Hot Mess

Maya Beckett ~

“Mom,Dad!”

I screamed as I woke up from that very bad nightmare again, instantly looking around my room to make sure my parents’ ashes were still in place.

I would guard them with my last strength.

“Wake up, bambina!”

I heard my alcoholic granny’s voice calling from outside my room.

She had been sober for eighteen days.

Eighteen days since we got the news that I had been accepted into an elite college on a full athletic scholarship.

“Bambina, are you supposed to be sleeping? Mom and Dad would be so disappointed in you,” she called out in her thick Italian accent.

I scrambled out of bed and started getting ready.

I had another episode.

Another nightmare I desperately didn’t want to remember.

Before leaving my room, I saluted the picture of Dad and me from the day I won my award for Best Ice Skater.

I smiled at the photo.

I had made Dad proud back then.

And now, I was about to do it all over again.

I had secured a full scholarship to Westbridge University.

I picked up my trophy and pressed a quick kiss against it.

“I did it, Dad.”

I grabbed my bag and headed downstairs.

“Grandma, I’m leaving!”

She sat at the kitchen table, watching me with a small smile.

“Come here, bambina.”

I walked over and kissed her cheek.

“Take care of yourself while I’m gone.”

“I’ll try.”

I smiled and headed for the door, my mind already on catching the first bus to Westbridge.

I barely stepped outside before an arm suddenly wrapped around me from behind.

I froze.

The familiar smell of cigarette smoke hit my nose.

I didn’t need to turn around.

I already knew who it was.

“Bambina.”

His thick Italian accent sent a chill down my spine.

“You’re off to college.”

I swallowed hard.

His grip tightened around my arm.

“Don’t forget why you’re going there.”

His voice was low and playful.

Then he smiled.

“Or I’ll kill those dreams of yours before you even get the chance to live them.”

I forced a smile.

But inside, I was terrified.

Before I knew what was happening, he grabbed my wrist and drew an eye-like symbol on the back of my hand.

“Don’t forget where you belong,” he said.

Then he turned and disappeared into the neighborhood.

I quickly pulled myself together and boarded the bus.

Before I knew it, I was stepping onto the Westbridge campus.

It was exactly what I expected.

Flashy cars, rich kids, and spoiled brats living off daddy’s money.

I rolled my eyes.

None of that mattered. I just couldn’t wait to get my eyes on the ice rink.

I had been waiting for this moment for years.

After getting through the boring introductions—where they made sure to announce me as the new scholarship student and five-time ice-skating champion—I could already feel the eyes on me.

Of course, they had to make it obvious.

A girl looked down at my shoes and laughed.

I rolled my eyes.

Another whispered to her friend before they both giggled.

I ignored them and kept walking. Let them laugh if they wanted to. I hadn’t come all the way to Westbridge to fit in with a bunch of rich kids or worry about what they thought of me. I came here to skate, and that was exactly what I planned to do.

When break finally came, I practically rushed out of the building.

And then I saw the huge ice rink.

A smile immediately hit my face.

I stepped closer, already picturing myself out on the ice. Then I stopped dead in my tracks.

There was a symbol scratched into the ice near the edge of the rink, like someone had dragged the blade of an ice skate across it.

I stared at it for a moment, trying to figure out what I was looking at. It looked like a snake coiled tightly around a needle.

My smile vanished.

I stared at the symbol, my heart suddenly pounding in my chest.

My legs went completely weak underneath me.

I hit my knees on the cold floor.

“No…”

I shook my head.

“No, no, no.”

I covered my ears, but the memories were already screaming inside my head.

Run, Maya.

Don’t look back.

Daddy is right here.

My chest heaved as I gasped for air.

“Stop…”

Then another voice cut through the noise.

My mother’s.

Stay away from the snake.

Its poison will kill you.

Don’t go near it, Maya.

I squeezed my eyes shut, tears threatening to spill.

“I love you.”

Her voice cracked on the last word, and everything went quiet

I opened my eyes, but for a moment, I wasn’t at Westbridge anymore. I was ten again, trapped in the blood-stained memory of the night my entire life fell apart.

“Excuse me!”

A voice snapped me back to reality. I blinked and looked around, finally realizing I was standing at the ice rink at Westbridge. For a second, the flashes had made me feel like I was back there again, surrounded by the blood and screams from the day my parents were murdered.

I took a slow breath and wiped the tears from my face. I wasn’t going to let a stupid memory ruin my first day.

I turned back toward the rink, determined to focus on the one thing that had always made me feel like myself.

I had barely stepped closer to the rink when a hockey stick slid in front of me, blocking my path.

I looked at the stick, then at the guy holding it.

“Kings’ practice.”

I frowned. “Okay?”

He looked at me like I had just missed something obvious.

“You’re the new scholarship student, aren’t you?”

I raised an eyebrow. “Is that supposed to be a question?”

A few guys behind him laughed.

“Definitely her,” one of them said. “The charity case.”

My jaw tightened.

The guy holding the stick smirked. “Five-time ice-skating champion, full scholarship, tragic little backstory. Westbridge has been hearing about you all week.”

“Good for Westbridge.”

His smile faded slightly.

I stepped around his stick, but he moved it back in front of me.

“Where are you going?”

“Onto the ice.”

“Not today.”

I stared at him. “And who exactly made you in charge of that?”

That got a few more laughs.

“She’s got attitude,” someone muttered.

“Give her a week,” another replied. “She’ll learn how things work around here.”

I glanced at the expensive watches, designer training gear, and smug faces surrounding me.

“I’m sure there’s a handbook somewhere.”

The guy’s eyes narrowed.

“You really don’t know who we are, do you?”

“I know you’re blocking a rink.”

A couple of them laughed again, but this time it wasn’t quite as confident.

The hockey player stepped closer.

“We’re the Kings.”

“Congratulations.”

He stared at me.

I stared back.

Then one of the guys behind him suddenly went quiet.

“Uh…”

His eyes shifted past me.

“Captain.”

The laughter disappeared almost instantly.

I turned around.

A tall guy was walking toward us, his hockey stick resting casually against his shoulder. He was wearing the same black training gear as the others, but somehow he stood out from the entire group.

The guy blocking my path immediately stepped aside.

The others followed.

No one had to tell them to.

The newcomer stopped a few feet away and looked over the group before his eyes settled on me.

For a moment, neither of us said anything.

Then his gaze dropped to the hockey stick still stretched across my path.

“What’s going on?”

The guy quickly lowered the hockey stick, suddenly going quiet.

Then the newcomer raised his gaze and stared straight at me.

My heart skipped.

Those hunter eyes… I had seen them before