NATE STOPS ABRUPTLY in front of me, almost sending me tumbling down the stairs.
“What’re you doing?” I ask, confused when he practically rips his hand from mine. He steps to the side, and as soon as his massive body is out of the way, I see what he can see.
“Your boyfriend looks like he wants to murder me.”
“Well, that’s odd,” I muse, moving so we’re on the same step. “I don’t have a boyfriend.”
He’s right, though; Aaron does look ready to murder someone. It doesn’t change as he approaches me and Nate when we step off the last stair. “Hey,” I chirp. “I thought you were staying home tonight.”
Aaron is still staring at Nate, even when I place my hand on his arm and give it a squeeze. Aaron’s eyes finally meet mine, eyebrows raised. “What were you doing upstairs with him?”
I feel Nate beside me, the ghost of his touch hovering around the bottom of my back. I decide to play nice instead of tearing Aaron a new one for being so weird and rude in front of an audience like I want to. “Aaron, this is Nate. Nate, this is Aaron, my skating partner.”
The testosterone oozing out of them is practically palpable as they shake hands, each of their hands turning white when they try to crush each other’s bones. Pathetic. When they eventually let go and the blood returns to their fingers, I turn to Aaron and force a fake smile, even though he doesn’t deserve it. “You good? Where have you been?”
“I asked you first.”
“I was peeing, is that a sufficient answer?” I snap, finally losing my composure.
It’s been a long-ass day and I’ve already had to tolerate Aaron’s bullshit once, when he decided Ryan was public enemy number one after the meeting.
Ryan wanted to take me for food, you know, a normal activity between friends. Aaron kissed his teeth as he reminded me I have an outfit to fit into for regionals. Like I could ever possibly forget, especially being around him. Ryan was pissed, so told Aaron if he couldn’t lift me, he needs to work harder in the gym.
Of course, Aaron didn’t like that so fired back, and in the end, I was so tired of the drama Ryan ended up giving me a ride home. Unfortunately, my chicken salad didn’t taste as good with the knowledge that Ryan would have convinced me to eat a burger or something.
So now I’m irritated and hungry, a bit drunk, and once again watching Aaron be an ass and embarrass me.
Aaron quirks a brow, clearly not believing I was using the bathroom. “Thought you were collecting team captains like Pokémon. Where’s Rothwell? He’s normally the one draped all over you.”
His words hit me right in the chest like he wanted them to, and I can’t stop the lump forming in my throat. Nate’s hand settles on my back as he takes a step closer. “If you’re going to be a dick you need to leave, dude. People are trying to have a good night.”
“You’re intruding on a private conversation, dude,” Aaron responds bluntly.
“You’re in my house and you’re being rude to my guest. Lighten the fuck up or leave.”
Nate is a big guy, much bigger than Aaron. He’s a good half a foot taller, broader, more muscular. Not to mention he’s a freaking hockey player. Aaron is built like a ballet dancer, strong, too, but lean. Plus, has never been in a fight in his cushy, privileged life, which is why it’s so surprising to me that he starts shit with people who have.
“I’m sorry, Stas,” he says, my name slurring slightly. “I suppose I’m upset now I know why the rink was trashed.”
“Nobody knows what happened,” Nate answers quickly.
Too quickly.
Aaron laughs, but there’s no humor to it. “I do. Rookie couldn’t keep it in his pants. Knocked up someone’s little sister. Ghosted her.” He turns to me, the shock on his face clearly fake. “How bad is that, Stas? Ghosting the freshman you knocked up? And now we’re suffering.”
“That isn’t what happened,” Nate says coldly.
God, I feel foolish right now. I shouldn’t have believed his promise; of course he knows. My body stiffens under Nate’s hand, and he removes it quickly, moving away to give me space. “Well, this was fun,” I say flatly, trying not to show any emotion, since it’s clearly what Aaron was hoping for. “I’m heading home.”
“Cool, we can ride together. I’ll go find Brin.”
He’s a different guy in a matter of minutes. It’s like being friends with Jekyll and Hyde sometimes, especially after a drink when his nasty side comes out. It’s disappointing because most of the time he’s great, but he’s so fucking good at hiding the nice side of himself.
Nate pinches the bridge of his nose between his fingers, blowing out a frustrated sigh as we both watch Aaron disappear into the crowd. “I didn’t want to lie to you.”
Putting some distance between us, I turn to face him. He looks like he’s got the weight of the world on his shoulders right now, and he might for all I know. But I have goals too. I love my sport and my time on the ice is as valuable as his.
He drags his hand down his face and forces a smile. “I don’t want this to affect our friendship, well, like, the friendship we could have.”
“You think a good friendship starts with a lie?”
“No, well,” he says, stumbling over his words. “I didn’t want to lie to you. But my team doesn’t even know, and I swear, it isn’t what happened. Your partner is lying too.”
