by Maya Hughes
Reckless King
Maya Hughes
Copyright © 2018 by Maya Hughes
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
For my sisters and husband who’ve taken on so many projects and a to do list a mile long to help me share Heath and Kara with my amazing readers!
Contents
1. Heath
2. Kara
3. Heath
4. Kara
5. Heath
6. Kara
7. Heath
8. Kara
9. Heath
10. Heath
11. Kara
12. Heath
13. Kara
14. Heath
15. Kara
16. Heath
17. Kara
18. Heath
19. Kara
20. Heath
21. Kara
22. Heath
23. Kara
24. Heath
25. Kara
26. Heath
27. Kara
28. Heath
29. Kara
30. Heath
31. Kara
32. Heath
33. Kara
34. Heath
35. Kara
36. Heath
37. Kara
Epilogue
Mr. Control Excerpt
End of Book Dish!
Acknowledgments
Also by Maya Hughes
Connect with Maya
1
Heath
Gritting my teeth, I pushed the dumbbell up over my head finishing my last rep. My muscles burned with that good ache, and I ran a towel over my face. The old gym equipment leeched metal into the air, so strong you could taste it. The weight room was packed with our last team workout session before the winter break.
My phone buzzed in my pocket, I tugged it out.
Colm: We’ve got five days off just before Christmas. Will everyone else be in town?
Emmett: Maybe...my parents have requested my presence, so I fly in from LAX on the 20th.
Me: Don’t sound so happy about it, Em
Colm: Ford, Olivia and I are flying in on the 19th.
Ford: I might have to hang in Boston for an extra day
Colm: Don’t even try to get out of it. If I’m stuck with Olivia for that entire trip, I’m going to need some backup.
Ford: Ok
Declan: You two are sitting right next to each other, aren’t you?
Colm: Yes.
Ford: No
Ford: I’m sitting across from him
I shook my head. It had been that way with Ford and Colm since freshman year of high school.
Me: One of these days we’ll find a doctor who can separate you two
Me: We can squeeze in a couple of friendlies
Me: The Kings reunited finally!
It had been almost three years since all five of us had been on the ice together. Once Ford and Colm had joined a team in Boston, they’d travelled non-stop. And Emmett hated coming back to town. His draft meant it was hard to get everyone into the same city, let alone the same room.
Emmett: I don’t know if you’ll be able to hold your own against us now.
Declan: Even though you’re an NHL player now, I can still kick your ass on the ice
Middle finger emojis exploded from my phone and I laughed.
Readjusting for another set, I whipped around at the harsh sounds from the other side of the gym. The sharp clank of metal on metal wasn’t someone dropping weights or screwing around. Bright overhead lights and the heated voices helped me pick out in an instant who was getting into it. It wasn’t a hockey only weight session. Some of the football players were also working out, but these guys were definitely one of us.
Dropping my phone, I strode over to the posturing pair of freshmen. Some of the other guys from the team stood by gawking and letting Kaden and John go for each other’s throats.
No one seemed ready to step in. I wasn’t going to let this come to blows. The tingling energy shot through my body—fight or flight at its finest. It was the same kind I got whenever people got aggressive off the ice. That, along with the pit in my stomach.
Jumping over the free weights dropped on the padded floor, I stepped between two of the newest members of the team as one raised his fist. Putting my hands on each of their chests, I pushed the two of them apart. John’s fist barely missed the side of my head. My flare of anger burned so quickly and so brightly I slammed the lid shut on it.
Taking a breath, I kept myself calm. Relax. The anger wouldn’t solve anything. It only made things worse and got people hurt.
My palms pressed against their sweat-soaked T-shirts. Their eyes both snapped to me. They were all flared nostrils, bared teeth, aggression mode. My body hummed, and I forced myself to remain calm. Freshmen trying to show off. They’d been digging at each other during practices. Most people didn’t notice, but I saw their little attempts to fuck with each other.
“Chill out. What is going on with you two?” I kept my voice low and even. Making this into a big thing and embarrassing them was only going to get them more riled up. The last thing I wanted was someone to throw another punch and screw up our team dynamic.
“Kaden got us both pulled out of the game last week because he couldn’t keep his eye on the puck.” John jabbed an angry finger toward the other. I used my body to block his advance.
“Maybe if he hadn’t been trying to fucking showboat and run the play, it wouldn’t have been a problem.” Kaden leaned in, shooting his own accusation back at John.
I wrapped my hand around their shirts, so I had two fists of fabric in my grasp. “Did we win that game?” I glanced between the two of them.
“Yes,” they mumbled in unison, dropping their eyes.
“Do you know why you two freshmen were allowed off the bench in the first place?”
They both glared at me.
