Page 8 of Tempting the Goalie (Riverside U #5)

“I got dressed for the bar. Do you like my red lips?” I pucker them for effect.

His eyes are wide. “It’s nice, Mon coeur. You’re beautiful with and without the makeup,” he compliments. Damn him. Why does my best friend have to be so perfect?

I hear Priya clearing her throat in an exaggerated way. I get the message loud and clear. I need to be happy in my own skin. It doesn’t matter what others think of me if I feel good about myself. Maybe that was the problem when I was with West. It wasn’t him. It was me lacking self-esteem.

“Okay, let’s go to this bar. What do we do there?” I ask.

Luc blows out a breath. “This is going to be interesting,” he mutters and redirects his attention to the back seat. “How are you ladies doing?” he asks Priya and Yuna.

“Good,” Priya answers. “Looking forward to a nice night out.”

“Great,” Yuna adds.

We pull into the parking lot of Black Jack’s. Everyone knows this place. It’s where all the jocks and cool kids on campus hang out.

“Have you been here before?” Luc asks.

“No, but I’ve heard of it,” I inform him.

Luc pulls into a spot, and we all get out of the car.

We head inside and the place is packed. Music is playing loudly on speakers.

I realize there is an entire life outside of burying myself in books.

Students actually have fun, they flirt, kiss.

My skin prickles with anticipation and I shiver.

Luc places his palm on my lower back. He waves at some guys sitting at a booth.

“You aren’t going out with any of my teammates,” Luc whispers next to my ear.

He always watched out for me when we were in high school.

He was popular and played hockey. I had my head buried in books.

I hadn’t kissed a guy until prom night and it wasn’t something to write home about.

It was a friend from my AP classes. Neither of us had real dates so we went together.

“Huh, why?”

“Last time you came around these guys, you ended up dating West Knight, who I warned you about,” he reminds.

I wince. “You can’t tell me who to date.” We walk up to a table filled with tall handsome guys.

Luc introduces Priya and Yuna first. When he gets to me, he says. “And this is Izzy, my best friend from back home.” His hand is still on my lower back, and it almost feels like he is claiming me or maybe protecting me, as usual.

“Nice to meet you,” Seth, a blond-haired guy with green eyes shakes my hand with a devilish grin.

We go through all the introductions until my friends and I have met Brody, Hutch, and Tyler.

They are all big flirts. We slide into the booth with Priya getting in first. She sits beside Tyler.

Yuna gets in beside her and I get in last. Luc takes the end seat, sandwiching me between him and Yuna.

“What are you ladies drinking tonight?” Seth asks.

“I don’t know. What do you recommend?” Yuna asks.

“Some shots to start.” Seth grins.

“Easy there, tiger,” Luc warns.

Seth laughs. “So, you two are friends from back home?” he asks, looking between Luc and me.

“Yes,” I answer.

“Why haven’t you come around before?” Seth asks.

“Because she is usually busy,” Luc answers for me with a clipped tone.

“Okay, okay,” Seth says, leaning back while giving Luc a look that says chill.

“Oh, there’s dancing over there,” Priya notes.

“Is this your first time here?” Hutch asks her.

She nods.

“Well, we need to have some fun,” Tyler says, and he waves over the waitress and orders two rounds of shots for the table.

“None for me,” Luc says.

“Right, Chabot is on probation,” Brody explains. “He’s had a little too much fun lately.”

I hear Luc hiss beside me, “Shut it, bro.”

Brody gives him a nod.

“So do you guys live with Luc?” I ask.

“No,” Seth says accentuating the o. “Those guys all have girlfriends now. That’s why Luc’s been hanging with us.”

I give Luc a curious look.

“We’re all single, if you ladies were wondering,” Hutch informs us.

“What position do you play?” Yuna asks him.

“Any position you want, baby.” His answer is so slimy.

“Behave,” Luc warns.

“Sorry,” Hutch apologizes like he was just chastised by his mom. “I’m a goalie.”

“You enjoy taking a beating,” Yuna says.

We all burst into laughter.

“What? He’s the guy who stops the puck, but he must also take a beating from it,” she explains.

“You aren’t wrong,” Luc says.

I watch him curiously. This is what happens when you put a bunch of psych majors at a table with hockey players.

“It’s a power thing too. We have the power to make or break the game,” Hutch goes on.

“Interesting,” Yuna says.

“I’ve taken some psych classes. You’re a psych major, right?” Hutch asks her.

“How could you tell?” Yuna asks with her mouth dropped in an O.

“You’re psychoanalyzing me. I’ve psychoanalyzed myself plenty. I think it boils down to me not having the confidence for another role when I was younger, and so I started as goalie and it stuck.”

“That’s very insightful,” Yuna remarks.

“Thanks,” he says, and they smile and stare at each other. The stare lingers.

