Page 16

Chapter 16

Public Displays

Connor

“I ’m out.” Keene says, taking the tray with his empty plate. “I’ve got a paper due Friday and I should really get cracking on it. Professor Cantucci is a hard ass, especially with athletes. He makes a point of not giving us any preferential treatment and he doesn’t accept any excuses. I’ve had trouble concentrating these past few days, but the house should be empty right now.”

I follow his scowl all the way to the end of the line of people that are waiting to fill their cups at the fountain drink station and spot Jamie and Bex.

“With them out of the way, I should have at least an hour of total peace.”

I nod in agreement, my eyes glued to the number six on Bex’s back. “Yeah, Cantucci takes pleasure in athletes failing her classes. I took her Intro To Art class last year, and it’s an experience I hope to never have to repeat.”

Keene is mightily pissed off at how Luke managed to get his way about Bex moving in.

Truth be told, I’m not as mad about it. Sure, the way our captain handled the situation was a little underhanded, but I get the pressure he was under. If I had been in his shoes, I would have done exactly the same. When he asked us if Bex could move in and stay in his room, I genuinely voted no because I was worried about the consequences if anyone reported us. The housing administration is quite strict here, especially after the fire that destroyed the Zeta house a while ago. So while having a guest for a couple of days is tolerated, allowing someone who doesn’t go to school here to live in a dorm is grounds for serious trouble.

I felt like an asshole to say no, but any blemish on my record could put in jeopardy my chances of going pro. I was drafted by a team in New York my freshman year. But unlike Jamie and Luke, my team didn’t hand me a contract right off the bat. That’s being negotiated by my agent as we speak, and my behavior needs to be above board if I want everything to go well.

Luke was right that I have a trust fund and if I don’t get an NHL contract, it isn’t the end of the world, at least financially speaking. But my father is a retired NHL player and as his only offspring, the expectation is always been that I would follow in his footsteps. It isn’t a problem because thankfully I love hockey and playing professionally has always been my dream.

The pressure, however, is insane. People think that having a famous father who paved the way for me is an advantage. And in some respects, I think they’re right. I learned how to skate before I learned how to walk and affording ice time and the gear has never been an issue. It’s also true that my dad still has many contacts in the pro world. But being a nepo baby isn’t all that’s cut out to be. My famous last name attracts attention, and the eyes of every scout have been on me since I started playing in the kid leagues. But that attention alone doesn’t get you drafted and, sure enough, it doesn’t get you a spot on a pro team roster. If you don’t have what it takes, a famous name means nothing. Actually, at this level, being my father’s son is a hindrance. I’m always compared to him. Every time the press talks about me, his stats are shown side by side with mine. It’s almost as if I’m only worth something if I perform better than he ever did.

So while I like Bex, I couldn’t risk fucking everything up. I’ve worked my entire life to show the world that I’m worth more than just the name on the back of my jersey.

My eyes have been glued to Bex this entire time. I observe as she fills her cup with Diet Coke. When she turns around, Jamie wraps his arm around her shoulders and lowers his head to kiss her.

It’s a brief, chaste kiss, but it feels like I’ve been stabbed in the chest with a steak knife.

I push the steamed broccoli around my plate with my fork, my appetite suddenly gone.

What the fuck is wrong with me?

The answer is as obvious as it is unwanted. I’m fucking jealous.

I think I should go. It’s not like I want to finish what I put on my plate, anyway. Maybe I could ask for a to go box and take it with me, in case I get hungry later.

With my mind made up, I scoot back, my chair making a screeching sound on the floor of the dining hall.

The moments I spent staring at Bex like a complete creep and the precious seconds it took me to decide to go home seal my fate.

“Hey dude.” Jamie sets both their trays of food on the table. “Mind if we join you?”

I nod, frozen in place. Bex’s eyes descend to my full plate and the words on the tip of my tongue never come out. I can’t say I’m done eating when it’s clear that I’ve barely touched my dinner.

“It’s a free country,” I chuckle. “Be right back. I need to top up my drink.” I rise from my chair, carrying my full cup to the drink station.

It’s ok. I repeat that to myself over and over, taking my sweet ass time pretending to refill my drink. I can quickly eat my food and be on my way, no harm, no foul. Right? My crush on Luke’s sister is ridiculous, anyway. I have no time for a girlfriend, and even if I did? I might be over Fiona in the way that I no longer love her. But I’m not over her betrayal. I’m in no place to trust anyone with my heart any time soon.

And Bex has clearly made her choice, so the attraction I thought I felt the night we met must have been totally one-sided.

