Off-Ice Collision: A Grumpy Sunshine Romance (Wyncote Wolves Book 8), page 1
OFF-ICE COLLISION
WYNCOTE WOLVES
BOOK EIGHT
CALI MELLE
Copyright © 2023 by Cali Melle
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to any person, living or dead, or any events or occurrences is purely coincidental. The characters and story lines are created purely by the author’s imagination and are used fictitiously.
Cover Designer: Cat Imb, TRC Designs
Editor: Rumi Khan
CONTENTS
Prologue
1. Vaughn
2. London
3. Vaughn
4. London
5. Vaughn
6. London
7. Vaughn
8. London
9. Vaughn
10. London
11. Vaughn
12. London
13. Vaughn
14. London
15. Vaughn
16. London
17. Vaughn
18. London
19. Vaughn
20. London
21. Vaughn
22. London
23. Vaughn
24. London
25. Vaughn
26. London
27. Vaughn
28. London
29. Vaughn
30. London
31. London
32. Vaughn
33. London
Epilogue
The Ending of the Wyncote Wolves
Acknowledgments
Also by Cali Melle
About the Author
To all the broken souls…
I see you.
You’re not alone.
PROLOGUE
VAUGHN
The coldness radiates off the ice and it seeps through my socks as my skates effortlessly glide across the smooth surface. It’s the first period and we’re out on fresh ice with the start of the game. Usually August Whitley would be the starting center, but our coach has started alternating between the two of us.
Since I’m a freshman at Wyncote University, I don’t get as much ice time as the seniors on our team do, but our coach knows that I need to be out there too. I’ve been looked at by scouts since I was in high school and if everything goes accordingly, I’ll be playing on a professional level next season.
College won’t even matter then, not that it did from the start. I only came here for the hockey program Wyncote has and the fact that it’s one of the biggest hockey colleges. I declared my major as some bullshit business degree because in the end, it didn’t really matter.
I was going to be playing professional hockey, so my college degree meant nothing.
It’s time for the puck drop and I slide across the ice, stopping as I reach the center ring. The opposing center player is already crouched down and in the correct stance for the face-off. The rest of their team are already in their zones. I glance around, noting Sterling Barrett and Hayden King as they fall into place.
My eyes meet the other center’s, Number 18, as I crouch down in front of him. Both of our sticks are in our hands and anticipation builds in the air as we wait for the ref to drop the puck. Time is suspended momentarily before I watch the black frozen piece of rubber begin to fall down between the two of us.
We battle over the puck, both of our sticks slapping at one another’s as we’re lost in a power struggle. One of us is going to win the face-off and I’m not going to be the one who skates away without one of my teammates having the puck. Using the toe of my skate, I lift up his stick, just quick enough for me to get the puck away from him before passing it back to Hayden.
I move out of the way, watching as Hayden takes the puck and begins to circle around. He starts to move in the direction of the opposing team's net. Sterling and I both begin to skate ahead of him, each of us taking opposite sides of the rink. Hayden passes the puck to Sterling and he doesn’t miss a beat as he begins to stickhandle it, skating across the slick surface.
Hayden falls back, hanging back in the defensive zone as Sterling and I both continue to skate closer to the net. Sterling and I make eye contact and he sends the puck to me as another player approaches him. I’m already ahead of him and closer to the net. The muscles in my legs work harder as I skate faster, picking up speed with every stride I take.
The net is practically wide open with just the goaltender occupying the space in front of it. He’s already dropped into a stance as he sees me charging at him. He’s anticipating my next move and I know I need to fake him out.
Suddenly, one of the defensive players on their team enters my field of vision. I thought he was already preoccupied by someone else, but now he’s directly in my way. Stickhandling the puck, I move it around as I attempt to confuse him on which way I’m going to skate around him. His bright yellow jersey sticks out and the number 8 is on the front.
I make a move like I’m going to the right and I watch as he begins to shift his weight before I switch to the left. Number 8 matches my movements and he’s quicker than I expected. Instead of attempting to take the puck from me, he slides his skate out to try and trip me. As he makes the move, he braces himself, and I don’t even see it coming as my knee collides directly into his.
It’s almost as if the entire thing happens in slow motion but I had no time to anticipate any of it. A searing pain erupts in my knee, tearing through my leg like wildfire. All movement ceases with that leg and it’s essentially useless. I can’t hold myself up and I crumble onto the ice, unable to bear any weight on my leg.
I fall onto my side with my injured left leg propped on top of my right leg. The bottom half of my leg feels like it is completely detached from the top, yet I can feel every goddamn nerve ending on fire from the pain. Tears well in my eyes and I blink rapidly, attempting to hold them back as my jaw clenches.
