Page 12 of Tempting the Goalie (Riverside U #5)

CHAPTER NINE

I sabelle

Luc: You can’t ignore me forever. Please, Mon coeur.

He’s right. It’s been five days. We need to talk. I can’t go on ignoring him.

Me: Can we meet somewhere away from campus?

He answers me right away.

Luc: Are you home? I’ll come get you

Me: Yes and okay.

I slip on a hoodie. I’m already in sweatpants and a T-shirt as I head downstairs. Norah is on the couch watching TV.

“Are you heading out?” she asks. I rarely go out in the evenings, so this is unusual for me.

I nod. “For a bit.”

“You’re going to see him,” she says and accentuates the word him like she’s tasted something bitter.

I had broken down on Norah’s shoulder two days ago in a fit of tears. Luc is my best friend. My world doesn’t feel right when we don’t speak.

“That’s a good thing. You need to figure this out,” she advises.

I may have confessed my long-time feelings for my best friend. My head has been swimming since we made out in my room. I hate my perfect moment was tainted by campus gossip.

“I know,” I reply.

“Good luck,” she calls over as I hear the honk of a car horn outside. He’s here.

“Thanks,” I walk out the door. It’s only nine o’clock but it feels like the middle of the night.

I get into the passenger side. “Hi.”

“Hi,” Luc says, and he watches me. I can see how torn up he feels by the look in his eyes. “It’s good to see you.”

“Let’s get out of here,” I urge, and he nods and pulls away.

We drive away from campus.

“I feel terrible, Izzy,” he begins.

“Yeah me too.” I grip the armrest.

“I’m so sorry. I wasn’t thinking that night. I shouldn’t have kissed you in my car. It was careless of me with all the attention I’ve been getting lately,” he laments.

“It was a mistake,” I agree, unable to look at him. I stare out the window instead as an uncomfortable silence settles around us.

Luc pulls the car off to the side of the road. “Please don’t say that. To me it wasn’t a mistake.”

His words force me to look at him. To take in the tortured look on his face.

“I’m not sorry about what we did. I’m sorry it was made public,” he continues.

I don’t know what to say. It’s everything I want to hear and fear, all at once.

“Tell me you aren’t sorry. Tell me I haven’t lost you, and we haven’t screwed up our friendship,” he pleads, but it’s his plea of friendship that feels like a sword through my heart. He still sees me as his friend. As much as I hate it and want more, I won’t abandon him like he won’t me.

“We haven’t messed up our friendship,” I confirm, feeling the need to put him out of his misery. “I just hate I’ve become one of your floozies.”

“You could never be that, Mon coeur,” he insists.

“Did you see the comments on the video?” I ask him.

He nods. “I hate it.”

“Guys and girls in school look at me now. They know I’m the girl from the video. I hate the attention on me, but I also hate we haven’t spoken in five days.”

“I hate it too,” he says exhaling. “I know it’s hard, but this will blow over. The next athlete will get their attention soon and we’ll be an afterthought.”

“That can’t happen soon enough,” I scoff.

He takes my hand and kisses the back of it. “I missed you. That night was. . .”

What is he saying. The way he’s behaving now is confusing the hell out of me. We don’t touch this way. He doesn’t spread small kisses on my hand.

“Luc, what is happening?” I ask.

“I don’t know. You wanted me to teach you, and I showed you there was nothing wrong with you, as I predicted,” he explains. “For someone who hasn’t come before, you did just fine.”

I smile and duck my chin. “Don’t hide from me,” he says, taking hold of my chin and turning me to look at him. “I want you to be confident. To own your sexuality.”

I remain silent, feeling like the cat has gotten my tongue.

“It’s probably better I stop exploring. It seems like I get into trouble when I try new things,” I finally say.

“I was hoping you would say we could do this a little longer,” he replies, surprising me. “But I understand.”

“You still want to teach me?” I ask, surprised.

“Not if it’s going to hurt our friendship. You’re the most important thing to me. I won’t risk what we have.”

“I hated pulling away from you, but I felt like I was drowning,” I admit.

“Next time, which I hope there won’t be one, you come to me. We work this out together,” he says. “It’s always been us against the world. That can’t change.”

“I know,” I agree. “Did your coach see the video?” I ask because he was supposed to keep a low profile, and that video screamed he was trouble.

He nods. “I got into more trouble. The teams think I may have a sex addiction.”

“Do you?” I ask, and he looks like he’s been slapped.

“No.”

“Are you sure?” I press.

“Yes, Izzy, I’m sure. That’s the lifestyle here at Riverside. The only reason I branched out into new things is because I was bored, but now. . .”

“What is it, Luc?”

“I want more time with you, but I know it’s selfish. I had told Coach you were my girlfriend and you were a good influence on me, but I won’t use you to fix my mistakes, Izzy. It was stupid of me to even make the suggestion. You mean too much to me.”

“I’m the one who offered to be your fake girlfriend. I appreciate you helping me out with my issues, but I’m clearly fine. We can go back to being friends who are fake dating.”

“I’ll tell Coach we didn’t work out. I don’t want to put you into more uncomfortable situations. I know you don’t like the attention.”

