Page 5 of Iced (Walker University)

“G racie Bear. What are you doing here?” I glance over to Kellan.

Honestly, I’m surprised to see him in a library. In high school, he never spent any time in one. This was more my domain. Kellan seems to excel at his classes without needing any extra studying. It’s quite annoying now that I think about it.

“I’m studying. What does it look like?” I roll my eyes as I look back at my book.

“Where did you go last night? I missed you.”

That familiar fluttering attempts to start, but I shut that shit down. We will not feel any ounce of joy over him saying that. It’s not even true. He never even texted me to see if I made it home. He is only talking to me now because we happened to be in the same place.

It’s sad, really. Kellan isn’t a bad guy. I’m just realizing that maybe we want different things from life.

Glancing up at the door, I nibble my bottom lip. Clayton should be here any minute. I’m not sure if he knows it’s me who he set the appointment up with, but I don’t want Kellan to see him.

Not that I’m embarrassed. I just think that Clayton probably wouldn’t want his business known. Especially when I see two of the other guys over at the table with the same dark-haired girl Kellan has been dating.

“I went home. You seemed busy, and it’s not my scene. I told you that,” I whisper at him once more.

“I know, but I wanted you there.”

It’s on the tip of my tongue to tell him that he shouldn’t have left me then, but I bite it back like I always do. It would only hurt his feelings and right now it’s not worth it.

My breath catches as the door opens. I hope it’s not Clayton, but my prayers are not answered. The man in question walks through the door, a backpack on his shoulder. His eyes scan the room looking for me. Well, probably looking for someone sitting alone, but with Kellan here, he won’t think it’s me.

His eyes do stop on me for a moment, though. They lighten as if we share a secret. Then they narrow when they see Kellan.

Kellan turns to see what has caught my attention. Then he growls. “You know that guy’s a player, right?” Kellan asks.

I smile. “I saw him at your game, yes.”

“Not what I meant. Do you know him?” he asks.

I shrug, waving at Clayton. He gives me a wave back, his eyes scanning the room once more.

Unwilling to let him stand there any longer, I stand. Kellan grabs my wrist, but I shake him off, heading right up to Clayton.

“I didn’t realize you know Cooper.” Clayton greets me in a low voice.

“He’s my best friend. You ready to study?” I ask quietly.

His eyes widen in surprise, then he smiles. “I’d rather my team not know about, you know.”

I nod my head. “I haven’t told anyone, and I won’t. How do you want to play this?”

“You going to chew my head off if I touch you?” he asks.

My heart beats erratically in my chest as I shake my head. He nods before putting an arm around my shoulder, leading me back to my table.

“Hey, Coop. I didn’t know you knew Shorty,” he tells him.

Kellan looks confused. “Shorty?”

“Oh, I’m sorry. You probably know her as Grace. My study buddy. Isn’t that right, Grace?”

I give him an odd look. I don’t know where he is going with this.

“Yeah, Clay and I are real good friends.” I give him a small smile.

He shakes his head but nods at my stuff. “Did you reserve us a room? I know you prefer no distractions while you study.”

Maybel did tell me to reserve a room as Clayton would likely want privacy, so I did. He’s making it sound like it’s me, but I’m okay with that.

“Yeah, sometimes it can get a little rowdy in here. We are upstairs.”

I go to grab my things, but Clayton drops my shoulder, leaning across to stack my books. Then he moves around the table until he has my bag over his shoulder.

“Really, Gracie? You never cared about studying around me before.” Kellan scoffs.

It’s the hurt tone that is killing me. I want to tell him Clayton is lying. That he just doesn’t want him to know that he is struggling. I guess his talk about not caring is bullshit. It has my blood boiling. What a hypocrite.

Yet I can’t rat him out. I won’t.

So I just shrug. “High school was different. College is a bit wilder. You know I don’t like that type of atmosphere. Anyway, text me later.”

He nods, so I lead the way for Clayton. Up the stairs. Down the hall. Then into the first study room. As soon as the door closes, I round on him, crossing my arms.

“I thought you didn’t care about the opinions of others. Was that all some lie to make me feel like shit for making assumptions about you?”

