Page 5

Javier shakes his head. “Welcome to the world of Division 1 hockey, where the only people who don’t like hockey must have gotten hit with a puck. And my family. My ex too.” He whistles between his teeth. “The list was longer than I realized. Who knew?”

I glance at the plexiglass, concerned with the way Caleb has been hammering those pucks into the net. “Is it something that happens often?”

“Not unless you’re having the worst luck in the world,” Reid says.

“That’s me,” I mutter, feeling sorry for myself.

“It can’t be that bad.” Reid nudges my shoulder, and I yelp as I go flying.

“Shit, sorry.” He saves me from smashing into the plexiglass surrounding the rink. Smiling apologetically, he leads me over to a bench closest to the ice. “Come sit. What happened?”

He leaves his arm around my shoulder, and I’m weak enough that I lean into it.

Tonight has not been easy. He’s handsome, warm, and smells shower fresh with a hint of sweet peppermint.

I need this. “My boyfriend cheated. That’s why I was on the kiss cam.

Today is our sixth anniversary, and I came to surprise him because he never misses watching you guys play, and he was kissing another girl. ”

“He cheated on you ?” Javier looks like he can’t believe it.

His disbelief makes me feel a tiny bit better.

My eyes water as I nod. “He was probably cheating for a while from the way he kissed her. And I…” My voice breaks. “I fell down the stairs, and then the lock broke in my bathroom stall, so if I smell, it’s because of stale pee when I was on the floor trying to get out.”

“You don’t smell,” Reid reassures me.

“Thanks.” I probably do smell, but he seems nice enough to lie about it so I won’t cry.

“Did he hit you?” Caleb is glaring as he leans on his stick.

I frown at him. “Marc? Why would you think he hit me?”

He gestures to my face. “You’re squinting.”

Because the world is still a big fat blur out of my right eye. “One of my contacts fell out when I knocked myself out in the bathroom.”

He stops glaring. “How’d you knock yourself out?”

I look away. “Um, just trying to get out.”

Like an idiot is how I knocked myself out.

Javier is smiling slightly at Caleb. “Weren’t you?—”

“Let her finish the damn story,” Caleb interrupts and nods at me. “Then what happened?”

“That’s it.” I sigh. “So if I got hit in the head with a puck, it wouldn’t surprise me. They say bad things happen in threes.”

“The puck would be four,” Javier says thoughtfully.

I sniff. “What?”

He counts off on his fingers. “Cheating would be one, locked bathroom is two, the lost contact and knocking yourself out would be three since it happened at the same time. If you got hit with a puck, that would be four. Maybe even five. I forgot the fall down the stairs.”

Caleb stares at him. “I’m sure she really appreciates you listing out her night of hell for her, Jay.”

Javier winces and aims an apologetic smile my way. “Shit, sorry. I didn’t mean?—”

“It’s okay. And you’re right.”

Reid walks off, returning with a handful of tissues he offers me.

I take it gratefully and blow my nose.

He cocks his head as he leans his hip against the plexiglass. “So, what are you going to do about it?”

“About what?”

“The ex,” Reid says.

I shrug and get to my feet, picking up my sandals from the bench. “Break up with him, I guess. But tomorrow. I can’t see him tonight. I should probably?—”

“And?” Reid prompts.

“And what?”

“ Payback .” Reid’s eyes glisten with intensity.

“What?” I instinctively back up. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“You need payback.”

“What I need is to go home, put these clothes in the hamper or burn them, and go to bed.” I turn around, but Reid steers me back.

“Nuh-uh. What happened tonight demands retribution.”

I blink up at him. “What?”

“The guy needs punishment.”

I appreciate him taking my side like this, but…

“It wasn’t all that bad. I mean?—”

“He cheated and humiliated you. You fell on piss.”

“But it doesn’t smell.” Reid blinks at me, and I literally hate myself for what just came out of my mouth.

I sigh. “Look. Nothing I try would work. He was clearly screwing her behind my back all along. He probably wanted me to find out. So now I know he no longer needs to go behind my back and that’s that. He doesn’t care.”

“So we make him care,” Reid declares.

I blink. “About me?”

“About you.”

“And how do we do that?”

“By making him rue the day he let you go. We’ll have him begging on his knees to take you back.”

I peer over my shoulder in case another girl snuck up behind me while I wasn’t paying attention.

“But we have practice,” Caleb says, frowning. “The big game is weeks away. We don’t have time for distractions.”

“Dude, the game is important, but it’s not the only thing that matters.”

“I missed a shot I should have made in my sleep. I need practice.”

“And she just had her heart broken.” A stubborn edge creeps into Reid’s relaxed tone.

“Uh, I should go,” I say when they glare at each other.

“Don’t go anywhere,” Reid says with a smile. “This is how we figure things out.” He turns back to Caleb. “Can you get off the ice for five minutes so we can talk about this?”

“Five minutes.” Caleb skates to the side of the rink, glancing at me before he switches his skates for his sneakers.

Reid, Javier, and Caleb form a huddle.

“We have to do something,” Reid says in a loud whisper.

“But what?” Javier asks.

“Help her get one over on the fuckwit,” Reid says. “She seems like a nice girl, and he completely fucking humiliated her. You know that shit will be all over campus tomorrow, and the game was on ESPN+ .”

Oh God. It was recorded ?

I clear my throat as my face burns with humiliation. “Um, I can hear you.”

“Sorry.” Reid lowers his voice and drags the others farther away. “So the turd has to suffer. And she has ketchup down the front of her dress, so I’m guessing he’s responsible for that as well.”

I look down. Shit. I forgot about the ketchup.

As they continue their hushed conversation, all I can think about is tonight’s shame.

Thankfully, it’s Friday, so I don’t have to go to class tomorrow, but I will have to face Marc, and I have no clue what I’m going to say.

The guys are still arguing, and I figure they were nice to listen, but I just want to go home and pretend tonight didn’t happen.

Head down, I quietly walk away.

Revenge and payback only work on someone who cares. If Marc cared about me, he wouldn’t have done what he did.