Love, Lust and Hockey

The Trouble

I sit up, rubbing my eyes as I drag myself out of the bed. I tug on a shirt and walk down the stairs. 

My heart leaps into my throat when I see Adam frozen while a man beside him has a gun to his head.

"Wonderful of you to join the fun," he teases, an edge in his voice. 

"Step back," I whisper,

"Aw Jasmine. Is that anyway to treat an old friend?" 

I take a step towards Adam and Carsen. "Carsen, please. I won't say it again," I plead, Carsen doesn't make an effort to move away.

I hear my heart in my ears, pounding so loud I can hardly think straight. I fear that even if I move too much, Carsen will shoot Adam. "Jasmine, darling. Do you know why I'm here?"

Adam turns around, his eyes are wide but surprisingly enough, I don't see fear in them at all. Like he knows what's going to happen in the near future. "Don't call her darling," Adam husks. His voice little more than a low growl.

"Shut up pretty boy, this doesn't involve you," he snaps back. Adam arches a brow, still not moving but being cocky as hell. His way of trying to calm down.

"It sure as hell does. You've got a gun to my head and are threating my girlfriend. This fucking involves me," he snaps, Carsen taps Adam's temple with the barrel of the gun.

I feel my heart drop to my feet. "Why are you back? I don't owe you anything. I don't owe dad anything."

"He wants you back Jasmine. I want you back," he replies. I cringe at his words. Dad hasn't attempted to speak to me in years, ever since my mom had handed over almost everything in exchange for Jackson and I to be left unbothered. 

"What happened between us will never happen again," I growl. I'm not a huge fan of second chances. Not that I hold grudges but Carsen deserves a grudge after killing my cousin and beating Jackson down until he needed to be hospitalized. I could never look at him the same again. Could never look at him again.

He doesn't deserve a second chance. He never will. Especially now that he has sided with my father, after repeating to me over and over that he wouldn't. I look at Adam, searching his gaze for something. His eyes flicker down to his hands and when I follow his gaze, he's counting down from three. I watch slowly as his fingers go down one by one until in a fraction of a second, Adam manages to get the gun out of Carsen's hand. 

Adam holds it up to Carsen, "do not talk about getting with Jasmine again," he growls lowly. Carsen smirks at Adam, his brow arched as if Adam isn't threatening even with his muscles bulging, and his gaze to kill. Not to mention, the fucking gun in his hand. 

"Or else what?" Carsen snaps back. 

Adam's gaze flicks up and down Carsen's body once, as if sizing him up. "I'll shoot you," he says simply. Carsen scoffs, his eyes rolling sarcastically. 

"Sure you will." Carsen's gaze shifts to me, "real soldier you have here. Such a golden boy. You know, you'll always come crawling back to me. You don't deserve the golden boy," he tells me. He's right, I will never deserve the golden boy, only the scumbags but a gunshot interrupts my thoughts, quickly followed by Carsen's screams. 

Adam cocks the gun again, his face nothing but a mask of cold. "Number one, I'm not a golden boy." He looks down at Carsen's shoulder which is bleeding uncontrollably, his arm hanging limply at his side. "Number two, she will never go back to you and I hope that those words finally make it through your thick skull." Adam holds his arm out for me, and I know I should be scared, but I only feel... safer. "Number three, she deserves the world, and even if I'm not a golden boy, I will give her the world and more." He kisses my temple, his hand traveling down my body as he traces lazy circles on my hip. "Now go tell your boss that you had no fucking business being in my house and threatening Jasmine and if you come back, reinforcements or not, you won't be lucky enough to leave with your life," he snaps before gesturing to the door. "Go." The command is a short, quiet promise. A tie to Carsen's life but a small part of me knows that Carsen will find his way to snake back. 

Carsen heaves himself to his feet, hurrying out of the house, leaving blood in his wake. Immediately, I grab the paper towels, wiping up the blood before it could dry and stain. "Hey, are you alright?" Adam asks while dropping to his knees and cupping my face. I try not to meet his gaze, for fear if I do, I would start crying and wouldn't be able to stop. 

"I'm okay. I should clean this before it stains," I whisper while trying to not so subtly change the subject. I can feel the weight of what just happened finally setting in. 

They're back and they know where Adam lives. They won't let him be, not unless I leave. I either go or this may cost Adam his life, and I wouldn't dare put him in danger like that. 

"Jasmine, hey. Look at me," he whispers gently, his thumb touching my bottom lip as he tips my chin up. 

Before I start sobbing, I lunge into his arms, burying my face in his chest before letting tears flow. "Jas." He wraps his arms around me tightly, his hands threading through my hair. "What's going on here?" He asks, I back up just enough to make eye contact with him. 

"My dad isn't a very legal person, and when Carsen sided with my father after our breakup, everything kind of went downhill from there. I'm so sorry. I prayed that they wouldn't come back, that I could avoid their advances in every way possible," I mumble, and none of it is a lie, but I spared the details that could put Adam in danger, that could worry him. The details that could possibly thread me back into the family business. 

Adam searches my face, "well, what now? I just shot Carsen. Do I have to worry about backlash?" He questions, I nod. 

"Yeah. They believe in revenge. An eye for an eye. A life for a life. You get the gist." I run my finger along the indents of his muscles, "as for what we do now, they're going to try and learn about you. Your family. Everything dearest to you. This is one of the most dangerous places you could be in."

He runs his lips along my neck, "the whole world could be against me, and I still wouldn't care as long as you're beside me," he mumbles against my skin. I giggle, my nerves tingling with the touch. 

"Yeah but you have a career to focus on." I try to focus on the things I could say, the things I want to say but his hand travels along my skin, exploring. He thumbs one of my nipples and I gasp. "What if I need to go back to save you?" I blurt out. He pauses, his hands settling down on my hips. 

"I'd tell you I'm not worth that kind of trouble," he replies. I rub his shoulders, tears threatening to fall again. 

"You are. I really care about you and I genuinely don't want to find you dead one day," I whisper, he kisses my forehead. "I'll hold off for a bit, see if they make any further threats before considering going back to them."

"Okay. Thank you Jas."

He kisses my forehead, but I can't push away the gut feeling telling me that this won't be the end.