Page 7 of Twisted Play (Cruel Games #1)

COLE

I watched as a stranger did a line off the ass of the puck bunny bent over my lap and closed my eyes against the temptation.

Not her ass—I wouldn’t stick my dick in that if my life depended on it—but the coke.

It still called to me, even after a year of sobriety, even after Coach saved my fucking life and sent me to rehab to get me clean.

The girl moaned and twitched, as if the public display turned her on. Maybe it did. Or maybe she was an excellent actress, using her body to get what she wanted—a boyfriend on the hockey team and everything that came along with that.

I hadn’t spent the summer between my sophomore and junior years in rehab only to relapse when the end was in sight.

Coach had gotten me cleaned up and paid for it out of pocket so my father wouldn’t know.

Hockey was my ticket out of my father’s brutal control, and I wasn’t going to fuck that up for anything.

The New York Anarchists had finally drafted me last year, and getting fucked up would void that contract.

I owed Coach everything. I wouldn’t let him down. I wouldn’t let myself down, not with just one year of college left, not when I was so close to true independence.

A disturbance near the door caught my attention. Two women leaned on one another—the first with long blonde hair and bright blue eyes, the second—Christ.

I sat up straight, unable to take my eyes off the gorgeous creature before me. Long red curls draped over creamy, freckled skin, green eyes glowing bright with mischief, a black dress hugging every one of her goddamned curves.

The two of them looked out of place—a little bit too bright and shiny for the old money aesthetic of the hockey house as we threw a party, one last hurrah as teammates flew in before the semester started.

“Cole?” the woman on my lap might have said. I ignored her, pushing her off so I could stand. She yelped and scrambled to her feet, shoving her short skirt down over her thong, but I was already striding toward the door.

The two women disappeared into the crowd before I could reach them. I didn’t understand the compulsion that had come over me, but I had to get another glimpse of the redhead.

I found the pair in the kitchen, where Haruto, our goalie, was serving them the cheap red punch we served to everyone.

He shoved his hand through thick black hair, cut long on top and short on the sides like the posh motherfucker he was.

Another one of Coach’s recruits—we’d been playing together as Marauders since our freshman year.

He thought I was a dick. The feeling was mutual.

I suppressed the irrational urge to cut his throat for smiling at my woman. One, Haruto had no idea I’d laid my claim, and two, neither did she.

Not yet.

Fuck .

Nah. My father was a billionaire, one of the richest men in the world, and I was the star of the best college hockey team in the country. I got this.

“How’d you get into the party?” Haruto asked the girls, curiously, not mean. “Hockey house parties are for the team and staff only.”

“And puck bunnies,” the blonde said with a cheerful grin.

My gaze slid over her, only to focus on her companion, who tugged at the hem of her dress, as if she were uncomfortable with the short length.

I fucking loved how it revealed her thick thighs, how I could imagine grasping them with my hands and leaving bruises.

I shook my head, trying to erase the image of her staring up at me, lips swollen and eyes glazed with lust. What the fuck was wrong with me?

Haruto handed the blonde a glass of jungle juice. “Is that what you are?”

“I’m staff,” the redhead said with a wide grin. Something dark flashed in her eyes before she hid it and stuck out her hand. “Just got hired today as a student medic. I’m Eva.”

“Haruto,” he said as he handed her a cup. “That’s Rami,” he said, nodding at the dark-haired man beside me, and then naming a few of the other players and staff in the room, ignoring me.

I cleared my throat. A vein popped in Haruto’s jaw, and then he jerked his head toward me. “And that’s Cole.”

Eva’s eyes met mine then quickly darted away. She shifted closer to her friend, creating a distance between us that made my jaw clench. Smart girl. But I’d never been more determined to close a gap in my life. I was already obsessed, and there was only one way to work it out of my system.

“Rory,” her friend said. “I’m Eva’s plus one. ”

My heart plummeted to my feet. Eva was taken. Of course she was.

“Dating?” Haruto asked.

“Best friends,” Rory answered absently as she looked around, her eyes sparkling with excitement. “C’mon,” she said to Eva, ignoring me and Haruto. “I promised you a great time tonight, and that means dancing.”

My eyes narrowed. I could give Eva a great time. My frustrated sigh caught Haruto’s attention. His gaze snapped between me and Eva before his lips curled up in amusement. My jaw clenched, and possessiveness roared through me. She was mine .

