Page 25 of Ice Me Out (The Six Six Six Rule #1)

Keene

People think I’m jaded when I say that women are crazy.

But I beg to differ.

“Motherfucker!” Bex screams, shrugging out of my hold and pounding her closed fists against my chest. “You asshole! You fucking piece of shit!”

I rear back for a second, more surprised by her fury than hurt by her fists. Not to sound like an arrogant prick—even though I’ve been told that’s how I come across to people I just met—but our difference in size and strength is such that Bex’s fists are more annoying than painful.

“Whoa, whoa.” I grab her again. “What the fuck has gotten into you? I know you’re not a fan of me and, believe me, it’s mutual, but is that how you thank someone who came to walk you home?”

That stops her in her tracks, and she looks at me, clearly surprised.

Her green eyes are wide and her chest is still heaving from the exertion of running and using me like her own personal punching bag.

Bex is still in the form fitting, black cocktail dress she wore at the art center inauguration. But her makeup is ruined by her mascara streaking at the corner of her eyes, and her blonde hair looks disheveled.

We don’t like each other and I shouldn’t touch her, but I can’t help but wipe some of that mascara off the corner of her eye with the pad of my thumb.

That must surprise her because her breath hitches in her throat, and she swallows.

It seems that one touch led to another and I can’t stop myself from tucking a strand of silky blonde hair behind her ear.

“What—what are you doing?” she tries to take a step back from me, but her ankle turns in her high heeled black pumps and she stumbles.

Once again, I try to steady her, but she falls slightly forward, landing against my chest.

I know Bex is a dancer, quite famous on social media, apparently. Her body feels fit and strong, but it’s surprisingly soft at the same time. And she smells so fucking good.

I’ve always made fun of the romance books my ex-wife used to read. In those stories, people were attracted to each other’s scents and that would form a bond between them.

The idea sounded ridiculous until now. Based on her scent alone, I could totally drag Bex into my lair—or I think in those books the characters have “nests”—and make her my mate.

“I asked you a question.” She bites out, pulling me out of my lust induced daze. “What are you doing?”

I let her go and, fuck me, my body screams at me, missing the contact with her warm softness.

This is fucking crazy. I don’t even like Bex. I don’t want her here. That can only mean one thing. I haven’t been with anyone since my ex and I split up. It’s been too long and I need to get laid.

That shouldn’t be too hard to arrange with all the parties on campus, but that’s something to work on later. Right now I have to deal with my pain-in-the-ass of a new roommate.

“What does it look like I’m doing? I came to walk you home and I’m keeping you from face planting on the ground of the parking lot. Spoiler alert, asphalt is hard and I don’t recommend trying it.”

My snark pisses her off, and she glares at me.

I clear my throat to keep my smile in check. Bex is kind of funny when she’s angry.

“Why would you walk me home?” she asks, wrapping her arms over her middle in a protective stance.

“Your boyfriend texted me and asked me to. Coach showed up at the Gamma house while they were trying to get Tucker to sober up with some carbs. He wants to see the entire team extra early tomorrow morning for an ass chewing, no doubt. But the guys who were at the house also got to enjoy a lecture on how the hockey team is expected to conduct themselves in an official environment. Corey showed up with Candace and when Jamie realized that she hadn’t taken you home and you didn’t even read his texts, he got worried and sent me. I was at the gym for a late night workout that I cut short to do my teammate a favor. Does that answer your question, Little Miss Nosy?”

My tone earns me another glare.

“Fiona was supposed to wait for me,” she murmurs. “But she didn’t.”

I roll my eyes. “Yeah, that’s what Candace told Jamie. But they called Fiona, and she didn’t answer her phone either. So they wanted to make sure you wouldn’t be left here by yourself.”

Her scowl darkens. “I’m perfectly capable of walking home by myself. Our condo is maybe a fifteen-minute walk from here.”

The way she says “our condo” bothers me. She sure made herself at home as if she had a right to be here.

“So you came here to do my boyfriend a favor, and you decided to have some fun with me while you were at it?”

Didn’t I just say that women are crazy?

“Fun? I don’t know if I’d call going out of my way to walk you home and being thanked with your fists fun. Usually, my idea of fun involves a ride on my bike or a day out at the beach.”

She flips me off. “Fuck you, Keene. I don’t need you to walk me home. This campus is known to be pretty safe. You’re the only threat to my safety, as far as I know.”

