Page 24

Chapter 24

Shenanigans

Connor

T he sound of shattered glass pulls me out of my introspection.

The commotion seems to come from the opposite end of the makeshift bar.

“Dude. Watch it.” Jamie pulls Bex closer to his side. His stance is protective.

“Sorry, Jamie.” Tucker’s apology comes out slurred. “I just thought this whole thing was a joke.”

Jamie has his back to me, so I can’t see his face. But it’s impossible to miss the way he tenses up.

“What’s a joke is that you’d get shit faced at an event where the Dean and Coach are in attendance, the night before our first game.”

Tucker’s huge hand was probably aimed at Jamie’s shoulder, but he grossly miscalculates the trajectory. He ends up slapping against a few glasses of wine the bartender had lined up on a tray, ready to be picked up by the servers.

“Naw,” he slurs. “I’m ok. But seriously, you aren’t hooking up anymore? I mean no offense, Bex, you’re hot. But as long as I’ve known Jamie, he’s never been a rela—wait, what do you call that thing where you can only fuck one girl? Like… exclusion or something? Shit, I have it just on the tip of my tongue.”

Oh, boy.

I’m fucking glad I’m a quiet drunk. But if I was looking for a sign from the universe that I should cut back, looking at how Tucker is making a complete fool of himself does the trick.

“Can I have bibs… no sorry. I mean dibs. Can I have dibs on Bex when you get bored with her? She has a spectacular ass.”

The irony with drunken people. Tucker can’t manage to say dibs, but spectacular is no problem.

I take a few steps closer to this shit show when our goalie attempts to pull Bex out of Jamie’s arms.

“Tuck,” Jamie seethes. “You’re my friend and I love you, and I know that you’re wasted and you aren’t even going to remember the shit you’re saying tomorrow morning. But if you try to put your hands on my girl again, so help me fucking God. Coach Harrison’s punishment will be the least of your worries.”

That would be a deterrent in a normal situation. Sober Tucker would know he’s crossed the line, and he’d apologize.

Drunk Tucker?

He finds Jamie’s threats hilarious. “Aww, come on,” he chuckles. “Don’t be like that. Teammates should share everything. Right? What do you say, Luke? Can I have my turn with your sister when Jamie is done? I call bibs. No, no. It’s dibs, dammit.” He slaps his huge paw over his forehead.

Yeah, no. If Jamie shared Bex with anyone but me, I would be fucking livid.

“Ok.” Luke gets there at the same time as I do. “I think we’ve made enough of a scene. Tucker, you’re a fucking dipshit. We’ll talk about this tomorrow morning. But right now, you’re cut off. Let’s take you home.”

Like every drunk in the world, Tucker doesn’t take the hint.

“I’m done when I say I’m done. You’re not the boss of me.”

Luke puts a heavy hand on our goalie’s shoulder. “No, but I’m your captain. Coach is looking at us now. This is the time to go home, before we all get in trouble.”

I flank Tucker’s other side. “Yeah. Let’s walk you home. Some fresh air will be good for you. I’m sure no one wants you to barf in their cars, anyway.”

He tries to shrug us off. “I said no. I’m not going. Unless I can bring Bex back to my room.”

“That’s it.” Jamie barks. “I don’t care if Coach is watching. I’m gonna kick your ass.”

I don’t really blame him, but the situation is getting out of hand. The only saving grace is that the Dean has already left.

But we need to get Tucker out of here before it’s too late. “Come on, Jamie.” I try to reason with him. “You know Tucker doesn’t mean it.”

Jamie shakes his head. “I know. But he’s being a jackass. He’s making Bex feel unsafe.”

Bex intervenes to soothe her boyfriend. “I’m ok, babe. I know he doesn’t mean it. Get him home before your coach comes here.”

Luke and I tighten our holds on Tucker’s shoulders, but he struggles.

“Hart,” Luke grunts, struggling to keep Tucker in check and to keep his voice down. “Give us a hand?”

Jamie looks torn between us and his girlfriend. “But I was gonna help Bex with the cleanup.”

“Don’t worry, babe.” Bex reassures him. “The caterers will clear the bar and the food. All we have to do is take down the decorations and make sure everything is ready for tomorrow’s workshops. Candace and the girls will stay to help. I’m sure they’ll convince Corey and a few of your teammates to stay, too.”

“I’m coming back to give you a ride home.” Jamie says.

Bex pushes on the tips of her toes to brush a quick kiss on his lips. “Don’t worry about that. Take care of your teammate. I’m going to get a ride with Candace. I’ll see you at home soon. The party has started to wind down, anyway.”

“Aww,” Tucker gushes, suddenly mellowing down. “So cute.”