I wish I hadn’t come to this party. “Great, so everyone is lying to me. Fantastic,” I say sarcastically. “Forget it, it’s fine. The hockey team can look after themselves, and the rest of us will, I dunno, go fuck ourselves or something.”
I doubt Dr. Andrews, my long-suffering therapist, would be impressed with me right now. Communication is king is what he’s said every session for over a decade. Technically, I am communicating, not very well, but it still counts. I don’t know how to tell Nate how stressful this whole situation is for me without seeming dramatic. Maybe I’m not trying hard enough to not react the way Aaron was hoping, but I blame the alcohol and lack of decent food.
Nate catches my arm as I turn to walk away. Looking at him over my shoulder, I see his face soften. “I promise, he only hooked up with her. She’s got a boyfriend and he didn’t know. Nothing about a pregnancy.”
He looks like he’s being genuine, but he did earlier as well. Turning to face him, I take a step back to keep enough distance between us but his hand stays on my arm. “No offense, but your promises don’t mean shit. You have zero idea the pressure I’m under, the sacrifices I’ve had to make. You have no idea how it feels, knowing it all hangs in the balance because some kid doesn’t know how to wrap up his dick.”
His brows furrow together, confusion maybe. “Hangs in the balance? You’re blowing this out of proportion. If we don’t overreact and we work toge—”
It’s like I can physically feel my blood boiling. Clearly he has no idea of the impact of his team’s mistakes. He has a full team to help him win, but it’s just me and Aaron. If we don’t practice enough, we don’t win. If we don’t win, we don’t go to the Olympics. If we don’t go to the Olympics, what was the fucking point?
There is a reason Maple Hills has two rinks. There is a reason it produces some of the best athletes in the country. It’s because the school makes sure we have enough space to get the time we need to be the best.
“You think I’m being dramatic? You know what, Nate,” I say sharply, shaking off his hand. “Forget it. Stay out of my way and I’ll stay out of yours.”
“Stassie!” he shouts after me as I head into the crowd.
But I ignore him, the start of what is going to be a lot of me ignoring him.
At the end of what is possibly the worst day ever, my level of irritation continues to rise because trying to find Sabrina in this house is like trying to find Waldo.
Aaron is also nowhere to be seen, although I can’t quite decide if it’s a good thing or a bad thing after his little performance.
I track down Ryan easily; it wasn’t hard since he’s still in the den with his basketball friends. However, I wasn’t expecting to find him sitting on a couch, whispering into the ear of Olivia Abbott.
Weirdly, my first thought is I wonder if Sabrina knows her archnemesis is here, but after I shake that off, I’m in shock.
I don’t think I’ve seen Olivia at a party before, ever. She’s even more beautiful up close than she is on the stage; long golden-blond hair styled like an old Hollywood icon, eyeliner that would take me three weeks to perfect, and a perfect red lip. She looks like she should be going on the red carpet, not sitting at a college party.
“Hey, I’m sorry to interrupt,” I say as I approach them. Ryan stops whispering and looks up at me. “Have you guys seen Sabrina?”
Ryan immediately looks concerned, even though he doesn’t need to be. Well, unless I murder Aaron tonight and he has to help me hide the body. “Everything okay?”
“Aaron being Aaron. We’re heading home.”
“I saw her go into Robbie’s room with him quite a while ago,” Olivia says quietly. “I can make sure she gets home okay if you need to go. I’m not drinking and my car is right outside.”
“Do you need my help with Aaron?” Ryan asks cautiously.
“Olivia, if you could I will love you forever,” I promise, breathing a sigh of relief now I know Brin is covered. “Aaron will be fine now he’s got all his bitchiness out. I’m sorry I didn’t get a chance to talk to you tonight, Olivia. You look beautiful, next time we can get to know each other properly. My Uber is outside, though, so I need to go.”
She gives me a shy smile. “That would be nice. See you soon.”
“Text me when you get home, ’kay?” Ryan shouts as I walk away. “I mean it, Stas. Don’t forget.”
I know it might be weird to think about the guy you have casual sex with and your best friend’s fake archnemesis together, but an Abbott x Rothwell relationship would be the type teenage girls cry over because of how perfect it is.
Ryan and I work so well because I don’t want a relationship, and he doesn’t care. If he found someone he wanted to date, I would never stand in his way. He deserves to be loved like that and he deserves to be happy, because he’s such an amazing guy.
He would be Olivia’s greatest supporter, and maybe he’d bring her out of her shell a little. I don’t know Olivia yet, but even when she gets the role Brin wants, Brin can’t deny Olivia seems like a nice girl.
I can’t wait to see where this goes.
I STARTED WORKING at Simone’s Rink freshman year when Rosie, a friend of a friend, mentioned her mom was looking to hire help.