Clayton has his hands up in a placating manner. “Whoa. I wasn’t prepared for the feistiness, Shorty.”

“Stop calling me that.”

He only laughs before ignoring me. “I don’t care what people think about me. Most people, that is. Your buddy out there is a little different. He’s on my team, and I’m his captain. He looks up to me. I’m supposed to be a good role model for them. So yeah, I don’t want him to know I’m failing a class.”

“Maybe don’t fail, then it won’t be a problem,” I snark back.

He winces. “I tried. I studied hard for that test. I thought I understood it, but it’s hard. It’s why I sought out tutoring. Isn’t that what tutoring is for?”

I deflate. That was a dick thing to say.

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s no problem, Grace.”

“Why wouldn’t you want to set a good example by letting them know you are getting the help you need? That’s a lesson they need to learn too.”

“True, but not all the guys on the team will see it that way. They will see it as a weakness and do everything they can to exploit it. Did you know that your boy out there has already claimed that he wants the captain seat next year? He is making plans to take a spot that he hasn’t even earned. He hasn’t played his first actual game that counts for anything, and he thinks he is going to take this place from me.”

“He thinks you are going to declare for the draft,” I blurt out.

“He’s talked to you about me?”

“He has said a few things, but nothing recently. Are you not declaring for the draft?” I ask.

“I don’t really want any of this getting around, so maybe we should focus back on the school work.”

I feel disappointed. I don’t know why, but I wanted his answer. I wanted to know if he trusts me. Trust is weird, though. I barely know the guy and I want him to trust me, yet I haven’t given him a single reason to do so.

So, as he sets out my books on the table, I make my way over to him, taking a seat. Then I turn to him, waiting for him to meet my eye.

“You don’t have to worry, Clay. Can I call you Clay? It doesn’t matter, that’s your name now. I won’t tell a soul. You don’t have to tell me anything, but anything between us, I won’t tell.”

“You said Kellan is your best friend. I have a sister. I know how best friends work.”

“Maybe I don’t then, because you’re my friend too. At least, I think we will be. I won’t betray your trust. Especially to him. Besides, Kellan might be my best friend, but we never did the girl talk thing. He’s too much of a guy for that.”

He stares me in the eye for several seconds before he nods. “Okay.”

I nod back. “Okay. So why don’t we start from last week’s test?”

After several hours with Grace, I can see where I went wrong. I was looking at marketing simply as making a brand and then pushing it to people. There is so much more to it than that. Sure, I read the book, but it wasn’t clicking in my head.

That’s where Grace came in. She was able to break it down until I felt like I knew nothing, then rebuilt my brain so I wasn’t using my own assumptions about the class to get in my way. By the end of our study session, I could answer the questions on the test much better. If it had been multiple choice, I would have passed, but this teacher really wants to see that you understand the material, so he asks thought provoking questions.

“Thank you, Grace. I really think I have a handle on it now.”

“Of course you do. I want to meet again before you retest on Thursday. Can you meet another day this week?” she asks as she packs up her stuff.

“We are doing two-a-days, but I can make time for you. I have all my classes during the day, so it would be best after second practice. Could you meet at, say, eight?” I ask.

She smiles. “On Tuesday, yes. I have evening classes Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.”

“Perfect.”

We walk out of the room together. As we walk over to the railing, I let out a relieved sigh when I see everyone has left.

“Do you want to go get something to eat? I didn’t get to eat anything before I came here.”

Grace smiles. “I didn’t either, but I’m on the meal plan. I go to the cafeteria.”

“Me too. Why pay for food twice since your tuition is already paying for the meal plan, right?” I tell her.

She laughs. “Yeah. That and I didn’t want to get a job and go to school. I get an allowance from my family, but I don’t want to use it all up. I’d rather save it for emergencies.”

“You are so smart, Shorty.” I smile widely at her. “After you, milady.”

She shakes her head, but heads downstairs. I walk near her side, not daring to speak after the last time I was shushed in here. The vibe today seems different, though. I see several groups whispering softly. Still, I wait until we are outside.

“That place intimidates me,” I whisper to her.

She giggles. Before she can respond, we both hear her name.

