“Get your dick off my leg, you jackass,” Tyler growls.
I choke on a laugh when I peel my eyes from the movie to find Adam leaning over Tyler from where they sit on the floor, trying to snatch a piece of pizza from the box on the coffee table.
“I can’t help that I’m so well-endowed you can feel it with the slightest brush against your leg,” Adam retorts. He releases a small noise of relief when he grabs a slice and sits back down, shoving it in his mouth.
“You’re both disgusting,” Morgan says.
“News flash, Mo, your boyfriend is just as nasty,” Adam snickers.
Matt reaches forward and tugs on Adam’s hair. “Don’t throw me under the bus, you prick.”
Tyler follows Matt’s lead but grabs a thicker clump of Adam’s hair before pulling. “Shut up and eat your pizza.”
I give my head a shake and fold my hands in my lap, turning back to the movie.
“Are they always like this?” Oakley asks, his voice low and way too sultry for my liking. He’s so close I can hear and feel each steady breath he releases against my skin.
I swallow and try to ignore the heat from his body beating into my side. We’re sitting as close as we can be without fully touching, with Morgan and Matt on the other side of the couch and Tyler and Adam in front of us. There have been a few times during the first few minutes of the movie where Oakley’s thigh brushed mine—all of that hard, warm muscle pressed up against me—but I turned as rigid as a damn statue each time. He’s kept his limbs to himself after the last time I froze up.
I wasn’t expecting him to show up tonight. Shamefully, I expected a guy like him to have more important things to do than spend his Sunday night vegging out with a bunch of people he barely knows. I was both shocked and nervous when he was already waiting in Adam’s living room when Morgan and I got here with the pizza.
Oakley has a way of sending a weird rush through my system when he’s close by. I noticed it when we first met, and it’s only managed to get stronger since. It scares me.
Loud music blaring from the TV’s surround sound yanks me out of my head.
“Yeah. You learn to ignore it, though,” I answer him.
He hums low in his throat. “I didn’t hang out with my old teammates like this. Only my best friend.”
I brush my hair behind my ear and glance over at him. He’s staring at the TV, his jaw set and long fingers tapping away on the armrest. This guy is incredibly hard to read.
“Why didn’t you hang out with them?” I ask, unable to help myself. He turns his head, and I’m met with a pair of deep green eyes, the colour of a lush forest after a long rainfall.
“That’s a good question. I’ve never considered it before now. I guess I just wasn’t into the same things they were.”
“Parties, booze, weed, and sex? You guys don’t make it hard to label you.”
His mouth twists into a grimace. “It might be hard to believe, but we’re not all the same.”
“Enough of you are to make a general assumption.”
“You’re not wrong,” he says.
There’s a break in our conversation, one that has me forced to turn back to the movie to avoid holding eye contact for a creepy amount of time. We don’t speak again for a while, a fact that has me thinking that I’ve offended him with my comments.
His next question comes from left field, leaving me slack-jawed. “Can I drive you home after this?”
“Like . . . tonight?” I ask slowly.
He chuckles. “Yes, Ava. Tonight. After the movie. I was hoping that I could convince you to take a detour as well. There’s a place I’ve found that I think I want to show you.”
Morgan’s breath hitches, meaning she most likely heard everything we’ve been saying throughout the entire movie. Great. I tense up and slant a curious look at Oakley.
“You’re not going to take me to your kill spot, are you? I’m pretty sure Morgan would hunt you down if anything happened to me,” I say.
Oakley’s smile stretches into a full-on grin. “No kill spot. I promise.”
“Why the sudden interest?” I can’t help myself from asking.
There’s no hesitation before he says, “We have more to talk about. It seems you went home that night before I could get my fill of you.”
For a reason I can’t, nor want to understand, his honesty seems to be good enough to convince me. That and the goosebumps his words bring to my skin.
“Okay. You can bring me home.”
OAKLEY
There’s something about Ava that has my mind running laps like a mouse on a wheel.
She’s honest, bluntly so. There’s a bravery in her that I can’t help but be envious of. In a fucked-up way, I think that’s what drew me to her in the first place.
But there’s also a wall guarding her. One I can’t help but want to put a dent in. Something is telling me that what I would find behind all that steel is well worth the effort.