The thing I can’t get over is that she chose Jamie. I mean, fuck. Jamie Hart is one of my best friends on the team. And since I live, eat, and breathe hockey, all my friends are teammates.

I love Jamie like a brother, and trust him with my life on and off the ice. But if I had a sister? He’d be the very last man I’d want to see my sister with. Not for any other reason than the fact that Jamie is a no commitment, no strings attached kind of guy. I can’t believe that Luke approves and actually encourages this ridiculous relationship. Bex has just broken an engagement. How can Luke think that she should date someone who changes girls faster than I change my underwear?

Then again, maybe Bex is doing the rebound thing, and that’s why Luke approves?

I eventually can’t loiter around the drink station without people glaring at me, so I make my way back to the table where Bex is practically sitting in Jamie’s lap.

Ok. Let’s do this. Shovel the food on my plate into my mouth as if my life depended on it, and get out of here. If I’m lucky, I’ll be done while they’re still making fuck me eyes at each other.

“How are you, Connor?” Bex turns to look at me. “I haven’t seen you since the other night at the party.”

My eyes go from her pretty face to the table where her fingers are laced with Jamie’s.

I make a non-committal noise. I wonder if she knows that Keene and I weren’t too pleased with the way Luke went about this whole thing. Judging by the way she’s smiling at me, she either doesn’t know that we were quite pissed, or she’s very good at hiding her emotions.

“I just wanted to say,” she begins, as if she could read my mind. “That I’m going to be quiet and clean up after myself and be respectful of your living space. You won’t even know I’m there.”

This is fucking awkward. I could try to explain why I was against letting her move in with us, but what’s the point? What’s done is done. The best course of action in this situation is to deflect the elephant in the room. “I’m sure compared to your brother, you’re going to be a model roommate.”

My words seem to surprise her. “Why? For what I could see, Luke is pretty neat. His room and bathroom were immaculate the night I arrived.”

I bark out a laugh. “That’s not what I’m talking about. First off, Luke snores. I could hear him with both our doors closed and my headphones in. And don’t start me off on the nights Shane slept over. Your brother’s a screamer.”

Maybe I shouldn’t have said that.

Redness rises to Bex’s face at the mention of her twin’s sexual exploits. “Oh, right. Noted. I don’t think you’ll have to worry about that with me. The one time in my life I had sex, I—” she cuts herself off.

My eyes meet hers. Did she really say that? She was about to get married and she only had sex once?

Fuck, she’s so pretty. Only an idiot like Priestly could be engaged to a knockout like Bex and not be all over her. If Bex had been my girl, fuck knows we’d both be in trouble. We would barely ever leave our bed. I wouldn’t be able to keep my hands, my mouth, and my cock off of her. Speaking about my cock, the fucker is hardening at the way my team captain’s sister is looking at us. Well, at me. Thank fuck there’s the table between us, so she can’t see how tight the situation just became in my pants. On the other hand, though, I was lazy and came out to the dining hall in my sweatpants and now there’s no way I can leave this table until my raging boner goes down.

Another thought that hits me unexpectedly is that maybe Jamie is really serious about this relationship. His MO usually is to hook up with his flavor of the night at lightning speed. By Bex’s tone, I have to assume that the one time she had sex wasn’t with Jamie. That’s completely out of character for him. But if he’s waiting to jump into bed with her, it can only mean that he isn’t gonna fuck her and move on.

And that makes sense because I can’t think Luke would ever approve of this unlikely relationship, if all Jamie wanted to do was get his dick wet and then continue to plow his way through the female population on campus.

“You don’t need to worry about Connor and Keene hearing us, baby.” Jamie coos at her. “Because of your brother’s loud lovemaking, we all invested in noise canceling headphones. So it’s up to them to use them. Unless they want to know how many times I can make you scream my name.”

Motherfucker. Jamie’s smile is way too satisfied for my liking.

“So this thing between you,” I find myself saying, before I can think any better of it. “How did it happen? One second we were all at the Zeta party, and literally two minutes later, you two are together.”

Bex’s cheeks go from pink to crimson, but Jamie’s smile doesn’t falter.

“People were starting to leave the party. Bex and I got talking and one thing lead to another. I wasn’t looking for a girlfriend. I have to be honest. But the more I talked to Bex, the more I realized that she’s the woman I’ve been waiting to meet my whole life. I’m so smitten with her, even I can’t believe it.”

Bex

This thing with Jamie is dangerous.

The way he’s looking at me, his blue eyes hot and intense, would feel real if I didn’t know it can’t be. Ever since I agreed to be his fake girlfriend, he has been the incarnation of the perfect boyfriend. If this is how he acted when he wanted to get someone into bed with him, I understand why women lined up for the privilege.

