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But it did matter.

It mattered so much I couldn’t breathe.

Turning, I strode away.

Fuck it.

CHAPTER TEN

BRASHE

Istepped inside the treatment room at four PM, barely on time. I’d worked a bit on the ice, helping one of the rookies. Not playing hockey. Not doing anything I shouldn’t.

Ellie was waiting, her arms crossed on her chest, her face flushed.

“You want to tell me why you nearly bent your fork in half at lunch?” she asked before I could even say hello.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Mikael was being gross. You got defensive. Why?”

“He shouldn’t talk about you like that.”

“I can handle Mikael.”

“You shouldn’t have to.”

“That’s not your call to make.”

“What is this, Brashe?” she asked, her voice quieter now. “You show up early, you ask if I’ve eaten, you get territorial when someone makes a comment. What do you want from me?”

The words tangled in my throat. “I don’t want anything.”

“Are you sure?”

“You don’t date players.”

She went still. “You were listening earlier.”

“The door was open.”

“So you heard me turn Veskar down, and you decided to make that weird too?”

“I didn’t mean—” I dragged a hand over my face. “No.”

“I’ll ask you again. What is this?” She gestured between us, her voice rising. “Because you’ve been acting like I matter and then like I don’t, and I can’t keep track anymore.”

The words pressed against my tusks. I swallowed them back down. “It’s nothing.”

“Don’t shut me out when I’m asking you a direct question. Just tell me the truth. Why do you care if Mikael makes comments? Why do you ask about breakfast? Why do you show up twenty minutes early?”

The confession tried to claw its way out. I locked my jaw. “Because watching other males ask you out makes me want to break things.”

Her breath caught. The treatment room felt smaller. Hotter.

“Why?” she asked.

“You know why.”