“Luc, your future is on the line. I won’t let you jeopardize everything you’ve worked for,” I say to him. I lean in and palm his face, touch his smooth skin that has a five o’clock shadow along the jawline. I missed him so much, and it’s only been five days.

“This is complicated, Mon coeur. We’ve never gone five days without speaking before. If saving my career means ruining our friendship, I won’t do it.”

“You’re stubborn, you always have been. How long do you need me to be your fake girlfriend?” I ask.

“Three weeks. At least until the Frozen Four. Scouts will be there,” he explains.

“So we keep things platonic,” I suggest. those words burn my insides because the way Luc made me feel sensual and cared for is something I never felt before. I want to tell him I want our deal to continue, but I’m terrified at the same time it will ruin us.

“Platonic,” he repeats and rubs at his chin, looking divided over something. “What if I want us to continue with what we were doing?”

“You’d want to continue?” I ask, surprised.

“If you don’t, I understand. You saw that you aren’t broken and I’m happy to have given you that.”

“I want our hookups to continue,” I admit. “I would really like that.”

“You know I’m not built for anything long term. I don’t know what team I’m going to land on after graduation. I could be on the other side of the country. I don’t want to hurt you because it would kill me,” he mumbles, looking panicked.

“I won’t fall in love with you, Luc. We have three weeks and then we’re over. I understand,” I assure.

He takes my hand and laces his fingers with mine. He kisses the back of my hand and closes his eyes like it physically pains him. As well as I know my best friend, I still can’t read his heart his emotions are a tangled mess.

“Three weeks and we don’t fall in love,” he repeats my words, but it sounds like he is talking to himself.

“So, what now?” I ask with too much anticipation.

“We should head back to my place for some lessons if you’re up for it,” he suggests.

“You’re going to allow me to step foot in the hockey house?” I ask wide-eyed. That place has always been party central. The guys have a revolving door of women, and Luc wanted me nowhere near them.

“It’s not the same place it used to be. My friends are in relationships. No more parties. Besides, I think you’ll like their girlfriends. They’re good girls, just like you.”

“Good girls, huh?” I mutter. “What if I don’t want to be good anymore? What if I wanted you to teach me how to be bad?” I say, trying to be as seductive as possible.

Luc laughs. “Are you trying to kill me? I’m hard as a rock now,” he says, surprising me.

“Me speaking that way to you made you hard?” I ask with shock.

“It was sexy Izzy.” He nods, and shifts in the driver’s seat.

“Okay, take me back to the hockey house. I can’t wait to see it and meet your friends,” I say to him.

He grins and turns back to campus.

“So, remind me your roommates names.”

Luc shifts. “There’s Annie and Cade. Macklin—we call him Mack—he’s with Ruby, who is Hayden’s sister. Ruby and Annie are good friends. Last is Aaron, he’s my guy best friend, and he’s with Briar. They’re having a baby together,” he explains.

“Whoa, that sounds serious.”

“Yeah,” Luc agrees, looking on to the road. “Look, Izzy, I don’t discuss my past or family stuff with the guys.”

“Really? I thought they were your besties.”

“You’re my best friend. They’re all really good guys, but I don’t like to talk about my past,” he says, gripping the steering wheel so hard his knuckles whiten.

“I know, Luc. I know you like the back of my hand.”

“You’re the only one who really does.” That comment should make me happy, but instead it saddens me because Luc has always had his walls up.

Ever since his mom died, he holds the world at arm’s length, except for me.

It makes me grateful, but I hate seeing him so closed off because he has so much to offer, and he doesn’t see it.

“So, I’m guessing your friends don’t know about me. I met some of them that day I came to the arena when I met West. I remember you introducing me like I was just some Joe Schmo. I knew it was because you didn’t want them asking questions about the girl who followed you all the way to Riverside.”

“I followed you here.” He laughs. “You got in first. That’s when I accepted their offer to be on the hockey team.”

I don’t have a response to that. We promised each other when high school ended, we would try to stay close to each other. We didn’t want to drift apart. Luc was as much my lifeline as I was his.

“Your friends might have questions about us. Especially, if they happen to remember me,” I note.

He blows out a breath. “I’ve been closed down so long I’m getting tired, Mon coeur.”

“Will you tell them the truth? That we’re faking a relationship?” I ask.

“Nah, the relationship may be fake but what I have planned for you when we get back to my room is very real.”

I press my thighs together, needing relief from the heat of his words.

“Although, I should warn you, my friends’ girlfriends can get kind of loud, if you know what I mean.” He grins.

I shift uncomfortably in my seat as he pulls into his driveway. “When you were at my place, you know when we. . .well, Norah heard everything. I was so embarrassed.”

“You can’t even say the words, Mon coeur.” He laughs, shaking his head. “We need to get you more comfortable with talking about sex. I have just the thing.”

“Should I be worried?” I ask with a giggle.

“Worried? Nah. Excited? Definitely. Now, come on. I don’t know who’s around downstairs this time of night, but it’s time for my two worlds to collide.”

We leave the car, and I follow Luc into the dark house.

I thought I knew everything there was to know about Luc, but in hindsight that wasn’t true.

I didn’t know what he looked like when he felt ecstasy.

Now I know the sounds he makes when he comes.

I know how glorious his cock is. I know he is an exquisite lover and it’s my prediction that I am going to be learning a lot more.