Hands Off The Ice King novel Chapter 74

Chapter 74

Hope’s POV

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It felt like a joke coming from his mouth. I really shouldn’t have gotten into his car after all. I shouldn’t have expected that he would give me a proper explanation.

“Open the car,” I said, refusing to look at him again.

I felt his gaze burning into the side of my face.

“Hope. Did you not hear what I said?” he asked.

“I heard you loud and clear, Connor. That’s the worst part.” I turned toward him with a cold look. “Now let me out of the

car.”

I reached for the handle and tried to open the door, but the lock clicked again.

I let out a frustrated sigh and glared at him.

“What do you want from me, Connor? I heard your explanation, and I don’t want anything to do with it.”

His jaw tightened. Then, he finally said the words that made my stomach churn.

“I want you back.”

A bitter laugh nearly escaped me. Instead, all it left behind was a bad taste in my mouth.

“Oh, so now that you’ve gotten what you wanted from Delaney, you want to come running back to me?”

I shook my head in disbelief.

“I’m not some kind of option that you can click again just because you’ve already explored another one,”

A slight frown appeared on his face.

“You weren’t like this before.”

“What?”

I scoffed. The sheer audacity of that statement made me laugh..

“I always said yes to you? Is that what you mean?”

My voice rose.

“Yes, because I was fucking stupid back then, Connor. I loved you. I trusted you. I kept giving you chance after chance because I thought you deserved them.”

I pointed at myself.

“But that girl is gone.”

His expression darkened.

“If you think I’m still the same person, then you’re wrong.”

For a moment, silence filled the car.

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Chapter 74

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“I know one thing for a fact. Even after all of this, you’ll still be with Delaney,” I added. “And I won’t stand by that, Connor. Go through with your decision for once in your life and stop relying on other people to fix your problems.”

“Is it because of that?” he asked.

I frowned.

“What?”

“I’m going to break up with her once I secure the spot as first-line center.”

My entire body froze. The spot as first-line center? That position had been reserved for Levi ever since he joined the team.

“What?” I muttered. “How are you even planning to do that?”

A smile slowly spread across his lips. For some reason, that smile sent a chill down my spine.

Suddenly, he grabbed both of my hands. Tightly. Pinning them between his own.

“I have a plan, Hope.”

His eyes gleamed with something unsettling.

“When that plan comes into action and finally bears fruit, I promise I’ll break up with Delaney.”

His grip tightened.

“And then it’ll just be the two of us.”

Disgust crawled through me. I immediately yanked my hands away and shoved him back.

“I don’t know what your future plans are,” I said coldly, “and frankly, I don’t care.”

His smile disappeared.

“I only got in here because I wanted closure. But I guess that’s even too much to ask from you.”

I reached for the lock again.

“Now go ahead and do whatever the hell you want, Connor.”

I looked him directly in the eyes.

“But don’t involve me anymore.”

His expression hardened.

“Is it because of Levi?”

Every word coming out of his mouth only made me more disgusted.

“No,” I spat.

“It’s because of you, Connor.”

The silence that followed was deafening.

“I never should have loved you in the first place.”

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Chapter 74

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For the first time, I saw genuine hurt flash across his face. But strangely enough, I didn’t feel a single ounce of guilt. However, that hurt disappeared and was quickly replaced by anger.

The sudden shift made me instinctively lean back.

“What’s so good about him?” he suddenly exploded.

His voice echoed throughout the car, making me flinch.

“You should know the answer to that,” I muttered.

His brows furrowed.

“What does that mean?”

“You’ve admired him for a long time already.”

Connor let out a harsh laugh.

“Admired?” The word dripped with contempt. “I don’t admire him, Hope.”

His hands tightened around the steering wheel.

“I like what he has.”

I frowned.

“I like the position he’s in. I like how he’s the center of hockey.”

His eyes darkened.

“But I don’t fucking like him.”

The venom in his voice startled me.

“Especially now that I know what he’s really like inside that team.”

I ran my fingers through my hair, frustration building inside me.

“Don’t involve him in this, Connor!”

“How can I not?”

His voice rose again. “It’s obvious you’re infatuated with him.”

I stared at him in disbelief.

“Have you not heard what everyone says about him? They say he’s a clean freak. And I heard he’s a bastard too.”

My body instantly stiffened.

Connor continued speaking before I could stop him.

“The reason he has such a nasty personality and why there’s no information about his family out there is because he’s a

bastard.”

His voice was filled with mockery. “That bastard doesn’t have a normal family, so he grew up abnormal.”

“Connor.”

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Chapter 74

My tone turned sharp. It was a warning.

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He could insult Levi’s personality all he wanted. He could call him difficult, an asshole, or a clean freak. Whatever. But after everything I had learned about Levi’s family and after seeing the way he cared for Zayla, this wasn’t something Levi deserved. None of what happened in his family was his fault.

“Connor,” I warned again—this time, louder.

Still, he kept going.

“I heard he’s never even been in a relationship before because he’s incapable of being in one.””

My hands clenched.

“He’s not good for you, Hope.”

“Connor.”

“And he’s never going to love you the way I do.”

His voice grew crueler. “No. He’s not going to love you at all, Not someone like you.”

Something inside me snapped.

“That’s enough.”

The authority in my voice filled the entire car.

Connor immediately fell silent.

I turned toward him slowly. My glare could have cut through steel. My hand moved toward the lock.

“You’re one to talk, Connor. You’re also not going to give me the kind of love I want.”

I shook my head.

“Because the only person you truly love is yourself.”

For the first time since this conversation began, Connor had nothing to say.

I manually unlocked the door before I pushed it open. Fresh air rushed inside, and I took a deep inhale.

Before I could step out, however, Connor’s voice stopped me.

“You’ll regret this, Hope.”

I closed my eyes.

“You’re mine!”

The words sounded unhinged.

I slowly turned my head-not to look at him but just to hear him clearly. I shook my head in disappointment because Connor was even crazier than I had originally thought.

For years, I had loved this man. And now, sitting here, I barely recognized him. The tears returned, stinging the backs of my eyes. But this time, I refused to let them fall.

I swallowed hard. Connor didn’t deserve my tears.

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Chapter 74

“You’ll come running back to me anyway!”

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