Chapter 6
CHAPTER 6
“Remind me again why we’re in this freezing arena?” Avery shivers as we shuffle our feet to find our seats. “Oh, right,” she continues. “Because you lost a stupid bet.”
She’s right. It is freezing. My nipples are damn near ready to slice through the three layers of fabric I’ve got on—bra, tee shirt, and hoodie. A heads-up from Hayes would have been nice, but that would’ve made him appear to be a good guy.
I look down at the seats that are all full. Hayes said my name would be on mine, but where?
I spot two empty seats, four people down, and I sigh in relief. “Sorry,” I squeak as I slip past a few students who are sitting.
When we finally make it, my shoulders slump and I rip the signs off each seat.
“Legs, and Legs’s friend.” Avery laughs. “He’s hilarious.”
“He’s a moron.” I growl as I ball the paper in my hands and stick it in the cupholder on my seat. He wasn’t kidding, though, these are amazing seats. I can literally reach out and touch the glass.
“Damn,” Avery drawls as she scopes out the Devils’ team that’s caged inside some plexiglass. “We got front-row seats to all the hotties.”
“There ya go,” I tell her. “You’ve never dated a hockey player. Maybe that’s where the end of your misery lies.”
Avery comes off as a hardass, but the truth is, she wears her heart on her sleeve. She just keeps ending up with punk-ass boys when what she really needs is a man.
The second my ass hits the seat, I pull out my phone, hoping Kamden texted or called.
“Anything?” Avery asks and I shake my head no.
I stick my phone in the front pocket of my hoodie. “I’m done. I’m not texting or calling him anymore. This is getting ridiculous. If he wants to act like a child and throw a tantrum then what we had must not have meant anything to him.”
“Good for you,” Avery says as she holds her phone out in front of us. I drop my sour face momentarily and force a smile as she snaps a pic of us. “He’s showing his true colors, B. I’m glad you’re finally seeing them.”
She thumbs at her phone for a minute before setting it in her lap. Looking left, then right, she says, “Where is Hayes anyways? And how is he going to sit with us? All the seats are taken.”
“Oh, he’s not coming,” I quip, just another reason to be outrageously annoyed.
Her expression contorts. “Huh?”
“Yeah. Apparently, he’s this big hockey fan and he thinks it’s the best sport ever to grace the earth, so he wanted me to watch a game so he could say he was right and I was wrong. But he had plans tonight.”
Her eyebrows jump. “A date?”
“Hell if I know…or care.” My shoulders slump a little, but it has nothing to do with Hayes and everything to do with losing this damn bet.
“Sure you don’t.” She pulls her phone back out, already bored. Instead of arguing with her, I’ll just let her think what she wants.
I really don’t care if Hayes is on a date. Actually, I sort of hope he is. I hope he’s totally smitten, falls head over heels for the girl, then I hope he’s forced to leave his underwear behind when he gets kicked out of her room.
The arena lights flicker before dimming, a sign that something is about to happen. About damn time. I feel like I could fall asleep right now.
A spotlight illuminates the ice as a group of six cheerleaders skate out. They look stunning in their blood orange and black halter tops and skirts—skilled, too. I wish I would have learned how to ice skate. I bet they have so much more fun out there than we do on the sidelines. The one, and only, time I went skating, I fell and busted my ass then vowed never to do it again.
As soon as the team comes onto the ice, the crowd roars, so I clap my hands along with them. Ever the dutiful cheerleader. After ten minutes of just watching them skate and slap around a puck, I let out a big yawn.
I don’t know a damn thing about hockey, but I’m baffled over how this is exciting, let alone bet-worthy. That’s it. Hayes hates me so much, he wanted to bore me to death.
The announcer's voice booms through the speaker, announcing the teams. Devils versus Lords. Oh, I know that team. That’s Callan’s school—North Ridge University. It’s Callan’s dream to play on that team someday.
Interest piqued, I straighten my back and watch the players warm up. Still boring.
The national anthem begins, so we all stand and I place my hand over my heart. Once it concludes, the players gather in a tight circle at the center of the rink. Their sticks rise before they all skate into line formation.
With my hand in my pocket, I pull my phone out slightly just to steal a glance, only to find that I have no missed calls or messages. Disappointed, I slide it back in my pocket. I meant what I said about chasing after Kamden; he was disrespectful to me and owes me an apology. I just hate this limbo. Are we still together or not? Because it’s starting to feel like not and I can’t say I’m all that devastated about it. Avery was right, he showed his true colors and if a stupid voice message that he took out of context is going to send him packing then he isn’t someone who deserves my time.
Stretching my arms, I lean back and prepare myself for an uneventful couple of hours. Then again, Hayes never said how long I had to stay. Just that I had to come. I don’t know anything about hockey, but if they have a halftime, we’re dipping.
The referee's whistle blasts through the rink as he drops a puck onto the ice. In a split second, players surge forward with their sticks raised. The sound of bodies colliding echoes in the air as players fight for control of the puck.
A couple hockey players slam right into the glass barrier in front of me. “Holy shit. That was wild.” I laugh as my back pins to the seat.
