Love, Hate and Hockey Skates

Twenty-Six

I said my goodbyes to Ace in the hospital, as hard as it was to part with him. My father was lurking outside my hospital door the minute I was discharged, there was no escaping this. If I disobeyed him and went with Ace, he would surely send guys after him and in his current condition, there was no way he could fend them off.

He would be killed. That blood would be on my hands.

I couldn't live with myself if that happened. I'd rather go back to the life I've lived than drag him down with me. I was grown now; I could handle it and escape the first moment I got. Maybe now someone would believe me, but that was wishful thinking.

"You ready to go?" my father asked.

"I need to grab my things from the house first."

He shook his head. "I'm not giving you the chance to escape."

"You can wait outside; I just need to grab my clothes and personal belongings."

He grumbled but finally agreed and drove me back to the frat house. I was trying to think of ways to get myself out of this, but for right now I couldn't think of a way that didn't involve everyone else.

Chase was waiting for me the moment I entered the front door, and he didn't look happy.

"Your Dad is Mickey Thatcher, did you know that?"

"Yeah, so what?"

He shook his head and laughed. "No, I mean he is the Mickey Thatcher, he is a poker genius. Why did you not tell us?"

"What is there to tell? My father is a drunk, gambling addict. He was far from the perfect father, despite what you saw on screen. That's why I never said anything, now move, I need to get my things."

I tried to push past him but he stopped me.

"Wait, where are you going? Ace is still in the hospital."

"None of your business, I'm leaving here. Tell Ace I'm sorry." I pushed past him this time and raced upstairs, but Chase followed me.

"You're seriously going to leave him when he needs you most?"

"This is beyond your control, Chase, and mine."

He scoffed. "What does that even mean? At least tell me where you're going."

"The less you know, the better. If you know so much about my father, then you know he hasn't always played with the best of players."

"Isla, you aren't making any sense."

I had begun to ignore him at this point and continued throwing whatever I could get my hands on into a duffel bag.

"Tell Ace I'm sorry for everything, but this is for his own good," I said and walked out of the room.

"Tell him yourself!" Chase called back, but I didn't hesitate on the stairs and ran out the door, tears streaming down my face.

"Get in the car, now," my father said gruffly and shoved me into the side of the car. "I hope you said your goodbyes, you won't be seeing these guys ever again."

"You better pray none of them come after you, asshole."

He just laughed out loud, both of us knowing that was an impossible option.

~*~

Ace Huxley

It had been a week in the hospital and Isla hadn't come to visit me once. I tried calling and messaging her, but the number was blocked. No one in the group chat was responding to me and it was the day of my discharge.

What the fuck was going on? I was starting to panic and wonder if something happened to her. Or worse – she blamed me for this. Whatever happened to her, I needed to know. Did they go through with it? Was she injured? Traumatized?

"Someone just tell me what happened to Isla?" I burst into the frat house and screamed. "Why isn't anyone telling me jackshit?"

"Because we don't know what happened!" Charles yelled. "Go ask Chase, he was the only one who was home when she returned."

I marched up to his room and kicked in the door. "Where is she?"

"She left with her father," he said without missing a beat.

I felt my hands begin to shake and I socked a punch on his jaw.

"Ow, what the hell man?"

"Why the fuck did you let her leave with him? You idiot!"

Chase cowered below me. "Why not? It's her father."

"A father that beats her into submission and is probably locking her up and beating her as we speak! Now, tell me where they went?" I screamed.

Everyone in the house was now crowded outside the door, wondering what was going on with their captain.

"I don't know, man, she wouldn't tell me anything! I tried to get her to talk but she said the less I knew, the better. I didn't know what it meant, I'm sorry! The only thing she said was to tell you she was sorry for everything."

I wanted to punch him again so badly, I needed to release this anger, but it wasn't his fault. Knowing him, he did try to get her to stay and here I was attacking him for it. Her father was the one I needed to release this anger on.

And by damn was I going to.

I reached out a hand to help Chase up and gave him a pat on the back.

"I'm sorry, I lost control. I didn't mean to," I said.

Chase nodded his head, and we shook it off, just like we always did.

"So, what are we going to do now?" he asked.

"What do you mean 'we'? I'm not getting you guys messed up in this." I shook my head and tried to walk out of the room, but Charles, Chase and the others stopped me.

"You aren't doing this alone. We love Isla and we want her back just as much, she really fits into the group here. So, we aren't letting you do this alone," Chase said.

They all stood their ground.

"Well, I guess we're going to get her back then."