The cost of textbooks was mounting up and I couldn’t ask my parents for money, since they were already paying for all my skating stuff. Simone, the owner, paid for me to do a coaching qualification, which meant I could teach Saturday classes to kids under ten.
“All good?” Simone asks, walking into the break room where I’m sitting, contemplating what to eat.
“Yeah, great. I’m gonna go grab some lunch before my next class, I think.”
“There is a very handsome man in reception asking for you,” she says with a wink. “Looks like he has food with him.”
Venturing out to the reception desk, I see Simone was right, there is a very handsome man.
Ryan looks super out of place with the energetic six-year-olds circling him, screeching. The second he spots me, his tired eyes soften, and the corner of his mouth tugs up. He holds up paper bags in each hand. “Wanna be my lunch date?”
“I’ve got another class at one p.m.; can you eat all that in thirty minutes?”
“I can achieve a lot in thirty minutes, Anastasia, you should know that by now.”
We settle down at a table in a quiet corner next to the concession stand, and he begins to unbox the food. “Before you shout at me, I got you a Cobb salad…but I also got you a side of bacon cheese fries and nuggets, because I saw your post this morning about how important balance is.”
I roll my eyes because I’m not sure which of us is becoming more predictable. “Balance is important, stop teasing me! Anyway, thank you. You didn’t have to bring me lunch, well, two lunches, but I appreciate you. Where did you end up last night?”
Ryan takes a bite of his cheeseburger and stuffs in some fries, groaning happily. “West Hollywood at The Honeypot. I overdid it.”
“With Olivia?”
I swear his cheeks blush a little. “No, Liv headed home unfortunately. Stop looking at me like that.”
“Oh, she’s Liv now is she? I’m excited for you. I’m allowed to be excited, so you can’t stop me. You haven’t dated anyone in so long, and she seems like a nice person from the little I know.”
“I’m not dating her, drama queen. We exchanged numbers.”
“The first step of any marriage.”
He huffs, shrugging and wiping his hands on a napkin. “We’ll see. Why can’t you marry me, Allen?”
“Why did you skip over being your girlfriend and go straight to marriage?”
“Why date when we’re already best friends? Dating is scary. Mind-blowing sex and someone who doesn’t get pissy with my schedule? Sign me up, I’ll put a ring on it right now. Will you accept an onion ring instead of a diamond?”
“I don’t get pissy with your schedule because I’m too busy to notice you’re busy,” I say, leaning over to nudge him in the arm. “Olivia is nice, Ry. Take her out and see how it goes. Worst-case scenario you can tell your future kids you went on a date with a famous movie star or Broadway star, whatever she ends up becoming.”
“Do you think it’s a good idea for me to take advice from you? A huge commitmentphobe?”
He might have a point there.
“I’ll ask her out, but if it goes horribly wrong, Anastasia, I’m blaming you.”
“That’s fair.”
“Want to tell me what went on with Aaron?” I can tell by the tone of his voice he’s trying his best to seem calm and uninterested. In actual fact, based on the twelve texts he sent me at various stages of the night, I know he’s very interested.
“He asked me if I was collecting team captains like Pokémon,” I drawl, unboxing my nuggets and throwing one into my mouth. “Saw me coming downstairs with Nate Hawkins and assumed I’d fucked him.”
“What the fuck is that guy’s problem?” Ryan mutters, stabbing his fries into ketchup aggressively. “I don’t know how you spend so much time with him. Even if you had been hooking up with Hawkins, it’s no one else’s business. You’re a single woman and you can do what you want.”
“I know, I know. But then Aaron revealed he’d found out what happened with the rink trashing, and Nate had promised me he didn’t know minutes earlier, so it caused a bit of an argument.”
“Aaron is a dick, Stassie. It’s not great Hawkins lied, but at the same time, he’s gotta put his team first. It’s not the same as me lying to you or something, you guys don’t have trust yet. Surely you understand?”
“Yeah, of course I do, but when I was trying to explain how much this impacts me, he made out I was being dramatic. And whether I was or not doesn’t matter. How are we supposed to be equals when he doesn’t even try to see my point of view?”
“Being captain is a tough gig, take it from me. You’ve gotta think of twenty-plus people as well as yourself. They’re all looking for you to have their back, no matter what senseless shit they’ve done. It can fucking suck sometimes. Hawkins is a good guy, though, don’t hold it against him.”
I’m having an intense staring contest with my nuggets because I can’t face looking at Ryan’s while he talks sense.
He snickers, leaning forward to grab my attention. “You’re going to hold it against him, aren’t you?”
“Definitely, without a doubt. Forever. Even longer than forever if I can manage it. They threw a huge curveball into the mix, and I’m going to stay away from all of them.”
He’s laughing at himself before he even says anything. “You know curveballs are baseball not hockey, right?”
