A Hockey Player's Guide To Deception

Chapter Thirty-Nine

"Kayla!" Louis's voice rang out behind her as he followed.

Her footsteps quickened. She couldn't take it, not now. Not anymore. The hallway blurred as tears streamed shamelessly down her face, hot and relentless.

She was so stupid.
So stupid to believe he had changed.

So naïve. So dumb to think he'd ever be anything other than what he was. Worse than she'd imagined. Worse than her nightmares had warned her.

She wiped at her face angrily, but the tears kept coming. She didn't care that people were staring; all she could think about was getting as far away from him as possible. She could hear his footsteps closing in as she marched faster, her strides growing longer, almost desperate. Her chest burned with every breath.

She burst out of the building and was immediately met by rain, cold drops splattering against the pavement and soaking into her clothes. She froze. A physical reflection of everything she was feeling inside.

She had nowhere to go. Class was definitely not an option, and the dorms were locked during school hours. Trapped.

Before she could take another step, hands closed around her arms and spun her around.

Her breath hitched as the world snapped back into focus.

"Kayla, listen to me... please." His voice cracked on the last word, breathless and raw, like he was holding onto it with both hands.

"Let go of me." Her tone was clipped, final, her shoulders stiff beneath his grip.

"Just--just let me explain." His fingers loosened, hesitation bleeding into his touch.

"I want nothing to do with you!" The words tumbled out, sharp and fast, barely louder than her pounding heartbeat. Her chest burned, she couldn't contain this pain. It was too big for her.

"I know I don't deserve it," he said quickly, rain plastering his hair to his forehead, desperation etched into every line of his face. "But just give me five minutes of your time."

"You deserve nothing from me." Her voice trembled despite her effort to steady it.

"Kayla." He swallowed hard. "I had no choice. The night I discovered you were a girl...unbeknownst to me... or you--he was there." His jaw tightened.

"He saw you. He said he was going to expose you. Humiliate you in front of the whole school if I didn't do what he wanted."

 'Why does he hate me so much?"

"Edward has a fragile ego, "his voice tight with something close to disgust. 

"And you bruised it. For that alone, you had to pay a price."

He dragged a hand down his face, rainwater and regret mixing freely now.

"You were the first person who ever stood up to him. Really stood up to him. No matter how many times he tried to break you down, you didn't fold." His jaw clenched. 

"And the moment he found out you were a girl..." He shook his head once. "That was it. His pride couldn't survive it."

Kayla's chest sank, the pieces clicking together in a way that made her feel sick.

"It wasn't just about exposing you," Louis continued, bitter now. "It was about punishing you. About proving he still had power after you made him feel small."

She let out a hollow breath, her arms wrapping around herself.

"So I wasn't a person to him," she said softly. "I was a threat."