Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 84294 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 421(@200wpm)___ 337(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84294 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 421(@200wpm)___ 337(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)
Grabbing my beer off the table, I weave my way through the crowd and take a seat on the empty stool beside him. “Hey, man. What are you doing all the way over here? There’s a party going on, and we’re the guests of honor.”
He gives me a regretful smile as he continues to nurse the glass on the table. “Just chilling out with Charli here,” he motions toward the chick behind the bar, who lifts her chin in acknowledgment before getting back to work.
Xander looks down at his watch before grabbing the glass on the bar and throwing back what’s left. “Let me guess,” I say. “You’ve got somewhere to be?”
“Yeah. Sorry, man,” he cringes.
“Is there something you need to talk about?” I ask. “You’re not in any kind of trouble, are you? I can’t have shit coming down on the team, especially now we’re getting closer to the finals.”
He shakes his head. “Nah, no trouble. Just got stuff going on,” he says, before his eyes quickly flick to Charli’s.
“Alright, man.” I get up off my stool and give him some space. “You know where to find me if you need anything.”
He gives a tight nod before getting up off his own stool. “Thanks,” he says before turning away.
“Hey,” I call after him. “Don’t show up for training covered in bruises. I need your head in the game if we’re going to take out the championship again.”
“Sure thing, man,” he says with a grin before turning away and ducking out the side door of Micky’s. I look back to the bar to acknowledge Charli before leaving for my table, but I notice Xander’s left his wallet on the bar.
I duck through the crowd after him and slip through the side exit. I look up and down the side alley, but don’t see him anywhere. I pull my phone out and quickly send a text.
Jaxon - Dude, left your wallet on the bar.
His response comes almost instantly.
Xander - Shit. Be there in a sec.
Pocketing my phone, I wait in the side alley, guessing he will return to this spot.
A guy in a dark hood comes up from the bottom of the alley, and I mind my own business, figuring he will walk on by. That was my mistake.
My eyes are trained down when the guy grabs me and slams me up against the brick wall. My head rebounds off the brick, but I’ve had worse hits in hockey to be affected by it. Especially with the burst of adrenaline suddenly surging through my veins.
I push the guy back and the move has his hood falling off, revealing his face. It’s dark in the alley, but there’s enough light to recognize the sick fucker. It’s the guy who tried to grope Cass.
“What the fuck?” I growl as I push off the wall to get in his face. I notice his hand buried deep in his pocket, shaped in a fist, as if he is holding something there.
“Karma’s a fucking bitch,” he snarls moments before his fist comes hurtling toward my face. I try to duck, but the amount of alcohol in my system has my reflexes on fucking vacation. The guy nails me in the jaw and my body falls back against the wall.
My head starts to spin, and the world goes blurry before quickly righting itself again. Shit, had this guy knocked me out or damaged my vision, I would have been fucked for the rest of the season. He could have potentially ruined my career.
By the time my vision clears, the asshole is coming for me again, so I push myself up from the wall. There’s no chance in hell this guy is getting a second go at me.
I bend at the waist and charge at him. His body lifts off the ground, and I slam him into the opposite wall. The move forces his fisted hand out of his pocket, and I notice a pair of black lace panties that I would recognize anywhere.
He rubs the lace between his fingers as his eyes light up in a sick excitement before bringing them up to his face.
That motherfucker.
I see nothing but red.
There’s no doubt in my mind they’re Cassie’s missing underwear. The tiny pink bow at the top is a dead giveaway, and I’m sure if I got them off him, I’d even see the tear in the lace from where Cass stopped me from ripping them off her body.
My fist goes flying before I even realize what I’m doing. I nail him in his eye socket, enjoying the sound of his head bouncing off the brick wall behind him, but I don’t stop there. I slam him with an uppercut that has him folding over and gasping for breath.
“Stay the fuck away from her,” I warn the sorry bastard as I steal the panties from his clenched hand.