I frowned at him. “You need to chill.”

  “Yeah.” Labrowski threw a pen at him. “Get your own fuck buddy that’s not just a buddy anymore and then you can have your own closure.”

  “Argh. Not cool.”

  I flipped him off as I stood, pushing back my chair. “Not my problem.”

  Angela was coming back, and seeing me standing, she hesitated.

  Barclay saw, saying under his breath, “Oh, man. She’s got a crush. Run, dude.”

  Angela went to high school with Labrowski, so she got adopted into the hockey house, but it was a situation where no one touched her. Labrowski had put it out there. Her brother was friends with him, and he’d died. Labrowski didn’t talk much about him, but it was known that her brother died from a drug overdose. So, Angela was around the house. She had crushes on a few of us, but none of us went there with her.

  She’d been fine in the beginning of the year, but since she’d become friends with Bianca, she’d changed. She was a lot more forward, more aggressive.

  Bianca hadn’t showed yet, and I was counting that as a blessing.

  I circled around the table, cutting behind another section of tables.

  Angela was watching me the whole time. When she moved to try and intercept me, Atwater and Barclay both stood up, blocking her vision. Angela was a sweet girl, but she liked attention. If she was getting attention from someone, she’d stay there. I headed into the main bar section, glancing back once. The guys had blocked her off, so I was good for a while.

  I headed for the bathrooms.

  “Styles, my man.” It was Ruiz. He held up a hand, half turned to me. He was moving in, his eyes glazed. He looked a little rough. “How’s it going?”

  “Hey.” I stopped.

  He stepped in, our hands meeting as he pounded me on the shoulder. A little more forceful than was needed, athlete to athlete. Grant West was usually known for its basketball team. They had a player in the past that was phenomenal, a guy named Hunt. But this year hockey was the big sport. Football never had been, and I knew Ruiz had hopes of getting drafted. We were a D1 school, but I hadn’t heard of any recruiters coming to visit him. That stuff gets shared, even if you’re on a different sport. There was no rivalry between teams at Grant West so having crossover friends was common.

  We all used the same weight room.

  “How’s it going?”

  “It’s good. You?”

  “Good, man. Good.” He shifted, turning so he was facing where I’d just left. “That chick with your team. Gotta ask, are you hitting that?”

  Fuck’s sakes. “Nah, man.”

  “But someone is?”

  I frowned. “Angela?”

  “Yeah! Angela. That’s her name. She was over, being all sweet to Darren. He didn’t seem into her, but Wade was a different matter. I usually see her around the hockey team and another girl, Bianca or something. What’s her story?”

  “Bianca?”

  “Nah, man. Angela.”

  “Labrowski knows her.”

  “He banging her?”

  I stepped back, not liking how he was talking about Angela, but also not liking how he wasn’t over here about her. “Why don’t you cut the shit and ask about who you really want to know about?”

  He stopped. His eyes were having a hard time focusing so he squinted.

  He let out an ugly laugh, and I could almost name the beer he was drinking. His grin was lopsided, his body a little unsteady. “You’re a straight shooter. I like that about you, and you’re right.” He leaned in again. “I’m regretting not hanging out at Darren’s place more this semester. I heard you’re hitting that. Is she good?”

  I shifted, my back to the bar.

  Ruiz craned his head to the side so he could see Mara, but me, I was looking around for cameras. I was probably screwed either way, but if he kept going, I was going to knock his teeth back in his throat.

  “You wanna run that by me again?”

  “Yeah, man.” He shifted closer. “She’s got a tight body. Petite. Small. How I like ’em, and normally they don’t have good tits, but she does. You can tell. What’s it like? Doggie style, am I right? The shit I’d like to do to her. Stuffing my cock down her—”

  BAM!

  He was on the floor in the next second and I was standing over him. I’d hit him so fast, and I didn’t give a damn. I wanted to do it again.

  He touched his chin. Then his head twisted, and a snarl formed before he jumped up and swung.

