Page 23

Sam

My nipples are like daggers from the chill in the rink. No matter how hard I try, I can’t get warm by rubbing my hands together.

“Is this your first time here?” Bex, Preston Parker’s girlfriend, asks me.

“Yes,” I say, my teeth chattering.

Bex laughs. “I can tell.” She lifts the scarf on the bench between us and offers it to me. “Here, this should help.”

She’s pretty, blonde, built like an athlete, and close to six feet tall.

Bex is relaxed and far too comfortable wearing only a Strick U hockey sweatshirt and jeans.

On her other side, her friend, Taylor, looks like she’s never spent a winter in the city.

With two layers of clothing beneath her coat and a scarf wrapped around her mouth, she sits with her gloved hands in her pockets, rocking back and forth from the cold.

Bex follows my line of sight. “Taylor is from California. She’s still not used to the cold.”

“She must stay indoors all winter long, then.”

“I try,” Taylor mutters through the fabric covering her mouth. “But Bex makes me endure every single game.”

“Please.” Bex chuckles. “You’re here to watch Drake play, not to keep me company.”

“Maybe a bit of both,” Taylor admits, keeping her eyes on the guys playing hockey. “Drake looks good in his uniform.”

Jemma, Trent’s pregnant girlfriend, taps my thigh to gain my attention. “Trent told me about your first date with Tucker. He pulled out all the stops, huh?”

“Tucker shocked me,” I admit to Jemma. “Who knew he could be so romantic?”

Jemma moves her hand to her stomach and smiles as if in pain.

I lean in closer and ask, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” She closes her eyes for a second and then opens them again. “I get these weird pains sometimes. Probably just gas or something.”

Bex leans over me to talk to Jemma. “You need me to go get Doc?”

I assume she’s talking about the team doctor. Bex knows everyone in the building, from the people who scanned our tickets to the team staff.

Jemma laughs, rubbing her growing belly. “He’s an orthopedic surgeon. I don’t know how much he could do for me. I’m sure it’s nothing. Trent damn near loses his mind whenever I have the slightest discomfort, but there’s nothing comfortable about being pregnant.”

According to Tucker, Jemma got pregnant the first time she had sex with Trent. I couldn’t imagine what I would do if that had happened to me. My life is hard enough. I already have one child to support—my father.

“Okay,” Bex says. “Let me know.” Her eyes shift toward the ice, and her face illuminates when she zones in on Preston.

Her father is the head coach of the men’s ice hockey team. Preston and Bex started dating behind his back at the beginning of the season, right before Tucker contacted me about tutoring him. It doesn’t seem like five months have passed since Tucker messaged me on Strick Net.

I still haven’t found the courage to tell him about my involvement with The Queen. Every day, I debate how to approach the conversation, and each day I chicken out. I don’t want to ruin what we have. Not with how fast my feelings are growing for him. But, at some point, I have to confess.

“Yes,” Bex yells, smacking her hands together, rising from the bench as the goal horn sounds throughout the rink. “That’s my man.”

This is my first hockey game.

I know nothing about the sport.

Following suit of those around me, I stand, helping Jemma to her feet. The crowd claps and cheers for the Senators, and I feel immense pride when Bex says that Tucker’s assist was the reason for Preston’s goal.

That’s my man.

After the game, we meet the guys at Gio’s, a pizzeria on campus. Apart from Broad Street Beans, it’s one of the top hangouts for Strick U students. We occupy two tables at the back of the restaurant. At least ten different pizzas are in the center of the table, the trays elevated on metal stands.

I have serious imposter syndrome when I’m around Tucker’s friends.

When it’s just us, I can forget his father is a famous hockey player and that his trust fund could buy every house in my neighborhood.

It’s hard not to feel like an outsider in this crowd.

Bex is a scholarship kid, but she’s one of them through and through.

My guilt and shame over what The Queen has done to them keeps me at a distance. I’m a horrible person for helping her. They would hate me instantly if they knew the truth. Instead, they’re considerate.

I was wrong about these guys.

So is The Queen.

She convinced me they were horrible, spoiled brats when they were no different from me. The only difference is their entitlement and money.

Preston passes a plate down the table for me. He’s like the group’s dad, always taking care of everyone. Jamie helps him add pizza to the dishes and slides them down the table.

They operate as a unit, like a family. The dynamic between this group is fascinating. I’ve never been part of an actual family, at least not for as long as I can remember. You can feel the love they have for each other. They’re brothers, even though they don’t share an ounce of blood.

Now that I know the truth about them, I want to redeem them. But how do I get past The Queen without the threat of her wrath? Even Jamie hasn’t been able to track her down. I don’t even know her first name. If only I knew where to begin, I could make things right.

“You’re quiet.” Tucker hooks his arm around my back. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah.” I flash a quick smile. “I’m good. Just tired. I was up late writing an article for the paper.”

He dips his head down to kiss my forehead, his lips creating a fire that dances along my skin. “I hate that you have to work so much.”

“I don’t have a choice, Tuck.” I lift my pizza, folding the slice in half to allow the grease to drip onto the plate. “Some people have to work for a living.” I shove the pizza in my mouth and take a huge bite, chewing so I don’t have to talk about how much I work.

Tucker mentions the time I spend working often. He wouldn’t like it if I told him not to practice or to skip a game. I don’t expect him to understand my life. He saw firsthand that my dad is an ass and knows I prefer to live in a fictional world where Jim doesn’t exist.

Tucker holds my hand under the table against his thigh, stroking my skin with his thumb.

I love how he finds the simplest ways to touch me.

And the crazy part is that I am in love with him.

He found his way into my heart and hasn’t let go.

His grip has strengthened along with our bond, but the secrets I’ve kept from him are holding us back.

We can’t move forward until he knows the truth.

Tucker brushes my hair off my shoulder, and his lips graze the shell of my ear. “I want you to come with me to regionals. Do you think you can take off from work next weekend?”

I consider his offer and nod. “I think so. Let me see if I can switch shifts with Eden.”

“The girls will be there, too.” He motions toward Bex, Taylor, and Jemma. “You okay riding with them? I have to take the bus with the team.”

I glance over my shoulder at Bex, who’s telling the guys a joke, moving her hands as she speaks. “Yeah, sure. I don’t mind.”

“Good.” Tucker kisses my cheek. “Because I need you there.”

I smile. “I wouldn’t miss it.”