“So how have you been, Ry?”
I knew one of them would follow, but to my surprise, it was Sully instead of Aasher.
What was I thinking? Stomping over there in my pajamas and yelling at them? I had tried to ignore them, but the louder they became, the more irritated I grew. I couldn’t focus on the syllabus posted in my business ethics class, and one too many huffs later, Sutton was pulling me off the couch. “Come on, let’s go see what all the ruckus is.”
Then Aasher just had to make a comment about my attire. It fueled my irritation even further. What a jerk.
I slowly turned around with Sutton by my side and found Sully resting against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. He waited patiently for my answer, and he could have fooled me, because instead of looking smug, like the rest of his teammates, he truly seemed curious.
Graham Sullivan was attractive and had no problems getting girls. I highly doubted he was part of his team’s locker room chat. Not to mention, I knew him from Rosewood. If anything, he’d put a stop to the bet after watching my very public and humiliating breakup with his previous team captain.
“I’ve been good.” I shifted and attempted to cover my boobs by crossing my arms. All I could hear was Aasher’s patronizing voice in the back of my head, and I was slightly embarrassed. That wasn’t to say there wasn’t a burning desire to strip down even further, just to prove a point.
“You look like you’ve been better than just okay.” Sully grinned, and his white teeth peeked from behind his lips. “Last time I saw you, things were a little intense.”
I stilled. Intense was one way to describe my parting from Rosewood.
“I’m sorry,” Sully blurted. “I didn’t mean that in a bad way. You look good is all I’m trying to say.”
“You’re doing a shit job at it,” Sutton said matter-of-factly. Her hip popped out, and she gave him a look that was nothing short of annoyance.
I forced out a quick laugh. “You’re fine.” Sully was stumbling over his words because the topic was touchy. My breakup. The fall. Transferring schools. “I fled Rosewood in a hurry, and the picture I left behind wasn’t the prettiest.”
Sutton studied me closely, aware that she didn’t know the whole story.
“Have you been at Bexley U this whole time? I could totally use a tour guide. I’m still trying to get used to the campus. I see more of the rink than I do the courtyard.”
The door across the hall opened at the same time Sutton shot Sully’s implied invitation down. “A tour guide? Campus isn’t that big.”
Ford was the first to step into the hallway. “Sutton is right. Plus, we live in the twenty-first century. You have an iPhone with a map.”
Sully smiled. “She’s prettier than a map, though.”
My cheeks grew warm. It was nice to hear after being reprimanded by Aasher for my lack of clothing, but there was skepticism that cooled my blushing almost immediately.
Sutton’s hand found mine, and she turned her head in my direction. I could read her thoughts like they were my own. We’d both been burned by hockey players in the past, and neither of us fell for their compliments anymore, even if it was simply just a compliment.
“So, you said something about plans?” Ford interrupted the conversation by whisking across the hall. His steps were a little slower than usual. I pulled back out of his way, and he slipped past me and pushed on our apartment door to make himself at home.
“Hey!” I rushed toward Ford as he walked farther into our apartment. Sutton was hot on his heels.
I was stuck in time as Aasher waltzed through the door next and angled his chin in my direction. “I’ll get him out in a second. He’s tipsy and uncontrollable.” Yeah, just like my need to take my knee and ram it between your legs.
Aasher’s warm breath fanned over my face, and I blinked back the surprise of my inability to speak. I snapped out of it when his gaze slipped down to my lack of clothing again.
A bratty reply fled my mouth. “I don’t need your help. I can handle a tipsy hockey player on my own.” I can handle an asshole hockey player too.
His smooth skin gave way to zero imperfections, but just below the faint scruff of his facial hair, his puffy lips—probably from kissing that puck bunny—curved into a cocky grin. “I didn’t ask if you needed my help.”
“And I didn’t ask for you to comment on my clothing moments ago, either.”
Aasher’s eyebrow curved with the jerk of his head. A thick piece of brown hair flipped onto his forehead, and I wanted to reach out and pull it. “Oh, so you want him in here? Is that it?”
His accusation burned my cheeks. I didn’t know how to read Aasher, and it drove me wild. Was he kidding? Or was he being serious? I’d already told him hockey players weren’t my type, but his question made me trip over my thoughts. Was he manipulating me because he was the one behind the bet? I recognized the hint of disapproval in his tone. Maybe he was the one who said I wasn’t his type because I was uptight and cold.
