RILEY
Chapter Fifteen
In a little less than two weeks following whatever the equivalent of a breakup was when we hadn’t actually been dating, nothing seemed any better.
Although Caden apologized to me three million times and received the same answer each time, he still persisted.
And I kept telling him he had done me a favor, but he felt responsible for my misery.
That was why he dragged me to a frat party on the first Saturday of April.
We dressed in smart casual clothes and made our way to the frat house at the edge of campus.
It was loud by the time we got there and promised to only get louder.
And while I sensed a great deal of reluctance in Caden, who rarely did social occasions like this, I was secretly glad we came.
It was good to pretend life was all normal again.
It was a blatant lie, mind you, but it was nice to fake a semblance of normalcy.
Stiff as he was in this unnatural surrounding, Caden managed to bring us beer in plastic cups and frown upon discovering how cheap and crappy frat house beer from a keg was.
It made me laugh, which was a novelty as of late.
“You know, I really didn’t think I was meddling,” Caden said.
“Jeez, dude, you really have to drop it.” I threw my arm over his shoulders in a friendly hug. “I told you…”
“I know,” he said. “I did you a favor and so on. But you have no idea what he looked like when he realized what I’d done. He was furious.”
I didn’t know what to say to that. “Water under the bridge, then,” I muttered numbly.
“Shit,” Caden said abruptly, looking at the door on the far side of the frat house.
Cold washed over me when I realized Cam would probably come here, too.
I looked over my shoulder and, for a moment, didn’t know why Caden had reacted the way he had.
Then I saw him. Jonah Fucking Hamilton. But just as I turned back to Caden to roll my eyes, I spotted a twink freshman approaching us and laying eyes on Caden.
“You know him?” I asked discreetly.
“Er…” Caden ogled me with a guilty expression. “I don’t want to rub it in. It’s just that I’ve been, you know, seeing…”
I tapped his shoulder shortly. “Go for it, buddy.”
The freshman orbited us while keeping his eye on Caden until I stepped a little to the side. He then rounded on Caden with all of the interest your first year at college allowed you to express. Caden seemed to bask in the attention and I was genuinely happy for him.
My happiness went out like a candlelight on a breeze when I turned away from the lovebirds and was face to face with the Breakers’ captain and my professional rival. “Jonah,” I said sourly.
“Riley,” he replied, mimicking my tone for laughs. His satellite friend detached and drifted into the mass. “Whatcha drinking?”
“Not arsenic, I’m sad to say,” I admitted.
“Mm. That saddens us all. Still considering hockey?” He was expressionless as he spoke, his deep brown gaze reminiscent of another brown look I loved receiving. Fuck. They actually looked a little alike. And the resemblance made me want to stick around and hear this asshole out.
“Last I checked, the Titans are leading by two games, my nemesis.” I pressed the edge of the plastic cup to my lips and smirked as I took a sip.
“Beginner’s luck. You are a beginner, are you not? You play like one.” The cheeky smile he shared made it safe to laugh. “Come. They have better beer in the back.”
“What’s wrong with Bud Light?” I protested.
Jonah shot me a look of pure contempt. “Same thing that’s wrong with your technique. It’s bland, unoriginal, and falls flat.”
“You are, without a doubt, the biggest asshole I’ve ever met,” I said and promptly followed my nemesis to the back of the room where there was a mini fridge stacked with cans of craft beer. I was intrigued.
“It’s just the way I flirt,” he said, cracking his beer open and some sloshing to the floor right away.
I snorted. “Is that what we’re doing? Flirting?” Not that I was interested. Curious? Maybe a tiny little bit. For the fun of it. For the novelty. For the sheer power to distract me for a moment.
“The word on the street is, you’re dating someone already. But also, the word is you’re not.” He shrugged and leaned against the wall, eyes on me without a sign of wavering. “You seem troubled.”
Of all the things I could consider doing, telling Jonah Hamilton about my love life was definitely the least likely to happen. “I’m just suffering from all the attention agents are paying me these days.”
“Oh, you have an agent? Is it the janitor? Did he say he knew a guy who knew a guy?” Jonah laughed.
“If you call this flirting, I’ll bet money you’re still a virgin.” I tried the beer he had given me. It was arsenic free, but it was bitter enough to make me wish it was otherwise. Except, after a couple of sips, it grew on me.
“Virgin?” He threw his head back and roared. “Bottoms love a bad boy, Riley.”
“Whoa, you’re assuming a whole lot there,” I said for playfulness’ sake.