My surroundings begin to fade and the blackness grows around the perimeter of my vision. Planting my gloved hands on the ice, I attempt to lift myself back onto my feet, but as soon as my left skate touches the slick surface, pain slices through me. It radiates throughout my entire leg and I’m left breathless as I collapse back onto the ice.
“Shit,” Hayden growls when he and Sterling are both crouched down and in my face. “We gotta get you back to see the doc, bro.”
Words fail me. I have nothing to say. Judging by the pain and the way that my leg feels, this is all over. Within the blink of a fucking eye, my future is ruined.
“Just leave me here,” I mumble, attempting to push the two of them away. I’d rather die than never be able to play again.
“Come on, man,” Sterling says as the two of them begin to slide their arms under me to lift me up. “We’re not leaving you here. Can you bear any weight?”
Swallowing roughly, I shake my head. I don’t know which hurts worse, the physical pain from my injury or the pain that licks at my heart right now. Hayden’s jaw clenches and there’s a solemnness to both his and Sterling’s expressions. They hoist me up and I wrap my arms around the backs of their necks as they both take their positions on opposite sides of me.
They both slip their arms underneath my knees as they attempt to carry me off the ice. As Sterling puts pressure on the underside of my knee, the pain tears through my body and the intensity is too much. I yell out but my voice is quickly drowned out as everything around me goes black.
I wake up in a haste, drenched in my own sweat. My heart pounds erratically in my chest, rattling against my rib cage. It feels like the wind has been knocked out of me and I struggle to take in a deep breath. Sitting upright, I glance around the room, noticing that I’m in my bed at my parents’ house.
My left knee throbs and I throw off the blanket as I glance down, hoping that it was all just a nightmare. The moonlight that shines through the window casts itself across my leg, revealing the angry, ugly scars on my leg. This—this is the real fucking nightmare.
It’s been two years since my injury.
Two years since I last played ice hockey.
Two years since my life was forever changed.
And no matter how hard I try, it replays in my mind every goddamn night. It’s almost as if the universe hasn’t gotten enough pleasure from taking the one thing that mattered the most away from me. No. Instead, I have to be punished every time I close my eyes to fall asleep.
It’s always the same dream. Step for step, the memory that is forever etched into my mind of the one day that ended my hockey career. I was literally just getting started; I hadn't even transitioned into the professional level yet and it was all ripped away from me before I had the chance to fully taste it.
Collapsing onto my back, I attempt to steady my heart and regulate my breathing. I’m afraid to close my eyes again and instead, I lie there, staring up at the ceiling until the sky is changing colors. First comes the deep blue, which then shifts into a pinkish orange tone as the sun is beginning to fully crest the horizon.
I don’t bother moving when I hear everyone beginning to move around the massive house. My parents were gracious enough to let me come back to live with them after the
That was an injury I could have potentially recovered from. It’s not uncommon in sports, and I know people who have torn their ACLs before and continued to play. It was the severity of mine that was the real kicker. The muscles in my left thigh were fucked up from the force of the blow to my leg and there were splinter fractures in my femur. There was also damage done to the joint.
My leg was fucking ruined. It was a long road to recovery with the different surgeries I had to undergo. Not to mention the months of physical therapy afterward. I’m still not one hundred percent, and I never will be. There’s a lingering pain that decides to visit me on occasion. I walk with a slight limp now.
And you want to know what the motherfucker who did this to me got?
A goddamn two-minute penalty and a sprained knee.
CHAPTER ONE
VAUGHN
“Vaughn, honey.” My mother’s soft voice comes from the other side of my door as she lightly knocks on the wooden surface. “Are you awake?”
Part of me wants to ignore her and tell her to go away. I’ve put up such a wall and caused such a divide with most people in my life. My mother is the one who has stuck by my side, despite my negative attitude. She was the one who hauled my ass around to all of my appointments and she’s the one who was by my side through every surgery I had.
A sigh slips from my lips as I don’t bother moving from the bed. “Yeah, the door’s unlocked.”
The knob slowly turns and my mother lets herself in before closing the door behind her. She’s been through a lot over the past two years and I feel guilty for that. I’m the one to blame for it all and I’ve transformed into a completely different person.
I don’t miss the sadness in her eyes as our gazes collide. She lightly taps my legs and I move them over as she sits down on the edge of my bed.
“I thought maybe you would come down for breakfast this morning. Your father and I wanted to talk to you.”
I shrug. “Wasn’t hungry.”