Tyler clears his throat just as the waitress brings the shots. “Perfect timing. It was getting too deep over here,” he says to the waitress.

We all take the shots except for Luc.

“So, Izzy, tell us about Luc. He doesn’t like talking about himself. Give us all the dirt. What was he like growing up?” Seth asks.

“Whatever you want to know you should ask him yourself,” I reply.

The waitress brings another round of drinks, and I find myself on the dance floor with Yuna, Priya, Hutch, Tyler, and Seth. Luc stays behind at the table looking grumpy.

Somehow, we break off into couples with Hutch dancing with Yuna and Priya dancing with Tyler. When it’s just me and Seth, he extends a hand to me and shrugs. I accept the offer.

“You’re a good dancer,” he whispers against my ear.

“I haven’t really danced much,” I admit.

“Do you spend a lot of time studying?” he asks.

“My GPA is important to me,” I say.

“I have to keep a certain GPA, but I don’t stress too much,” he says. “You were dating West Knight, right?”

I nod. “Not something I want to talk about.”

“Cool, because I think he’s an asshole,” Seth states, now I like him even more.

With the alcohol running through my veins and the pain of my breakup fresh in my heart, I want to reach over and kiss Seth. I want him to help me forget West ever existed.

Seth must get the message because he leans in and brushes his lips against mine, but I feel no chemistry, nothing. My body feels like I am being repelled from him. This totally sucks. Seth clearly doesn’t catch on to my lack of chemistry with him and deepens the kiss.

I place my hand on his chest when Luc appears beside me. “It’s time to go home.”

“Bro, what are you doing?” Seth asks him.

“Bro, this isn’t happening,” Luc says to him.

“Why not? You said you guys are friends,” Seth says and then he looks between me and Luc. “Wait, is there more between you two? I wouldn’t have kissed her if I’d known,” he goes on apologetically.

“She’s my friend. My very off-limits friend,” Luc warns, his tone deep and assertive. He takes me by the arm over to the table. Seth stays on the dance floor, dancing with another girl he’s picked up. That didn’t take long.

“What was that?” Luc asks me when we get to the table.

“What?” I ask, clearly confused.

“You don’t kiss random guys,” he reminds.

“True, but I’m trying something new. I’m experimenting with my new singlehood.”

Luc pinches his eyes shut and mutters, “Mon coeur, this isn’t you.”

“And that video wasn’t you,” I shoot back.

He winces.

“What’s going on here, Luc? Why are you so upset?” I call him out.

“I don’t like you kissing my teammate. I sure as hell don’t like the idea of you experimenting with him, as you put it.” He waves his hands all over the place.

I watch him carefully. “You aren’t being fair. I asked you to help me out and teach me a few things. You refused and yet when I try to find someone else to help me, you cockblock me.”

“I can’t believe you just said that,” he groans.

I burst into laughter. “Me neither.”

“You’re drunk,” he says.

“Yes, Daddy, I’m drunk. What are you going to do about it?” I ask, taunting him. I get the weird feeling there’s more going on with my best friend than I realize.

“Do not call me Daddy,” he warns.

“Why, are you going to spank me?” I ask.

He hisses, his gray eyes resembling storm clouds. “Don’t push me, Mon coeur.”

“Or what?” I ask, knowing I’m poking a bear right now. It’s so much fun I can’t help myself.

“Or I might decide it should be me you experiment on,” he says between gritted teeth.

His words cause heat to pool between my legs and my heart rate kicks up a few notches.

“I hated kissing Seth,” I blurt.

His gray eyes narrow on me. “We should leave.”

I don’t know what he means when he says that, but I’m so worked up by him I’d follow him to the ends of the earth right now.

“I need to check on Priya and Yuna,” I say to him, and I walk off.

I head over to the girls, and they are still dancing. I ask if they are ready to leave but they aren’t, so they say they will Uber home together.

“What is going on?” Priya asks me. “Luc looks like he’s ready to jump your bones.” Luckily, she whispers those words in my ear.

“I don’t know, but I’m hoping he does,” I whisper back, and she giggles.

“Good luck,” she says to me.

I wave to her and Yuna and walk back to Luc. I slip on my jacket, and he helps me.

We head out to Luc’s car; he’s walking fast and with purpose as he heads over to the passenger side and opens my door.

I look at him, but I don’t say anything. He walks around the car and gets in.

“What’s happening?” I ask when he gets in the car.

“What’s happening?” he repeats and then his lips are on me.

Warm and pliant. Fire burns in my veins as I grip the back of his head and kiss him back.

My heart rate is erratic. Nothing has ever felt so right.

His tongue slides in my mouth and meets mine in a tangle of heat and warmth that has my whole body buzzing.

And then he is pulling away from me. . .