“Yes. Correctly though, am I right?” His smile was so self-satisfied that I had to roll my eyes. And concede that he was right. Dammit. It only made him laugh louder. “Tell me about those agents. Are they really flocking around you?”
“They sure like a winner,” I said. “But don’t worry. Your time will come, too.” When he was silent, feigning emotional wounds and a broken heart, I sighed. “I’ve had three offers so far. Not exactly the craziest, but they’re solid guys. Manning, Hawke, Richards.”
“Manning,” Jonah said with raised eyebrows. “Why are you even thinking about it?”
Because he’ll represent the man who broke my heart. I shrugged. “Hawke is brilliant. He represents Nate Partridge and I’m sure he’ll scoop my winger, Beckett, as soon as Beckett’s a little more seasoned.”
“Nate’s famous because he’s Nate, not because Hawke made anything out of him. The first two teams Partridge played for were a travesty.” Jonah said matter-of-factly.
“And the reason he climbed the ranks,” I said in a tone that all but suggested a big, ‘Duh.’
“I mean, if you wanna risk capturing that lightning, be my guest. Nothing helps me fall asleep as well as seeing you flat on your ass.” He laughed a little. “I’m not here to give you career advice, but…”
“Right,” I interrupted. “You’re here to flirt. Great job so far.”
He winked and I rolled my eyes. The thing was, the smallest spark of something that might turn into interest kindled in me. And it was quickly drowned out with sadness that this wasn’t Cameron I was bickering with. “And what about Richards?” Jonah asked.
“A good choice. Steady. Well connected. Respected.” I ran out of things to say about Richards.
Jonah, however, did not. He ticked them on his fingers. “Old-school. Irrelevant. Outdated. Well overdue for retirement. You’re looking at a trophy of another time, my friend. He would have done wonders for your dad.”
“My dad is a doctor,” I said bitterly.
“Congratulations to the world. So happy for him.” The nonchalant way he spoke made me laugh and I buried that laughter in the can of craft beer. Beneath the bitterness of the hops was a strong aroma of cranberries and I wasn’t sure how I felt about it.
Jonah looked over my shoulder and at the window, then leaned in a little too much and I squirmed.
His breath was hot when he spoke. “It’s raining.”
I twisted away from him and he must have noticed because he pulled back and eyed me.
I looked away and had another sip of my beer.
“How come you’re not a doctor, too?” he asked. “Isn’t that how it works?”
“It’s definitely not how it works,” I protested, glad to change the course of our conversation. Then, quieter, I added: “My older brother is a doctor like our dad.”
Jonah threw his head back and laughed out loud, but as he calmed, he shifted his weight and appeared a few inches closer to me.
“Who let you in?” I asked abruptly. “You’re not a Northwood student. The party’s invite only.”
He snorted. “I’m the star captain of Detroit’s oldest college hockey team. I’m on all invite lists.”
I laughed at that. “A lot of big words, there, buddy. Maybe try getting yourself into the Northwood library and check a dictionary.”
“Maybe we should sneak in there right now,” he suggested.
And while the thought itself was a fun one, the image in my head ripped my heart into pieces.
It was me and Cameron doing precisely what Jonah suggested.
If there was something in this whole world that I wanted, it was for everything to be different.
I wanted the proximity Cam offered when he was with me.
I wanted possessive jealousy that sprawled from him whenever there was another guy near me.
I wanted the protectiveness when someone — Jonah, for one — checked me against the boards.
And I’d thrown them all away months too soon. But it was for the better.
I just had to keep telling that to myself and maybe I would start believing it someday.
Jonah cocked his head. “What are you thinking about?”
“Nothing.”
He stepped closer to me leaning against the wall so that his arm was hanging and his hand touched my shoulder.
I scooted an inch away and found myself in the corner, only able to climb the mini fridge or push the guy away.
And he hadn’t done anything to deserve that.
In fact, he had offered a respite from self-pity that I had so badly needed.
But then the back of his finger caressed my cheek and I had to stop this. “Listen…”
“Right, right,” Jonah said, laughing. “You’re dating, but not really. Sorry.”
“Um, that’s not it,” I said. “I don’t belong to someone. I have a working mind and free will, you know?”
He nodded like he understood, then acted like he hadn’t heard a word I said.
“I’m game for whatever, though.” He finished his can while mine was three quarters full, then reached over me and set it on the mini fridge.
When he was done, he lingered there, pinning me against the wall and looking at me challengingly.