One of the players on the Devils’ team turns around and my heart jumps into my throat. I would know those eyes anywhere, that paired with the cheeky grin and wink he sends my way. Holy fucking shit. Hayes plays for the Devils’ hockey team?
He said he wouldn’t be watching tonight because he’s playing tonight. Why am I stunned speechless as I look at Avery who’s pointing her finger at the rink?
“Did you see that?” Avery gushes. “That guy just fucking winked at you, B.”
I gulp. “Yeah, I saw.” In fact, I still see him because my eyes are traveling everywhere he goes. In the blink of an eye, he skates back to the bench. His helmet comes off and if there was any doubt that it was Hayes, it’s quickly squashed. He looks right at me and I shake my head, trying not to smile.
He thinks he's so cute.
Well, joke’s on him because the next time we make a bet, I’m making him go to a home football game so he can see that we both can have a little mystery in our lives. It’s just a shame that our next home game isn’t for three weeks, and I don’t travel to away games. Currently, only twelve cheerleaders go to those and it’s all upperclassmen. The league is trying to change that rule, but right now, funding and space have limited the opportunity.
Avery nudges me and I snap my eyes away from Hayes who’s going back out on the ice. “I think your one-night stand wants a second.”
“Hayes and I hate each other,” I tell her in my most reassuring voice.
“Love and hate are two sides of the same coin, B. I think he flipped and it doesn’t look like you’re far behind.”
I sink into the seat, eyes back on the game. “You’re insane. I have a boyfriend, in case you’ve forgotten.”
“Actually, I have, and I think your boyfriend …” She air quotes.“…has forgotten too. How long has it been since you’ve talked to him again?”
Hand back in my hoodie pocket, I fumble with my phone, only this time, it’s not because I want to check and see if Kamden called. This time, I’m gripping the fuck out of it because she’s right.
“I sort of hope you’re right. If he forgets, then I can forget, too.”
We watch the game—well, I watch the game while Avery scrolls through her social media accounts, and before long, I surprise myself by getting into it.
It’s now the end of the third period and there’s no doubt I’ll be leaving here with more knowledge of the sport than what I came here with.
I can’t believe how passionate the fans are over the game. The team doesn’t even need cheerleaders because the stands are packed with their own personal squad.
The puck flies in the air and with intense focus, Hayes sprints across the rink and lunges for it. He slaps the puck around with his stick, bringing it closer and closer to the goal.
The crowd erupts in utter chaos and my heart races as my eyes stay locked on Hayes.
You’ve got this, asshole.
With a powerful swing of his stick, Hayes fires the puck toward the net. The goalie lunges in an attempt to block it, but it’s too late. The puck sails into the goal and the Devils score a point.
My eyes stay fixated on him and I won’t deny he’s a hell of a player.
I jump to my feet, clapping my hands. “Yes!” I shout at the top of my lungs, my voice overpowering the ones around me.
Hayes skates down the rink, stopping momentarily as he looks at me cheering him on. My pounding heart flutters and the feeling throws me off guard. I break my gaze from him and sit back down. I have no idea what that was inside my chest, but I know it can never happen again.
“Someone’s a new fan.” Avery waggles her brows with her phone still gripped in her hands.
“Nah,” I tell her. “Sure, it’s fun to watch, but I don’t even know anything about hockey.”
“I wasn’t talking about hockey. I was talking about Hayes Madden.”
I let her words stew for a minute before saying, “Hayes Madden can rot in hell.”
“Keep telling yourself that, B. Before you know it, you’ll be following him straight into the fiery depths.
No. Just no. Hayes played me like a fucking fiddle. And it would have been fine and dandy if he wasn’t such an ass about it. He literally kicked me out of his room less than two minutes after he put his dick in me. Even when I had every intention of leaving what happened between us as a one-and-done, he actually took the initiative to tell me to leave. I never felt so used and disrespected in my life.
Every time I think about it, I get angry all over again.
“Let’s go, babe,” Avery says as she stands up.
I look at her. “Huh?”
“Game’s over. Devils win. Yay.” She waves her hands in the air unenthusiastically.
I was so lost in my thoughts I didn’t even realize the game ended. My traitorous eyes search for Hayes one last time, but he’s gone.
Avery and I weave through the stands and make our way to the arena’s concourse. Popcorn crunches beneath my shoes as I narrowly avoid body slams and collisions with plastic cups filled with beer.
“Well, that was more fun than I expected,” I tell Avery as soon as we step out into the cool night air.
“It was a great time. Let’s do it again, oh…never.” Sarcasm drips from her tone. Avery has no interest in sports of any kind, unless it involves watching a guy she’s simping on. Fortunately, she’s a good friend and she allows me to drag her to events such as this one.
Just as I’m pulling my phone out of my pocket to order us a ride, I hear someone holler, “Legs, wait up.”
Normally I wouldn’t give it a second thought because my name is not Legs, but someone seems to think it is.
“We have company,” Avery sings. “I’ll order the car while you go talk to the guy you hate that you’re falling for.”