  I ducked, grabbed his arm, pinned him against the wall, and punched from the left. I could shoot from both hands; I could punch the same. “Right-handed, huh?” I hissed. “Sucks to be you.”

  There was a stampede behind us. Then hands were pulling me back.

  I strained to land another punch.

  He was yelling at me, but I wasn’t paying attention.

  “You fucker! I’ll have your scholarship taken. I’ll destroy you–”

  “Keep girls’ names out of your mouth next time.”

  “What the hell, man?”

  Blood dripped down his face. He was yanked up by a couple of his teammates, but he growled, lunging for me. “I’m going to fuck you up!” He was too fast for them, and I was held back and immobile. I couldn’t lift my arms to defend myself.

  He got a hit in.

  “Stop!” Labrowski was there, wading in. He grabbed Ruiz’s arm, shoving him against the wall again. “That was a cheap shot, Ruiz!”

  “He start–”

  I strained to get free, wanting to go back at him, but goddamn. Who was holding me back?

  Darren, Atwater, and Barclay. All three. Wade stood behind, pulling his weight too. Four guys. Ruiz had two.

  “Hey!” Labrowski turned to me. “Stop it.”

  Ruiz snarled, “I’m going to mess up that pretty face of yours–”

  I twisted, and this time half my body got free, but Labrowski cut me off, stepping into me.

  Ruiz’s gaze cut to the side. “The shit I’m going to do to your girl now. You think I was motivated before? Try me now. She’s going to be panting for me.”

  “Like fuck you are.” Mara took two steps. “Let him go.”

  As they did, she grabbed his shoulders, and rammed her knee up into him.

  He doubled over.

  She glared down at him. “I heard everything you said, and I also recorded it. Make a move against Cruz and I will unleash that shit onto the web. The NFL hates scandals. It’d be unfortunate if that was released during recruitment.”

  His face paled. “You wouldn’t.”

  “Try me. You think you’re the first guy to be a pain in my ass?”

  Two guys scooped Ruiz up and took him somewhere. My guys stepped away, letting me go.

  Mara held my gaze.

  I took a step closer to her. “You heard what he said?”

  She was looking me over, lingering on my face where his punch had landed. “I was coming out of the bathroom when I heard your voices.” Her fingers grazed my cheek. “You should get some ice on that.”

  “You want to get out of here?”

  Her eyes darkened and her hand moved to my mouth. “No.”

  I moved in again, touching the back of her waist, pulling her against me. “Why not?”

  Her eyes closed. “You know why. I can’t do that right now.”

  Right.

  She didn’t want to hide.

  In sex.

  With me.

  Well, this was still a confusing place to be in.

  “Let’s do something else.”

  Her eyes opened. I saw the need in her eyes, swimming there on the surface. “Like what?”

  “A movie?”

  She grinned, her hand dropping back to her side. “You really do need ice. He got you once, but it was a solid hit.”

  “Let’s go somewhere,” I said it again, my hand falling to graze against hers.

  Her body shook a little. “I can’t. No matter where we go, you know what will end up happening. I–I just can’t right now.”

  Her pinkie turned, and I hooked it with mine.

  I said, “We can talk on the phone, how about?”

  “Yeah. We can do that.” Her voice dropped to a whisper.

  “I’ll call you tonight.”

  My pinkie tightened around hers.

  “Okay.”

  Our conversation was done. We had a plan.

  Neither of us moved away.

  34

  MARA

  Tasmin showed up that night.

  She hadn’t called. Texted. She showed up, and as soon as I let her in, “Why wasn’t I invited?”

  I frowned. “Here?”

  She dropped her bag on the couch, and waved her phone in the air. “This is what that’s for. To call me. To invite me. You’re going to a bar? You call a friend.”

  Oh.

  “Today wasn’t about you.”

  “Friends, Mara. Friends. Do I need to spell it out to you? You’re going somewhere for a social activity, you call your other friends and let them know. Wanna know where I was? Taking care of Race because he’s sick. Guess where I would’ve loved to have gone?”

