Lust Next Door - S01 E56

4 months ago

Lust Next Door - S01 E56

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 56

"It's not worth it, Connor. We need to focus. What is going on with you?" Josh stared into his face, his gaze dripping in concern as he searched Connor's face for some sort of answer to why he was acting like this.

Connor just felt the sadness broiling the rage inside of him hotter, clouding every sense in his body.

He looked from Josh to the cocky look on Patty's face as he skated back over to his side, "Take defense, I'm moving to the wings." He snapped out aggressively, pushing past Josh.

"What? You just stood there with your thumb up your ass while the bullets scored?! You're moving me to defense?" Josh yelled at him as Connor skated off, his face twisted into a look of pure confusion and concern.

But Connor just ignored him, skating up to the top of the ice, watching Dean get ready to face off against one of the Bullets. He narrowed his eyes on the puck. He wasn't gonna let Patty get over on him. He wasn't gonna let her either. He felt his chest heave with rage. He watched the puck so closely that he thought a hole might burn right through the center of that black disc.

The minute it dropped, Connor fought against every protest in his ragged body and shot across the ice. He tapped his stick on the ice, catching the attention of Dean who managed to win over the puck, and signaled for him to give up possession.

He looked a bit wary but snapped it across the ice to him. Connor caught the puck easily and shot down the right wing, seeing a clear opening as the whole stadium roared with excitement.

He was closing in on the net, the Bullets goalie looking for Connor to the rest of his team as they desperately tried to catch up on him.

Their defense was starting to prepare for him, so Connor nodded to Luca flicking the puck to him. He dribbled it for a minute, avoiding their defense but not moving too much as Connor slid into position. Their goalie and the defense immediately turned on to Luca, focusing on him solely. Once they realized what was happening, it was too late.

Luca snapped the puck back over to Connor, who had a clear opening now. He caught it swiftly and pulled his stick back to make the shot.

The sound of the crowd drowned out all around him. That anger he felt balled up in his chest and spewed out of his body like a spout was stabbed into his heart. Leaving him gutted, hallowed out, with only the sound of his shallow breathing to ring through his whole body, but even that drowned away. The only sound he could really hear was the memory of Serena's incessant cheering in his head. He heard the faraway sound of her screaming his name, like a painful remembrance of the last time she was his. He saw flashes of her all sleepy and sick in his jersey, her wearing his color's across her cheeks, and his body broke down.

His heart lurched forward in his chest, making his hands still for a second too long on his stick. He hesitated. The sounds of the busy arena crashed back down in on him, Patrick swept in front of him and stole the puck out right from in front of him.

"Thanks for keeping it warm!" He called before launching down the ice toward his goal.

Connor was panting like he just ran a marathon, his heart feeling weak as all the blood drained from it, leaving him close to going unconscious. He stared at a spot on the ice and gripped his jersey, desperately trying to steady his breathing. He was doubled over, wincing his eyes closed and trying to shake away the chills of his ghostly pain. His hands felt as if they were going numb when his team hurried down the ice to help with defense.

But it didn't matter. The Bullets already had the edge, and they scored another goal while Connor was still trying to collect himself across the ice.

"Looks like the wolves are using their first time out! This is a very surprising performance tonight. I'll tell you that. I don't think anyone was expecting this!" The sports announcers called, and when Connor looked up, he saw Coach red in the face and waving him off the ice frantically.

He kept his head down and skated over. The second he stepped up to the gate to exit the ice, Coach Stetson was on him.

"What the fuck was that! It's like you're not even on the ice. I feel like I'm watching the ghost of fucking Connor Deluca play! You just coasted us two goals two. We are zero to five in the third quarter now! Thanks to you. You're benched for the game Deluca." He yelled, a lace of concern in the angry man's hues as he went on a rampage.

The scorn of his coach went right through him. He felt sick. Physically and mentally, as he staggered over to the bench. His teammates parted on the bench like he was the plague. He sat down heavily, his head hanging between his shoulders while he stared at the spinning ground.

His coach was right; Connor did feel like a ghost. He felt like an empty husk right now too. His heart was beating, he was breathing, but his mind was somewhere else entirely. It was in Serena's bed, kissing the scars on her heart, tracing the outline of her skin, laughing with her, teasing her till she couldn't think of anything to snap back with. While his heart was torn in two, bleeding in his chest, grappling with the cold reality that she lied to him.

His whole body was a battlefield of loving and hating her, and he didn't even know what side he was on.

He sat there glued to the bench for the rest of that grueling game, watching his team become even more disappointed with him as the minutes ticked by. He couldn't even blame them. He was disappointed in himself. He had lost every good part of him in the span of one night, Serena, and now hockey.

He watched as his team desperately tried to reclaim the game, Josh managed to score once, but the crowd grew solemn as the inevitable end of this night approached. They lost.

And they lost badly. The bitter end to their winning streak.

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The sound of his car's humming engine was the only thing Connor listened to on his way home.

The treeline blurring past him, stars above him blending into streaks of white, and the bruised memories of tonight were the only things he could focus on.

He broke Honey's promise, lost the only girl he ever loved, and let his entire team down.

His knuckles turned white from the grip he held firmly on the stirring wheel, trying to pinpoint exactly where everything went wrong. He knew the answer, and it was the minute he started loving her. He winced his eyes closed for a moment, trying to choke down the burning sensation that threatened to spill tears down his face.

He felt empty; love left him completely empty. It had effectively stripped him of every stable thing he had in his life.

It wasn't worth it thinking about any of this. He knew that. Serena wanted nothing to do with him, and he wasn't sure he wanted anything to do with her. She felt like a catalyst to all this, but blaming her felt impossible. His heart wanted desperately to find loopholes that eradicated the fact she lied to him so that he could storm over to her house, bang on the door, and talk to her until she forgave him.

But she did lie to him, and nothing he said to himself eased that pain. The reality was that he wasn't enough for her to trust him.

He also could barely stomach the fact that he couldn't protect her. He brought the one weapon that could destroy Serena right to her frontlines. He watched it wreck her.

Connor was counting down the seconds till he could have another drink as he pulled into his driveway, wanting nothing more than to numb the crushing waves of pain that were pouring over him.

He mindlessly grabbed his phone and duffle bag, refusing to look over at her house. He was already plagued with all the memories of her. He didn't need any more reminders.

His phone buzzed violently in his hand the whole walk up to his door, no doubt from his team, his family, and news articles about tonight. He didn't have any energy to entertain it.

He walked inside and shut his door. Finally, he just decided to power off his phone when the first notification he saw made him still.

It was from his dad, a news article attached to his text.

Dad: Isn't this the author you love so much?

The headline read.

Author Skylyn Voss has been revealed.

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