Kris

Fucking hell!

There couldn't have been a worse time to run into Bethany. After the stunt she pulled sending me nudes on my birthday, I had blocked her.

Not that it would put an end to misery because come Saturday, I would have to unblock her again. If I didn't, she'd create a scene at my parent's house like she did last time. And I didn't want my quality time with my family to be ruined.

Lately, it had turned into a twisted game where she would cross a line, and I would block her for a week or two. Normally, she knew that things would blow over because of our families, so she didn't react strongly.

However, the crazed look she had in her eyes as she shot daggers at Ashley had me worried.

"What the fuck Kris?" she shrieked, turning a few heads in our direction.

"Can you stop shouting?" I hissed, looking around us. "Walk away, Bethany. I have had enough of your drama for this week."

Her scowl deepened, contorting her whole face. "I'm causing drama? What are you doing?"

I folded my arms across my chest. "What am I doing besides trying to live my life peacefully?"

"Bringing her into our relationship," she said, pointing a finger at Ashley. "She's basically my clone. A cheap one at that."

Before I could say anything, Ashley scoffed and inserted herself in the conversation. This was not going to go well.

"Excuse me? That's a stretch," Ashley drawled as she eyed Bethany in the same condescending manner Bethany looked at others. Being on the receiving end of that look clearly didn't sit well with her because her face turned red in rage.

"I thought your personality would compensate for your looks. Clearly, I was wrong. Bless your heart. Life must be so difficult for a poor thing like you," Ashley cooed, pasting a pitiful smile on her face. "A little self-awareness would help. Just saying."

"You bitch, I'll—"

"That's enough!" I yelled as I stepped in front of Ashley, shielding her from my crazy ex.

I would like to believe Bethany wouldn't resort to violence but these days, I couldn't be sure what she was capable of. She had proved me wrong more than once before.

Bethany reeled back. "You are going to pick her over me?" she asked.

Sighing, I ran a hand over my face. I was so tired of this. Going back and forth with her on the same topic every time was sucking the life out of me.

I raised my hands in exasperation and turned to Ashley, embarrassed that she had to witness all this. "I'm so sorry. I don't have words to convey how sorry I am. You shouldn't have to—"

She placed her hand on my arm, giving it a gentle squeeze as she smiled at me. "It's okay, Kris. You don't need to apologize or explain anything,"she said and looked over my shoulder before squeezing my arm again. "Good luck with that. I'll see you around."

She stepped back and turned to leave. As I watched her walk away, rage like never before consumed me. I whirled around and clamped Bethany's hand.

"Come with me," I gritted out of clenched teeth as I began pulling her in the direction of the parking lot.

Once we got there, I let Bethany go. "What the fuck is your problem?"

I was mad. I was fucking mad and yet, guilt weighed on my chest when I saw her wince at my loud voice and rub her wrist where I'd held her. Fuck.

Bethany brought out the worst in me. Whenever it came to her, I became someone I didn't recognize. Someone I hated. I tried so damn hard to keep myself calm and collected around her but I was losing it. My patience with her was starting to fray.

"Kris..." she started, her eyes turning glassy with unshed tears.

I used to hate seeing her cry. But now, I didn't even know if these tears were real. It wouldn't have been the first time she tried to manipulate me with her fake tears.

"Don't," I said as I raised my hand to stop her. "I don't want to hear a single word. You had no right to act the way you did. No right to speak to Ashley the way you did."

"She insulted me! Did you not see that?" she asked while looking at me as if I was the one being ridiculous here. "When did you even meet her? A month ago? Two months ago? We have known each other for years. You are going to throw all that away for a girl that's my temporary replacement."

I barked out a laugh, not able to believe my ears. After everything, she still couldn't look past her vanity. I couldn't believe I was in love with this woman at one point. I must have been fucking blind.

"I have known you for years and that's why I'm still being civil. After what you did, I don't even want to see your face let alone have any kind of contact with you. So don't even try to tell me about—"

"I said sorry to you!" she shrieked, tears rolling down her cheeks. "I have said sorry. So many times. We could move on from that but you still keep holding grudge against me. So many couples move on. We could do too. You just—"

"As if saying sorry fixes anything!" I paced back and forth as I ran my fingers through my hair, tugging at the roots. Could she really not see what the problem was?

As if saying sorry would erase the feeling of being worthless when I found out how she preferred other men over me. Erase the embarrassment of being oblivious of what was going behind my back for months. As if I could ever forget how ashamed I felt when I almost ended my friendship with one of my best friends over her.

She had ruined me and I would be a fool to let her do it all over again.

I shook my head. "I'm done. Stay away from me. Just... just stay away."

Turning on my heel, I started walking away from her. If I stayed any longer, I would explode. I needed to get away from her. But she couldn't even let me do that.

She came after me and grabbed my hand, stopping me. "You aren't really dating her, are you?"

Unbelievable!

I whipped my hand out of her grasp. "Even if I am, that's none of your concern."

I didn't wait any longer to hear what she had to say, heading straight to my class. Whatever she had to say, she could do so tomorrow in front of our families. I'd deal with that then.

Right now, I just wanted to forget that this conversation ever happened.

***

For the rest of the day, I moved on autopilot.

No matter how much I tried to not let Bethany affect me anymore, every encounter with her dragged me back down into the same dark hole again. A dark hole I couldn't afford to be in with the pressure of a professional hockey contract heavy on my shoulders.

Hitting the button with more force than necessary, I increased the speed of the treadmill.

Not only was I spaced out during all my classes today, I messed up during evening practice as well. We couldn't afford sloppy plays if we wanted to make it to the Frozen Four this year. And I couldn't afford to be sloppy if I wanted to keep my dream of going pro.