“You’re so sweet.” It’s all I can manage to say before Jamie’s lips find mine.

Every single time my fake boyfriend has kissed me, he has caused a very real reaction in me.

His lips are soft and coaxing, and I part to allow his tongue to slip into my mouth.

This entire relationship is about PDAs and being seen together, so I tell myself to forget how crowded the dining hall is tonight.

It’s a lot easier than expected though, because Jamie’s kisses are like a drug that steals away my breath and my sense of reality.

There’s one gaze I remain aware of, however. The entire time Jamie’s lips press against mine and his tongue brushes mine with hot strokes, I feel Connor’s eyes on us.

My heartbeat shoots from my chest to the space between my legs. I’m hot and wet, and I thank God that Jamie is wearing jeans, or I’m pretty sure he could feel the effect his kiss is having on me.

The truth, however, is that it isn’t just Jamie’s kiss that’s making me press my thighs together in search of relief.

My hands play with the soft, short hair at the nape of Jamie’s neck, dragging him closer, deepening our kiss.

A thought invades my mind. How would it feel to kiss Connor? Would he be as skilled as Jamie? Would he be hard and unyielding like I know he can be on the ice from the times I’ve watched him play Bridgeport on TV, or would he be sweet and hot like the guy behind that hockey mask?

Because if Jamie wasn’t my mystery kiss, I’m pretty sure it must have been Connor.

There’s a small chance it could be Keene, but the idea is absolutely laughable.

Not only because Keene is grumpy on a good day, and I can’t imagine his lips being as soft and reverent as my masked kisser. But because it’s crystal clear that the former army sergeant took an immediate dislike to me. If Keene had been the man behind mask number six, he would have probably bitten my lips off.

“Hey you two,” Connor chuckles, clearly uncomfortable. “Get a room.”

Jamie releases my lips, but keeps his hands on my hips. “Maybe we should. We could get takeout boxes and take our dinners home.”

My face feels hot, and I know I’m blushing. But that’s nothing compared to the liquid heat between my legs.

I make the huge mistake of looking at Connor, and what I see surprises me. The big defenseman’s eyes are locked on my lips.

Is he thinking about kissing me? And is he doing that because he knows how it feels, or because he doesn’t and wishes he could have a taste of me?

Another thought invades my mind and I picture something absolutely crazy. How would it feel if both Jamie and Connor were kissing me? If I was sandwiched between them and their lips were on me at the same time? If one was devouring my mouth and the other one…

Jesus. I need to stop thinking about this stuff.

I squirm on Jamie’s lap as another wave of heat makes my clit pulse with need.

My nipples feel so hard, I’m surprised they haven’t broken the fabric of Jamie’s jersey.

If this relationship was real, I would totally take Jamie up on his offer to go home and lock ourselves in one of our bedrooms.

But I doubt he really means it, so I giggle, playing with a strand of my hair to hide my embarrassment. “That would be rude, babe. We can’t just leave Connor alone. He hasn’t even started eating his dinner.”

Connor’s eyes leave my lips and come up to meet my gaze. The corners of his lips curl up in the beginning of a smile, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. “Oh, don’t stay on my account.”

He sounds like he disapproves of me and Jamie. Could it be jealousy, or does he dislike me that much? He was kind when we first met, but I know he was against letting me stay at their place, just as much as Keene.

I swear to God, if Luke hadn’t said that he’s sure that who kissed me at the party is definitely one of his roommates, I would have bet my money on any other Cove Knight on Candace’s kiss list.

I realize that I’ve been staring at Connor for much longer than it’s appropriate. God, he’s gorgeous. Even if it pains me to admit it.

“Excuse me, guys,” I get up from Jamie’s lap. “Too much Diet Coke. Time to visit the restroom.”

I walk away, feeling like I’ve said something wrong. One of Dad’s countless rules was to never discuss bodily functions in public. Even when last year he had decided that the balanced diet each of us was following wasn’t enough, and we all needed to lose weight. He put every single person who lived in the house on a smoothie diet. That wouldn’t have been so bad if the “smoothies” his chef prepared for us weren’t a horrible concoction of green vegetables and soluble fiber that messed with everyone’s digestive system.

For weeks, the conversation in the house was about how many times each of us had to interrupt a training session or filming a video to run to the bathroom.

He finally took us off that diet after one of my dance partners’ stomachs started playing up during a live stream and the guy didn’t make it to the bathroom. It took someone shitting themselves live for my father to go back on one of his business decisions.