Page 37 of These Wicked Games (Wicked Sins #1)

seventeen

Andre

“ H ey, Oli—” I watch him throw his practice jersey down then walk right past me not saying a word.

Okay . . . I thought after our tentative truce he wouldn’t still be like this.

“What’s his problem?” Grey looks up then in the direction Kuli stormed off.

It’s not like I’m expecting fuzzy fucking feelings, but I would have thought by now the glacier chill Oli seems to give me would have thawed a little. We’d had a moment! Or did we?

I thought we were past this.

After he told me about the cups, I thought about contacting my father.

It’s so hard not to scream my truth in Oli’s face.

I want to tell him everything. It’ll crush him, though.

My father is a son of a bitch, but even I can admit his story and rise to greatness is inspiring.

He came from nothing, trained himself, and became one of the greats. Oli has always looked up to him .

Too bad he’s a real piece of shit.

Oli doesn’t need to know that, but I do need to find out what happened that day.

“Oh, uh . . .” Grey looks up at Atlas. The three of them are closer than some family members.

Even on my old team it was never like this.

I had friends, sort of, but there was always this shadow around me.

People were afraid to get too close. Tripp is intimidating, which makes me seem intimidating.

But I’m not. I’m just lonely. “Today is the day Oli’s mom passed. ”

“He always gets like this,” Atlas says. “Best to let him be.”

I wait, watching the doorway for Oli to return from the showers. I’m used to brutal and vicious Oli. I am not used to quiet, withdrawn Oli. I think back to our “date” the other night—the way Oli reacted, the dishes on the floor—and everything starts to make sense.

Oli hated what I did, or thought I did, and at the heart of his devastation was his mother. She never got to live the life Oli wanted for her. I know that woman gave him so much, and I know it kills him not be able to give it back.

I’m not going to sit back and let him sulk today. That just won’t do.

Getting dressed, I slip on a black hoodie and sweats, waiting for Oli to emerge from the showers.

Most everyone else has left by now, leaving me, a couple of other guys, and Grey.

The hype of winning a home game is ebbing, sort of.

We won five to four. The game itself was intense, and despite being so distracted, Oli played a vicious game.

He got put in the penalty box twice, and when he was on the ice he was taking everyone down with him.

He shot two of the five goals himself. The defense was tight, and I barely got any company inside the blue. It was great.

Another plus . . . my father wasn’t here tonight. Or at least I didn’t see him. It should make me feel better, but it doesn’t. I feel like I need eyes in the back of my head.

Oli eventually comes out of the showers, a towel wrapped around his waist, and goes to his locker. When he loses the towel, my eyes dip. I mean, I’m only human.

Hellooo hockey butt.

Looking at Oli’s perfectly sculpted ass . . . well, yeah, I wouldn’t mind a shot at that. I want to bite it. Taste him. Make him moan with just my tongue. A bead of water runs down the lines of his abs, down into that happy trail I want to be buried against.

A throat clears next to me.

My gaze whips to Grey’s, his dark eyes hard on me. “What?”

He just shakes his head, a slight smirk on his face. Fuck, I have to be more careful. I’m getting far too comfortable. “Oli,” he says, and I wait for him to snitch on me. Instead he says, “You want to ride with me?”

Oli looks to us, a little dazed, his eyes clouded. “Oh uh, no. Thanks.”

Grey just nods before giving me another look and leaving the locker room. While a couple of other guys busy themselves, I walk over to Oli as he slips on a pair of navy sweats and a white hoodie. “Hey.” I lean against the lockers, looking at him. His gaze is fixed forward. “Can I take you home?”

“No,” is all he says, and honestly, he should know me better by now .

“Oh, silly me, I wasn’t giving you a choice. I’m sorry I worded it as a question.”

“I’m not in the mood for whatever the fuck this is right now.”

He packs his duffel bag but I won’t be deterred. “Oli—”

“Andre, please. Not right now.”

“I know what today is.” Those hard blue eyes scathe me, but I’m not going to let him intimidate me.

“I just want to hang out a bit. No expectation.” After the other night, shit has changed, or at least for me it has.

I just want to explore whatever this is between us.

I know he feels something, even if it’s still mixed with distrust and rage.

Still, I take a chance. “Can I take you somewhere? Please.”

