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She smiled brightly as she jumped up from her seat. “Just trying to get my hot guy hockey fix in while I can.”

I laughed. “You never gawk over the hockey players at our school like this.”

“Yeah, because I’ve spent the last few years in classes with those guys, and I know for a fact they’re pigs.”

“Gee, thanks.”

“You know I don’t mean Jeremy,” she said with a look that made it hard to believe her. “Did you talk to him?”

“No. I just got his voicemail.”

“Bummer,” she replied. “Well, he’ll be at the party tonight. You’re coming, right?”

“Uh…”

“Violet. Please don’t tell me you’re planning to stay home on a Saturday night.”

"I wasn’t going to,” I said. “But my mom said she might be able to video call me tonight.”

“Violet Sinclair.” Mia’s voice had turned serious.

“Don’t you dare stay home tonight to call your mom .

” She scrunched up her nose as though it were an offense to even consider it.

Her voice softened as she continued. “You need to live your life, not wait by the phone for a call you know isn’t going to come. ”

It had been a while since I’d spoken to my mom. Because of the time difference, my best chance of catching her was late in the evening, but she always seemed to get stuck working.

“Maybe it will this time…”

Mia gave me a sad smile. “Maybe.” She was nodding, but I knew she was convinced I was going to be disappointed when another night went by with no call from my mom. “Just think about coming. I’m sure your mom won’t mind if you reschedule for tomorrow.”

I let out a sigh. “Okay, I’ll think about it.”

“Good.” She glanced down at her phone as it lit up with a notification. “That’s Grant. He’s waiting out front for me…”

I gave her a knowing smile.

“Don’t look at me like that,” she said. “You know we’re just friends.”

“Just friends who like to give each other rides to parties?”

“What?” she said with a shrug. “It’s not like we’re giving each other rides at parties. And since we’re just friends, I’m more than happy to ditch him if there’s any chance it will help convince you to come tonight…”

“I told you I’d think about it.” I groaned.

“And I know that probably means you’re not coming.

I’ll have no fun without you.” Her eyes widened, and she slowly batted her eyelashes.

She looked like a puppy sitting at the foot of a table, begging its owner for scraps.

“There will be dancing…” She almost sang the words, doing her best to tempt me.

I didn’t really enjoy parties, but she knew I was a sucker for a good dance floor.

“Please…” Mia wasn’t giving up.

“Ugh, okay, fine. I’ll meet you there.”

“Perfect.” She gave me an innocent smile, like she hadn’t just gotten her way by unfairly dangling a dancing carrot in front of me.

We started down the bleachers together. The arena had almost cleared out, but as we headed down the corridor that led to the lobby, I noticed some commotion up ahead.

It was one of the Ransom players. He was still in his hockey gear and surrounded by a group of girls.

He had his back to me, and I could see his surname and number written across his jersey.

It was number twenty-three. Reed Darling.

He was tall, at least six feet. And even though he was wearing hockey pads, it was obvious he was packed with muscle.

Without his helmet on, I could see he had messy, dark hair.

His face was turned away from me though, and a part of me was curious to find out if he was as gorgeous as Mia said.

She was clearly right about his reputation when it came to girls.

He’d barely left the ice, and already they were swarming him.

The way they were giggling with each other as he spoke to one of them made me feel a little sick.

He was exactly the kind of guy my mom had warned me about. The reason my no-jock rule existed.

“Those girls don’t seem too concerned with his bad reputation,” I said to Mia.

She snorted in reply. “I’m not sure why you’re surprised, Vi. He’s a bad-boy hockey god. He might strike fear into the hearts of most guys, but most girls are handing him their hearts on a silver platter.”

“Well, from where I’m standing, it looks like the hockey players in Ransom are pigs too.”

I thought I’d kept my voice quiet, but Reed Darling turned to face me, and his deep blue-gray eyes flicked up to meet mine.

I was somewhat disappointed to realize Mia was right again.

He was gorgeous with striking features and the kind of piercing gaze that delved right into the depths of your soul, leaving you a little breathless.

No one should look as perfect as this boy, and reputation aside, I could easily see why people loved to talk about him.

There was judgment in the look he gave me though, and his expression was stern, matching the hard planes of his face. The intensity of his glare sent a shiver up my spine, and I quickly glanced away before dragging Mia to the front entrance as fast as I could.

She giggled the moment we were out the door. “I think he heard you.”

I shrugged, trying to look unbothered by the prospect.

What did it matter if some guy heard me call him a pig?

He was acting like one, flirting with all of those girls.

They were clearly too distracted by his good looks to be concerned with the fact he was bad news.

I just had to forget that, for a moment, I had been a little distracted by him too.