Davenport looked over at her with a look of satisfaction on his face. My blood fucking boiled and I couldn’t stop the rage as it began to race through my veins. All I wanted to see was his blood on the ice and my hands and nothing was going to stop me now. The promise I made Harper was out the window. This wasn’t the first time he hurt her and it may have looked like an accident to everyone else, but I fucking knew.
He did that on purpose and the look on his face only solidified that. And that was all I needed to charge straight in his direction. My feet didn’t stop moving until I was coming up on him. Just as he turned around to face me, I lifted my stick with both hands and cross-checked him in the chest, sending him back into the boards.
“What the fuck was that for, bro?” he shouted at me as he threw his stick and gloves onto the ice. “You’ve been running at me all fucking night.”
I followed his lead, throwing my own gloves and stick onto the ice, but I was already one step ahead of him. He didn’t even have a chance to come at me as I grabbed a fistful of the collar of his jersey and the top of his chest protector. I yanked him toward me and drove my fist directly into the side of his face. The rage behind the blow had enough force to instantly knock him out.
His entire body went limp and I let go of him as his body crumpled onto the ice. My eyes were no longer on him. I didn’t give two shits about him and if we weren’t in a professional setting right now, I would have followed him down onto the ice with my fists meeting his face until he was unidentifiable. I skated over to the glass where Harper was.
She was sitting on the concrete steps and there were a few people around checking on her. I watched as she held a bloodied napkin under her nose. She lifted her eyes, looking up at me with tears in them. I wanted to break through the glass to get to her, but I couldn’t. It was fucking killing me not being able to be with her and I couldn’t stand here any longer or I’d be drawing attention to the two of us.
Spinning around on my skates, I saw Connor Davenport shakily rising to his feet and a few of his guys were helping to steady him as they skated him over to their bench. We had both gotten penalties and there was no sense in staying out for the remainder of the game since we’d be in the box anyway.
I headed back to the locker room with only one thing on my mind: I needed to get the fuck out of here and get to her. I quickly undressed, showered, and put my dress clothes back on before the guys came back in from the game.
Disappointment hung heavily in the air as they all filed in and I couldn’t stop my foot from bouncing off the floor as I impatiently waited. Looking down at my phone, I found Harper’s name and opened up our message thread.
Nico
Tell me you’re okay, love.
My jaw clenched and I stared at my screen. I waited for her response, but nothing came through. It was quite literally killing me. I hung my head as I locked my screen and picked at the scab that was forming on my knuckles from where I had cut them on Connor’s helmet.
“I saw what happened,” Wes said quietly as he sat down next to me, smelling like sweat and hockey gear. “He’s lucky you knocked him out with one hit.”
I looked over at my best friend. “He’s her ex.”
Wes’s eyes widened. “Oh, fuck. So, what he did wasn’t an accident.”
I shook my head in confirmation. “I need to see her.”
“I know, man,” he said with a frown. “We’ll be out of here soon enough. No one said anything about going out, so I’ll cover for you when we get back to the hotel if needed.”
“Thanks, bro. I appreciate you.”
Wes shrugged. “It’s what I’m here for.”
My phone vibrated in my hand and I quickly turned my attention away from Wes as I unlocked the screen. Harper responded and my heart skipped a beat in my chest.
Harper
I’m okay.
I sighed a breath of relief, yet I wasn’t fully convinced. I needed to see for myself that she was actually okay. It wasn’t that I didn’t believe her, the whole situation was jarring and I had a feeling Harper was going to be shook-up from it. Anyone in their right mind would have been, especially with getting a camera slammed into their face.
There was only one thing that mattered to me at that moment.
I needed to see her.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
HARPER
Sitting with my legs crisscrossed on the bed, I slowly removed the bag of ice away from my face. I could see my reflection in the mirror across from me and I winced at the bruises that were beginning to develop underneath my eyes. The bleeding thankfully stopped by the time I got to the team’s medical staff.
After the doctor assessed my nose, he determined that it wasn’t broken, just that there was a decent amount of inflammation from the trauma. He could almost guarantee there would be significant bruising and swelling that could last a week or more. My nose took the brunt of the blow, but because of the way it hit my nose, I was going to end up sporting two black eyes.
I wasn’t expecting Connor to do something like that. It was clearly intentional, considering the fact that he had been subtly fucking with me during the game. I didn’t miss the way Nico kept targeting him, but Connor either blocked my opportunities for shots or even went as far as sending a puck in my direction.
It was hard to tell for sure if it was accidental or not but I saw the way he looked at me each time he did something. Or he skated away with a smirk. When he jumped against the glass, his hip slammed into my camera that was still positioned through the small cutout.
I didn’t have time to move away, as my face was still against the camera. The force slammed it directly into my face, knocking me backward. I fumbled my camera and wasn’t able to catch it before it fell to the ground. The concrete was no match for the lens and it was now cracked.
The initial blow to my nose had me seeing stars. The blood came instantly and the searing pain spread through my entire face. Now I was alternating between icing it and squinting my eyes to watch TV. The doctor determined I didn’t have a concussion either, so that was a relief. I’d just be walking around with a banged-up face for a little bit.
As I picked up my remote to flip through the channels, there was a soft beep followed by a click that came from my hotel door. My heart picked up its pace in my chest as the door slowly opened. My room was dark, as it was already nearing eleven o’clock and only the glow from the TV was lighting up the room. I made out the silhouette of his body as he pushed the door shut behind him.
His strides were long and rushed and it didn’t take Nico long to close the distance between us. He was still wearing his suit from the game, like he hadn’t even bothered going back to his room to change into something more comfortable. He dropped down on the bed beside me, worry laced in his bright blue irises as he gently cupped the sides of my face.
Nico was so tender as his eyes scanned my face before landing on my eyes. “Harper…” His voice cracked around my name. “How bad does it hurt?”
I gave him a small smile. “Probably not as bad as Connor’s face.”
I saw what Nico did to him after I got hit with my camera. He didn’t waste any time before checking him into the boards. It was an aggressive, dirty hit but there was something about the way he reacted that had me melting into a puddle. He came to my defense and knocked Connor out with one hit.