Page 11 of Die for You (Diamond Devils #4)

Aurora

Turns out that hockey practice is incredibly distracting while you’re trying to study for a music theory exam.

Not only from the shouts of the coach and the players, the scraping of the skates on the ice, or the thuds of their bodies and gear colliding, but the damn stretches.

What the hell kind of depraved acts are these men doing to that poor ice and why the hell am I so into it?

How the fuck am I supposed to focus on studying when this is happening in front of me?

Juliet and Sienna cornered me outside of the music building and dragged me here against my will. “Not to sound like a bitch,” Juliet said, “but you need friends.”

Even though Juliet and Sienna keep questionable company, I can’t deny that having friends again sounds like a welcome reprieve from the constant stress and fear of living in my ex’s lingering shadow.

Even in their bulky gear, my gaze is drawn to Finn, Damien, and Knox on the ice.

All three of them keep glancing at me, and I burn under their gazes.

No way they’re letting me out of here without cornering me.

I wonder if Juliet and Sienna know what kind of morally gray activities the Devils get up to in their free time.

I bite back a groan. Jesus, those groin stretches could impregnate me from here.

“Have you hooked up with any of them yet?” Juliet nods at the Devils. She and Sienna are both in jerseys that reach nearly to their knees. Supportive girlfriends.

Sienna nudges Juliet before smiling at me, a book in her lap. “You don’t have to answer that. It’s not our business who you hook up with.”

“It is if she’s part of the group now,” Juliet protests. “If she’s going to be having foursomes, I at least get to hear the juicy details.”

We haven’t known each other for long, but I’ve found myself actually missing them in the past couple of days. Sienna’s super sweet, and Juliet is hilarious in a sardonic, deadpan kind of way. Plus, they seem like the only sane ones in the group, though the jury’s still out.

“No, I haven’t, and I have no plans to.”

“Why not?” Juliet frowns like not hooking up with three unhinged hockey players simultaneously makes me criminally insane.

I lift a brow at her, but I guess I shouldn’t expect her to remember the details of my personal life. We’ve only known each other for about five seconds. “I just got out of a shitty relationship.”

“Good news: Dumping your asshole boyfriend means you can fuck whoever you want. Three of them at the same time, even.”

Salacious images flash through my mind at the suggestion. A dark room, Damien pinning me to a wall by the throat, Knox trailing his fingers over my bare skin while he whispers praise in my ear, Finn on his knees in front of me. On a bed, naked, Knox beneath me, Finn behind me, and Damien in front?—

“Don’t listen to her.” Sienna leans around Juliet. “Don’t do anything with them until you’re sure you’re ready.”

“Uh...thanks.” They’re talking about this like me hooking up with the Devils is inevitable. Other than their own personal experiences, I don’t know where they’re getting this information.

I’m sure sex with those three would be the hottest night of my life, but getting close to them, even just physically, would be a mistake. I can’t trust anyone that much.

“Orgasms can definitely help heal the soul, though,” Sienna adds with a sly little smile. “And those three would take good care of you.”

“Hey! How about we talk about literally anything else?” I snap my textbook shut. Guess I’m getting zero studying done tonight.

Juliet nods to the book. “Are you a music major?”

“Yep.”

“What do you play?”

“Violin, and I’m learning piano.”

“That’s amazing.” Sienna gives me a genuine smile. “I’m a nursing student.”

“Psychology,” Juliet offers, voice flat and disinterested while she stares at the hockey players darting across the ice.

“Good. I could use a therapist in my life.” I nod to the book on Sienna’s lap. “What are you reading?”

She beams and holds the book up like she wrote it herself. “This is our friend’s book.”

I squint at the name. “Violet Novak?”

Sienna nods. “She used her boyfriend’s last name for her pen name. Isn’t that so cute? She published it last week. It’s so good. Very sexy.”

“Sounds like my kind of book.”

“You can borrow my copy when I’m done.”

The rest of hockey practice passes with Sienna and Juliet giving me the full rundown—their classes, their plans after graduation, how they became friends, how they met their boyfriends.

I actually can’t remember the last time I had friends.

Probably high school, when Jeremiah and I started dating.

Slowly, he pulled me away from them until the only person I had left was him.

I’m admittedly rusty—unsure what questions to ask or how to maintain the conversation. But Sienna and Juliet don’t seem to notice, or if they do, they don’t care. I like them already.

