“What did you do to her? Huh? Did you tell her she was fat? Tell her she needed to lose some weight? Is that what you wanted? For her to be skinnier?”
I stepped back toward Principal Larose’s office door with my hands hung down by my sides. My coach, Principal Larose, and Savannah’s parents were all staring at me like I was the cause of all this. I was in complete disbelief.
“I…” I opened my mouth, stuttering with confusion. “I didn’t say any of that. I always told her the opposite.”
“So you knew?” Savannah’s mom’s voice broke at the end, and tears rushed down her face. I can’t remember the last time I cried, because, come on, teenage boys didn’t cry, and if we did, we were told to lie about it. But shit, I felt a frog as big as a hockey puck in the back of my throat.
“No!” I managed to crack out. “I didn’t know, Susan. If I knew, I would have said something.”
“How didn’t you know?!” Mike’s face was red, and my coach stood up beside him because we all sensed the tension in the room. “Your fucking hands were always on her! You had to have felt how she was losing weight.”
I’d never felt worse in my entire life than I did at that moment. Was it my fault? I didn’t pay enough attention to her. I wasn’t a good boyfriend. I knew it, but I never told her that she wasn’t good enough or that she was too big. How was I getting blamed for this? And why did I feel guilty?
“You can kiss your scholarship goodbye.”
I popped my head up and looked over at Coach who was just as panicked as I was.
“What?” I asked, dumbfounded.
“You think you get to have this successful future when my daughter’s is destroyed? She’s being shipped away to a facility halfway across the world as we speak.”
“Now, come on, Michael. This isn’t his fault.”
I appreciated my coach’s support, but I knew how this was going to go.
He’d be put back in his place within the blink of an eye by Savannah’s father because Michael was at the top of the food chain in our small town. If Coach wanted to keep his job, he’d keep his mouth shut.
“I’m sorry,” I said, backing farther out of the office. “If I knew how bad it was, I would have said something. I…I thought she had it under control. She told me she was fine.”
I left school early that day, and things were never the same when I came back the following week. And technically, I was still paying the price of dating the mayor’s daughter, because if I hadn’t, I never would have been blamed for ruining her life; I never would have shown up at Bexley U, and I never would have met Riley. Now, my future was being fucked with again by another protective father.
Life was funny that way.
“Bro, focus.” A hockey puck slapped against my practice jersey, and I slid around on the ice and glared at Theo.
“You’re one to talk!” I shouted. I was frustrated because he was right. I wasn’t focused.
Every time I left my apartment, I glanced across the hall. The prying need to knock on the door to see Riley was becoming a nuisance. It wasn’t because I wanted to spend time with her or provoke her until she got those red cheeks and turned her pretty lips into a scowl, but more because I felt the need to rectify my own shit by helping her with hers.
It was a toxic thought process.
I knew that I couldn’t erase the past and change things that were set in stone.
But there was a jaded part of me that wanted to swoop in and get closer to Riley to protect her or, at the very least, get her back on the ice.
Theo swept up the puck he flung at me. “I’m not unfocused. Did you see the stats of the last game?”
Ford skated over to Theo and me and popped his head in between us. “You’re only unfocused when a certain roommate of yours is around.”
Theo scoffed in the midst of skating away, flinging up ice in his wake. Ford laughed before we raced toward the glass and headed into the locker room to change. He sneakily looked over his shoulder after he whipped off his mask and leaned into my personal space.
“You’re too close,” I said, pulling away. “What do you want?”
“Did you and Riley hook up?”
The door almost hit me in the face as we piled through.
“Am I still alive?” What a stupid question.
Ford shrugged before pulling off his practice jersey. He scanned the chaos of the locker room before landing on Sully. He turned away at the last second and whispered under his breath. “I saw her leave your room last weekend. I was asleep on the couch. Well, I was until your little yelling match.”
“You heard?” I asked.
I pulled on my gray BU long-sleeve shirt and twisted my hat around so it was facing backward. Truthfully, I just needed something to do with my hands because there was a nervous pit in my stomach at the thought of anyone thinking I had hooked up with Riley.
“Yeah, and then it was…”—his voice dropped even lower—“quiet after.”
I rolled my eyes before shoving my shit into my bag. “It’s not like that. Nothing happened.”
“You sure about that? I wouldn’t blame you if it did.”
“I wouldn’t cross that line.” Because it would cost me everything.
Sully rushed past us and slipped out of the locker room like he was on a mission. After Riley told me about what had happened to her in high school, I was even more irate about the bet. I was glad she knew about it, and I kind of wanted her to put them in their place too.
“Ford,” I said, flexing my fist.
His breath hit the side of my face. “Still right beside you, dude.”
“If he touches her, you’re gonna have to make sure I don’t kill him.”