“Where?”

I drive up toward the path, thinking about how much I miss my place in Virginia sometimes.

We’d lived in a rural town with lots of woods and secret spots I could escape to.

It’s something I’ve done in every place I’ve lived—found a tiny little oasis, a safety net for me to fall into when things were bad.

It was worse when I had to travel for high school hockey, because Tripp always found a way to chaperone our away games, and who was going to tell the great Tripp Ostrander he couldn’t?

Most of the time they ended in beatings, and it wasn’t any easier being around him once I was on the Titans, but Oli’s friendship had helped.

Until he took that away .

Now, maybe it’s habit, but I found this spot deep in the woods a few months back and since then I’ve visited often. This time of year it’s perfect. As we drive up the dirt road Oli’s knee bounces, but I hope he likes what he sees ahead. It’s pretty fucking cool. “So, um—”

“No. This isn’t a heart-to-heart.”

“Will you just shut the fuck up.” I shake my head.

“Save the emo shit for Grey and Atlas. I will not coddle or tiptoe around you. I’m really sorry about your mother.

I know today must be really hard on you.

” After what he said about her, I get it.

Oli feels like he failed her, when that couldn’t possibly be less true.

I focus on the road and not the seething behemoth next to me. I will not handle him with kid gloves. Ever. “Where are you taking me?”

“You see, I’ve been distracting you with orgasms and now I plan to throw you off a cliff.

It’s been my master plan all along. Muahahaha.

” I hear him chuckle, which makes me smile.

“I’m really sorry. Seriously. I know exactly what you’re going through.

” And I do. Losing my mother is still to this date the worst day of my life.

She didn’t deserve the life Tripp gave her.

She should have been with a man who worshiped her.

Instead she got swept up in the pro-athlete lifestyle. She let the glitz and glamor blind her.

It’s quiet for a moment and I let it settle between us.

“A car accident, right?”

I swallow, turning down another road. “Yeah.”

After a few minutes he says softly, “How did they meet?”

“During off season, in Tulum. He swept her off her feet with the promise of a very glitzy, stress- free life.” What she actually got was a hateful man who took her away from her family and country.

She gave him a son, and he gave her nothing but misery.

I was so young, but there are some foggy memories that break through.

Ones filled with tears, yelling, and sometimes fists.

She was so young when she died, it’s not fair. “She was only twenty-eight.”

“Wow. I’m so sorry.” Me too.

It’s quiet for a long stretch and I really don’t know what to say. What is there to say? I can’t make this better. I can only distract him from the terrible thoughts probably going through his mind. Thankfully my destination comes into view. The open field glows. “What is this?”

“Lived here for as long as you have and haven’t seen this place yet?”

“Why would I randomly drive into the woods at night?”

I smile as I pull into a place and park.

“You’re missing out.” I leave the car running for a moment to fight off the cold.

“Just humor me, will you?” Oli shakes his head, his eyes still a bit spacey but spacey’s okay.

“Let’s go. I promise I’ll warn you just as I’m about to push you.

I know you hate surprises.” That makes his eyes roll, but I see the tiny smile slip onto his handsome face.

I shut the car off and open my door, regretting all my life choices. It has to be down in the forties and my sweats and hoodie aren’t doing shit to ward off the chill. Oli seems undeterred, though, as he gets out and walks ahead toward the glowing hub that spreads out below us.

Breathing into my hands to keep them warm, I watch Oli, then the lights below us.

The first week I was here I went for a drive, needing to clear my head.

I’d had a bit of a panic attack about coming here and was too restless to stay in the house, so I drove and drove until I pulled into this parking lot next to the hiking trails.

Right now we’re on a cliff, and once I’m out of the car, I walk to the edge.

Below is a suburb fully decorated with Christmas lights.

It glows beneath us. There are strung-up lights and snowmen, reindeer on roofs.

One house has a huge Frosty sitting happily on their lawn. It really is something to see.

The lights are so bright they nearly light up the cliff we’re standing on.

Oli walks damn near to the edge, along the safety fence, looking below.

I follow him, careful not to crowd him, and let him work through whatever it is he’s feeling.

It’s not that my mother’s death wasn’t a terrible day for me, it was one of the worst. But I’ve had twenty-five years to process it, and the memories I have of her are hazy.