54 Shit was going to hit the fucking fan
CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR
Shit was going to hit the fucking fan
WILL
If I’d ever wondered what it felt like to have my heart ripped from my chest, thrown onto the ice and then skated over, I did now.
For what felt like a lifetime I stared at the open door, trying to grasp what the fuck had just happened. The thing was, I knew Riley didn’t mean it. Despite what she’d said, she wanted us again. I believed that. But something was stopping her and I had no fucking clue what.
I contemplated locking my door and calling it a night, but I was way too keyed up. Attempting to close my eyes now would backfire. The past ten minutes would be on replay.
I reluctantly headed back to the party. In the fifteen minutes since I’d left, it had amplified. I didn’t bother looking for Riley in the crowd. There’s no way she’d still be here. After locating Tripp in the kitchen, that was confirmed.
“Riley bolted out of here.” He raised his eyebrows. “You good? What happened?”
“Don’t want to talk about it,” I murmured.
His eyes drifted to my unbuttoned shirt. I’d forgotten about that.
“What do you need?” he checked.
“A shot.”
That earnt me a grin. “With that, I can oblige.”
For the first time in a long time, I allowed myself to become the life of the party. I lost count of the shots and games of beer pong I played. By the time I was stumbling up the stairs to my bed, I could barely see straight .
Fumbling with the key, it took me a few attempts to unlock my room. Just as I was turning the handle, Ryan’s door creaked open.
With her hair in disarray and her shoes clasped in one hand, Lana Holloway froze. I did too, because being this tanked, my reflexes were well and truly lagging.
Lana smoothed down her brown hair before squaring her shoulders. “Not a word to my brother, Caufield. You got that?”
I numbly nodded. With this much alcohol in my system, I doubt Levi would even believe me. I wished I didn’t believe it either. Because if what I’d just witnessed was what I thought it was, shit was going to hit the fucking fan.
*
My bedroom door was thrown open before I could gauge the level of my hangover. Though based on the instant pounding behind my eyes, it wasn’t great.
Ryan sauntered in, shirtless and in nothing but a pair of boxers. He peeled back the covers and slipped into the bed beside me. I was too short on energy to kick him out.
“Last night was fun,” he excitedly stated.
“Debatable.”
My mouth tasted like I’d eaten a thousand stale donuts. I reached for my side table, hoping I’d been smart enough to at least bring a glass of water up. No such luck.
“Quick question,” I grumbled. “What was I shotting last night?”
“Fireball.”
I dry-retched. That explained the cinnamon taste.
“Another quick question,” I mumbled.
“Hit me.”
“Did you sleep with Levi’s sister last night?”
Ryan’s eyes instantly widened, confirming my suspicions. Dude had the worst poker face.
So it hadn’t been a drunken dream. Lana and Ryan had hooked up. That was a wacky thought. I’d known Lana as long as I’d known Levi. While I wasn’t na?ve like my best friend and assumed Lana was still an innocent little girl, I didn’t want to picture her with Ryan either.
“What the hell happened with Parker? You know, the girl you’ve been trying to get in bed for almost a month.”
And also the best friend of the girl I was trying to win back.
Ryan had the decency to at least look ashamed. “I don’t think anything is going to happen with Parker. Before you came back down, she’d run out of my room when I’d been seconds away from having my head between her legs.” He huffed. “To take a phone call.” He huffed again. “From Tanner fucking Holbeck.”
“The fuck?”
I was at a loss when it came to that guy. I had no idea what was up. First Riley, now Parker. Where was the connection? There had to be one, otherwise Riley wouldn’t be so cagey about it.
Angst crossed Ryan’s face. “Are you going to tell Cap?”
Good question. I didn’t want to because Levi would definitely kill the messenger. I also didn’t want the group dynamic to get fucked up this late in the season. We’d managed four years without any friendship drama.
“Was it a one-time thing?” I checked.
Ryan shrugged. “She flies out soon, so I suppose.”
While Levi had every right to call Ryan out for breaking the bro code, Lana was insanely independent. She never did anything she didn’t want to do. If she’d slept with Ryan, it was because she wanted him. Who was I to mess with that?
“Your secret is safe with me,” I said. “But for the record, if Levi ever finds out, I knew nothing.”
Ryan nodded his understanding.
A short while later Tripp appeared, looking as rough as I felt. Ripping up my quilt from the foot end, he slipped underneath the covers. My bed was a king, but with three guys over six-foot in it, it didn’t feel that way right now.
Tripp’s hairy leg rested against mine, making me squirm. “Good night,” he mused. “Apart from losing.”
His reminder caught me off guard. I literally hadn’t thought about hockey since we’d left Allentown. My mind had been too warped on Riley. I reached for my phone to check if she’d text, but it was dead. I must’ve been too drunk to plug it in last night.
Levi appeared in the doorway next. “Are you assholes recapping last night without me?”
Like Ryan and Tripp, Levi was bare chested and dressed in a plain pair of athletic shorts, and also like Ryan and Tripp, he accepted an invisible invitation and climbed into my bed beside Tripp.
Now the king was definitely too fucking small. I clamped the blankets down, trapping Levi’s feet before he kicked me in the face.
“Did anybody else see Morrison fall off the back deck last night?” Tripp questioned.
Now he’d brought it up, I remembered the moment clearly. Morrison had tripped over a cooler and literally fallen ass up onto the grass.
“I heard Maxwell was throwing up in the front hedges,” Levi added .
That was highly likely. The guy handled his alcohol worse than Ryan. Luckily he could handle pucks flying at him a lot better.
We laid in bed for a while, reminiscing on the night. It was a good distraction. My friends always were.
Eventually the rumble of Tripp’s stomach reminded us we couldn’t hide out in my room forever. Though despite agreeing we were all hungry, nobody made an effort to move. Truth was, I wasn’t sure I could stomach food yet, which was concerning considering I had lunch with the Texas Bobcats in just over three hours.
“You need a hangover cure,” Ryan said.
“I’m open to suggestions.”
“I’ve got one.” Levi tilted his head to the ceiling. “Hughesy!” he shouted.
I instinctively pressed my hands to my pounding head. That was way too fucking loud.
A few moments later Grace appeared in the doorway. She double looked us all lying in the bed before whipping out her phone and snapping a photo.
“It’s like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in here.”
Levi stared at his girlfriend in confusion. “Huh?”
Tripp laughed. “I get it. The four old people in the bed.”
While Levi was undoubtably Grace’s person, Tripp was the one who always got her random references. She was right though. With two of us at each end of the bed, we did look strangely similar to the four grandparents. Truthfully, I felt as close to death as they were.
“The guys need a hangover cure,” Levi explained. “Can you deliver?”
Grace nodded. “Always. I’ll get dressed and meet you outside in fifteen.”
I arched an eyebrow. “Outside?”
“Trust me,” Levi said.
Before Grace could edge out of the doorway, Lana appeared over her shoulder. Unlike us guys, Lana was much more put together. She’d clearly just showered, which made me crave a spray of cold water. I really wanted to brush my teeth to get rid of the taste of cinnamon. A coffee would go down a treat too.
Lana’s jaw fell open in astonishment. “What’s going on?”
Beside me, Ryan sat up a little straighter. His eyes danced between Lana and Levi, as though Levi was fucking telepathic and about to pick up on the fact that Ryan had slept with his sister.
I had to give Lana props. She was cool, calm and collected. If I hadn’t caught her red handed, she’d easily be able to convince me nothing had happened.
Grace sighed. “Sometimes it’s easier not to ask with these four.”