The thought angered me more as I dialed the speed up.

The treadmill to my right started whirring, and I turned to see Dylan start with a light jog. Why was he here? The rest of the guys had already headed home.

As if sensing the question in my head, Dylan shot me a smile. "I needed to practice blocking a few more shots. The Maple Park Tigers' wingers kicked my ass last game. Can't let that happen again."

I nodded but didn't reply. That game was horrible.

"I wanted to apologize...for the other day. I shouldn't have done that without asking you first," he said a few moments later.

I slowed down my speed a little so I could talk with him.

"I'll accept your apology only if you promise you won't do that to anyone again. That night could have ended a lot differently if—"

"I know," he said, cutting me off. "I'm sorry. I won't do it again. I promise."

I smiled at him. "Good."

When I didn't say anything further, he switched the topic. Dylan didn't do well with quiet. Although he'd never admit it, I could tell it made him nervous.

"How are things going with your contract? It's a done deal?" he asked.

"Not yet," I admitted, clenching my hands. "It's in the works, but my agent says its as good as done. I'll just need to graduate on time to join the team for next season."

"That's good," Dylan said, nodding. "But how's the graduation plan? Didn't you fuck up the electives? The class you were dreading?"

I winced at the reminder of my fuck up and stopped the treadmill completely. I walked over to the bench, slumping down to sit with my head in my hands.

"Don't remind me," I groaned.

Dylan stopped his treadmill as well and came to sit beside me. "Not good, I guess," he said as he flicked his bottle open to take a sip of water.

I shook my head. "Missed the first class. But the professor fell sick and got hospitalized so the rest of the classes got canceled. I'll know my fate on Monday when they resume again."

Freshman year, I had taken psychology elective and then dropped it because I missed so many classes that I had no idea what was going on. And it was hard. Now I needed an elective to meet the credit requirement and I foolishly missed the enrollment period for the course I wanted. The only remaining option was psychology.

A pit formed in my stomach at the thought of meeting Prof. Moore again. He...he wasn't very fond of me.

I needed that credit more than ever now. If I failed, I won't be able to graduate on time. And if I didn't graduate on time... I didn't even want to think about it. Contracts like the Boston offer didn't just come around all the time.

I had to pass. No matter what.

"You'll be fine," Dylan remarked. "Hopefully."

I rolled my eyes. "Thanks for the vote of confidence."

Silence enveloped us again and I watched Dylan steal glances at me while fiddling with the band on his bottle. Dylan was usually the type to spit out whatever was on his mind without any regard for others. So seeing him cautious like that was always unsettling.

"You have something on your mind?" I asked. When he still remained silent, I turned to face him. "Dylan?"

He averted his gaze again. "I uh... I saw you with Bethany today."

My stomach twisted as my grip tightened on my bottle. After everything that happened, this had become a difficult topic for us. There was this silent understanding between Dylan and I about never bringing it up again.

Something must have been really bothering him if he was starting this conversation on his own.

"She came onto me when I was with Ashley," I replied as I stood up to grab a dumbell from the rack.

"Ashley? The woman from the party?" he asked.

"Yeah. I ran into her at the café near the rink. Thought I would apologize once again and thank her for taking the prank in stride. But then..." I didn't need to say anything further for him to understand.

"Oh," was all I got from him.

"If you thought I was going to—"

"No," Dylan said immediately, cutting me off. "I trust you. I know you won't go back to her. It's just that... I don't trust her. And after what she did, I don't want us to be in that situation again."

I gulped, clearing my throat. "We won't be. You don't have to worry."

"That's uh... that's good," he said but his expression was still troubled. I hated seeing him like this.

Pursing my lips, I contemplated my next words only for a minute before I blurted them out. "Besides, I'm seeing Ashley now."

Dylan's head snapped up to meet my gaze, his face lighting up with joy. Whatever guilt I felt for lying vanished immediately on seeing the smile on his face.

"You guys are dating?" he shrieked, getting up to his feet and following me around like a puppy trailing after its owner. "When did this happen? Why wasn't I informed? Give me the deets!"

I laughed, waving him off. "We aren't dating exactly. I just asked her out for coffee today."

"And she said yes?" Dylan asked, his gray eyes twinkling.

"Yeah," I bluffed, not wanting to disappoint him. It wasn't a complete lie. "We haven't fixed a date yet, so let's see."

"All hail the Lord! Kris Argent isn't a celibate anymore," he cheered. "Oh, I'm going to go home and tell everyone."

I shook my head at him as I watched him head for the showers.

I owed Ashley for yet another thing. Peace and quiet from the team for at least another few weeks.

As I was grabbing my bag to get a spare set of clothes I brought with me, I heard my phone vibrating in the pocket. I whipped it out to see a string of texts from my mom that soured my mood immediately.

Mom<3: Sweetie can you give Bethany a ride tomorrow when you come home?

Mom<3: Amanda called me asking for a favor since Bethany's car broke down.

Mom<3: Bethany's really upset about it. Help the poor girl out.

Mom<3: I'll see you both tomorrow! Love you <333

My grip tightened on my device as I read the texts. Of course she'd do this after today's fiasco. Knowing I wouldn't refuse my mom, she must have shed a few tears in front of her mom and asked mom for help.

Typical of her to involve my parents when she couldn't get me to bend to her will.

Shoving the phone back in my bag, I wished I could get Bethany off my back.

I might have solved my teammate dilemma and spared myself all those pitiful glances from Dylan thanks to Ashley's help, but the bigger issue of my ex-girlfriend still loomed.

If only dealing with Bethany was just as easy...