Standing at the bottom of the steps is Kellan, waiting for her. I want to grit my teeth. I’m not trying to date Grace, but he’s acting like I am. His attitude has been bothering me at practice, but it seems to be bleeding into our personal lives too. He needs to watch out. Hockey is a team sport. You need to trust the other members on your team. He’s been acting really selfish lately. That’s going to bite him in the ass.

“Hey, Kellan. What are you still doing here?” she asks, keeping pace with me until we are at the bottom of the steps. I stop when she does too. She doesn’t leave my side, though.

“It’s dark. I didn’t want you to walk back on your own. Your mama would kill me if I let anything bad happen to you.” His eyes glance at me once, but then back to her.

I want to ask him where he was last night when she was at a party all by herself. One where she might have walked home by herself, but I don’t. He’s her friend. Best friend as she claims, but from my seat, I don’t think she’s his. It’s not my job to point that out, though.

“Thank you, but I’m going to get dinner with Clay. You can join us.”

Kellan frowns before rubbing the back of his head. “I, uh, have plans.”

Really? I wonder if we had come out five minutes later if he would have even been standing here. He is being such an asshole, and sweet Grace is just letting him be.

Shaking my head, I look at Grace as she speaks.

“Oh, well, then go to your plans. I’m sure Clay will walk me home.” She glances up at me, smiling.

“Oh, so you trust me with where you live now?” I joke, making her laugh.

From the corner of my eye, I see Kellan’s fist tighten.

“She shouldn’t. I mean, she doesn’t even know you,” Kellan tells me before looking at Grace. “You don’t know Clayton like I do. I don’t think you should be hanging out with him.”

I snort. The audacity with which he has to say that right now in front of me.

“I’m your captain. You want to try that again?” I ask.

“Captain only matters on the ice. Not in my personal life. Gracie is my best friend. I don’t want to see her hurt. You have a track record of hurting people.”

I only quirk my eyebrow at him. He’s been here five minutes. I bet his little girlfriend, Monica, gave him this information. She tried to sleep with me last year, but I turned her down. The next day, the whole campus heard about her broken heart…not because I didn’t sleep with her, but because she told them I did and then kicked her to the curb.

“That’s enough,” Gracie hisses out. “I don’t care what you have going on in that head of yours, Kellan. You obviously don’t know your captain very well because I have only spent a little time with him, and I can already tell that he isn’t the man that the rumors say he is.”

He looks at her like she’s na?ve, which pisses me off. “He has you fooled, Gracie Bear.”

“Kellan Henry Cooper, I know you didn’t just insinuate that I would be dumb enough to fall for anyone, let alone a hockey player’s manipulations. Have you even spent any time off the ice with your captain? Asked him anything about himself? No, because you are too busy chasing Monica around. You don’t get to talk to my friends this way. If you don’t have anything nice to say, then I don’t want to hear Clay’s name out of your mouth again.”

“Seriously? I thought I was your friend. Your best friend.”

She sighs. “You are, but you aren’t going to make decisions for me. You aren’t going to talk to my friends negatively. Now if you want to talk about this more, we can talk about it later, but I’m upset right now, and all I want to do is go get dinner with Clay.”

Now he looks like a kicked dog. He really thought she would drop me for him. Honestly, I thought she might too, but Grace proves better than that. She stuck up for me when she didn’t have to. She really doesn’t know me well enough to put this trust in me, yet she does.

All it makes me want to do is keep that trust.

“Breakfast tomorrow?” Kellan asks.

“I have class. I have a break between two and three. If you want to meet somewhere, we can. Otherwise, I’m booked until Wednesday.”

“I’ll make it work. I’ll text you later.”

He leans in, hugging her. Then he kisses her cheek near her lips. The way she tenses tells me it’s not something that he normally does, and he’s only doing it because I’m here.

He’s staking his claim.

This ignorant motherfucker has a girlfriend, and yet he’s staking claim on his best friend right here in front of me.

The picture of their friendship is starting to clear up in front of my eyes, and I have questions for her. Lots of them.

I wait until he’s walking away before I turn to her. “We are talking about all of that, but first, how do you feel about pizza?”

She laughs. “Pizza is life.”

Yeah, we are going to get along just fine.