18. Asher

The red clearedfrom my gaze as Winter disappeared down the hall, glancing back nervously over her shoulder. I'd nearly lost my cool when I'd walked past the end of the hallway and had seen some motherfucker cornering her.

She'd been glorious, as usual, spitting fire from her eyes. Then the guy had slapped her. Slapped her. Getting into the NHL suddenly didn't seem as important as breaking every bone in this fucker's body.

Only the relief in Winter's eyes as she caught sight of me stayed my hand. She smiled at me, and a cool hand of calm clamped around my heart. I could keep my temper, at least until she was out of sight.

"I know you might think you're her boyfriend, but take it from me, Winter DeLaurie isn't for you, and she's more trouble than she's worth," Trent said, adjusting his suit jacket. Who the fuck wore a suit jacket to a hockey game? Wasn't he a student? What an idiot.

"Whether Winter is or isn't for me doesn't have anything to do with you. I'm not interested in your take on our relationship. I'm not interested in you at all," I told him flatly.

"Be that as it may, my opinion matters. Winter and I are getting married," he said confidently. "Our fathers have always planned it that way."

I couldn't help but laugh. Trent shot me a scowl.

"I'm sorry, but the image is just funny. I doubt you'd survive it, honestly. Have you met Winter? She's not the meek kind."

Trent shrugged. "I don't care what kind she is. I care about her father's business, and her family name. That's how things work in my world." He raked his eyes over me. "Not that I'd expect you to know anything about the upper classes."

I studied him a long moment. This was new information. An arranged marriage, in this day and age? The notion was absolutely absurd, yet it would explain why Winter desperately needed a fake boyfriend. This motherfucker had been closing in on her, and she'd panicked. Just the thought of this man pressing unwanted attention on her made me want to break bones and spill blood.

"Maybe I don't know much, but I know her," I murmured, tapping him with the hockey stick again. "She'll never marry you."

"Is that right? What are you, a fortune teller? Isn't that what the poors south of River Street do? Anything for a little spare cash, right?"

I grinned again, grinding my teeth so hard I tasted blood. "Yeah, that's right. I can see the fucking future, and you're not in hers. I'm her boyfriend, I'm meeting her family in a few days, so you might want to check with whatever mid-century rule book you're playing from and get your facts straight. Winter DeLaurie isn't yours. She's mine." The last words came out as a growl.

Trent scoffed, but his eyes were annoyed. "Think what you like. The truth will get out soon enough. Girls like Winter aren't for losers like you. You think you could provide for her? Give her the kind of life she's used to? She's up here, you're down here." He pointed to the floor then tapped my chest. "A bitch like her isn't worth losing what little you have going on in your life…Know your place."

I lunged for him before he could step back and grabbed his lapels, slamming him into the wall so hard his teeth rattled.

"Know my place? I'm about to show you yours. You think your daddy's money can protect you from me?" I got in his face, craning my neck down to match his smaller stature. "Upset Winter again, and nothing will save you."

"Are you just too dumb to understand what protecting her will cost you?" Trent asked, his voice strangled.

I shook my head slowly, tightening my grip until his face started to turn red. "I know. I just don't care. No one hurts the women in my life."

"Ash! Who the fuck is that?" Beckett's loud voice boomed behind me, and then hands were pulling me back. Cayden slapped a hand to my chest when I reached for Trent again. He shook his head, warning me off with a frown.

Beckett stood between us, bigger than all of us, frowning down at Trent.

"I could swear I know you, but your face is the kind that's easy to forget. Remind me of your name," Beckett drawled, drawing on all his billionaire asshole confidence. He could lay it on thick when he wanted to.

"Knock it off, Anderson. You know exactly who I am, and you should educate your charity case friend here, before he has the kind of accident he never recovers from." Trent's words were designed to be threatening, but they were so weakly delivered, I only chuckled.

I tossed Cayden's arm off me. "I'm gonna kill him. Call that Russian for the cleanup." I lunged forward and both Beckett and Cayden got between us.

"Calm down, buddy," Beckett ordered, patting my shoulder while Cade held me back. "He's really not worth the effort. Guys like Trent are all talk."

