Page 48

Javier

I’m smiling as I return to my dorm until I see the guy standing beside the entrance.

Tobie’s ex. Marc.

He’s nursing a black eye, courtesy of Caleb’s right hook.

It’s not like Caleb to go around punching people in the face and it’s not in my nature either.

I don’t avoid confrontation, but I don’t run away from it either.

If Marc thinks he’ll find an easier fight with me, he’s about to make a big mistake.

Caleb and Reid fell asleep in Tobie’s room. I covered them with the comforter and left to return to my dorm. Some people can sleep sitting up on a floor. I’m not one of those people. Now, I seriously regret my decision to leave. I could have avoided all this if I’d stayed.

“Have you told her yet?” Marc calls out.

“Told who what?” I fish my keycard from my pocket, keeping my tone amiable when I’d like nothing more than to lay the guy out.

He didn’t just cheat on her.

He left her with insecurities she doesn’t even know she has.

Feeling like she isn’t worthy of love and respect.

“Tobie, about the girl you’re fucking.”

“There’s no girl.”

He stares at me, his lips flat. “You jocks are all the same, aren’t you? All fucking whatever girl shows you the first bit of attention.” He steps up to me. “Well, Tobie is mine. She was mine first, and she is still mine.”

“Until you humiliated her and broke her heart,” I say softly, dropping my smile. “Or have you forgotten about that?”

His fists clench as he steps up to me.

“As you were so eager to point out, I’m a lover, not a fighter,” I tell him, smiling slightly. “But that doesn’t mean I can’t or won’t put a fool down when he bites off more than he can chew.”

He’s working himself up to throwing his first punch when a familiar voice calls out, “Everything good?”

Marc takes one look at my teammate and does the smart thing by backing up. There’s a reason we call Theo ‘The Animal’ on the ice, and if this guy has been to a game or two, he’d be a fool to do anything but walk away from the six-foot-four defenseman built like a tank.

“This isn’t over,” Marc warns and stalks away.

I watch him for a bit, just to confirm he actually is going before I turn to my teammate. After what he did to Caleb, I’d be a fool to turn my back on him.

Theo glances from Marc to me. “What was that all about?”

I shake my head. “You don’t want to know.”

I’m not sure I know what it was about, other than jealousy. I haven’t so much as looked at another woman since Tobie entered my life. And I won’t. Why would I when Tobie is everything I would ever want or need?

Theo cocks his head, still curious as I open the door, and we head inside the building. It’s evening, so music and the distant sound of a television playing drift from the common room.

He’s on the sixth floor. When we walk back from practice together, he heads for the elevators while I take the stairs for the first. But when he trails me to the staircase, I raise my eyebrow. “Didn’t get enough steps today?”

“Something like that.”

He doesn’t say a word as we walk up the stairs.

“Why do I think there’s something you’re not saying?” I ask.

He doesn’t respond, though he looks deep in thought.

I’m turning to walk away when he says, “How do you do it?”

I angle my head back. “Do what?”

“The girls. It can’t just be because of the accent.”

I smile. “If I were to tell you that, I’d be spilling all my secrets.”

He nods and continues upstairs.

I eye him for a beat.

Keeping secrets from teammates isn’t easy when we’re around each other so much of the time. We train together several times a week, travel for hours on the team bus for away games, and socialize as well, so we’re a stronger, close-knit unit.

It’s how I’ve worked out something that Theo would prefer I didn’t know.

“Have you tried telling her how you feel?”

He takes the next step up, then stops. “It’s not that easy.”

“Well.” I pull open the door for my floor. “You won’t get far with the girl that I’ll pretend not to know if you don’t tell her how you feel.”

I walk to my room and unlock the door. Just before it slams shut behind me, Theo catches it. “You don’t know who it is.”

I toe off my sneakers and face Theo. “Her initials are HS.”

Theo steps inside and pushes the door firmly closed behind him. “How long have you known?”

“That you’ve been making eyes at your best friend’s little sister?” I shrug. “Probably since she walked into the arena in her freshman year and you slammed into the side of the rink.”

He scowls at me. “I was hit.”

