June 25

Loon Call Island, Lake Rosseau, Muskoka

"I'll catch you later, Elle. Don't wait up for me tonight, I'll swing by tomorrow around nine so we can head to Ry's together in the morning."

I don't miss the disappointment that flashes across her face. I feel like an ass, but I'm still raw over the picture of her and Hud. I'm mostly pissed at myself, well, and Chiara. Elle wouldn't be a target of the original mean girl if it weren't for me.

"Oh, okay. I'll see you tomorrow, then."

I grab her wrist as she steps past me in the boat, pulling her into my arms for a quick hard kiss. I boost her out of the boat and pull away before her eyes convince me to stay.

I speed up quickly, angling towards home before turning back when I know she's out of sight so I can zip back across to Hud's place.

Pulling up to his dock, I tie off and wander up the hill from the boathouse. The two larger boats are gone, so I know he's home alone.

I turn the corner around the large blue boathouse, climbing the stairs up to the deck, taking two at a time. My bare feet slap quietly against the wood. I look around, past the hot tub and patio furniture. I guess he's out back by his bunkie.

Sure enough, he's flopped on the hammock, between the two large pine trees outside his cabin. His baseball cap is tipped over his eyes, and he's wearing only a pair of shorts.

I nudge his hip with my foot, sending the hammock swinging wildly.

He bolts upright, sending the hammock careening precariously. "What the—" His shocked expression fades when he sees me.

I snicker at the gaping look of surprise on his face.

"Seriously, Grey? What's your deal?"

"Need to talk. Got a beer?"

"Yeah, sure. Scare the living shit out of me, then ask for my beer. Makes sense." His tone is annoyed, rough from sleep.

But he rolls off the swing, stalking to his cabin and the mini fridge I know he keeps stocked. I don't follow him.

When he walks back out, he tosses me a can and I snag it out of the air before dropping into the large Adirondack chair overlooking the water.

I flip my phone open, pull up the message from Chiara and toss the device at him.

He snags it, with only a brief fumble as he pulls a t-shirt over his head before sitting in the chair next to me and glancing down at the phone.

"Shit, Grey. I can explain this." He takes a deep pull of the beer before shifting in his seat to face me.

"Don't worry, Elle already did. I want to know why this even happened in the first place?" I look towards the water, sipping the cool, fresh beer. Waiting.

"It's just a game, Grey. Come on, lighten up." I grind my teeth as he sips his beer again.

Lighten up? Doesn't he know what can happen if you aren't vigilant? "What were you thinking Hud? Letting her get pulled into that circle? Elle said she couldn't say no, she was too stressed to back down in front of the girls. But why didn't you?" My frustration and anger sharpen my voice.

"Cut her a break, man. She'll figure it out, I've got her back. I know I should have taken her out of there when she asked to leave." Hud shrugs, driving me to the edge of my control.

I push up from my chair and turn to face him. "What the fuck do you mean when she asked to leave? She asked to leave when the game started and you ignored it?"

"I never thought they'd call her name. I didn't know Queen B had a hard-on for her. What's the big deal Grey? It's a party game, people play them in high school, hell they probably play them forever." Hud's voice is impatient, pushy, and it gets on my last nerve.

"They're not always just games, Hud. Or don't you remember what happened to Tess?"

I glare at Hud, angry that he might have forgotten, angry that Elle might have been in a similar position and he did nothing to stop it.

His face changes immediately, a sheepish look of remorse and guilt flash across his tanned features.

"Of course I haven't forgotten. It's different, though, I was with her, we were in public. I would never let anything happen to her. But she has to figure these things out for herself too. We aren't doing her any favors by bubble wrapping her." His voice is quiet, insistent. "She's my best friend, Grey. I will never ever let anything hurt her if I can prevent it."

"What happens if you're not there, Hud? If I'm not, if Theo isn't? What would happen then?" The thought makes me sick. I blink back the rage I feel when I think too much about her being pressured by anyone. "This world will probably eat her alive, Hud. You know that, she's so soft and good. She's never known anything outside of her bubble. You can't just pop it and send her out. Sure, we contributed to that, but so do our parents, so do her parents."

"Fuck off, Grey. First, be realistic. Where is she going without at least one of us? Plus, she's not a porcelain doll. You can't protect her forever. I mean come on, you hurt her worst of all last year, and she didn't even say anything to us about it. Talk about pressure."

I shove Hud, hard, knocking him back a few steps. "I walked away for her own good. I thought I'd ruin her, hell I might still."

"Oh yeah? What fucking changed? You stayed away from her for almost a year, and what? Now you're back? You're fixed? In control? It's convenient for you to be with her now? You're such a fucking hypocrite."

"I spend every Goddamn minute thinking of all the ways I could hurt her and trying to avoid them." I'm shouting at him now, but I don't care.

Hud shoves me back this time. "If you're so worried about hurting her, then you shouldn't be with her. You shouldn't have to work so hard not to hurt people."

