“Hi,” I said softly, not knowing what to say.
She looked me up and down over the wire rim of her glasses and pulled me into her office.
I dropped into the plastic chair she indicated, waiting for her to speak. She took her glasses off and looked me up and down with concern. “Are you sure you’re ready to come back?”
I scoffed. As if I had any sort of choice. All that suffering, and I was exactly where I’d started—desperate for my job, spying for Jed fucking Carter.
I took a deep breath and squared my shoulders. “I want to come back. I need to come back.” I needed to collect information for Carter and keep him happy until I figured out how to take him down so that asshole couldn’t hurt anyone else ever again.
My heart sped up, and I rubbed my chest absently.
“Your doctors cleared you to come back to classes and to work?” Dr. Parker asked, interrupting my spiral.
They hadn’t cleared me for shit. They’d taken one look at my class schedule, sighed deeply, and asked if I could finish out the semester online.
“Light duty,” I lied with a smile. “But I do need the job, and I also need the credits, so please trust me to know how far I can push my body.”
Dr. Parker arched a salt-and-pepper eyebrow at me, but I kept my face impassive. “Are you sure?”
“Dr. Parker, I need this job. I needed it in August, and I need it now in October. Please let me work.”
She scrubbed her face. “Do you want to start today?”
I sighed with relief. “That’s why I’m here.”
“Skedaddle, then. Coach Novikov will want you taking notes,” she said.
On my way out the door, I turned around and asked, “Dr. Parker? Why does Jed Carter hate Coach so much?”
Her eyes hit her hairline behind her glasses. “Probably because Marauders hockey is the only athletic program in Yorkfield Carter can’t get his fingers into.”
Guilt landed hard in my gut, a hard stone that sat right beside the guilt I carried for my father’s debts.
“He’s approached Coach?” God, that question sounded so fucking naive. Wait. Dr. Parker was deeply involved with all the athletic programs here. “Dr. Parker…” I trailed off, realizing what I was about to imply. “Why doesn’t anyone do anything?”Why haven’tyoudone anything?
Dr. Parker raised an eyebrow that made me feel small. Jed Carter held enormous power, and he’d do anything to hold on to it. Look what he was making me do, just to hurt his son.
She removed her glasses, cleaning them slowly. “JedCarter donates millions to this university. That buys influence.”
“Someone should stop him,” I whispered.
“Get to practice, Eva,” she said gently. “And if anyone gives you trouble, you come to me immediately.”
If only it were that simple.
Inside the arena,the familiar blast of icy air hit my face. I stepped through, tablet in hand, pretending I belonged there—professional, competent, and totally under control.
Then, I saw them.
Cole’s powerful strides ate up the ice as he carried the puck toward the goal. God, he looked so fucking good.
My heart slammed so hard against my ribs, I gasped. The tablet slipped from my suddenly nerveless fingers, clattering to the concrete floor. My chest constricted, and the telltale flutter of my newly repaired valve told me it was working overtime. I pressed my palm against my sternum, trying to steady my breathing.
He looked exactly the same. Devastating. Dangerous.
Mine.
No. Not mine. Never mine. Never again.