The Ice Alpha’s Mate (Aria and Ryder) novel Chapter 81

Chapter 81

RYDER

Practice goes terribly.

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Everyone’s looking at me like I’ve suddenly grown two heads or something. The silence in the rink has never been louder and I have to admit that I do feel shitty about all this.

I’ve disappointed them after a period of experiencing so many highs that I forgot what lows were like.

“Could be better,” Coach comments from the other side of the rink. “Could be way better, Drexel. You’re forgetting what day it is today?”

The truth is that I almost did. I almost want to yell back that his niece is the reason why I’m in this state, but in reality, it’s far more disturbing than that.

I haven’t had a chance to talk to the guys yet. I need to find out exactly what the fuck happened. Exactly what happened. They were there with me so they have to know, right?

Someone had to have seen what happened Friday night that’s making Aria treat me like I’m the biggest scumbag on the planet.

The fact that I can’t remember anything makes me extremely warried. It could be anything.

Literally anything.

Coach Murdock calls me aside while everyone else heads to the locker room to shower and change. He waits for it just to be the two of us, and he’s looking at me so intently that I briefly wonder if this talk we’re about to have has anything to do with Aria.

It doesn’t. It’s just about my shitty performance.

“Drexel,” he begins, “I’m going to have to remind you that the whole pack is counting on you. I can see that your head isn’t in the right place, and you’re distracted by something, but you’ve got to pull it together before the game tomorrow night. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Coach.”

He stares at me for a few beats longer. “What is it? Is it the pressure getting to you?”

“No, sir.”

“What, then?”

“Just some personal issues.”

“Well, then, get it together,” he warns. “Before the game, preferably. If you lose, the Alpha will have my ass. Are we understood?”

He’ll probably have mine, too, but I don’t tell him that.

“I should also warn you about having a little too much fun, if you know what I mean.”

I frown. “I don’t.”

“I heard what happened, Drexel. Don’t bother lying to me. No drinking before the game. I thought you knew better than to do that. This whole team looks up to you. This is important. I understand that you’re young and you want to have fun. The

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09:57 Mon, Mar 2

Chapter 81

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pressure probably gets to you. But drinking isn’t going to solve any of your problems, Drexel. They’ll only make them worse. If you don’t perform how you’re expected to, then there’s no pot to any of this?”

I tense. “Who told you that, Coach? About my drinking?”

I don’t know what it is about my question, but his eyes harden and he looks upset all of a sudden. “Don’t worry about that. Worry about how you’re going to win the game tomorrow. The other packs have already started arriving. This is serious. It isn’t something we can just put off for another day. We need this win. You need to bring it home. Are we clear?”

After our conversation, I head toward the locker room quickly, glad to find everyone there. I’m fuming at this point. I hate that I’m so helpless because I can’t remember anything.

It’s all so fucked up.

I don’t sugarcoat. I don’t beat around the bush. “What happened on Friday?”

I watch them for their reactions and they all tense up. I then exchange a look with Zach, and keep staring at him until he tells me what the fuck I want to hear.

“I don’t know how to explain it.”

“Try.”

He looks around at the others, then says, “You started drinking, and then you just seemed to… disappear into your mind or something.”

I frown. “What the hell does that even mean?”

“I told you. I can’t explain it. Nothing happened to you physically. It was just you went quiet and then you walked away and we didn’t see you again. I thought you wanted to leave or something.”

“Where did I go?”

“I don’t know. I was too busy having fun.”

Nobody else tries to give me an answer, and I have to admit that find this strange. Really strange.

I’m not even sure of I’m buying Zach’s answer.

But it becomes clear to me that they’re not going to say anything else, so I do what I have to do, then leave the locker room. By the time I step out of the shower, everyone’s gone.

I find this even more suspicious, but there’s nothing I can do about it. If they don’t want to give me answers, I can’t force

anyone.

But what I can do is try to figure things out on my own.

My plan is to go to that bar and figure out exactly what the fuck happened. I can’t live not knowing. I know now that whatever happened was bad enough for Aria to hate me.

I hate that I can’t remember. I was irresponsible.

But something still doesn’t add up. Why wouldn’t I remember anything? I find that too suspicious. Something must have happened.

I won’t even mention how they let me go and didn’t even try to stop me even though I was clearly out of it. Whereas I was there to make sure nobody did anything stupid.

Such is the extent of their friendship. Then again, I always expected something like this from them.

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09:57 Mon, Mar 2

Chapter 81

They’re probably eager to sabotage me.

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I push all these self-deprecating thoughts out of my mind as I ge in my car. My anger is building slowly. Like one brick being placed on top of another. I slam my car’s door and drive downtown.

I’m going to get to the bottom of this. Today. I’m not leaving tha place until I find out what the hell happened.

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