Ford smirked. “But it would be so much fun to bury the body.”
I shot him a glare and sighed. The only time Ford was serious was on the ice. Otherwise, the guy was all jokes and stupid grins. We walked out of the locker room together, leaving the rest of the team inside as they talked about tomorrow’s night game. They were all about to head to The Bex to catch dinner before hitting the hay. Theo was long gone, and I knew it was because he wanted to get back to Claire.
“Sully isn’t going to get far with her. If anyone’s touching that girl, it’s you.”
“It’s not funny to make jokes like that.” I elbowed him in the ribs.
He gasped, dropping his bag on the ground. “Fuck, that hurt.”
“About as much as it’ll hurt if her dad finds out anyone touches her. So shut up.”
“You’re right,” he said, pulling himself upright. He made a turn into the stands of the rink instead of heading toward the parking lot. He looked back at me and cracked the grin he used when girls were near so he could catch them in his honey trap—his words, not mine. “So you better get down there and intervene.”
I skidded to a halt at the sight of Sully leaning against the glass window with his arms lazily crossed against his chest, smiling down at Riley, who was in her usual spot after our practices.
Second row back from the glass, third seat over.
She was a creature of habit.
But so was I, because I waited in the parking lot until she shuffled out of the double doors an hour after every practice with her head hung low and her untouched ice skates draped over her shoulder. I was just thankful she’d stopped walking to the rink alone late at night.
“Look at him trying to weasel himself in there.” I seethed under my breath, prowling down the steps with my eyes pinned to him. “He’s such an idiot that he can’t see that she is playing him too.”
“Persistent little thing, isn’t he?”
“Hey, Sully,” I shouted before erasing the distance between us.
Riley caught my eye but quickly looked away like she’d been doing for the last week. I’d passed her too many times in the hallway and even a few times on the way to class, and every single time, she avoided me. Not that it was unusual, but typically it was more of a sneer instead of an escape.
“Coach is lookin’ for you.”
“Yeah.” Ford backed me up. “Said he needed to talk to you. Not gonna lie, he seemed a little pissy. What did you do?”
“What? Nothing?” Sully looked down at Riley, who was nibbling on her bottom lip. I really wished she’d stop. Didn’t she know that was the ultimate fuck-me move? I thought for a second. She definitely knew. That was probably why she was doing it.
“I dunno, man.” Ford began skipping up the stairs. “Maybe he got wind of some of that locker room talk you’re always a part of.”
I pressed my lips together to hide a smirk. Ford loved stirring the pot. Sully was in a full-on sweat but played it off well as he reached down and grabbed his bag. “See you later, Ry, and let me know about what we talked about. Yeah?”
“We’ll see.”
I stayed put, staring at the wisps of dark hair falling from her high bun. Her neck was bundled in a black scarf, but it still showed a sliver of her smooth skin. She purposefully kept her attention elsewhere as she spoke to me for the first time since last weekend. “Locker room talk. You know all about that, don’t you?”
I sat down and stared at the ice with Riley, ignoring her insult. “Make any progress?” I asked, jumping in head first. She wasn’t aware, but we were done skirting around what had happened in my room the other night, and to be honest, it was as innocent as it could possibly be. I hugged her. That was it. She was likely uncomfortable because of what she told me, but we all had a past. She didn’t need to shy away from hers. Mine was just as messy.
She shifted in her seat, ignoring me, but I noticed the way she glanced down at her white skates resting on the floor in between us.
“Are you just gonna pretend like our last conversation didn’t happen?”
“What conversation?”
I couldn’t help it. I barked out a laugh.
“Has anyone ever told you that you’re stubborn?”
Those icy eyes flung over to me, and I swore I felt ice prick my skin. “It’s part of my DNA.”
Her lip twitched, and I saw it as an opening that I absolutely knew I shouldn’t have taken, but there was a loophole that I’d be happy to make a home in.
“I have a proposition for you.”
Her eyebrow arched. “No.”
There was a playfulness in her refusal, but recent revelations, it only made me try harder. I thought she was just a brat, hating on hockey players because of her loser ex, but it was much more than that.
I gulped as the rink seemed to grow quieter around us. I should have stood up the moment she said no, because what the hell was I doing? But instead, I continued balancing on the tightrope. “Let’s make our own ice bet.”
Riley’s eyes narrowed, and she tilted her head. A coil of her wavy hair brushed against her high cheekbone, and I had the urge to move it so I could see her better.
“I bet I can get you back on the ice,” I said.
A sarcastic laugh flew in between us, and I inhaled her mint-scented breath. “Is that so?” She rolled her eyes and looked back at the ice. She pulled her knees up to her chin and wrapped her arms around her legs. She was so…cute. “You may be the cockiest guy on my father’s team.”
I stretched my legs out in front of me. “Bullshit. Have you met Theo?”
