Would it really be so bad? Being my fake girlfriend? Or at the very least, acting like she was mine for the night while obnoxious puck bunnies popped up like whack-a-moles? I mean, she had already done it twice now. What was another thirty times? Just until the season ended?
I sighed with irritation and pouted like a child. I understood why she was reluctant. She did just get her heart broken and was likely staying far away from anyone. It was clear she was keeping herself busy and distracting herself. If she wasn’t working, in class, writing some paper, or studying for an exam, she was at the auditorium.
I was surprised she had come out tonight, but Taytum whispered a conundrum in her ear, poking at Chad’s whereabouts, and conned her into it. I wasn’t complaining. She deserved it. She worked harder than I did, and that was impressive.
There was a cup in her hand that I’d watched Ford hand to her when I walked into the party. Claire and Taytum rode over with Ford and Aasher, and I followed behind in my car, but the moment we walked in, I found her immediately. Her gaze snagged mine from across the room, and her sweet smile made me feel slightly uncomfortable but strangely calm too. Was Claire the first girl I cared about? It agitated me that I was looking for her during my game, but as soon as I pulled myself away and focused on playing, I played better than ever. There was a nagging voice in the back of my head that told me it wasn’t only because I knew Tom Gardini’s guys were there. I wanted to prove myself to her, to show her what she’d been missing out on by hating all jocks.
She surely didn’t look like she hated us now. Her head flew back, and her pretty, soft waves that I rarely ever saw cascaded down her back as she laughed at something Taytum said. A few other girls had formed around them, and by their whispers and awe-struck looks, I assumed they were younger dancers. They had that I-want-to-be-you look on their faces that all the freshman hockey players had whenever we’d practice together.
“Whatcha lookin’ at?” Emory’s voice hit the back of my neck, and I nearly elbowed him in the jaw for catching me.
“Go away,” I snarled. “You smell like a whore house.”
He sniggered under his breath and came to stand beside me. “Jealous?”
I glared over at him. “Of you fucking a puck bunny? No.” I could have had my pick. I just didn’t want to.
His lip curled upward as he ran a free hand through his dark hair. The hair on his face had fully grown in, and he already had the look of a pro NHL player. “Nah, I’m talkin’ about her.”
I didn’t follow his gaze across the party because I knew he was referring to Claire. “Jealous of what?”
“Being so close to her but not being able to have her.”
“Watch it,” I warned. Heat crawled up my neck, and a heavy breath left me. “And I don’t want her like that.” I shrugged, taking my attention from his squinting gaze. I glanced back at Claire and caught her eye for a brief second before she turned away, pretending like she wasn’t watching me. “She’s…my roommate. I feel kind of protective over her.” My words were coming out a little too quickly, and I felt myself trying to cover up something that wasn’t even true. “Plus, you know I don’t get involved like that. Not until I’ve made it big and can afford to settle down a little. She’s just my roommate. A friend.”
“Brother,” Emory patted my chest and I instantly wanted to fling his palm off my body because I was suddenly extremely irritated. “You don’t look at friends the way you’re lookin’ at her.”
If she’s just my roommate, then why do I want to walk over there just to be beside her?
“Knock it off,” I snapped, “or I’ll call your mom and tell her you fucked her best friend last season after the championship game before they took you to dinner. Or maybe I’ll tell Taytum, and she can tell your mom.” He knew I’d never stoop so low, but I was starting to grow angrier the more he fucked with me.
“You punched her boyfriend.” The cup in my hand began to crumple when Aasher started in too.
“Ex,” I corrected. “He’s now her ex.”
“You gonna punch him again?”
Maybe. I snapped my neck to Emory. “Why would I punch him again?”
The humor that was there moments ago when he was fucking with me was gone. “Because the way she’s looking at him while he sweet-talks another girl across the room makes me want to punch him.”