The girl I met in Andre’s backyard, the one with splotchy makeup and tear-stained cheeks is a far cry from the one I slowly started to unravel later that night and an even further one from the woman I’ve known in Vancouver.
But there’s more there. So much more. And I need to be the one to dig my claws in and explore.
“So, do you prefer to drive in silence, or is it okay if we listen to some music?” Ava asks, the warm tenor in her voice causing a shiver to climb up my spine.
I fight back a wince when I realize we’ve been sitting in silence for the past few minutes. Straightening my back, I pass her the aux cord. “Here, sorry. You choose.”
She nods and connects her phone, choosing a cheery pop song that I’ve heard my sister play around the house on numerous occasions.
“I’m surprised. I didn’t take you for a boy band fan.” Risking a quick glance beside me, I watch her turn her body and shoot me an icy glare.
“If you have a problem with the Jonas Brothers, I’m going to need you to pull over and let me out right now.”
A loud laugh shakes my shoulders. “Relax, killer. I’m very well-rounded in the world of boy bands, thank you. My sister has had posters of Harry Styles on her wall since she was seven.”
“She has good taste.”
“I guess. There are worse things for a soon-to-be seventeen-year-old to obsess over.” Like boys and drugs, to name a couple.
Ava hums in agreement, turning back in her seat. She’s a little less rigid than she was moments ago. I can’t imagine the awkward silence was very relaxing.
“Do you have any other siblings?” she asks.
I take the highway exit leading to our destination. Lush green trees flood the sides of the road now, the stars hidden behind them.
“No. Gracie’s more than enough trouble by herself, anyway.”
She stays silent for a few beats before saying, “For the longest time, I wished I had a sister. My foster brother is great, but there are certain things you just don’t talk about with a brother.”
My brows tug together. “Foster brother?”
“Yeah. My parents adopted me when I was fifteen,” she replies, keeping it vague before changing the subject altogether. “Have you always been a physical hockey player? I don’t think any of us were expecting such a show so early in the season.”
I flip on my blinker and pull the truck off the road toward a break in the trees and the side road that feeds all the way through them. Gravel crunches beneath the tires, the sound almost comforting.
“I don’t like to fight like I did at yesterday’s game. If my mom finds out about what happened, I’ll never hear the end of it. Coach already let me have it for risking myself so early in the season, but that was nothing compared to my mother’s wrath.”
“So why do it, then?”
It’s a fair question, but I stiffen regardless. “I was only going to shove that guy around for a bit for the hit on Braden, but the asshole had a lot to say. Particularly about my sister.” She sucks in a sharp breath. I laugh. “Yeah. It seemed they did their research before the game. Knew exactly how to push my buttons.”
“God, what a prick!”
My eyes widen at her anger. I pull over to the side of the gravel road and shift the truck into park. Ava doesn’t meet my stare when it falls on her. She’s too busy staring out the window, her curiosity taking over.
“They hit my soft spot, and I did a shit job of hiding it,” I admit.
She faces me again, the corner of her mouth lifted. “At least the team won. Got in the last word, so to speak.”
I chuckle. “Yeah, I’m not sure I could show my face again if we didn’t.”
“It wouldn’t have been that bad.”
“Don’t try to make me feel better, Ava. Yes, it would have.”
Her small smile stretches into a grin that makes the corners of her eyes crinkle. “Fine. It would have absolutely destroyed your street cred.”
With a playful shake of my head, I reach into the back seat and grab the heavy wool blanket I have stashed there. It’s not cold out, but the wind can be sharp.
I lay the blanket on my lap and grab her headrest, nodding at her window. “Ready?”
She squints at the trees and the darkness behind them, as if they’ll tell her whether it’s safe to enter their home or if she should make a run for it. Her nerves are warranted. If she tells me to take her home right now, I would, no questions asked. I don’t expect her to trust me yet, but I hope that she’ll try. Just for tonight.
“If I were planning on murdering you and wearing your skin as clothes, I wouldn’t have shown up to watch a movie with all of your friends and let them know I was taking you somewhere alone. You’re safe with me. Scout’s honour.” I offer her a two-finger salute.
She rolls her bottom lip between her fingers before nodding, albeit a bit reluctantly. “Lead the way, then, Boy Scout.”