His smirk turned into a full-out grin, the fucker. “Or you both could stay and help me test out new cocktails.” Cockblocker!

Rory looked at Eva, grinning. “Sounds like fun!” She looked more closely at her friend, whose face had turned blankly pleasant. “Or we could go dance.”

“Why don’t I show you around while your friend helps Haruto?” I inserted myself smoothly into the conversation. “And when we come back, these two’ll have something better than Kool-Aid and vodka for you to drink.”

Carefully, I took her cup out of her hand and set it on the counter. I didn’t intend to bring her back, but she didn’t need to know that. Not yet.

Haruto gave me a long look. I deserved that. I’d fucked up our sophomore year with drugs, a DUI, and endless fights on the ice. I could spend the rest of my life proving I was sober, and he still wouldn’t believe me.

To my surprise, he made space behind the kitchen counter island that doubled as a bar and immediately involved Rory in a conversation about craft cocktails .

Then, he pointed at his eyes and mine, to let me know he had his eye on me.

I deserved that too.

Relieved, I wrapped my arm around Eva’s waist, desperate to touch her softness.

When she didn’t object, I guided her through the press of people and back out into the open area we used as a living room.

“Welcome to the team,” I murmured, brushing my lips against her ear, determined to seduce this gorgeous creature so I could fuck her, get her out of my head, and move on.

“Thank you,” she said. Her lips curved up into a polite smile that I wanted to replace with the genuine one I’d seen when she walked in the door earlier. “Who lives here?”

“Six of us now. Eight once classes start, but Tristan and Andrzej go home for the summers.”

“And you don’t?”

My gaze cut to hers. Fuck no, I didn’t move back into my father’s cold mansion and put myself within his grasp to manipulate until I was as cold and evil as he was.

Did she not know who I was? The attraction compounded until all I could think about was pressing her against a wall and showing her exactly who she was talking to.

“Cole?” she asked, shaking me out of my thoughts. I realized I hadn’t responded.

“No, I don’t,” I rasped, getting a firm grip on my filthy thoughts.

I’d just met her. Didn’t know her. Didn’t know anything about her or what she wanted.

Definitely had no idea if she was into my kinks in bed or even looking for a hookup.

But Christ, I wanted her so fucking bad.

And I was used to taking what I wanted. So I would.

We made our way through the party, and I introduced her to everyone as the team’s newest medic, turning on the charm until she relaxed.

Jealousy streaked through me at every person whose eyes caught on the scandalously short hem of her dress then jerked their gaze away when they realized I’d noticed.

I broke off as Eva stumbled. My grip around her waist tightened, steadying her. The curve of her hip burned against my palm. She inhaled sharply but didn’t pull away.

“Want to dance?” I asked her, desperate to drag her body against mine and seduce her as thoroughly as she’d seduced me by just fucking existing.

Eva laughed. “You don’t seem like the dancing type.”

“For you, I would be,” I vowed. Her expression softened, and she let me lead her out to the middle of the room, where couples were turning up the heat.

I spun her in my arms so her back pressed into my torso, wrapping one hand around her waist and splaying the other across her collarbone, covering a scar that stretched along it, disappearing into the neckline of her dress.

To my surprise, Eva threw her head back, pressing her ass into my pelvis. “Yes,” she whispered as I tightened my fingers until they loosely circled her throat. “I’ve had a shitty day,” she confessed. “And I’d like to forget.”

“I’ve had a shitty year, pretty little sparrow,” I murmured in her ear, loving the way the skin on her neck pebbled under my breath. “Want to forget with me?”

She spun around until we faced each other, and she stared at me, her bottle-green eyes swirling with too many emotions to discern.

“My friend?—”

“Text her,” I said, tugging her against me, her softness a marked contrast to the women I usually hooked up with. My fingers dug into the flesh of her thighs like I’d been dreaming of since the moment I noticed her standing in the doorway. Fucking stunning .

Eva met my eyes as we swayed to the music, trapping me in their green depths. She had to feel how turned on I was, my cock pressing against her abdomen, weeping with precum at the thought of fucking her.

“Text her,” I repeated, embarrassed at how gravelly my voice was. Then I bent my head forward to brush my lips against hers, sweet and gentle, a seduction rather than a plundering.