Trent let out a bark of laughter. "Still sour your new-money father could never make it into Invictus H.H Group? You should have asked Colette about it. Maybe she could have vouched for you."

Beckett stilled. "What the fuck are you talking about?"

Trent sighed, a smile playing around his lips now that he'd managed to unsettle Beckett. "Maybe I'll tell you sometime. Now, take your little friends and stay out my way. Tell this punk not to get between me and Winter — she's mine to do what I please with, marry, fuck, or wipe the fucking floor with."

Cayden sighed and shook his head, then pulled back, releasing me. "Go for it."

I lunged forward and punched Trent so hard his eyes rolled back in his head, and he slumped down. It was disappointing, really. I'd planned on hitting him a lot more.

"Waste of space can't even take a punch," Beckett muttered and prodded him with his foot. Trent's head lolled to the side.

"Can we call that a punch?" Cayden glanced at my torn knuckles. "It was more like a sledgehammer to the head."

"He's gonna have a hell of a black eye tomorrow. Should I take him home? I'll tell his friends it was me who hit him…he can't do anything to me," Beckett pointed out. As much as I'd love for Trent to know I was the one who'd knocked him out, Beckett had a point. Trent could seriously fuck up my life, as well as my hockey career. The career I needed to provide a good life for my current and future family.

"No. I don't think he's ready to go home yet." I stopped Beckett and Cayden from lifting Trent's prone form.

"What did you have in mind?" Cade asked, raising an eyebrow. This is why the Ice Gods' bond was stronger than normal friendship. After the shit we'd been through, there was no judgment. Partners in crime, to the very end.

"I have a few ideas." I grinned. "Let's go."

I skipped the party after the game for the late shift at The Clutch. I sketched and watched some guys playing pool. I felt oddly calm after stripping Trent and tying him to the statue in the middle of campus. Someone might or might not find him and free him before his paltry junk froze off. I didn't give a fuck either way.

His words kept playing on a loop in my head. "Winter and I are getting married."

This was the reason Winter had needed help. To save herself from that pathetic snake. And I'd had her running around, playing games, trying desperately to have someone in her corner. She chose you.

Now, she had me.

Honestly, she'd had me since before I'd learned about Trent. She'd had me for much longer than I cared to admit.

Axel, one of the bikers who hung out a lot at the bar, scraped his chair back and gave a victorious cry. He smiled at me, missing front tooth and all. If Cole was catnip to the ladies, Axel was the opposite. He looked as rough as he was.

"Good news?" I wondered.

"Yeah. You're looking at the top bidder for a special-edition Alice doll, with all the accessories, new and still in the package."

I blinked at him, trying to reconcile that sentence with the tough-as-nails biker sitting in front of me.

"And that's a good thing," I said slowly.

He nodded, grinning from ear to ear. "It's a great thing. My daughter. She fucking loves that doll shit, with all the little clothes, and shoes."

"You have a daughter?" I was surprised. I'd never seen Axel with anyone at the bar.

He nodded, a smile he couldn't repress flourishing on his face. It softened his disreputable and rough appearance. It was pure, untainted happiness.

"She's six. I get her Mondays and Tuesdays. Her mom doesn't like me much anymore, but she works shifts, and needs help those days," he sighed.

"So, Mondays…"

"Are the best days of the fucking week," Axel grinned.

"Nice. I'm happy for you, man. And her. I'm sure she appreciates her dad making an effort to be in her life," I said quietly.

"In her life? When you have a kid, you'll see…they are your life," Axel said.

Cold spread through me. "I'm not sure all parents think that way. My dad sure didn't."

Axel studied me a moment. "That's shitty."

I shrugged. "It is what it is."

"You ever think about finding him and asking why?" Axel prodded.

I let out a long sigh. "Only every day."

"What's stopping you?"

I opened my mouth to respond. The old reasons were right there. It's not easy. I don't have the money to find him. I need help. But then I stopped. None of those were true anymore. Winter had already set the ball in motion, on the road to achieving something I'd only ever dreamed about. Those old reasons didn't work.

I shrugged. "I don't know if I want to be disappointed any further. Maybe it's time to make peace with it."

"But can you?"

I stared at him a long time, this random conversation veering into heavy territory.

"I don't know."