Yup. Definitely crazy.

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” I growl.

Bex’s voice goes up a few octaves. She’s clearly upset and her anger is directed at me. “You must have heard me saying to Luke or to Jamie that I thought the secret kiss at the Zeta party was hot. So you decided to mess with me.”

She isn’t making any sense.

“Have you had too much to drink? I guess Tucker isn’t the only one who can’t resist an open bar. Because it’s either you’re off your tits drunk, or you’re completely crazy. I have no idea what the fuck you’re talking about.”

Rather than calming her down, my words have the opposite effect.

“Drop the act, Keene!” she snaps. “Jamie sent you here to walk me home. Instead, you put on a hockey mask, made me believe you were my mystery kiss and then attacked me once I let you get close enough.”

What?

“Attack you? Who attacked you?” I look at her again.

Was she being chased? Is this why she was running and she looked so disheveled?

“YOU!” she yells. “You attacked me, you asshole. You didn’t like me since the second we met. And you hate that I live in your condo. So you decided to get rid of me. You thought you’d use the Zetas’ party game to scare me off. When creeping outside on the deck at night didn’t work, you took it up a notch and tried to choke me. I’m gonna kill my brother for telling you guys about why I left my ex, by the way.”

Fuck. Luke did say that her ex was violent, but he didn’t exactly elaborate. Did her ex choke her?

That’s beside the point, however.

If someone assaulted Bex, that’s really concerning. Especially if she’s convinced it was me.

“Bex, I seriously don’t understand.” I say, struggling to stay calm. “Did someone try to hurt you?”

If a look could kill, I’d be dead right now.

“Stop playing games, Keene.” She snaps. “You made it clear that you don’t like me, and just so you know, it’s fucking mutual. But touch me again, and I promise you aren’t going to be worried about losing your teeth on the ice.”

The idea that she could knock my teeth out would be funny if she didn’t think that I would attack a defenseless woman.

“Violent, I see.” I offer her a glare of my own. “Aside from the fact that I would love to see you trying to hurt me, since you’re the size of a hummingbird, I would cool your fucking jets. I just got here. I have absolutely nothing to do with whatever just happened to you. Or with whatever you think you saw outside the window at night.”

She isn’t appeased by my words.

“Sure. If it wasn’t you a few minutes ago in there, then let’s see what’s in that bag.” She bites out, pointing at my gym bag at my feet.

I roll my eyes. “Have at it. But I expect a fucking apology when you don’t find?—”

“Ha!” she’s been crouching down, rifling inside my bag. “How do you explain this? Huh, asshole?” She shoots back up onto her feet, slapping my chest with something.

A full face hockey mask.

Fuck. I forgot about that. “That means absolutely nothing.” I explain. “This year, the Cove Knights have a new sponsor. And even though those full coverage masks are usually more for the goalies, we all got issued one at the beginning of summer training camp. I guess I put it in my bag when we came back to campus and forgot about it because I never use it.”

She doesn’t believe me. “That sounds very convenient.”

“I’m telling the truth,” I argue. “I don’t know who attacked you, but it wasn’t me.”

“You’re lying.” She accuses me.

I’ve had enough of this conversation. I came to do an act of kindness and I’m not going to stand here and be accused of a heinous act.

“I’m not lying. And if you want to report it to campus security, go ahead. I’ll come with you. But as far as I know, you’re making this up to get me kicked off the team and out of our condo, since it’s obvious that we’re never going to be friends. You’re going to have to prove it was me behind that mask, though, if you think you’re going to get me in trouble. Good luck doing that, since the entire hockey team has identical masks on their equipment.”

Bex isn’t just crazy. She’s also stubborn as fuck. “I know it was you, Keene. You’re even dressed like the guy who chased me.” She points a finger at me.

“Big fucking deal.” I laugh, looking down the length of my body. “The entire hockey team has the same workout clothes. They give them to us during summer training. Your brother and your boyfriend have these clothes. Even Connor has the exact same ones. So you have nothing to accuse me other than the fact that you don’t like me.”

As if summoned by my words, Connor jogs toward us in the same workout clothes I have on.

“See?” I glare at my accuser.

I expect Bex to have some smart ass comeback, but she doesn’t say a word. She’s staring at Connor as if she had seen a ghost.

