My Hockey Alpha novel Chapter 438

“Enzo?” I called out. “You home?”

“I’m in here.”

I rounded the corner to the living room to find Enzo sitting on the sofa. I couldn’t help but furrow my brow a bit as I looked at him; no movie, no video game, no book. He was just… sitting there. He hadn’t even changed his shirt since what had happened that morning in the weight room. There was still blood on it from where he had wiped his knuckles. It had turned brown by now.

“You alright?” I asked, taking a cautious step forward. I gestured toward his bloodied shirt. “How long have you been home?”

“Oh.” He looked down at his shirt and shrugged. “Just an hour or so. I guess I forgot to change.”

I watched as he stood and began making his way toward the stairs to go and change in the bedroom, but I stopped him before he could get there.

“Hey,” I said softly, pressing my hand against his chest despite the blood. “Talk to me.”

Enzo’s eyebrows knit together a bit, although I couldn’t tell if he was genuinely confused or trying to play it cool. ” What’s there to talk about?” he asked.

I frowned. “You know what there is to talk about. Don’t play dumb.”

He looked at me for a moment, his brown eyes searching my face, before he finally sighed. “Look, I got carried away with Matt earlier, that’s all,” he said. “Just a spar gone wrong. It won’t happen again.”

But I wasn’t buying it. “There’s a huge difference between a spar gone wrong and almost killing your best friend,” I whispered.

My words seemed to strike a chord. Enzo’s nostrils flared and he turned, striding over to the kitchen. I watched as he rather forcefully grabbed a glass out of the cupboard, filled it with water, and began to drink it.

“Matt’s fine,” he said. “I apologized, we talked it out. You said yourself that his nose isn’t even broken.”

Shards of glass went everywhere with a sickening crunch. The water that the glass had been holding spilled and pooled at his feet.

Enzo and I stared at each other for a few long moments, both in shock, before he released what was left on the cup and let it fall into the sink. He spread his fingers wide, inspecting his now-bloody palm.

“Nina, I-” He took a step toward me once he realized what he had done; and instinctively, I winced and took a step back. An involuntary movement, but it was too late. He had already seen the look of fear in my eyes, no matter how brief.

Enzo stopped in his tracks and blinked at me for a moment before a look of pure sadness took over his expression. ” Nina, I’d never… Not you…”

I swallowed the lump in my throat and shook my head. “I know,” I whispered. “Let me fix up your hand.”