"I tried to stay away, but I can't. She's like the fucking sun to me, all I can do is revolve around her, drawn to her, every second of every day."

"Jesus, Grey." His hands scrub over his face for a moment before he shakes his head at me. "She needs room to breathe, to try, to fail, to live. What happens when we all go to college and she finds herself in a new group of friends? It's exactly because she's too sheltered with us, that she needs to experience more, while we're here, just in case. But she needs to learn to open up, to let go. Don't suffocate her."

"The thought of her being pressured, pushed or hurt makes me sick, Hud. Literally sick. It makes me crazy." I drag my hands through my hair. I can't even tell if I'm being rational anymore.

"Look, man, you weren't around last year, you haven't met the girls she's actually friends with. They're great. They're good for her too. She's never had girlfriends like these, it was different with Tess and Steph, they were that much older. Vi is nuts, in the best way. She pushes Elle. So does Mads, in her own way, she can be wild though. Jules is more like Elle, quiet, reserved." Hud bumps my shoulder with his fist.

"All I'm saying, Grey is just don't smother her, you'll see. You weren't there to see it, but she was coming out of her shell. If you back off just a bit, I think you'll see it too. You can't pretend the year didn't happen just because you fucked off. She's not the same girl you walked away from, so don't treat her like she is."

He's right, I have already seen it. In the way she expresses herself to me, the way she dealt with her nerves about us head on, even if it had nearly given me a heart attack, I can see the changes. It's only been a few weeks though, hardly enough time to break a lifetime of habits. For either of us.

"Sixteen years of looking out for her, is all I know, Hud. She's in my blood at this point. Even last year, I always looked out for her, she just didn't know it."

Hud snorts. "Yeah, that was real subtle Grey." I raise my eyebrow at Hud, there is no way he knows what I did.

The look in his eyes says otherwise, though. "I know you told the guys at Landon and Regan not to go near her last year, that they'd have to go through you. Elle Montgomery is strictly off limits, and they were to pass the message along to anyone sniffing around her. I won't rat you out, Grey. But only because it wouldn't have mattered with Theo looking over her shoulder, because she didn't want to put herself out there. But you had no right to do that. Brodie, you, Theo, you all need to back off. It's no wonder she's sheltered, the three of you barely leave any room for the light to shine through when you crowd around her."

I can't believe he's saying this. "You always look out for her too, don't pretend this is all on us."

"You can't see the difference. I try to look out for her by catching her when she falls, not stopping her from falling. I'll help her pick up the pieces so she can put them back together. I'm not about to slap on the glue and pop them back into place myself. I don't always get it right, but I try. It's why I'm her best friend, not you idiots."

I know he has a point, but thinking about stepping aside, letting Elle fall, even metaphorically speaking, goes against every fiber of my being.

"I know you love her, Grey."

My head snaps back to meet his gaze. "You what?"

His laughter sets my teeth on edge, and he shakes his head at me. "Calm down man, we all love her. I didn't mean anything other than that, not right now at least, although that's a whole other can of worms. I just mean, I know you love her, like we all do, but you're the one dating her, so you have to find the balance. If you can't then you have to walk away until you can."

"I can't walk away from her, not now. Maybe never, Hud.

"I don't want to be the guy who says this, but someone has to. Believe me, I'm not saying it to be cruel. I love you both, but I love her more, that's just how it is, so I have to say something."

Hud's hands clamp down on both my shoulders and I try to shrug him off, but he holds tight.

"You're going to college in a year. Unless you figure your shit out, you might walk away from her whether or not you want to. You have hockey to consider, the scholarships, you probably even have a chance to go pro. We're young and have no clue where the next years will take us, be careful you don't make promises you can't keep, even if you want to keep them. I'm asking you to be careful, Grey. You don't even know the power you have over her. If you break her heart, I'll be the one helping her pick up the pieces, only I don't know if she'll manage to put it all back together into one whole piece after that."

I'm not the guy who thinks ahead, I'm the in the moment guy. Right now, in the moment feels good with Elle. I'm not ready to complicate things by looking more than a year down the road.

"Do you have any more beer?"

"Yeah, I've got lots more. We getting drunk?"

"Yeah, we're getting drunk."

I slap Hud's shoulder as he walks by, and just like that we're done with the difficult topics, shifting gears back to friendlier territory, the familiarity of old friends and teammates easing back around us just like the red glow of the warm sunset.

- - - 

What do you guys think? I'm trying to work more dialogue into the chapters, rather than relying on internal thought and description. 

What do you think of the dynamic between Greyson and Elle? Hudson and Elle? Greyson and Hudson? 

On one level, I love that Greyson wants to protect Elle, but at what cost to her? I also love that Hudson knows he's her own person, who doesn't need protection, only support, encouragement.

If you like the chapter, please consider voting! <3

Xx Toria