  “To the bar?”

  Her hands went wide and moved in an arch. “Yes! You’re getting it now.”

  I shut the door. “You want me to invite you the next time I go to the bar without your boyfriend?”

  “No, but let me know. I’m fun. I’m game for anything. Literally. Or, well maybe not literally anything, but for a lot. And if you’d known Race was sick, then I could’ve told you how he’s been a baby all day long.” She went to my kitchen, and opened the fridge. “He swears it’s food poisoning, but between you and me and everyone else, he’s hungover. He and his roommate went out with some guys from one of his classes.”

  “Good to know.” I watched as she helped herself to my juice, then my rum, and held it up to me.

  She asked, “You want a drink?”

  I had to smile, a little. “I’m good.”

  “Good.” She brought it over and plopped down on the couch. “Okay. I heard Cruz beat the shit out of Kyle Ruiz, and it was over you. Tell me the truth and I’ll tell you the rumors going around. Some of them are a doozy, but that’s why you have me now. I’ll weed out the truly insane ones, like the fact that you and Ruiz have a secret child that your mother kidnapped, and Cruz thinks it’s his.”

  “I could see why he’d be upset.”

  She snorted, sipping her drink. “Me too, but you don’t need to hear that one. Sit, Daniels. Spill. We’re besties and it’s time you start accepting it.”

  I sat. I spilled. I did not spill everything, but it felt good. I had to admit that.

  Then, when she was leaving, she offered, “I can go downstairs and let Sky and Z know the truth, if you want? You’re prime gossip channel material, and trust me, you’re going to need a few of us on your side. If we know the deets, we can shut down the absolutely crazy pants ones.”

  “I’m okay.”

  My phone began ringing after that, and Taz gave a wave before leaving. “Okay. Offer’s always there. Fair warning. I’m going to text you tomorrow. You will have to respond to it. Also what friends do. They text about just general stuff. Rarely are threats involved. Real threats. Take note.”

  I was answering as she shut the door. “Hey.”

  It was Cruz. “You got back okay?”

  I settled back down on my couch, a blanket over my lap. My computer was still next to me, but since Taz’s arrival, I hadn’t reopened it. “I did. How’s your head?”

  “All fine.”

  “That’s good.”

  “Yeah…”

  I had to laugh. “We suck at phone calls.”

  He laughed. “I was just thinking that. Why are we doing this again?”

  “You know why.” My stomach clenched, and my phone dropped.

  “We’re doing the actual friend route? Like the kind where we talk and share how our day went? Shit like that?”

  I was playing with the edge of my blanket. “I guess. Taz was just here and said kinda the same thing, but I don’t really do this with anyone. I typically don’t trust anyone for this stuff.”

  He was quiet. “That’s kinda messed up.”

  I sighed, sinking lower in the couch. “I know. I blame my mom.” That was half of a joke, half not.

  “Has she reached out again?”

  “No. I mean, yeah, but she’s blocked. A weird number started calling this last week. They won’t leave a message. I mean, they do, but it’s just heavy breathing.”

  “That’s creepy. Could be her other friend?”

  “Could be anyone.” I went back to playing with the edge of my blanket. “How’s your sister? Your mom?”

  “Uh, they’re good.” A brief pause. “Sorry, not used to being asked about them either.”

  “Is this new for both of us?”

  “I think so. I mean, I never had a girlfriend in high school. If I had sex, it was just that, you know. And my friends, we talk about hockey or stupid shit. Sometimes they ask about you, but not in a nosey way. They aren’t like that.”

  “I know. I appreciated how they all were quiet about me coming over. That doesn’t always happen.”

  “A lot of girls like sex. Guys too. No one should be judging.”

  “You saying that is probably part of the reason you and I were doing what we were doing.”

  “Were?”

  My breath halted in the middle of my chest. “I mean… You know what I mean.”

