Chapter 12 The Wrong Punch
The Wrong Punch
Liam’s POV
The next day, Dylan and the lady from yesterday arrived together. If I heard correctly, Dylan called her Vivian… I saw them from across the car park before practice, walking side by side through the entrance gate. She was talking and her hands moving with whatever she was saying, and he was listening with his head slightly tilted the way he did when something had his full attention. They weren’t touching but they felt so close to me, maybe she is someone he had known for a long time, that’s the only thing that can explain this level of familiarity.
I looked away and went inside. I told myself not to bother about it, whatever Dylan did outside the rink wasn’t my business. I had no claim over his time and who he spends it with. With the fact that I’m a vampire who never ages, I couldn’t afford to get attached to someone who will end up being a liability. My only relationship with Dylan should be in the rink, anything outside that would be me breaking the promise I made to myself years ago… But it wasn’t working as well this morning.
Practice started and I put everything I had into running drills, formations, and conditioning sets. I pointed out some people’s mistakes and corrected them and kept the session moving at a pace that left no room for distraction. Dylan ran every drill without looking at me, but my gaze kept drifting to him, hoping he would at least make eye contact.
Midway through the second hour I remembered the call I had missed before leaving my apartment. My secretary who handled most of the companies I constructed over the years and maintained it while I as the CEO hides away in the ice, called this morning after he called two days ago. He doesn’t call that way unless there is a problem that needed my attention.
I went off the ice and went through the tunnel toward the dressing room.
The door was slightly open, I didn’t think much of it until I pushed it wider and froze.
Vivian was standing at my locker.
She didn’t hear when I came in. She was going through my things like we had an agreement on it, lifting items, setting them aside, her back to the wall. My practice notes were on the bench beside her, my spare kit pulled partly off the shelf. And in her hand, held up slightly like she was examining it, was the photograph I kept folded in the inside pocket of my spare jacket. An old one, small and worn at the edges, one of the only things I had carried across every new place I moved to. My stomach turned at what I just saw, where did this audacity come from?
“Put that down!”
She shivered and spun around. She hid the photograph behind her and her expression shifted to surprise, shock and the calculation of thinking on how to lie about the situation.
“I was just looking for Dylan’s…” she said.
“In my locker?” I cut her off.
“I got confused, I didn’t realize…”
“Give me the photograph.” I entered the room and held out my hand. “Hand it over!”
Her chin wobbled and her eyes went glassy with a speed that told me exactly how pretentious it was. “I wasn’t doing anything wrong,” she said, her voice now sounded like she was about to cry. “I just came to find Dylan’s water can and you’re speaking to me like I’m a criminal.”
The door opened behind me. I didn’t have to turn around to know it was the team members, they probably got drawn by her loud voice and sensed something was wrong.
“What’s going on?” Calen asked in a concerned tone.
“Uh! Captain, what’s this? You guys should have gone to a hotel instead, not the academy’s dressing room.” Cole said and laughed mockingly afterwards. It’s always him and his nasty thoughts.
I turned around and the photograph was gone. She had hidden it somewhere in the two seconds I turned back to look at the team when Calen spoke. She was now standing with her arms wrapped around herself, tears on her face, she had already decided to turn me into a villain in this story.
“Vivian, what happened? Are you okay?” Dylan asked from behind.
“He just started yelling at me… I didn’t do anything.” She said, her voice breaking as tears started falling from her eyes.
“Liam, what the hell…” someone said.
“She was going through my things,” I said, keeping my voice steady.
“I was looking for Dylan’s water can…”
“In my locker, right?”
It felt like nothing I say now would matter or get me out of this situation, not when she’s already sobbing badly. I could see it clearly on their faces, they had already drawn their conclusion and I was the guilty one while this sly witch was innocent.
I looked at Dylan in the back of the team. He was looking at Vivian, not even at me.
Suddenly, he stepped forward and before I could say anything, he landed a heavy punch on my face. Before I could recover from the first one, he landed another one with his right hand across my jaw with more force than I expected from him, I landed on the floor. Calen grabbed Dylan from behind, stopping him from hitting me for the third time.
“Dylan, what are you doing? Stop this nonsense!” Calen said as he held Dylan in place.
I stood up from the ground, my jaw aching in pain. Even though I knew the wound would heal in no time, but I didn’t know if the pain was from the punch or my heart.
I didn’t retaliate. All I could do was stand there and watch Dylan who was boiling in anger.
“Can we settle this like adults!” One of the team member yelled.
“I love this show, I want more of it.” Cole said while laughing.
The others guided Vivian toward the door, someone with a hand on her back, apologies being offered on behalf of a situation she created herself.
She went without resisting, which told me everything I needed to know about how thoroughly she had gotten what she came here for.
The room emptied around us and I waited until the door closed.
Then I looked at Dylan.
“You punched me because of her… No! You believed her lies over me?”
He was breathing hard, like the adrenaline that made decisions for his brain was still catching up. “Why would she lie, huh? You were yelling and even when we came in, you didn’t stop.”
“She was stealing from me.”
“She said she was looking for my water can, even if she opened your locker by mistake, you should have guarded her to mine”
“Dylan.” I said his name low, more like a whisper. “She was in my jacket pocket. She took something that belongs to me… And you...”
Doubt moved across his face but he didn’t show it for long.
I stepped closer, close enough that I could hear his heart beat. “Whatever she is to you, she is not your responsibility to protect from problems she created herself. And I am not someone you get to hit because it’s easier than dealing with what’s actually going on between us.”
He stepped back. “Nothing is going on between us… You made that very clear.”
“So this is about that day, huh? You just found an opportunity to unleash your anger?”
“Who do you think you’re? You don’t have the right over who I spend my time with or who I get to believe in this kind of situation. You don’t get to be jealous, Liam. You gave that up the moment you yelled at me in front of the whole team like I was nobody… Don’t get funny here”
I chuckled hard despite the pain in my jaw. I grabbed his waist and closed the distance between us.
“Funny? You are the one being funny here. You knew exactly why I yelled at you that day, but you have been acting like a baby monkey… Get your shit together and prepare for practice tomorrow.”
I held his gaze for a moment longer, then I picked up my jacket from the bench, checked the pocket, and confirmed my ID card was in there but the photograph was gone.
I walked out without saying another word and the door shut behind me. My jaw still aching, and my heart beating faster out of anger.