“Hey beaut—Bex. Are you ok? Jamie and Luke were worried that you weren’t answering your phone. They sent Keene to make sure you were ok, but he stopped answering his phone too. So they asked me to come and see what was going on.”

Bex takes a step back from him, her eyes roving over the length of his body. “Those clothes. You weren’t in those clothes earlier. Why are you dressed like Keene now?”

Connor doesn’t seem to get the implication in Bex’s words. “Yeah, well, we were all in Tucker’s room, trying to get him to sober up and go to bed. He kept trying to sneak out to go drink more, so I tackled him and he barfed all over me. I was so covered in puke, I had to borrow some of his clothes. I was getting changed in one of the Gamma house bathrooms when I heard Coach Harrison yelling. He launched into one of his endless lectures about the privilege we enjoy as athletes and the expectations when it comes to the behavior we need to keep up in return. I was saved from it because I wasn’t in the room. Luke and Jamie might still be there, but Jamie sneaked me a text to come over and see where you were and walk you home, just in case Keene had flaked.”

I should take offense that my teammates thought I would flake after I agreed to do them a favor. But I’m gonna worry about that later. Right now, I look at Bex with raised eyebrows. “See? We all have the same clothes and the same stupid hockey masks.”

She looks at Connor. “You have one of those full face hockey masks too?”

Again, Connor shrugs. “Yeah, why?”

“Where is it?” she asks.

“Huh, I don’t know,” he answers, confused. “Maybe at home, maybe in my locker at the arena. I don’t know, because I never use it. Why does it matter?”

Bex tells him what happened up to the point when she ran into me outside the art center.

“Fuck.” Connor’s tone is full of concern.

He extends his hand with the clear intention to touch Bex’s face, but she flinches, avoiding his touch.

I know the moment when it dawns on him what must be going through our new roommate’s head right now.

“You think it was me?” he sounds hurt.

“I don’t.” She bites out, her voice cracking. “You both didn’t want me to move in. I don’t know what to think.”

I bark out a laugh. “So he gets the benefit of the doubt, but I don’t, huh? And by the way, when we put you moving in to a vote, we were unanimous. So your boyfriend voted no, too.”

“I know. I know it wasn’t Jamie.”

“Why?” I snort. “Is he an innocent little angel all of a sudden?”

Bex shakes her head. “No. But I trust him. And it couldn’t have been him because he’s still at the Gamma house.”

“So was I.” Connor argues.

“You’re here now.” I point out. “I’m not accusing you of anything, but if she thinks it was me trying to hurt her, it could have been you, too. You could have been hiding in those bushes over there until you thought it was safe to come out.”

I thought Connor and I saw things eye to eye. Out of all my new teammates, I thought we were on our way to a good friendship. I probably just screwed that up for good. But there’s no way I can let Bex accuse me without fighting back.

“For all we know,” Connor says, after considering my words. “Your stalker could still be here. He could be hiding in those bushes and watching us argue about this right now.”

He’s right.

I was so busy arguing with Bex that I didn’t think that we could still be in danger. I didn’t even look around. If my First Sergeant could see me now, he’d be extremely disturbed in me.

Securing the perimeter should have been my knee jerk reaction. Instead, I wasted precious minutes arguing with Bex. I swear to God, this woman is my fucking kryptonite. All women are.

“Fine,” I bite out, heading toward the thick hedge of bushes bordering the parking lot. “Let’s make sure whoever tried to scare you isn’t still here. Stay close to us.”

We spend a few minutes looking around the well-maintained bushes and shrubs in the parking lot. Of course we find nothing.

It takes just one look at Bex to know that she still thinks that Connor or I have something to do with this and we’re now pretending to be here to walk her home.

There’s only one way to begin to unravel this mystery. “Let’s go home.” I suggest. “You can walk with both of us. Safety in numbers, right? Then let’s look for Connor’s hockey mask. When you see that it’s still in his possession, you’ll be able to at least rule him out as your stalker. Then I’m going to talk to campus security and see if the CCTV cameras up there,” I say, pointing them out, “Have caught me walking to the parking lot from the street and running into you. And then I’m going to expect a fucking apology from you, Bex.”

I expect her to argue with my idea, but to my surprise, she agrees.

“Let’s go.”

Who’s the man behind the mask? Can Bex trust any of the new men in her life?

Find out in the final book of The Six Six Six Rule.