FULL NOVELXO Bad Intentions: Chapter 11
I was late to art. It was the last class of the day, and I knew Lily was going to be there. I couldn’t bring myself to go right away. I needed ten minutes to calm down. I paced the woods until she was safely inside the building, and then followed.
As soon as I walked in, late and unapologetic about it, Lily’s horrified eyes had been glued to me. Ms. Sophie, the pretty art teacher, had been understanding of a new student being late and caught me up on what everyone else had been doing. Best of all, she put me in a seat to the left of Lily, just behind her. I could see every move she made. She was tense, her shoulders bunched up under her ears. I wondered if she’d had time to wash off the bloody necklace of fingerprints I’d left around her neck.
“Hey, West,” Asher whispered beside me.
I glanced over at him. I was on the fence about the so-called Ice Gods. Sure, it might be the very first time I’d be able to say I had friends, but on the other hand, if they got in the way of me playing my best game, I didn’t need them.
“Were you with Lily?” Asher asked.
I glared at him.
“Why?” I didn’t like the way he came to her defense. I didn’t like it one bit.
Asher shrugged, narrowing his eyes at me. “She’s the coach’s daughter and Eve’s best friend. I don’t want her fucked with.”
A humorless smile touched my lips. “I don’t ask for permission to fuck with anyone.”
Asher raised an eyebrow at me and then shook his head. “Whatever, man, just stay away from Eve. She’s off-limits – seriously.”
“I don’t care about your sister, don’t worry.”
I twisted back around, finding Lily smoothing out her watercolor painting on her desk. It was delicate, just like her, a study in different greens, just like the lush foliage of her eyes. The kiss I’d just stolen pushed itself into my head. Fuck. That had been hot. For a guy who’d never felt anything remotely normal for my age, Lillian Williams sure felt like the cure. Holding her had been the most normal I’d felt in a long time. The only other place I felt like that was on the ice. She was too fucking sweet, with her huge green eyes, her slender stalk of a neck bobbing when she struggled to breathe. The way her long fingers pushed at my chest and then pulled, all at the same time. Right now, I could see the freckles on her elbow, hiding behind the veil of her long red hair cascading down her back.
“Be careful, man. That way lies danger,” Asher muttered from beside me, following my gaze.
If I was smarter, I’d listen to him…but I’d never been that smart, and I wasn’t about to start now.
Practice after school cleared my head. We skated around, warming up, and I let my mind drift from the tangled, dark thoughts of Lily to the game. In the game, everything made sense.
“As you all know, the first game is in a couple of days, and it’s against the Pine State Pucks. It’s not the easiest game we’ll play this season, but it’s not the hardest. I want to see you start strong. Let’s intimidate right from the start.” Coach Williams was holding court while we set up drills.
I couldn’t wait for game night. I needed the adrenaline, the speed, the smash and crash of it. I was addicted to the thrill of winning and the excuse to wreak havoc. Hockey was the only place where my violent tendencies weren’t questioned but encouraged.
Well, hockey, and working for Uncle Jack. He hadn’t texted me again since that one warning. Maybe he’d died of internal bleeding and fucked off forever. No, I wasn’t that lucky. He lurked around somewhere, festering with resentment, planning how he would get me back, I was sure of it. One day, down the line, if I got into HHU on a scholarship, and later, if I got my shot at playing professionally, I’d have to do something about dear old Jack. I was looking forward to it.
Coach ran through the plays for the game. I was center and I’d have Asher as my right wing. Marcus was goalie, and a damn good one. Beckett was a defenseman and had the build for it. The rest of the team got into their lineup. This was the team that was going to take me to nationals and beyond.
“Okay, get some stickhandling and passing drills – go!” Coach Williams shouted before turning away and looking toward the door at the top of the rink and the figure just entering.
Lily.
She bounced down the steps, smiling at her dad.
A hard check sent me spinning around and glaring at Marcus as he skated past.
“Coach said stickhandling, West. He didn’t mean that kind of stick, if you know what I mean.” Marcus’ smirk was irritating as hell.
“Meaning?”
“Meaning get your head in training and forget about pretty little redheads who could get you kicked off the team. I’m saying that from a place of love.” He shot me a shit-eating grin and skated away.
I halfheartedly focused on the drills, maneuvering the puck with ease. I could do this shit in my sleep, but I got the coach’s tactic. Get the team to gel. Ease the new guy in. But I didn’t need more time to get to know these guys, I just wanted to play.
Lily took a seat and pulled a notebook out of her bag.
She was staying.