Tucker Prescott is a big guy, but like most goalies, he’s surprisingly fast and limber. And like every drunk, he’s unpredictable. He slips out of our holds and lunges at Bex to get his own goodnight kiss.

She’s just as agile, however, and just steps out of his way. “Knock it off, Tucker.”

“That’s it.” Jamie clenches his fists. “This stopped being funny when I told you to cut it out the first time.”

He laughs and dodges Jamie. “Ha, sucker. Catch me if you can.”

“Great.” Luke groans. “Now we gotta chase him before he gets hurt or causes more trouble. Let’s go.”

As we run out of the art center, I feel relieved that I wasn’t the one who caused a drunken scene. If this really is a sign from the universe that I should cool it on the drinking, I’m going to be smart enough to listen to it.

Bex

The party is over shortly after Jamie, Luke, and Connor leave to go after Tucker.

Coach Harrison left before they did, and I have to wonder if that’s a good thing or not. He either left before he saw too much and had to intervene, or he did because he thought he saw enough and he's planning some serious retaliation.

My father didn’t allow me to attend Star Cove’s games in person, because he wanted to prevent me from seeing Luke. But I’ve always kept up with every possible piece of news about the Cove Knights. Coach Harrison is known all over the NCAA hockey circuit for being extremely strict. So I hope Tucker and the team won’t get into too much trouble.

Despite the things he said, I’m not mad at Tucker.

I know he didn’t mean any harm. He was more sloppy than violent, so I wasn’t scared of him. Especially with Luke, Jamie, and Connor by my side.

Candace and Fiona have stayed to help me take down all the decorations.

“Hey Bex,” the Zeta president says. “That box of tools should go into the storage room in the back. Do you mind putting it away and locking up?”

“No problem.” I nod.

She looks at her phone, blushing as she taps on the screen. “I asked Fiona to give you a ride. Is it ok? She should be outside with her boyfriend. Corey is waiting for me and he asked me if I want to go to the bar on campus for a nightcap. I don’t want to get too excited about it, but it feels like a date.”

“I’ll go with Fiona. You have fun. Corey seems like a nice guy.” I smile.

Candace’s cheeks get one shade darker. “He is, isn’t he? We hooked up a couple of weeks ago at that party Luke brought you to. I thought nothing of it at first, but he has been texting me almost every day since then.”

Her interest in the team’s second line center is obvious. “That’s a good sign.” I comment.

She beams. “I know, right? I had a crush on one guy on the team but he ended up falling for my predecessor, the past Zeta president. I probably should have stayed away from the hockey team after that. But I think hockey players are hot. Can you blame me?”

“I can’t blame you, obviously.” I smile.

“I guess you could say that I have a type. I ended up hooking up with a few guys on the team last year and I got a puck bunny reputation. I thought none of the guys would ever look at me as girlfriend material.”

I shake my head, balancing the box with the tools on one hip and touching Candace’s bicep with my other hand. “That’s ridiculous. This puck bunny thing is so sexist. I don’t hear any derogatory nicknames for the guys on the team who like to hook up.”

She considers my words. “It’s complicated. I agree with you that things should be equal between genders. But we all know it rarely works that way. Some girls want to be called puck bunnies and see that name as a badge of honor. Most of them have the end goal of a relationship with a hockey player for the wrong reasons. They want the popularity and the lifestyle if their guys make it to the NHL. They don’t even care about who they end up with in the end. While I don’t judge someone just for enjoying their college life and going a little wild, the whole gold digging thing leaves a bad taste in my mouth.”

I don’t disagree with her. “So, do you think Corey wants more than just a few hookups?”

She looks hopeful. “That’s the way it looks. If he wanted to hook up, he would just hang out with me at parties. He wouldn’t need to text me every morning and every night, right?”

“You’re right.” I smile.

“I just hope we end up like you and Jamie. If you can make Jamie Hart a relationship guy, I think there’s some hope for me, too.”

All I can offer Candace is a sheepish smile. This is exactly what Jamie needs. But while on one hand it’s good that people believe that our relationship is real, I feel like I’m lying to everyone. It isn’t the best way to start a potential friendship.

I find the storage room at the back of the building. The art center is located in an old building that’s been refurbished and everything looks clean and new. Everything except the storage area, where the floors are raw concrete and the doors are made of heavy metal.

If I see a spider, I swear I’m going to pass out.

Thank goodness I don’t see any creepy creatures when I put the box of tools on one of the metal shelves that cover every wall of the storage room, floor to ceiling.

The air smells musty and damp around here, and I hurry out of the door as quickly as I can. I need to get used to coming back here. This is where some of the extra art supplies are kept and I might need them.

