“I DID IT, I did it, I did it!” Sid squealed as we exited the class. Her presentation was fucking flawless, and I knew I wasn’t the only one watching in rapt attention. Hell, even Professor. Carter looked caught up in her. I’d be jealous if she hadn’t watched me the entire time. Her eyes never left mine until the last few lines. Pride filled my chest, and I wrapped my arms around her, swinging her into the air. She squealed when I spun and tipped her head back, completely trusting me.
The other students filed out of class, bumping into us in their rush, and I guided her backward until she was protected in the hall’s corner. My broad shoulders concealed her from all the students, no doubt watching our public display.
My jaw clenched, and I raised a hand to her cheek. “You did fucking amazing, Sid.”
She watched me with shining eyes, and I nearly caved into her. I lowered my head to the curve of her neck, breathing in her citrus scent and smiling when goose bumps appeared. “I’m blown away by how good you were up there.”
Sid laughed it off, but I was dead serious.
She pulled back and giggled, practically giddy off the high of her presentation, and gave me an ear-splitting grin. “We nailed it, didn’t we?”
“Hell yeah, we did.” I searched her gaze, palmed her face, and a little thrill ran through me when she turned into it. “You’re amazing, Sid. You can do anything you want to. The world is at your feet.”
She laughed it off again. This girl needed to learn to believe me. “Says the guy who’s about to go on and become Boston’s hockey golden boy. Pretty sure people already have posters of you there.”
I shook my head, needing her to understand how proud I was of her. “It’s not more impressive than what you’ve accomplished.”
She buried her face into my chest and wrapped her arms around my waist. “Jax, you can do anything. You’re biding your time with us regular people.”
My brows pulled together as I grazed my thumb over her cheekbone until she looked at me, and I tried to infuse my voice with sincerity. “You’d be surprised how wrong you are.”
She looked down but said, “We need to celebrate.”
“What do you have in mind?”
“I could go for a week off studying. My brain feels like it’s about to pop.”
I stiffened and looked away. I needed to come up with a different reason to see her, or it would be a hard-as-fuck week.
She didn’t notice my apprehension and continued. “We may be the only ones who actually passed that presentation after all.” Her fingers curled into my shirt. “If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t have made it. Thank you—”
I covered her mouth with my hand. “There will be none of that. You helped me just as much as I helped you. We’re a team, and we fucking rocked.”
Her lashes lowered, and she bit her bottom lip. With the presentation over, would she want to study together? Because I wanted a lot more than that.
“There’s a big game this weekend. If we win, it’ll secure our playoff spot. I might know someone who knows someone that could get you and Mia tickets.” I winked, and a wolfish smile played across my face. “Then we’re all heading to Offside. There’s a pretty big DJ playing.”
She leaned in, whispering like she was sharing a secret, “Ahh, I don’t know. I heard the starting forward’s kind of full of himself.”
My arms circled around her waist, squeezing a squeak out of her. “Is that so? Well, I heard he’s what your fantasies are made of.”
If she only knew how many of my fantasies she starred in. I wet my lips at the thought, but she cut in, “Don’t you know you shouldn’t believe everything you read on the internet?”
I let out a shocked laugh. “You are so much fucking trouble, Sidney King.”
“So, is your girl coming tonight?” Lucas asked, tying his skates. There were only a few minutes before the game.
I saw him out of the corner of my eye. We both knew who he was talking about when he said, “your girl.”
“Who told you?”
“Piper ran into her,” Lucas said, his cocky grin aching to be punched.
“What are you getting at?”
“You guys are getting pretty serious. Are you preparing her for what pro-hockey life is going to be like?”
I rubbed my chest as a sharp pain pierced through it. “She’ll be long gone when we leave for training camp.” Even as the words came out, I could hear the ache laced through them.
He eyed me thoughtfully for a few beats before nodding and moving to walk away but stopped, turning to look at me. “Be careful that you know what you’re doing.” With that bit of nonsense, he left the locker room.
It wasn’t long before the building was echoing with our school chants, sending shock waves of energy through me. My blood pounded in my veins as my heart beat in my chest. I tipped my head back and breathed, a smile breaking through. A Cheshire grin crossed Lucas’s mouth as we shared a knowing look. There was nothing quite like the high I got from playing with the home crowd.
I spotted Sidney sitting beside Mia in the players’ seats. Her sultry eyes met mine, trapping me to her. She bit down on her lower lip, and my tongue rolled over mine, wetting her phantom bite. Rocky could go fuck himself with his PR bullshit. This girl was mine, and it was time she knew it.
Alex tapped my back with his stick. “Focus, man, before the coach catches you.”
I dragged my attention back to the game and set up for the face-off. The guy from the opposing team crowded into my space and overlapped our sticks. It was legal but an asshole move.
“Fuck off.” I flipped his stick off with my own and took a quick look at him before the puck dropped.
He nodded toward Sidney. “Your puck slut’s hot. Wonder if she’d take me for a ride?”
My gaze flashed white, then black, as rage pulsed through my veins. It was only Alex’s bumping my shoulder that stopped me from taking him down right here. I chuckled, but it was dark and laced with malice. “You’re fucking dead.”
Alex cut in. “You’re fucked now, buddy.”
The second the whistle blew, the guy took off from beside me, running fucking scared. But this was hockey, and there was nothing stopping me from taking him out. My blood pulsed in my ears, blocking out all sound as I skated across the rink directly toward him. I crashed into his side with all my momentum, driving his body into the boards directly in front of Sid. I winked at her, and her cheeks flushed. “That’s for you, Trouble.”
The ref called me on a five-minute major, but I was more than happy to take the penalty.
