A Hockey Player's Guide To Deception

Chapter Thirty-Eight

The rink was nearly empty, the chaos of practice fading into the high ceiling. Kayla was riding the high of adrenaline still pumping through her veins. She chugged the rest of the water in her bottle and let out a long sigh.

"Ugh. That last drill almost killed me," she said, shaking the bottle before tossing it onto the bench.

Louis traced lazy circles near the blue line, his breath fogging in front of him as he leaned against the boards. "You say that every practice."

"And every time I mean it," Kayla shot back, skating toward him. She slowed to a stop without spraying ice and tugged her helmet loose, dark curls sticking to her forehead. "Coach was brutal today."

"He was in a mood," Louis agreed. "But you kept up."

She raised an eyebrow. "Just 'kept up'?"

He smirked. "Fine. You were solid."

"I'll take it." She pushed off and skated backward a few feet, watching him instead of the ice. "You're going to get locked in here one day, you know that?"

Louis shrugged. "Worth it."

Kayla laughed softly. Shaking her head. The lights hummed overhead. Somewhere in the stands, a door slammed.

"I'm going to miss this," Kayla said after a moment. "All of it."

Louis looked down at his skates. "Yeah. I think I will too. I just don't know what it's going to feel like not being here every day."

"That's what scares me," she admitted. "It's like... what do we do when it's over?"

He didn't answer right away.

She nudged a puck toward him with her skate. "Hey. Don't get all quiet on me."

They started passing the puck back and forth easy taps, no rush.

"I guess we figure it out," Louis said finally. "Same way we always do."

Kayla nodded. "I hope so."

"We've got a big game coming up first," Louis added.

Her jaw set immediately. "Yeah. And we're not losing."

He smiled at her tone. "Didn't think you'd say anything else."

"I'll be on the ice every day until then," she said. "I don't care how tired I get."

Louis tapped the puck back to her. "I'll stay late with you."

She looked at him, then grinned. "Good. Because we're winning this."

Before Louis could retort, a snarky voice cut him off.

"F*****."

The word was sneered, thick with disgust. Kayla, still straddled, looked up sharply to see who had spoken. It was one of their teammates...Tony. She'd talked to him a few times before; he'd always seemed chill, even friendly. Seeing him like this caught her off guard. The hatred in his voice sent chills down her spine.

"What did you just say?" Louis snapped, slamming his hockey stick hard against the ice.

"I said effing f******," Tony hissed, his gaze flicking between Louis and Kayla as if they were absolute scum.

Louis took a step forward, jaw tight.

"Say that again and I'll bash your face in. You're an embarrassment"

Tony laughed harshly. "An embarrassment? Please. Everyone can see what this is."

He gestured towards the both of them with his hands and jerked his chin toward Kayla. "Didn't think either of you swung that"