Page 17 of Monstrous Serpent

I smile, skating away.

“Nice.” Hunter taps his stick against my calves.

Cap skates up beside us, eyes on the freshman dragging himself back to his feet. “He’ll think before he cuts inside again.”

I snort.

Cap turns to us. “You two handle the Titan problem this weekend?”

Hunter grunts. “We took care of it.”

My grip tightens on the shaft of my stick.

Five words.

That's what Saturday night gets. Five fucking words and a tone so flat you'd think we chased off a raccoon.

The corner of Cap’s mouth lifts. “So, he shouldn’t be a problem next week.”

My body tenses. So does Hunter’s. And while his expression doesn’t change, the air around him does. I’ve spent enough time with him learning what those shifts mean.

I slow, then cut to the left and slide between them. “Jenkins will be on the ice, running his fucking mouth like he always does.”

Cap spins, skating backward. “What was he doing out there anyway?”

I stare at him, then bark out a laugh. “Think you were fucking his girlfriend.”

“Tú me tienes que estar jodiendo!”

Cap doesn’t say anything else, just shakes his head and skates off. Hunter and I head to the back of our line. He’s too quiet, too tense, too focused on the current rotation doing the drill.

I nudge his shoulder with mine. “You good, or no?”

“Yeah.”

Lie.

We might be fucked up, might need a bloody outlet on occasion, but it’s always justified. Hunter doesn’t want to be like his father. Rival or not, Jenkins hasn’t done anything that deserved more than what happened out there.

I lean closer. “Cap was just talking shit.”

Hunter doesn’t respond.

“We didn’t seriously hurt him. Sure, we kicked his ass a bit, but he gave it right back. As usual. And my eyes are fucked up from the dirt.”

The corner of his mouth twitches.

“Fucking asshole. It’s not funny.”

“Go to the doctor. Won’t tell you again.”

I plaster on a wide grin, tilting my head. “And if I don’t?”

He finally looks at me, leaning in to press his forehead to mine. “Then I’ll fucking drag you there.”

Electricity zings down my spine and straight to my cock. I swallow hard and turn away from Hunter just as one of the third line forwards drives the net.

Shin's glove flicks up and the puck disappears into the leather. He tosses it back onto the ice, then rolls his neck.