Breaking Away (Assassins, #5)(10)

It drove him crazy. She was a typical woman. There was no pleasing her, and Phillip didn’t know what to do anymore. He tried to get her to go to counseling, but he was basically paying for her to sit there and be a mute. She wouldn’t talk. She didn’t want to talk to anyone; she only wanted to sit with her damn headphones in her ears and dance around the damn room, completely ignoring him. He was getting tired of it. He wanted the girl he knew before back, he wanted this to be fixed, and he wanted her to be happy. He knew she was everything but that, and he didn’t know how to make it better. He couldn’t stop traveling, it was part of his job, so what the hell was he supposed to do?

Looking back at her, he decided that this time she had went too far. It was the first time he found her in bed with anyone, and it was going to be the last. Glaring at her, he said, “This will never happen again. Do you know you could have ruined that kid’s career?”

“I don’t care,” she said with an uncooperative shrug. “All I care about is getting laid. You won’t let me out of your sight long enough for me to find someone to do the deed. I saw him by the coke machine and next thing I know, he has me against it. His girlfriend just dumped him; he needed a sympathy f*ck.”

For f*ck’s sake.

“You are sixteen; you don’t need to be sleeping with anybody, much less a nineteen-year-old rookie!”

“So you never had sex at my age?”

He was proud he only sputtered for a moment.

“That has nothing to do with what we are talking about right now. I don’t want you trying to seduce my hockey team! This is my career, Claire. Don’t you understand that you can get me in trouble?”

She flung her arms in the air. “Then let me go! Let me leave and go live my life!”

“How will you have money?” he asked.

She shrugged her shoulders. “I’ll work.”

“What about school?”

She made a face, as if something nasty was in her mouth. “I’m not worried about school. You don’t need an education to take your clothes off.”

Phillip’s fist clenched as he tried to take in calming breaths. What was he supposed to do? This girl did not want his help, she didn’t want anything from him, and he didn’t know how much more he could take.

“Why do you say things like that? I know damn well you don’t want to be like your mom.”

“It doesn’t matter what I want, it’s who I am,” she said and, for the first time, it wasn’t with an attitude. She really believed that she was destined to be what her mother was.

Over his dead body.

“If you’d let me, I could help you change that. I’m giving you all the options, Claire. I want you to do more; I want you to be happy.”

She shook her head, the hostile attitude back.

“I’m not happy unless I’m f*cking.”

He let out a defeated breath as his shoulders fell.

“Claire, why are you doing this to me?” he asked, holding her angry gaze. “I am trying to do right by you, trying to make sure you are taken care of, but you keep pushing me away. I want to help you. Don’t you understand that I love you, and want more for you?”

“Whatever,” she muttered, turning around to get back in her bed. “If you loved me, you wouldn’t have left me.”

Here we go again, he thought as he let out an aggravated sigh. They always seemed to have this argument, and he didn’t even know why he continued to do so. Maybe, he hoped that she would believe him this time.

“I was eighteen!”

“You could have come back. Instead, I was left behind like an old rag and never saw you again,” she spat, pulling her long, red hair up into a bun.

“That was your mother’s doing. I wanted to see you, but there was nothing I could do.”

Claire pinned him with a glare before saying, “You could have tried harder, but whatever, it’s over with.”

“Then let it be over with… let’s move on from it. I’m here now, let me help you, Claire,” he stressed, but she was already shaking her head.

“I don’t need help, Phillip. I just need a place to crash until I’m eighteen because I know if I run right now, you’ll get the cops on me, or you’ll chase me down yourself. I’m not trying to do all that.”

He wanted to scream; this girl was so f*cking frustrating. He tried to be calm and caring with her, but most of the time, he just wanted to cuss and shake the shit out of her. He felt sorry for the guys he played against. He was slamming people into walls left and right on the ice, out of frustration.

“You are damn right I would, but Claire, I am giving you everything you want and need. I am trying to make your life happy with me, but you won’t let me.”

“Well, I’m not happy here. I’m bored.”

“So you’ve said,” he replied, moving to his closet to grab his nightclothes. His days of sleeping naked were gone now that Claire shared a room with him.

“Quit hockey, so we can go home.”

He laughed. “Yeah right, I worked too hard to get where I am today. I am a first-line player, I am loved by everyone, and my contract is spectacular with the Assassins.”

“Well, you need to work harder on making me happy because I am not happy.”