Someone had gripped me by the throat and cut off all breathing as I whipped my head over to the left and searched for him. This piece of shit. The way my blood ran cold was an obvious clue that I was about to lose my mind if I didn’t remove myself from the party. My ears grew warm, and my eyes narrowed in his direction, locking onto the way a girl was somehow being swooned right out of her pants from whatever it was he was whispering to her.
“The fucking nerve,” I gritted. I handed my cup to Emory, pushing it into his chest, and kept my attention on Chad and his little toy as I strode through the party like I was on a goddamn mission.
And I was.
At the very last second, Chad caught my eye, and the way my lip curled should have clued him in that I was about to fuck with him like he was fucking with her.
I forced Claire’s eyes to meet mine as I blocked her view from him. The way her pink lips were tugged into a frown told me that she saw exactly what Chad was doing across the party. Her little nostrils flared with irritation, and her cheeks were painted pink.
“There you are,” I said, taking another step toward her. My foot went in between hers, and I tipped her head back with a finger under her chin, letting those brown locks fall down her back again.
“What?” she whispered, voice shaky and not sounding at all like the tone she used with me, which was usually full of irritation, skimming right on top of subtle humor.
“I said…” My hands went to her hips, and she sucked in a breath, straightening her spine and pushing her chest into mine. Damn. “There you are.” I gave her that same look I’d given her just a couple hours prior when I desperately needed her to rescue me from the girls waiting outside the locker room who wouldn’t leave me alone. Play along, Bryant.
There was a tiny dip in between her brows, and although everything had basically disappeared for me except her, I still heard Taytum say, “Better do it right. He’s looking over here.”
The smallest amount of panic flickered across Claire’s face, but then her hands landed on my wrists, and my fingers twitched to pull her in even closer. I dipped my gaze to her mouth, and for the second time since meeting her, I had the inclination to kiss her and make her forget his name.
“Hey,” she whispered. Her sweet breath flew to my lips, and I gritted my teeth to keep myself from completely obliterating the plan and slamming my mouth on hers right then and there. Slow it down.
I dropped my voice low enough so only she would hear me. “I’m gonna spin you around, and you need to lean back on my chest, yeah?”
Claire nodded, and the panic disappeared as she put her game face on. I couldn’t have stopped my smirk even if I tried. Claire’s ass was pressed to my front a moment later, and my hands rested with ease over her hips. Taytum and Ford played their parts well, keeping the rest of the group around us entertained with a conversation so it looked as if this was nothing out of the ordinary, but it was. We garnered looks from all across the party, and the satisfaction it gave me, knowing that some of my fan girls were pouting and realizing they weren’t going to end up in my bed tonight, was enough to make this worth it, even if Chad didn’t notice us.
Oh, but he did.
I looked in his direction and pulled Claire even tighter against my front. Her breathing had stopped when Chad paused his sloppy kisses, and my mouth dipped down, my lips a breath away from her ear. “Breathe, Bryant.” A little gasp flew from her lungs, and I smiled against her neck. “I’ll lead. You follow.”
She turned her attention to me, and I knew I was going to kiss her. I hardly doubted she noticed, but my entire body seized for a split second because I’d lost all control, and that didn’t happen often. “This is going to make him irate.”
I pulled my gaze from the shape of her kissable lips and stared right into her worried blue eyes. “He gets to fuck around on you and expect you to wait around for him as he ‘experiences’ college?” The shock of realization only lasted a moment. Oh yes, I know more than you think, Claire. “Absolutely not. No roommate of mine is gonna be played like that. I won’t have it.”
Her warm hand covered mine on her hip as my other one snaked up her neck. I cupped her face, splaying my palm out against her cheek, my fingers disappearing in her hair. “I’m gonna kiss the hell out of you, Bryant, and don’t you dare pull away.”
For the second time, our mouths sealed, but this time, the kiss was undeniably soul-wrecking, and that was when I knew that Claire Bryant was about to become my weak side.