A frown pulls on her lips and I feel like shit. I drifted into such a dark mental space after I got hurt that I don’t even know who I am anymore. And I know when she talks to me, it has to feel like she’s speaking to a complete stranger.
“Your father and I were talking and we think that it’s time for you to make some changes in your life, Vaughn.” Her voice is soft and gentle. It reminds me of when she used to read me bedtime stories as a child. The sound of her voice used to lull me to sleep. “It’s been two years. You dropped out of college and you’ve secluded yourself to your room. You can’t keep living like this, and all we’ve been doing is enabling you.”
My eyes slice to hers. “Do you think this is how I want to be living my life? Do you really think this is the life I imagined I would have?”
“Absolutely not,” she retorts, shaking her head at me. “But this is what it is now. Only you have the power to change it. The world is your oyster. You can do or be anything you want.”
I snort at her ignorant optimism. “Except play hockey.”
A wave of pain washes over her expression. “You’re right, but there’s so many other things that you could do instead.”
Pulling my body up the bed, I sit in an upright position and rest my back against the headboard. The muscles in my thigh throb from the movement, but I ignore the pain. “Like what?”
“Your father needs someone to run the shop at the lake…” Her voice trails off as she pauses for a moment, her crystal blue eyes staring back into mine. “We were thinking maybe you would go stay at the lake house for the summer and manage it for him.”
Groaning inwardly, I let my head fall back against the headboard in a dramatic fashion. I haven’t been back to our family home on Stillwater Lake since my senior year of high school. The last thing I want to do is spend my summer renting out boats and smelling like fish after selling bait all day.
“It would be good for you, Vaughn,” my mother insists, and I’m sure she can tell by my expression that it’s not what I want to do. “You’ve been in a dark, depressed place for far too long. We just want what is best for you.”
I hate when she does this to me. My parents have been nothing but patient and understanding for the past two years while I’ve been going through my own shit. As much as I don’t want to agree to it, it’s the least I can do to show my gratitude. And maybe she’s right. Maybe a change of scenery will help me… although I highly doubt it.
“Okay,” I tell her as I lift my head back up and meet her gaze.
Her eyes bounce back and forth between mine as they light up with hope. “You’ll go?”
I shrug with indifference. “It’s not like I have any other plans.”
“Your father will be so happy to hear this,” my mother tells me with a touch of excitement in her tone. “Thank you for doing this, Vaughn. I really do think it will be good for you.”
I fall silent and nod as I watch her rise from my bed. She stops at the door, turning back to look at me with the biggest smile that I’ve seen on her face in the past two years. She disappears through the doorway, pulling it closed behind her as she slips out into the hallway.
She thinks this move will be good for me.
I can only hope she’s right.
The next morning, I’m shoving my suitcase into the trunk of my car as my parents both step out into the garage. Pulling the hatch down, I slam it shut before turning to face them. They’re both wearing the most genuine smiles on their faces and it makes me even more annoyed with myself. I did this to them. I caused the strain in everyone’s goddamn lives. My own two brothers don’t even really talk to me anymore because of the asshole I’ve turned into.
“Mr. Martin will be expecting you at the shop tomorrow,” my father tells me as he hands me the keys to the house. “He’ll be working the weekend shifts and then Miss Nancy works in the evenings during the week. You’ll just have to cover the day shifts during the week.”
I nod, taking the keys from him before I slip them into the front pocket of my shorts. “And Mr. Martin is okay with working the weekend shift?”
“He wanted to be done completely but then when Danielle quit, he knew we were coming up on a busy season and would need the help,” my father explains, his face looking a little surprised that I’m even asking. I’ve kept my distance from him because I can’t help but feel like a goddamn disappointment in his eyes.
I’m a disappointment to everyone.
“We’ll be down this weekend,” my mother adds in. Stillwater Lake is a little under two hours away from our house and my parents go there periodically throughout the summer. There’s no doubt in my mind that she’s making it a point to come this weekend to check in on me.
She steps toward me, pulling me in for a hug before she kisses my cheek. “Thank you for doing this, Vaughn. I’m really proud of you.”
I swallow roughly over the lump lodged in my throat. My mother takes a step back, flashing her bright white teeth at me as my father shakes my hand like we just ended a formal business meeting or something. That’s Flynn Carter for you.
“Take care of things at Stillwater. We’re trusting you with all of this.”
I nod, feeling the weight of his words as they rest upon my shoulders. “I will.”
I don’t bother assuring him that I won’t let him down. History has proven that I’m actually really good at doing that. So, if I fuck this up, it wouldn’t be much of a surprise.