Aasher and I were at a stalemate. Instead of stumbling over my denial of wanting his roommates in my apartment, I turned around and left him to make his own assumption.
“Wow.” Berkley’s shoulder brushed mine. “This is a nice place. Way cooler than ours.”
“Cleaner too,” Sutton added.
Efrain came through the door after Aasher and flicked one of our twinkle lights hanging above the window. “Can I live with you instead of these two?”
Ford sighed. “If you do, can I have your room? I’m sick of the dorms, and your couch sucks.”
I was coiled so tight from my little spar with Aasher that I couldn’t keep the huff in my mouth when he ran his finger along the seam of our couch. Don’t touch our stuff.
Sutton was standing beside me, and a quiet laugh tumbled from her. She was hardly even moved in yet, and here we were, surrounded by a bunch of irritating, pompous athletes.
“You can’t just storm into our apartment,” I said, letting my words trail off at the sight of Sully flopping onto the couch. He took up the entire length of it.
“She’s right. Let’s go.” Aasher was standing near the door, appearing impatient with his flitting gaze and loud sighs. I almost said, ‘Never mind, you guys can stay,’ just because he was agreeing with me, but the truth was, I didn’t want them to stay, and I surely didn’t want to catch his scathing gaze on my legs again.
“I thought you had plans tonight.” Ford put his hand on his chin and looked around the apartment and our lack of plans. “What were you two ladies getting into?”
We didn’t have plans.
Not a single thing was planned other than watching Netflix on the couch. Our course load was light right now because it was still the beginning of the semester.
“You know…” Sully got up from the couch. “I haven’t seen you at any of the parties, Riley.”
I shifted along the wood floor. There was a chill in the air, and I was certain it was because my warm and snug apartment felt cold and disturbed with unwelcome guests inside, but if Aasher said something about my outfit already, I wonder what he’d say if my nipples suddenly appeared through my shirt. I crossed my arms. “I’m not much of a party girl.”
Sully tilted his head. “You used to be. You two should come to the next one.”
Pass. “I was only invited to Rosewood parties because of Gray. You know how he was.” He liked to flaunt me in front of his teammates.
Ford’s eyebrows furrowed. “Well, I don’t. Explain.”
I immediately felt insecure. My chest tightened, and sweat beads formed on the back of my neck. Aasher had moved into my kitchen and leaned with his elbows propped on my counter, waiting for my explanation.
I had just enough confidence to muster up four little words. “Can you guys leave?”
Ford strode closer and looked me dead in the eye with pure sincerity. “Sore subject. I’m sorry, Duster.”
“It’s not a sore subject,” I lied. It was obvious. Gray wasn’t the love of my life, but our breakup was brutal, especially on top of everything else.
“He’s a dick. I never liked him. The way he treated you…” Sully’s sentence drifted, but he inched closer to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Ford. They shared a questionable look when neither one of them moved.
“The way he treated her?” Ford’s curious gaze stayed pinned to me. “Now I’m really interested.”
Everyone was waiting for me to speak up. My mouth grew dry, and my palms were sweaty. I wished for a black hole to appear beneath my feet so I could vanish, but instead, Aasher appeared like some mystical, egotistical hero to save me. His hands fell to his teammates’ shoulders, and he pulled them apart like the splitting of a tree. “That’s enough. Out. All of you.”
“Aw, come on.” Ford suddenly sounded like he was from Texas with the hint of a Southern drawl. “We were just getting to the good stuff.”
If it were anyone else who swooped in to ease me of the embarrassment of Gray’s breakup, I would have been thankful. But there was something about Aasher that provoked me. I was willing to self-sabotage myself just to go against him.
“I’ll tell you what happened.” I changed my tune quickly, skimming right past Aasher’s double take. My brain was yelling at me to retreat, but I didn’t listen as I hauled myself up onto my kitchen counter, letting my legs dangle below. “My breakup isn’t a secret.”
Sutton snapped her head to me so quickly I felt the breeze of her hair. She was just as perplexed as I was at my behavior. “My boyfriend—”
“Gray Loretto.” The name flew from Sully’s mouth, and there was a wave of recognition that moved through the room. Everyone knew Gray Loretto. He was the best player Rosewood had. The humblest too.