After practice ends, the Devils head for the locker room to change, and when they emerge, I can’t help the way my heart skips at the tall, burly figures of Knox, Damien, and Finn heading in my direction.

Sienna runs to Luke, who beams when he spots her. She jumps into his arms and he spins her before they kiss. I’ll give it to them—they’re cute as hell. Trey nods to Juliet and gestures her toward him with a crook of his finger. His smirk tells me all I need to know about his intentions.

Before she leaves my side, Juliet leans toward me and murmurs, “You have them wrapped around your finger. Don’t forget: you’re the one with the power.”

Her words sit like a stone in my gut. I never felt like I had any power with Jeremiah, but the three Devils are staring at me like I’m the only person in the room.

But there’s no way Juliet is right. The Devils aren’t wrapped around my finger.

At best, they’re trying to pay me back for the night of the accident.

At worst, they’re trying to terrorize me by breaking into my apartment and kidnapping me off the sidewalk in order to.

..make me pancakes and give me a ride home.

Reluctantly, I descend the bleachers to meet them.

“I’m not here for you. Juliet and Sienna dragged me. Kicking and screaming.”

Finn and Knox smirk while Damien reaches into his pocket and throws something at me.

I flinch and nearly miss the keys that land in my palm with a clang. “What the hell are these for?”

“We’re teaching you how to drive.”

I roll my eyes and toss the keys back before turning on my heel for the exit. “Not happening.”

“You said you don’t know how,” Damien growls at my back. “Now it’s time to learn.”

I round on him. “From the guy who got in an accident five seconds ago?”

Knox and Finn stiffen.

Shit . That was the wrong thing to say. The accident wasn’t Damien’s fault, and he’s probably still feeling guilty over being the one behind the wheel that night.

The only sign that what I said got under Damien’s skin is the tick of a muscle in his jaw. “Driving is a basic life skill. You need to be able to get yourself to school or work or a hospital or wherever. You don’t want to rely on other people whenever you need to go somewhere, do you?”

I grit my teeth. Of course I don’t want to rely on anyone. I tried explaining it that way when I asked Jeremiah to teach me, but he still refused. “No, I don’t.”

“So get your ass in the car.” He doesn’t wait for me to object again before he stomps for the exit, keys clenched in his fist.

Outside, Sienna and Luke are already taking off in his car, and Juliet and Trey are slipping on motorcycle helmets.

Trey climbs onto the front and holds out a hand to help Juliet swing her leg over the bike behind him.

When she spots me begrudgingly following the Devils to Damien’s SUV, she smirks and makes an obscene gesture before flipping down her visor.

I flip her off, and even though I can’t see her face or hear her over the roar of the engine as they take off, I’m sure she laughs.

“Can’t I learn to drive in something smaller?” I cross my arms. The SUV is huge and intimidating, much like the three men surrounding me. The mix of their heady scents is intoxicating.

“No. You learn to drive something like this, then driving something smaller will be no problem.” Somehow, I can never argue with Damien’s logic, even if him being right all the time pisses me off to no end.

Finn opens the driver’s side door for me and holds out his hand to help me in. I don’t reach for him, even if a small, tiny, ridiculously minuscule part of me longs to.

“I can get in a car by myself,” I grumble. Damien slides into the passenger seat as Finn shuts the door behind me and climbs in back with Knox.

“Doesn’t matter. You don’t open doors with us,” Damien says.

Gritting my teeth, I grip the steering wheel and refuse to look at any of them. “I thought you wanted me to do shit for myself.”

“When you have to,” Knox cuts in. “When we’re here, you don’t open doors or pay for food or even take off your own damn shoes.”

“You’re all ridiculous.” I roll my eyes, even as their words warm every inch of me.

Princess treatment . Back when I still had social media, I’d scroll past video after video of men zipping up a woman’s dress or slipping off her heels or opening her car door and assumed it was all for show. All for views, nothing genuine or real about it.

But maybe men like that really do exist.

Unless this is all just an act the Devils are putting on. A show to get me to swoon and spread my legs. Then, once they get what they want, they’ll disappear, bored.

I’m not oblivious. I’m well aware of the Devils’ reputation. Sharing girls for a night or two, discarding them once they’re bored. And their attention spans don’t seem to last long.

I wouldn’t be able to stomach that rejection after dealing with so much of it my whole life. In foster care, in school, with Jeremiah. A girl can only take so much of it before she stops giving anyone a chance to reject her ever again.