6. Hayden

Roman checksme into the boards so hard it knocks the wind out of me and sends me flying across the ice. I hit the ground with a thud and lay there for a second, trying to re-inflate my lungs while my teammates yell at him and the coaches blow their whistles.

This motherfucker.

My ribs throb, and that fucker smirks at me before skating away.

"What the hell was that?" Warren yells at him as he skates over to me, offering me a hand up. "You could've injured Vaughn."

Roman shrugs. "Just showing him how we play."

I brush off his help and climb to my feet, giving Roman the blankest expression I can. He's not going to get a reaction out of me. Not until I slice open his fucking throat and paint the ice red with his blood. "Maybe you should win a game before you push," I make air quotes, "the way you play on anyone."

His smirk drops and he growls, "Watch your fucking—"

"Enough," Coach Morin says, skating over to us with a scowl on his face. He's the youngest head coach in the league, so he's got shit to prove, just like the rest of us. "This isn"t what we need right now. We"re getting our asses handed to us every damn night, and this is how you act?" His gaze cuts to Roman. "Get your heads in the goddamn game or get the fuck off my ice."

Roman rolls his eyes but doesn"t argue as Coach sends us back to center ice. But I can"t stop thinking about how much I want to beat the shit out of him. I'm literally aching to do it, almost as much as I want to fuck Cassidy. Feeling Roman's bones crunch is a close second in my current list of wants.

As we line up for the next drill, I make eye contact with Roman and give him a smirk. "Hey, 22," I say under my breath.

He glares at me.

"Eat a dick."

His eyes narrow even more. "I'm going to kill you."

"Not before I show you how I play, fucker."

He raises an eyebrow. "Bring it."

And then I"m flying at him, hitting him with everything I"ve got and sending him sprawling across the ice. He looks stunned for a second before pushing himself up and charging at me, slamming me back against the boards so hard my teeth cut into my tongue. This right here is why I take the ring out, even for practice.

The coaches yell at us and try to break it up, but I"m not done. Not by a long shot. This asshole has had an ass kicking coming since the second I stepped into the locker room.

My gloves come off and it"s only King and War each grabbing an arm that keep me from beating the shit out of Roman right then and there.

"You want to go?" he asks, glaring at me as he pulls off his own gloves and tosses them on the ice. "Let"s go."

"Fuck all the way off." I spit blood onto the ice, wishing it was his face instead.

He laughs. "Not a chance. This is my team."

"Yeah? For how long?"

But before we can get going, Coach skates over and puts himself between us, his hands outstretched.

"That"s enough," he says, looking pissed as hell. "Since you two don't want to listen, laps until practice is over." Then he skates off, muttering, "We don"t have time for this."

Roman scoffs. "Whatever."

He turns away from me and takes off for the locker room, ignoring the coach. "Great fucking captain you've got here," I say to no one in particular. "He's a real team player."

I'm trying to calm myself down. But it"s not working.

I"m fucking furious.

By the time practice is over, my legs are dead, I'm drenched in sweat, and I need a big ass bowl of pasta, a beer, and a nap. But Warren invites me over to play video games with him and a few of the other guys at his house, promising Morozov won't be there. And even though I"m still pissed as hell, I agree to go. I need to bond with these guys at some point and War seems like a good dude.

Plus, I need a distraction to shift my focus away from Roman and how I can"t stop fantasizing about the best ways to dispose of his body.

As we sit in Warren"s living room, playing Call of Duty and talking shit, my shoulders gradually relax and I realize that this is exactly what I need right now. A chance to unwind before I do something stupid like murder my teammate or track Cassidy down and fuck her until she can"t walk straight for a week.

This is the kind of shit that happens when I let my instincts take over and stop trying to keep myself in check.

Fuck, I don"t think I"ve ever been this much of a mess before.

Corbin, one of the second line D-men, walks over from the kitchen with a beer in each hand and hands me one before sitting down on the couch next to me. "You good?"

I nod, taking a long pull from the bottle. "Getting there."

"Roman"s an asshole," he says, shaking his head. "Don"t let him get to you."

I scoff. "Too fucking late."

He laughs. "Well, at least you"re honest about it."

"RoMo"s a dick, but he"s our dick," Warren says, glancing over at us from his spot on the other couch. "He"s just competitive."

Corbin chokes on the sip he just took and I slap him on the back. "That"s putting it lightly," he grunts.

I laugh and sink back against the couch, feeling better than I have all day. These guys are decent and it was the right move hanging with them today.

Warren"s phone goes off and he dives for it like he"s Gollum and it"s his precious.

"Oh shit, who"s the girl this week?" Corbin asks, leaning forward to see the screen.

War grins, yanking it away while his thumbs fly across the screen. "Just another hookup."

I raise an eyebrow. "A hookup? Bullshit," I cough into my fist.

He laughs, flashing us a picture of a naked chick who"s admittedly got a bangin" set of tits. "She's some girl I met last time we were in Vancouver. She keeps sending me nudes. I think she"s trying to get me to come back for round two."

Corbin chuckles. "Looks like it"s working."

"Nah, I don't double dip," Warren says, grinning as he stares at the picture again. "Damn tempting, though."

I laugh even though inside I'm having a holy shit moment because it just hit me that despite the hotness of the girl on War's phone, I felt nothing. Not so much as a twitch of my dick. Yeah, I think it's safe to say my obsession with a certain bar owner has crossed over into uncharted territory.

Now it"s my turn for my phone to go off and when I look down, hoping somehow Cassidy"s decided to text me, I"m only slightly disappointed when I see it"s my brother.

Sawyer: Hope your hotel room has two beds, otherwise you"re gonna have to get real comfortable with cuddling.

Sawyer: And I'm the little spoon, FYI.

Hayden: You got your program transfer?

Sawyer: Yep. Just waiting for the official acceptance now.

Hayden: Good because I'm starting to go into withdrawal

Hayden: [gif of Dave Chapelle with powder on his lips scratching at his neck]

Sawyer: You sayin' I'm your crack?

Hayden: Codependent, remember?

Hayden: And don"t worry about the bed thing. I"ll just kick your ass out and onto the floor if your morning wood comes near me.

Sawyer: Asshole.

I laugh and set my phone aside as Warren starts talking about how the chick he hooked up with in Vancouver might be turning stalker on him.

"She sent me a picture of her holding up a positive pregnancy test," he says, shaking his head. "Last time I checked, you can"t get knocked up from anal."

Corbin laughs, but Warren"s drama gives me an idea...

And once it takes root, I know there"s not going to be any way to stop myself from making it happen.