“By a Cupid’s arrow. And also, because you weren’t paying attention. You were too busy staring at Hallie, who was too busy making eyes at Coach Conner.” I snort a laugh and shake my head. “It’s like a fucking Shakespeare play.”

I walk over to my mini refrigerator, pulling out a bottle of water that I offer Theo. He refuses, and I shut the door, sitting at my desk with the bottle of water I twist open.

He lowers his voice. “Now you understand why I can’t tell her.”

“No, I understand why you’re afraid of telling her. What I don’t understand is the why . She’s an adult. So are you. Just tell her how you feel and take it from there.”

“Sweet won’t be feeling so sweet if he hears I want to fuck his little sister.”

I wince. “Yeah, when you tell him, maybe soften the language a little. That fuck is going to get you a broken nose if you’re lucky. A concussion if you’re not.”

“What’s the point? She hates me.”

“Because you’re nice to every single person except her.

It’s a dead giveaway, you know.” I cross my arms and sit back in my seat, resting my feet on the side of my desk.

“Reid said there was a girl he liked in fifth grade, and they spent an entire semester being sworn enemies and then dated for five years when they stopped pretending to hate each other.”

“It’s not the same thing. Reid and that girl were into each other. Hallie is into Coach Conner.”

“Have you seen Jase give her a single look back?”

His expression is thoughtful. “No.”

“Which means he’s not into her.” He turns to leave. “ Yet .”

He freezes. “What do you mean, yet?”

“Hallie is determined. She knows what she wants. And she’s hot. Sooner rather than later, he’s going to open his eyes, and if you haven’t said how you feel…” I shake my head warningly. “An opportunity is an open window. Windows don’t always stay open. Someone can slam it shut anytime they want.”

Like this thing with Tobie.

Eventually, Marc is going to realize his mistake and grovel. If we haven’t told her that we want this relationship to be permanent, she’ll disappear out of our lives just as quickly as she entered it. It’s something that Caleb, Reid, and I have spent the last few days arguing about.

I want to tell her now.

Caleb is the planner. He wants to wait until spring break when we have time to sit and talk about how this unconventional relationship will work.

I get that. There are aspects we do need time to really talk about—namely, our families.

None of us have told them about Tobie. I don’t know what Tobie’s dad will think, but from what she’s said, they’re close.

If her dad has a problem with our relationship, I can’t see her being happy.

Reid was ready to tell her a week ago, but she was still hurting from her breakup with Marc and wasn’t looking to jump into a relationship straightaway, least of all with three guys.

We’ve all slept with her. We all like her better than we have any other girl, but this relationship is as new to her as it is to us. None of us wants to be the one to fuck things up.

“Tell her, Theo. Sweet will understand it’s more than just wanting to fuck his sister.”

“What makes you think it isn’t?”

“You’ve been blind to the girls trying to catch your eye. It’s like they don’t exist for you. If this were just an itch, you’d have scratched it with some other girl long before now.”

“Do you think Lincoln knows?”

I arch my eyebrow. “Has he punched you in the face recently?”

He scowls at me.

I grin at him. “If you like her, then better you tell him than have him catch you checking her out and think you just want to sleep with her. Right?”

He straightens. “See you at practice tomorrow. Don’t?—”

I mime zipping my mouth shut.

“I listen,” I tell him before he can leave.

“What?”

“Women want a lot of things… gifts, compliments, attention, and more. If you show them you know how to listen, the other stuff matters less.”

“That won’t be enough.” His smile is sad. “I know almost everything about her, but none of that matters. She thinks Coach Conner is the only guy who can make her happy. See you around, Casanova.”

“Jay,” I call after him.

He twists to face me, eyes raised.

“Casanova was never really me. I prefer Jay.”

He nods once. “See you around, Jay.”

That’s the thing with teammates who are like family. They don’t need much of an explanation or any if you don’t want to give one. They take you as you are. It’s going to fucking hurt saying goodbye after graduation.

When he leaves, I study my cell phone as I think about time and missed opportunities.

My inheritance changed everything. It opened up much more than a window for me. It opened up the beginning of the life I always wanted.

Pity it’s going to take even more from me than that.