She said nothing because we both knew Theo’s ego was bigger than mine.
Barely. But it was.
A beat of silence later, she placed her feet on the floor and angled herself toward me. “Okay, fine. I’ll bite. You want to bet you can get me back on the ice–”
I interrupted her and sat up taller to match her poised posture. “I want to get you back to the talented-as-hell figure skater that you are. Get you ready for…tryouts?”
“How do you know I’m talented?”
“Because I watched your competitions online.”
Her mouth gaped. “You truly are a stalker, Aasher.”
“I am not. Now continue.” I wafted my hand out in between us, and for once, she did as I said.
“What’s in it for you? What do you get if you somehow coax me back onto the ice?”
Coax? I liked the sound of that.
I cleared my throat and had to think quickly on my feet because this wasn’t planned. Though, knowing Riley, she’d assumed this was all the start of some masterful plan to get her closer so I could watch her every move, but it wasn’t. I couldn’t explain my behavior even if I had a degree in psychology.
I hummed. “I want you to stop fucking with the team and trying to get back at them for their own little ice bet.” Her mouth opened to argue, but I put my hand up and stopped her. “Before you say something bratty, I agree that they deserve it, okay?” Our eyes met, and it was as if her tiny hand was around my neck, choking me. “Do you know how many times I’ve wanted to tell your dad about their scheming?”
“Then why haven’t you?”
I wanted to ask her the same thing.
“Because I don’t want to be responsible for destroying the team by being a narc. Hockey means more to me than anything, and team dynamic is everything. You have to trust each other to work flawlessly on the ice together, and winning the championship will only increase my chances at joining a decent NHL team.”
She sighed, and I felt her breath on my face as she turned away. “And if you don’t succeed? If you can’t get me back on the ice without having a massive panic attack? Then what?”
I shrugged. “Then you can tell your dad about the bet.”
Her teeth sunk into her bottom lip, and I wanted to reach out and free it. Riley Lennon was a mystery, and the more time I spent with her, the more my assumptions about her were incorrect. Maybe she didn’t know how hot she looked when she did that.
And would she tell her dad about the bet? Something told me that even though she claimed to hate all hockey players, she wouldn’t throw the team under the bus like that. Maybe for her father’s sake, but nonetheless.
“How about,” she started, bending forward and grabbing her skates, “instead of me telling my dad, I’ll make you tell him. Wait!” The spark in her blue eyes looked like she’d touched the fucking sun. “You can tell him you were the one to start it too.”
Ouch.
I wanted to call her on her bluff, but I didn’t, because at the end of the day, it didn’t matter. She wouldn’t win the bet, because I would.
I stood up beside her, and we were only a breath away. I towered over her with my six-foot-one frame and whispered, “Looks like we have ourselves an ice bet.” I put my hand out to seal the deal, but the devious grin on her face had me lowering my hand.
“I have a better idea.”
My pulse kicked up a notch, and I knowingly stood there and let her take all the control. She slowly pulled out her phone and opened up her camera. The bright light illuminated her deceitful features, showing off the gleam in her eye.
“Sit,” she said, pushing me against my chest.
Why am I listening to her?
I sat down, and when she climbed on my lap and straddled me, I stopped breathing. I should have pushed her off or, at the very least, asked her what the hell she was doing, but I didn’t. I let her do whatever she wanted.
“Now kiss me to seal our bet.”
“Wh—” I stopped myself from asking because I was afraid she’d change her mind. I clamped my mouth shut and put my hands on her hips, holding her steady. She leaned down low, and our lips brushed. I attempted to control the situation when I gripped the back of her head. I thrust my hips up so fast it pulled a breath from her lungs, and I pushed her face to mine.
The kiss started off slow. A peck, really. When she pulled away—after taking a quick picture to use against me, I’m sure—I smirked and moved my hand to the front of her neck, just below her scarf. Her pulse was wild against my fingers. I gripped her a little harder than before, and even in the dark arena, I watched her pupils dilate.
I licked my bottom lip before whispering, “That one was just for the picture. Now this is the real seal to our ice bet…which I will win.”
I gripped her chin with force and captured her mouth. My tongue slipped inside, and I ate up her sultry gasp, luring her into me. The hand wrapped around her waist moved to her leg, and I pushed it wider, opening her farther. Our bodies were flush, and my lips moved against hers like I was starving and she was the only one to feed me. I licked every single part of her mouth until I was satisfied and felt the swell of her lips. Then I pulled back, but I refused to let her go. I took my thumb and swiped it over her bottom lip, wiping my taste away, and said, “Be here Monday evening. Seven sharp.”
Riley climbed off my lap quickly and said nothing as I turned and began to climb the steps.
I knew her mouth was feeling ravished—branded, even.
Because so was mine.