“It’s not because you are both so amazing that we benched the entire starting lineup to give you your chance to shine. It’s because we were up by five goals and two of their starters were winded from working their asses off and not coming back out.”
Their shoulders slumped as I laid it all out for them. The Kings and I never fought. Never even thought of raising a fist to one another, unless it was a mad dash for the last beer.
“I’m not saying you two aren’t good, you wouldn’t be on the team if you weren’t, but you were out there to get some experience on the ice in a game against another team having a shitty day. You were given the chance to show what you can become with more practice and teamwork. If you two are squaring off against each other because of a play that didn’t even matter, then you’re not going to cut it on this team.”
I let go of their shirts, and they both reached to smooth them out, no longer ready to charge each other.
“This is not how a team behaves. He’s your brother when you’re on the ice and training together. No fighting.” One of them opened his mouth, but I didn’t let him cut in.
“That doesn’t mean you can’t disagree or call him out on his shit, but there’s no reason for you to put your hands on him. You save that for the opposing team.” My jaw was tight.
They nodded back glumly.
“That’s where you funnel that bad juju. Save it for the game. You two are done. Get out of here. Enjoy your break and don’t get in any fights.”
“But I—” Kaden tried to jump in.
“You’re done. Go home. We have a game in a few days, rest up. Don’t fight. Stay safe.”
/> I dismissed the two of them, surprised that they’d listened to me and no one else had contradicted me. I half-expected Preston, our team captain, to show up and tell me off for making the freshman leave, but everyone else kept on going with their workouts like nothing had happened. As my blood pounded in my veins, I glanced down at my hands that were balled up into fists.
With a jolt, I relaxed them and took a breath, calming that flare of anger that tried to peek its ugly head up at their disruption. The gym was where we worked together to be better at what we did, not fight like idiots. I forced myself to relax my jaw. They were cool, everyone was chill. The earlier chill I’d hit working out was gone, edged out by their little fight. I hated it when things like this got to me. I never knew what might set me off and it scared me. I hated it.
I needed to sweat this out and push my muscles to the max. That was always a surefire way to burn up any feelings I didn’t want to deal with. Sweat them out through pain and pressure.
Walking back across the gym to the bench press, I sat down as the doors to the gym burst open and Declan strode in, making a beeline straight for me. He’d been getting in some drills on the ice, making up for lost time after being benched in the pre-season. At least he was back and I didn’t have to worry about skating without him during the season.
I lay down on the bench and adjusted my grip on the metal bar above me. Declan stepped around the top of the bench and spotted me without me saying a word. Pushing the bar up, I adjusted my grip, the muscles in my arms bunching and tightening to support the weight. Declan’s hands hovered just under the bar as I controlled the descent, bending my elbows before pushing it back up.
“How’d it go?” I kept the reps going, pushing myself harder.
“Better than the torture sessions you put me through.”
“I’m getting you ready for the draft.”
He scoffed.
“Maybe I should add another thirty onto the bar if that’s the way you feel.” I quirked an eyebrow at him and kept going. Declan and I were the only Kings sticking with college the whole way through.
“How are your grades this semester?” I squirted some water into my mouth and slid down to the floor with my back pressed against the wall.
“Smooth sailing. Do you really think Mak would let me slack off? Plus, if I’m already playing and I flunk anything, I’d fuck over our entire season. Don’t worry. I’ve got senior year locked down. What about you?”
“I’ve got two requirements left and that’s it. Some other fluff classes and I’m good.”
“Our winter schedule is brutal. I’m glad I finished all my classes for my major already.”
“Did you?”
Sweat poured off his face and drenched his shirt. “I’ll be fine. I was cutting it close, but I did like to live on the wild side.”
I waggled my eyebrows at him, and he chucked his water bottle at my head. I batted it away and stood. “What the hell was that for?”
Declan shrugged and got up off the floor. Walking over to the leg press, I set up the weights.
“No teachers you’re looking to seduce to make sure you pass?”
I rolled my eyes. “You’re such a dick.”
“What? I’m just saying, maybe you can find a nice hot professor to give you a private class, then it’s all taken care of.”
Guilt soured my stomach. I’d made that mistake once. Fucked over someone’s entire life because I’d been determined to reach an unattainable prize.
“Would you shut up?” I climbed onto the leg press.
“I mean, I’m not saying she wasn’t hot. Damn, she was so hot. You never gave us all the details about what happened.” Declan stood beside me like he was lost inside a fond memory. Maybe it was for him, had been for me too once, but I’d seen how gossip and innuendo could destroy things.
“Drop it,” I bit out, so sharply a few people turned to look.
Declan held up his hands in surrender. “Forget I said anything.” We swapped out reps in silence for a while.
“It’s been too long since we’ve seen everyone at once,” I said through a sharp exhale I timed to push the weighted platform with my legs. My thighs and calves burned.
