Cade: Fire And Ice: A Second Chance Hockey Romance by Jessica Lake, Alana Hart Read Free Book Online

was lying but I couldn't figure out why so I just agreed to meet her at the store. When the final bell for class rung she shot up out of her seat and practically ran out of the room without a word to me. What the hell was she up to?
    The convenience store was located behind the school, in the opposite direction to Ellie's house, so I took a shortcut across one of the football fields. She'd obviously had the same idea, because as soon as I rounded the first bend in the track that ran through the small forest at the back of the field, I saw her.
    She was bent over at a strange angle. At first, I thought she was laughing. I was just about to shout her name when I spotted Katy Grebling and three other girls standing in front of Ellie in a semi-circle. When one of them reached out and took a handful of Ellie's thick, dark hair in her hands, yanking it forward hard enough to send my girlfriend sprawling onto the snowy ground, I lost my mind.
    If the path had been ice and I'd been on my skates, I wouldn't have gotten to her faster than I did that afternoon. None of the girls even saw me until I was right there, the blood pounding hard in my head and my throat so tight with anger I could barely get the words out.
    "What the... fuck are you... doing?" I panted.
    The urge to punch the girl I'd seen pulling Ellie's hair was so extreme I actually raised my clenched fist, only realizing what I was about to do when Ellie reached up and scrabbled at my torso with one hand.
    "Don't, Cade. Don't do it."
    Her other hand was cupping her lower face. When she looked up at me I watched two bright red streams of blood ooze out between her fingers and start to run down her wrist.
    "Jesus Christ! Ellie? What the fuck?" I whirled around to face Katy and the other girls, shouting now. "WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON HERE?"
    I could see the fear in all of their eyes. It was Katy who managed to get herself together first and offer a simpering little smile.
    "Your girlfriend is a stupid little bitch, Cade."
    "Cade, Cade...!"
    Ellie choked as she pleaded with me, moving her hand aside to spit blood onto the snow. She was my priority. All that blood. She needed to get to a hospital. And I knew I needed to keep my hands off the other girls, even as the desire to send them all flying boiled up inside me so strongly it almost made me lightheaded. I looked Katy right in the eye.
    "You're going to be charged for this. You're all going to be charged. This is assault. So go home and tell your worthless parents to call their lawyers."
    Two of the girls took off at once, one of them in tears, but Katy and the other one stayed put.
    "Good luck with that, Cade. My father is the best lawyer in town and he's best friends with the judge. Nothing's gonna happen. It never does."
    I took a step towards her as Ellie snatched at the back of my jacket, weakly trying to hold me back. Katy Grebling wasn't stupid. She knew if she hung around my ability to control myself was going to slip, so she flipped a lock of her long, blonde hair over her shoulder and spun around.
    "Come on, Macey. Let's leave these two losers to their loser shit." She turned to look at me. "I hope you used a condom, Cade. The last thing North Falls needs is more white trash bitches like this one."
    They walked away. They didn't run, they walked. When they were far enough away to feel safe, I actually heard Katy giggling and a fresh, searing wave of anger washed over my body.
    "Cade."
    I knelt down in the bloodstained snow in front of Ellie, almost crying at the sight of her.
    "Ellie. We have to go the hospital. Can you walk?"
    Slowly, she straightened up, still holding her hand over her nose and mouth.
    "Show me."
    She pulled her hand away from her face and I saw at once that her nose was broken and two of her teeth had been knocked out. The fact that she needed help, and that I was the only one to help her get it was the only thing that kept me from breaking down right there.
    "Ellie, oh...Ellie, what happened?