Coach turned back to us and blew his whistle. “Okay, let’s get going. Two on one practice, Cayden and Asher take Beckett.”
I skated into position beside Asher, my gaze drifting to Lily continuously. My breath fogged in the cool air. Wasn’t she cold sitting there?
“Concentrate, man,” Asher muttered beside me as Beckett lined himself up opposite us.
When the whistle blew, we rushed him. Beckett skated expertly backward, watching us closely to see which way we were going to play it. Asher passed the puck to me as we spread out, splitting Beckett’s attention. I passed back, and Asher moved us forward, getting closer and closer to our objective. Beckett, knowing his friend, clearly expected him to take the shot. It made sense, with his angle and his dominant hand position on the stick. At the last moment, Asher passed to me, with Beckett already too committed to defend. I sank the shot easily and skated away in a wide circle, glancing up at Lily as I went. She watched us, her notebook forgotten on her lap.
“What the hell was that, West?” Beckett’s shout echoed around the rink. “Don’t fucking tell me you’re not a lefty.”
“I am – most of the time.” I grinned at him. Being ambidextrous was a big advantage in hockey.
Beckett whistled and gave me a rare grin. “Fucking A. Good to have you with us.”
We watched the rest of the team run their drills before Coach set up a scrimmage. I found myself moving to the edge of the rink, right where Lily was sitting. She peeked up and then quickly away. A rosy hue warmed her creamy, freckled cheeks. Fuck, I’d like to see if that blush affected the rest of her skin like it did her face.
“West! Scrimmage – now!”
Lily kept her head determinedly down as I passed her by and skated to the middle of the rink.
It was interesting to scrimmage with the team, getting to know each other’s quirks and habits. Maybe it was even fun. I didn’t have a lot of experience with that feeling, so I couldn’t say for sure.
When we skated off the ice, Beckett appeared at my shoulder. Out of all the Ice Gods so far, he was the easiest to hang with. Probably because he didn’t talk that much.
“You know we have to win this game for your welcome party to be any good, right?”
“Yeah, I guess so. Don’t worry, I plan on winning.”
He gave me a grin and slapped my shoulder. “I love that confidence.”
“It’s not confidence…it’s lack of other options.”
He raised an eyebrow at that. “I see. Well, since you’re making sure we win the game, is there anything you want at the party? Let me know, and I’ll make sure it happens.”
“I don’t know, man. I’m not really into parties.”
“So, you want a quiet place to escape from your own welcome party? Okay, we can do that,” Beckett said.
We were in the locker room now. I dropped down on a bench, intending on waiting until the others were done before showering. I couldn’t keep going to Coach’s office. It’d raise questions I didn’t want to answer. Instead, I dried my blades slowly and methodically while Beckett shed his training gear.
“Is Asher’s sister invited to the party?” I asked him.
He paused, his dark eyes narrowing at me.
“Why? You interested in her? She’s called Eve for a reason. Forbidden fruit. Asher won’t allow any of us to mess around with her.”
There was something in his tone, something possessive. It looked like the richest guy at Hade Harbor High had found something he couldn’t buy. Or rather, someone.
“No, I’m not interested in her like that.” As soon as I said it, the intense vibes emanating from Beckett disappeared.
Then he grinned, and I knew I was busted.
“It’s Bug, isn’t it? Where Eve goes, Bug follows. Man, don’t tell me you have a hard-on for your new foster sister. That’s fucked up.” He laughed. “I like it.”
I blew out a breath and gave him a warning look. “I don’t have a hard-on for anyone, especially not the uptight rich girls here at HHH.”
Beckett only nodded, wrapping a towel around his shoulders. “Sure, whatever. I have to say, whatever happens, as long as it doesn’t fuck with the Hellions, should be entertaining.”
He turned and ambled away. I gulped down some water and fitted my skate guards, trying to seem busy and lost in thought. I really was lost in thought. Thoughts of Lily. Really, it would be better if she didn’t come to the party. She’d be a distraction there, and she wouldn’t hang out with me, anyway. I’d be wondering what loser with a death wish was chatting her up all night. I thought back to the night we officially met, how I’d found her in the kitchen, hiding from me, with Josh, a winger, smiling away at her. No, I wasn’t sure at all if I wanted Lily at the party. Unless I literally handcuffed her to me, it’d be torture. Maybe it would be better to have Freckles stay at home, studying in her pretty-smelling bedroom and tucking herself up in bed to dream about me, than out late and surrounded by teenage guys. Guys with bad intentions, just like me.