The heavy door closes behind me with a thud and I exhale, relieved that I can get out of here and go home.

As I quicken my pace back into the main room, the lights go out when I’m still in the middle of the long hallway full of classrooms and study rooms.

“Shit.” I suppress a shudder. I’ve never been too scared of the dark, but there’s something about an empty school building in the dark that’s deeply unsettling. No wonder a lot of horror movies are set in a school at night.

I switch on the flashlight on my phone, using it to guide my steps back to the main room where I left my purse.

Once I gathered all my things, I try the light switch in the big room, but nothing happens. “They must have cut the power.” I say out loud. “Let’s get the fuck out of here.”

I spot movement in my peripheral vision and turn around toward the door that connects the main classroom to the exit hallway. “Fiona?” I call out.

No one answers me.

“Jesus.” I chuckle nervously, goosebumps appearing on my bare arms. “No more horror movies for me.” I shine my phone light at the door to reassure myself that there’s nothing to worry about.

But I’m not alone.

A man is standing in the doorjamb. He’s tall and broad. My light hits his black sneakers, black jogger pants, dark gray long-sleeved sweater and… a hockey mask covering his entire face.

“Hello?” Aside from the full mask, he looks exactly like the guy I kissed at the Zeta party. “Connor?” I call out.

It has to be Connor. I don’t think Luke would lie to me that the man behind the mask is one of my roommates. I know for sure it wasn’t Jamie, and there’s no way it can be Keene. That kiss was soft and sweet, everything Keene is not.

He doesn’t answer, but he steps closer to me.

“Connor, is that you?”

He’s right in front of me in a few long strides.

My back hits the wall. I didn’t even realize I was retreating until I found myself trapped between the wall and the tall, masked stranger.

He comes closer, so close that our chests are touching. He leans closer and closer and I almost expect him to remove his mask, at least partially, to kiss me.

But he doesn’t.

He slaps my phone out of my hand and I hear it hit the wooden floor at my feet. The impact is so hard that I’m pretty sure the screen must have cracked.

I squint, trying to look at his eyes through the mask’s slits, but now it’s too dark to see anything.

He has on hockey gloves, like at the party.

One of his gloved hands hits the wall on one side of my head, the other hand comes to my throat.

It’s a gentle, almost hesitant touch at first.

“Connor, I’m not enjoying this. Please take that mask off. You’re starting to scare me.”

My plea has the opposite effect. Rather than taking his mask off or stepping away, he pins me to the wall by tightening his hand around my neck.

I don’t know if this is Connor. Even when he and Jamie fought those guys at the pier, the blond Cove Knight defenseman has never given me a dangerous vibe.

Sad, maybe. Closed off. But never dangerous. Out of my brother’s three roommates—my roommates now, I guess—he’s the one I liked the most from the get go. At least before I got to know Jamie better.

“Keene?” I ask.

The fact that I don’t think that Keene was my mysterious kiss doesn’t mean that he isn’t trying to scare me now. My secret kiss and this masked man might not be the same person.

And come to think of it, Keene came right into the house the other night, when I thought I saw the reflection of a masked man in the window.

Fury makes me see red and I shove.

The guy in the mask is caught by surprise and stumbles. I lunge to grab his mask, but he’s quicker and stronger than me. He slams me back against the wall before turning on his heels and running.

Maybe I’m crazy, or my sense of self-preservation is seriously broken, but I take chase.

I’m pissed off and right now I’m out for blood. My entire life, men have been trying to control me, to own me. I’ve realized how much I have been living in fear in my father’s house only when I finally managed to break free. Even before he turned his agency into a legit cult, Luke and I were never free to be ourselves. We hid from his judgment. We were terrified of his fury.

No more.

I’d rather die than let a man control me again. If Keene thinks that he’s gonna scare me into leaving, he isn’t as smart as he thinks he is.

I run out of the art center like a fury from hell. The night is dark and the campus is quiet.

I stop in front of the building for a second, looking left and right in the empty parking lot. There isn’t one soul out here except me and my stalker. If Fiona and her boyfriend were waiting to give me a ride, they must have decided to go home without me.

“Where did you go, asshole?” I scream.

Maybe I’ve really lost it. I should be happy that he’s nowhere in sight, not chasing his ass.

I spot a movement out of the corner of my eye on the left side of the building. It’s just for a second and it’s gone in the blink of an eye. But I take off in that direction.

“Oof.” The wind is knocked out of me as I round the corner into a brick wall.

I lose my balance, but rather than falling, strong hands keep me upright.

Ice-blue eyes bore into me. “Bex, where are you going?”