Tempting The Ice King

INSIDE MY LOCKER

My hands curled into Kyren’s uniform shirt as he kept his arms wrapped around me. The smell of him, sandalwood and pine, filled my senses.

My sobs finally subsided, and he gently pulled back from me.

I looked at the crowd that had formed around us. A mixture of cheerleaders and hockey players was watching us, already filming.

A wave of embarrassment washed over me, and my cheeks flushed crimson.

I took a step back from Kyren before wiping the tears from my cheeks. Everyone was watching. The girls who were obsessed with Kyren, the guys who wanted to date me simply because I was a cheerleader, the girls who envied me... the stalker.

I ran a trembling hand through my hair, and Jia wrapped her arms around me from behind, quickly replacing Kyren's warmth. Brie placed a kiss on my forehead before gently taking my hand in hers.

Kyren's expression turned blank, unreadable. He averted his gaze from me before turning to Tessa, who was still sitting on the floor, rubbing her leg.

He held his hand out to her, and she wordlessly stared up at him before taking his hand. He pulled her up to her feet before leading her over to the edge of the mats.

At this point, everyone was watching them.

Kyren didn't scream; he remained calm. He remained the Ice King. "Walk me through it, Tess. How does a varsity cheerleader with four years of training forget how to hold a cradle?"

"I got a cramp in my leg, Ky. What are you insinuating?" She questioned wildly before running a frustrated hand through her hair.

"You know what I'm trying to insinuate. Your little stunt could have killed your teammate." He stated, his jaw ticking like a time bomb.

Tessa wasn't letting up; she stuck to her story. "I wasn't trying to kill her. I got a cramp. What was I supposed to do?"

"You could've warned them," he countered, and she scoffed at him in disbelief.

"I see," she chuckled lightly. You've already made up your mind. You've already picked a side." She angrily muttered before storming out of the locker room.

My heart hammered against my ribs as I watched the interaction between them. Kyren's hands clenched into fists as he watched her leave the gym.

"Come on, let's get you cleaned up," Brie uttered, and Jia nodded in agreement.

"That was some weird s**t," Jia uttered as we entered the locker room together. "I mean, who would do something like that? Cramp my ass."

"That was weird," Brie agreed. "She clearly can't handle rejection. She resorts to killing immediately after."

"We have no reason not to believe Tessa. She's not the type of person who would deliberately hurt someone. And besides, she's our sister, and sisters don't badmouth each other behind each other's backs." I pointedly stated, before opening my locker.

"Hailey, you could've died. Even if it was a mistake, we have to do something about this. We can't risk something like this happening again." Jia uttered while looking into my eyes.

"I'm telling Coach," Ellie uttered from behind me.

"Don't tell coach." I tiredly uttered.

"She needs to get kicked off the team," Brie added with a look of distaste on her face. "She can't be trusted."

I grabbed my towel from my locker, and a familiar smell burned my nostrils. I looked inside the small space and found a single, fresh white lily tucked into my purse.

The towel dropped from my hand, my eyes locking onto the flower. I flinched before pulling my hand back.

A sticky note was stuck to the back of my locker.

May this flower take your breath away, Beautiful.

I slammed the door to my locker shut. My heart skipped a beat when I read those words. I was allergic to lilies. My throat swells shut whenever I get too close to them, making me unable to breathe momentarily.

But how did my stalker know that I was allergic to lilies?

"Hailey, what's wrong?" Ellie asked from behind me, and I jumped in shock.

"I need to leave," I mumbled under my breath. I stormed out of the locker room. I made my way across the mats and through the nearest exit.

I couldn't risk grabbing my phone from my locker. Any form of contact was a risk I couldn't afford to take.

I looked over my shoulder in fear as I crossed the campus grounds. I only stopped once I was standing in front of my dad's house.

I went up to the front door and frantically started knocking. "Dad?" I called into the house, but no answer came. The door slowly creaked open, revealing Oliver.

He seemed shocked to see me. "Hailey, what are you doing here?" He asked, a light frown creasing his brows.

Like this wasn't my dad's place. "I could ask you the same question. What are you doing in my dad's house?"

"I was just... checking in on coach. He told me that he wasn't feeling well today." Oliver explained, and my eyes narrowed at him.

"Well, where is he?" I asked before clenching my fists at my sides. Maybe Kyren was right about Oliver. He couldn't be trusted.

He was just at the arena... how did he get here so fast? What the hell was his deal?

"He's inside, sleeping on the couch." He said, before stepping aside so that I could enter the house. His calculating gaze swept over me, and he played it off by staring down at his shoes.

I felt his gaze burning into my back as I walked into the house, and a cold shiver ran down my spine.

I entered the living room and found my dad wrapped in a blanket on the couch. "Hailey? What are you doing at home? Shouldn't you be at practice?"

I knelt in front of the couch before wrapping my arms around him. "Are you sick? Why do you look so pale?" I murmured into his shoulder.

"I'm fine, Sweetheart. What happened? Why do you look so distraught?" He questioned before sitting up on the couch.

"Coach, I'll be heading out," Oliver announced from where he was leaning against the doorway.

"Alright, Champ. Keep up the good work. I'll arrange that one-on-one match with Wolfe." My dad told him. Oliver sent him a mock salute and left the house without saying another word.

One-on-one? Against Kyren. Why the hell would he want to go up against Kyren? He would only end up humiliating himself.

"What was he doing in our house, Dad? Where did you find that guy?" I asked my dad as soon as Oliver was out the door.

"He's from Canada. One hell of a hockey player, that kid." My dad breathed out tiredly. Shortness of breath was probably a flu symptom.

"Dad, what's actually going on? It feels like you're lying and keeping things from me, and I hate it."

Just as my dad was about to respond, the doorbell started ringing.

"Go see who's at the door." My dad said while curiously keeping an eye on the door. I got back up to my feet. I went over to the front door, and my hands flew up to my mouth when Kyren appeared through the peephole.

And he was angrier than I'd ever seen him.