Berkley mumbled, “Enough said.”
I continued on with my explanation that Ford asked for. “We dated for about a year, but then he broke up with me at a party by pulling one of my best friends into his lap and making out with her in front of everyone.”
“Wait, in front of you? He knew you were there?” Sutton’s jaw dropped. She didn’t know the whole story, but now she did.
Of course he knew I was there. He was the one to invite me. It was his way of proving that he would rather be with someone who shared his same goals. He wanted to be with someone who wouldn’t choke under pressure like I did in the rink. Those were his exact words.
My confidence wobbled when silence filled my apartment. My poised explanation lacked the courage I had minutes before, so I looked over at Aasher, hoping his haughty gaze would have the same effect as earlier, but his green eyes were soft around the edges instead of firm with impatience. He stood back with his arms crossed over his chest, watching me.
“Oh, he knew,” Sully answered for me. I released a shaky breath, pulling myself out of the strange sense of sadness I felt. He walked over to me and placed his hand on my knee, giving it a gentle squeeze.
I felt Aasher’s scathing eye on us before his cool tone hit my ears.
“Did you know he was going to do it, Sully?”
Sully snapped his head over to Aasher, and tension rose. “Of course not. I would have told Riley.” He squeezed my knee again, but I stared at Aasher as he zeroed in on Sully’s palm on my leg. What is his deal?
Ford stole the attention of the room. “Well, that was a sad story, Duster. But don’t you worry. We will demolish him on the ice. I’ll even cross-check him for you.” He winked, and a soft laugh left me. I smiled and decided that Ford was my favorite, even if my dad thought he was the most annoying on the team.
“Let’s go.” Aasher pushed himself off the far wall while his roommates groaned. He shook his head, clearly irritated with them. “Do you guys really want Riley to go off and tell her dad that we were all in her apartment? Especially after she asked us all to leave? Go. Now.”
The fact that he was deeming me as a little tattletale had me sliding off the edge of the counter. My bare feet slapped against the hardwood floor, and my stomach hollowed. “Despite what you think,” I snapped, choosing to ignore Berkley’s hand around one of my trophies that he had pulled from the shoebox near the door, “I don’t run and tattle to my dad every time something happens.”
Berkley and Efrain made their way across the floor, and soon, all five guys were near the door, ready to escape to their apartment. I thought I was in the clear until one set of eyes shot down to my chest, eyeing my very pronounced nipples from the chill in the air. It probably had to do with Aasher. He was a cold, bossy asshole.
I refused to cover my chest. “Unlike Aasher.”
“What? Unlike Aasher?” Sully repeated.
A deep crease appeared in between Aasher’s eyebrows. There was an instant charge in the air that warmed the chill between us. The room crackled. His steely jaw flexed, and I smiled sweetly.
I knew, without a doubt, that Aasher would be the one on the team who would gladly rat me out. I wasn’t sure if he was just an ass-kisser when it came to my dad, or if he was a leader by choice and took it upon himself to keep his team in check, but either way, his self-righteous personality prompted me to shove it right back in his face.
There was a flicker against his temples, but I stood my ground and stared at him from across my apartment. A small twitch of his lips was more condescending than amused, and it seemed like a warning of sorts. A smile tugged against his mouth as he turned around and shoved his teammates out the door.
Efrain slowly walked behind him and tipped his head at Sutton and me. “Good night, girls. Let us know if you need anything.”
Ford shouted from across the hall, “Yeah, like strong arms to keep you warm at night.”
I watched Aasher shove him through their door, and soon, their laughter faded, and Sutton and I were alone again.
“Those boys.” She shook her hair out before pulling it up into a high pony. “They’re gonna be trouble. But the best ones usually are.”
They weren’t so bad, except for Aasher and his assumptions. The fact that he thought I was going to go off and tell my dad that they came into my apartment uninvited was irking. It could have been worse, though. Living across the hall from the hockey team wasn’t ideal with Aasher goading me every three seconds, but I could still be at Rosewood with a cheating boyfriend and the lingering taste of success on my tongue that only reminded me of my shortcomings.