“Too long.” Declan stood near my head, ready to catch the bar if I dropped it.
My arms shook as I finished the last set of reps. As the weight got harder to push up, my limit came into clear focus. I shot the bar back into the cradle of the bench press and sat up, sweat rolling down my forehead. I wiped my face with my sleeve.
There was a vibrating beside me, and I checked my phone. Declan shoved his hand into his shorts pocket and tugged out his phone.
“Hey.” He listened for a moment. “You don’t have to do that. Dude, why do you always do this?” Declan frowned and threw his hands up.
“Fine. We can do a Kings-only game and then another with the Knights. They’ll freak if they get to skate with you three. Sound good?”
Declan held up his hand for a high five and ended the call.
“Emmett says he’s in. We’ll be able to play twice at the stadium—he’s arranging it and he also wants to have a big night out with everyone. He said he’s paying, and that’s the only way he’ll come.”
I rolled my eyes. Emmett loved to throw his money around. Not in anyone’s faces, but it was almost like he didn’t think we’d want to hang out with him if he wasn’t making it rain 24/7.
“At least he agreed to come back. It’s got to be almost a year now since he’s been back for more than a day or two.” Declan lay down and started his reps.
“I know. He’s still letting the Avery-thing get to his head.”
The ghosts of relationships past still rode Emmett hard, even after four years.
“I think I know the perfect bar for us to head to after. It opened a few months ago, I’ve heard good things.”
“Perfect. Do you think they’ll mind twenty hockey players taking over the place?” Declan sat up, and we both got down on the ground, pushing ourselves out into plank position before shooting up and jumping as high as we could.
“I’m sure having a few NHL athletes with us, we can swing some tables.”
We finished our workout and grabbed our bags. Declan wanted to shower there so he could head straight out with Makenna, his official girlfriend now. Still boggled my mind. Of everyone, I’d have thought Declan would be the last one to get a girlfriend—let alone Makenna Halstead.
They’d been official for a couple months but together longer than that; they hadn’t wanted to admit it. She’d gone home for Christmas, and he was going through withdrawal since they’d been separated for more than a couple days. He was also a pain in the ass when we traveled for away games she couldn’t come to.
We pushed open the gym doors, and with a puff of frozen air streaking behind him, he was off to see her. Someone was ready to load up on all the Mak loving he could get.
The guys had taken to giving him shit over it, but it was cool. Declan had always been so dead set on not being with someone, he could have missed out on something awesome with her.
I made it home and grabbed a beer out of the fridge. I’d had to hide my craft beers I’d driven up to Connecticut to get from a microbrewery in an empty oversize carton of kale chips I’d found behind one of the sororities.
I’d made that trip after the last home game we lost. I’d spent what seemed like half the game in the sin bin with one penalty after another. It was like the ref had been gunning for me. I’d hopped in the car afterward and driven for hours.
It was that or I was going to take my hockey stick to every breakable surface near me. Those instances scared the shit out of me. The ones where it seemed too easy to let loose and give into the urge to break shit. Getting on the road in the middle of the night and letting the streetlights wash over me, calmed me down when I was ready to lose it.
The ass crack of dawn sunlight had come streaming into the car, and I was in the parking lot of a place I’d read about a wh
ile back. I’d grabbed a few six-packs and taken them back to the house, hiding them for safekeeping.
It was the only way to keep Declan from destroying the beer in less than a day. Cracking a bottle open, I sat on the couch and flipped on the TV.
The guys got on me for whoring around, but they never were that observant off the ice. I might have had women flocking to me, but I wasn’t falling into bed with whoever. Maybe it was because of the flocking. I needed something different. I needed a challenge, and those had been in short supply.
Letting the muscle fatigue set in and banish the energy vibrating through my body was one of the few times I could sit and relax. I told people to do it all the time, but it seemed impossible for me sometimes. Calm on the outside, but inside the turmoil was always there. Exhaustion took the edge off the constant energy humming through me. I wasn’t beat or even that tired, but I wasn’t wired like before. The mellow high came when I really pushed myself. When I skated so hard my legs were like Jell-O and I could barely remember my name. That’s when shit got weird. Those were the nights I was up on a roof or lying on the grass gazing up at the stars, wondering what the hell this place is and trying to make myself a part of something bigger.
Transported to a place where kids didn’t get the shit beaten out of them and moms didn’t have to throw themselves in front of a punch or a kick.
I’d stare up into the sky or down at one of my plants, and I’d switch into universe mode. Pondering my own mortality and the meaning of life were a hell of a lot safer than worrying about the person I feared lived inside me. The person I was on the ice where no one got in my way. The man who decided to take out any problem or failing in his life with his fists. The man I never wanted to be and who I feared had been beaten into me over the years.