  “Right.” He didn’t sound like he did.

  I sat up. “Look, with my mom how she is, I lived life keeping two worlds separate. My home life and my social life. That shattered in January, and now there’s a weird mix where people in one world know about the other and I can’t change that. I’d run like hell in the past if that had happened, but I’m not this time. I can’t, but I also don’t want to. I think, I think I need to do this.”

  “Mara.” He said my name quietly.

  “I just don’t want to go back to bad habits, and you know, it’s new to me and I want to be cautious. I know it doesn’t make sense, but you know about my mom. You’ve met her. Zeke knows about her. He has my back. Taz, which is new. You. This is a big step for me. I feel weird even trying to explain this.”

  “You don’t have to.”

  “I know, but–”

  “For real. You don’t have to. I get it.”

  I was almost shredding my blanket, picking at it. “The original agreement was that if we’re having sex with each other, neither of us has sex with anyone else. I’m changing that so if you want to, you know. You can. With someone else.”

  Please don’t.

  He got quiet, again.

  I clamped my eyes shut, so tight. Waiting.

  “I have no plans for that, but… Thank you. I guess?”

  He guessed?

  Okay. We weren’t a couple. That had never been on the table, so I got it. I understood. He was keeping his options open. That’s what he was doing. Totally made sense.

  “Right.” From me.

  “Yeah.” From him. Still quiet.

  “Okay. I’m going to go. Study. I wouldn’t be surprised if we had a surprise quiz in abnormal psych tomorrow.”

  “Me too.”

  I stared at my phone, holding it.

  I didn’t end the call. I stared at my phone.

  Twenty seconds later, he ended it from his side.

  There was that.

  35

  CRUZ

  I was smashed up against the plexiglass, and threw an elbow back, pushing the guy off me. He grunted. “You’re toast, Styles. We gonna burn your ass up.” The ref hit his whistle, skating over, waving to the penalty box.

  It was a good call, but the crowd booed.

  “Whatever.”

  “Penalty!” The ref went over to identify the actual call, but the guy, number 25, was already heading to the box.

  Labrowski came over. “You okay?”

  “Yeah.” I turned to glare. It was our opposing team’s enforcer who’d come after me. He’d been going at me hard all night long, ever since Atwater went after their team’s lead scorer. Tit for tat, but I was getting sick of it.

  “You good?” The ref came back, and I nodded, my ego more bruised than anything. He gave a nod and headed back to where he’d drop the puck. “Let’s play then.”

  Labrowski patted my shoulder pad, nodding to the bench. “Line change.”

  Fuck. It was early, but we headed over, jumping in as the others climbed over the wall and got onto the ice. The game was going a few seconds later. “Styles.” Atwater tossed me a water. I caught it as I sat down, squeezing the bottle, the water spraying through the cage and into my mouth.

  The coach came over, leaning down. “How are you doing?”

  I eyed him, giving him a quick nod. “I’m fine.”

  “He’s been going at you all night.”

  I was aware. “I’m good, Coach.”

  He gave another brisk nod before moving on, hitting me briefly on the shoulder with his coach’s tablet. Atwater sat in the space he just cleared out of and bent forward. “Don’t worry. Keys’ got your back.”

  Our enforcer and his enforcer. They’d been trading their targets all night long. Sometimes we didn’t use our enforcer, but tonight was a different matter. The whole game was worse than the others, but Sacramento’s team was living up to their reputation. They were rough and liked to fight dirty.

  Rules were stricter in college than in the NHL, but these refs didn’t seem aware of that. They were letting too much go.

  We were in our third period. They were trying to go hard on me this first game, tire me out for the second game. I gritted my teeth, knowing I couldn’t let it work.

  “Go!” It was time for another line change.

  The third line went out. We had the fourth still, and then it’d be my turn.

  A few minutes later, we were on the ice.

  I didn’t wait around.

  Skating over, I stole the puck and off I went. The harder they went at me, the harder I played. I needed to remind them of that fact.