it to the next level and straight up kidnap her. Maybe chain her to my bed until she realizes where she belongs is with me.

It"s not a bad idea, really.

I grin as I head toward the hotel to meet up with the team. I catch a nap before morning skate, then another after. It"s a busy day, so it"s not until I"m boarding the team bus waiting for us outside of the hotel that I get a chance to really think about last night. I haven"t checked my phone, and when I go to do it now, I"m interrupted by War taking the seat beside me.

"You didn"t come out last night," he says, narrowing his eyes at me.

"Nope."

"And you"re not going to tell me why?"

I shove my phone back into my pocket, not wanting him to see the screen, and lean back in my seat, stretching out my legs and getting comfortable for the ride to the arena. "Nope."

"You missed all the weird Portland chicks at the bar. One was cleansing my chakras while another was hand feeding me these disgusting vegan snacks." He laughs and shakes his head.

I laugh, knowing he"s trying to get a rise out of me. "Sounds hot." I"m trying to ignore the way my phone is burning a hole in my pocket and how I want to check it so fucking bad.

"Not really," War says, laughing as he messes with the headphones around his neck. "But I got a blow job from the chakra chick, so it wasn"t a total waste of time."

I nod, not really giving a shit about his hook up or what he did with her. "Glad you had fun."

"What"s up with you?" he asks, nudging me with his elbow. "You"re acting weird."

"Nothing."

"Bullshit." He leans back in his seat and stares at me for a long moment before his eyes narrow accusingly. "You"re fucking someone, aren"t you? Like... regularly." He shudders. "Like a," he gags a little, "girlfriend or something." Then he gasps. "Oh wait, you told us about this. It's that chick from The Sin Bin. Cassidy."

I stare out the window without answering him, watching as we pass by Portland"s downtown buildings on our way to the arena. What the hell does he expect me to say? Yeah, man. I"m trying to knock her up, too. Also, I"m so goddamn obsessed that I might literally kill our teammate if he looks at her wrong again.

"Dude!" he says, punching me in the arm. "She"s hot as fuck."

"Stay away from her," I growl, turning back to him and glaring.

He holds up his hands in surrender. "I"m not interested in your girl, man. Chill." He grins and leans back in his seat. "But damn, you caught feelings, didn't you?"

I flip him off, which only makes him laugh. He must have a death wish, because he keeps talking. "She must be wild if she"s got you acting all caveman and shit." He sobers and looks thoughtful as he watches me. "I wouldn"t say no to getting to watch, though."

I turn back to him, my eyes narrowed and my fists clenched. "The only thing you"ll be watching is my fist hitting your face if you keep talking about her."

He laughs again and shoves my shoulder like I"m not two seconds away from bashing his fucking skull against the bus window. "Don"t worry, I"ll keep it in my pants when it comes to your girl. She"s all yours."

"Fucking right," I mutter as the bus pulls up to the arena. "Spread the word to the rest of the team. Cassidy"s off-limits."

War stands and stretches his arms over his head before saluting me like an asshole. "You got it, boss." Then he heads toward the front of the bus, leaving me alone for a minute before everyone files off.

I pull out my phone and check the burner I sent the pictures to. There are no messages, but there are half a dozen missed calls and a bunch of text messages waiting for me on my phone from Cassidy.

There"s a screenshot of the anonymous message I sent her with the pictures of her covered in my cum. Then,

Cassidy: Someone was in my house while I slept, Hayden.

Cassidy: I"m so freaked out.

Cassidy: Why aren"t you answering?!

I grin and type back:

Hayden: Sorry, didn"t have my phone during mandatory team bullshit.

Hayden: Go to my house tonight.

Hayden: Sawyer will pick you up.

Hayden: Don"t even think about telling me no.

Hayden: I"ll be home late tonight after the game.

Cassidy: Okay.

And that"s when I know I"ve got her. She"s not even going to argue? I"m a fucking genius.

I shove my phone into my pocket and head off the bus with the rest of the team, knowing my focus needs to be on the game against the Pioneers instead of the girl I"m transfixed on.

By the time I step onto the ice, I"m wound the fuck up and ready to take it out on the Pioneers. Halfway through a brutal first period, we"re down 0-2 and I"m so frustrated my vision is tinged in red.

Number 41 chirps, "Heard you like Morozov"s sloppy seconds," as he skates by me during a faceoff, putting himself at the top of my to be fucked up list.

"What the fuck did you say?" I bark, skating toward him with my stick raised. He laughs and turns to skate away, but instead he gets a crosscheck from me that sends him slamming into the ice.

The refs blow their whistles, but I don"t give a shit. Boos echo around the arena and I"m given two minutes for cross checking because I got sloppy as hell and they caught me. My blood"s still on fire when I get out of the box and head back to the bench.

Coach gives me a look, but he says nothing. He knows I"ll do whatever it takes to win and right now, that means calming the hell down before I get thrown out of the game.

Kavanaugh, one of my fellow D men, sits beside me and spits out his mouth guard. "What"d he say?"

I shake my head, not wanting to repeat it. "Just some bullshit."

He nods and leans back against the bench as we watch the play continue while we wait for our next shifts. "I"ve got your back. Next shift, if I get the chance, I"ll take a shot at him."

I nod, knowing he will. I"m learning Kav"s a good guy to have on my side, and he"s turning out to be loyal. I"ll remember that. He doesn"t ask questions and I don"t tell him what 41 said that set me off, but it doesn't matter because out on the ice we've got each other's backs.

When my skates hit the ice again, I"m ready for revenge. And when I get the puck on a breakaway, I know it"s mine. I can feel it in my bones.

I skate down the ice with their winger, Olson, on my heels, but he won't catch me. The Pioneers" rookie goalie looks like he"s frozen in fear, and I pass the puck to Mattson and get into position. He passes it back and I take advantage.

I shoot the puck right over the blocker into the net, tying the game up 2-2.

We trade blows and goals back and forth, and by the time the final buzzer sounds, I"m drenched in sweat and I feel like I"ve exorcised some demons out here on the ice tonight. We won 6-4 and despite the familiar post-game ache settling into my body, the need for Cassidy is stronger.

As we board the short flight home, I pull out my phone and turn it over and over in my fingers before I finally pull up the messages while we taxi down the runway.

Sawyer: The eagle has landed.

Sawyer: The package has been delivered.

Sawyer: The kids have been dropped off at the pool

I grin at his ridiculousness and type back,

Hayden: What the fuck, See-Saw?

Hayden: I did not need to know that shit

Hayden: You could"ve just said you had her

Sawyer: And where"s the fun in that?

Sawyer: Now get home

Sawyer: I"m not a goddamn babysitter

Hayden: ::sends a picture of current surroundings::

Hayden: Literally at 30,000 feet rn

Hayden: Can"t get there any faster. Don"t let her go anywhere.

Sawyer: ??

I shove my phone back into my pocket, knowing I"ll be home soon enough to make sure Cassidy never wants to leave again.

And if she does, I"ll just have to make it so she can"t.