Deals With The Devil's Spawn

The first thing you protect is your balls

Pulling a few bills out of my pocket, I watched the two morons on the ice going at each other. “Jude. He's pissed off, which means he won't hold back.”

“Your funeral, dude. Braxton is twice his size,” Cade replied, taking the fifty-dollar bill I handed him.

Turning back to Jude and Braxton, who'd managed to pull themselves off the ice, I shook my head as they stumbled around, swinging their arms at each other. Their skates slid on the sleek ice, slowly moving them to the center of the rink, where most of the skaters now stood around, watching them.

“Aren't you guys going to stop them?” one of the forwards on Cade's team skated up to us, giving us a puzzled look and glancing over at Jude and Braxton, who had somehow managed to stumble back onto the ice delivering blow after blow at each other.

“In a minute,” I replied, before turning to Cade. “Next punch wins the pot.”

“That's fine,” he answered, his eyes on the fight, before shifting towards me, his face set in a scowl when Jude delivered the next hit straight to Brax's head. Handing me back my cash and his fifty, he shook his head with annoyance.

“Um, are you guys gonna stop them or...” the forward, whose name I just couldn't remember, spoke up when we made no move to stop the fight.

I turned to Cade, and we both sighed with disappointment. “Yeah, okay, fine.” Skating over towards the two idiots, I reached down and pulled Jude off of Braxton while Cade pulled Braxton off the ice.

“Alright, break it up. As much as we enjoy watching you two girls scratch out each other's eyes, we've got a game next week,” Cade said as he pushed Braxton to the side, moving him out of Jude's way. “Becky, you good?”

“Becky's fine,” I answered for Jude with a smirk, holding on to the neck of his jersey. “Amber?”

“Fuck off, Brady,” Braxton muttered with a glare, wiping the back of his hand over his lip, and readjusting his helmet.

“Oh, feisty. Down girl,” Cade mocked with a laugh and I smirked, letting out a low laugh, making Braxton glare and push Cade's shoulder. “Okay, then, let's play some hockey.”

The rest of practice went mostly uneventful, with just a few yelling matches and small fights. Once Cade's team had won by a point, we'd called it quits, each skater heading to the showers. After showering and changing into jeans, a blue and gray henley, I pulled on my boots and let Cade, who was just exiting the showers, know that I would wait for him outside.

I was heading towards my truck, gym bag slung over my shoulder when I spotted none other than Porter Mathews sitting on a bench near the parking lot. She was hunched over a textbook, earphones in her ears, her head bobbing up and down. Making my way over towards her, I stood in front of her, blocking the sun. Her head snapped up, her eyes widening when they fell on me.

She pulled the earphones out slowly, her lips parting, and her eyes glancing around skittishly, before settling back on me. “Um, hey.”

“What are you doing here this late?” I asked her, and she shifted nervously before glancing around again, probably making sure none of the other players would walk out and see me talking to her. I had no idea why she actually cared so much.

“Um, I'm waiting for the bus... The second one, I mean,” she mumbled, nibbling on her bottom lip.

“Missed the first one?” I guessed, a smile tugging at my lips; the girl was one of the most amusing human beings I'd ever met. I was used to people acting a certain way around me, but Porter, unbeknownst to her, broke every single rule, and it threw me for a loop. When she nodded with a resigned sigh, I smirked. “Come on, Porter, I'm giving you a ride home. That bus is going to be filled with hockey players high on adrenaline.”

Her eyes widened comically, cutting towards the entrance of the school, a terrified look in them. She glanced back at me, her face going blank. “Um it's fine, I've handled worse.”

“I'm sure you have, but I'm still giving you a ride home,” I told her, putting an end to the conversation. She opened her mouth to argue, stopping abruptly when her eyes fell on something behind me. Turning around, I spotted Cade making his way towards us.

“Mom called, Riles needs a new stick,” he informed me and I nodded. It wasn't a surprise that Riley needed a new stick a week after we'd bought her two new ones. The kid went through hockey sticks like my dad went through bacon, in a matter of days. Riley like both Cade and I, had immediately taken to hockey, preferring the more rowdy sport over tennis, like Macy had chosen. “Oh hey, Porter. Damn it, no coffee? He just took a shower, perfect chance and you missed it.”

Slapping him across the head, I flipped him off when he glared.

“Hey, Cade, no not today, fortunately for him... Not that I purposely spill coffee on him, I mean that is purely coincidental. I promise. Except for that one time,” my eyes widened in surprise, making her realize what she'd just admitted, “oh no, I've said too much.” She slapped a hand over her mouth, almost as if she was trying to stop herself from talking.

“I love her.” I watched her give Caden an embarrassed look, her cheeks growing red. “What are you doing here, anyways?”

“Um, I'm waiting for the bus,” she mumbled.

“You mean the same bus those idiots are getting on?” Cade asked her, nodding his head in the direction of some jocks exiting the school. She followed his gaze and gulped. “Yeah, I don't think that's a good idea. Brady, learn some fucking manners, why the fuck didn't you offer her a ride?”

I turned to him with a blank look. “I did, ass hat.”

“Yeah, I'm sure you did, dick. Come on, Porter, we're taking you home,” he replied and offered her a hand. Scowling, I fought the urge to slap his hand away. Well...that's new. Shaking my head I made my way across the parking lot towards my parked truck, both of them following behind me.