“I am not falling for him!” I stammer. But I’m starting to think the player is falling for me. He’s been showing up everywhere I am far too much for it to be a coincidence.
With a heavy sigh, I whip around to find Hayes jogging toward me with his phone clutched in his hand. He’s still in his bulky gear, aside from his helmet. A layer of sweat coats his hair, making it look darker than usual.
His hands go palms up out in front of him. “What did ya think?”
My lips twitch with a smile as I cross my arms over my chest. “Shouldn’t you be showering or something?”
Hayes casually raises his arm and takes a deep breath, nose wrinkled. “You saying I stink?”
“Oh, I’m sure you smell about as good as a bag of rotten potatoes.”
He claps a hand over his chest and gives me a mischievous glance. “You’re such a sweetheart.”
“I try.” I bite the inside of my cheek, trying desperately not to let a smile escape. Hayes makes it hard. As arrogant as he is, he’s also pretty…real. And much more down-to-earth than I would have guessed after that first night.
He walks closer until we’re only an arm’s length apart. “I saw you cheering for me out there.”
Averting my gaze, I say, “I was cheering for the team.”
“Mmmhmm.” He presses two fingers to my cheek and forces me to look at him before letting go. Even though his hand has returned to his side, I can still feel the heat of his touch on my face. “You had a good time, didn’t you?”
It hurts to say this out loud, but he saw me getting into the game, so he’ll see right through the lie if I try. “I’ll admit, it wasn’t as bad as I expected.”
A cheeky grin spreads across his face and just as he opens his mouth to speak—likely something sarcastic or a joke that's meant to be funny but falls short—Avery joins us.
“Thanks for the sweet seats,” she tells Hayes. “We had a great time. Didn’t we, Legs?”
My lips press into a thin line and I shake my head at my jerk of a best friend. “The best.”
Hayes points to Avery. “I like her.”
“Why, thank you,” she says with a bite of flirtation to her tone. “You’ll have to forgive my friend, she’s sort of a buzzkill.”
“I’ve noticed.” Hayes glances at me with a grin playing on his soft lips.
I hate the way those looks make me feel. It’s equal parts elation and nausea.
Avery reaches her hand out to Hayes. “I don’t think we’ve officially met, I’m Avery.”
“Hayes,” he tells her, returning the gesture. “You two got plans for the rest of the evening?”
“Yes!” I blurt out, while at the say time, Avery pops the P on her “Nope.”
Hayes chuckles. “So which is it?”
I grab Avery by the arm, pulling her away from Hayes before she falls under his spell. It’s easy to do.
“Homework,” I spit out on a whim. “Lots of homework.”
“That’s a shame,” he says, now looking at Avery. “A friend of mine wanted to meet you.”
You fucking asshole. I grit my teeth and swallow the words down.
Avery perks right up. “Oh really? A friend on your team?”
Hayes nods and it’s taking everything in me not to smack him. “Yep. You caught his eye during the game and I told him I might be able to convince you to come to Legends with us tonight.”
She quirks a brow and it’s like watching a scene from Clueless where Tai is convinced Elton is in love with her. “What’s Legends?” she asks, and I listen because I’m curious myself. Not that we’re going. Not a chance in hell.
“Only the best sports bar around. It’s where all the players and fans go after the games.”
I hold my fist to my mouth and cough out. “And puck bunnies.”
Hayes’s gaze snaps to mine. “Someone’s been studying the sport.”
“Oh yeah.” I grimace. “Because puck bunnies have an entire chapter in Hockey 101.”
Avery holds up a hand to shut me up and I groan. “So this Legends,” she continues. “Can minors get in?” Her hands wave between us. “Because we’re only nineteen.”
“For sure,” Hayes quips. “I’ve been going since freshman year.”
“And that makes you…” Avery asks, as if she’s doing me a favor by digging for information on him, from him. I’m not sure what more I have to say to make her believe I’m not interested.
She’s insufferable at least.
“Third year, junior.”
I’m sort of surprised Hayes is a junior. I assumed since he and Kamden were enemies, they were the same age. But Kamden is only a sophomore. I’m still so curious about what went down with these guys to make them despise each other so much.
“No. Your age.” Avery taps her index finger to her lips. “How old are you?”
“Twenty-one.”
Pleased with her response, she waggles her shoulders. “Perfect. You’re buying us both a drink.”
Hayes’s sultry eyes skate to mine. “Deal.” He curls his fingers at Avery. “Gimme your phone so I can text you the details.”
Sure. Go ahead and steal my best friend while you’re at it. You already stole my panties.
Hayes finishes up with her phone and gives it back to Avery, then gives me a look. “See you ladies soon?”
I’m not sure if it’s a question or not, so I just shake my head and mumble, “Whatever.”
“What the fuck!” a loud, deep voice booms from behind me. Hayes’s eyes shoot past me and his face twists into a scowl. When I see his fists clench, I immediately spin around and find Kamden stalking toward us.
My heart hammers its way down to the pit of my stomach.
“Is this a fucking joke?” Kamden gnashes as he glowers at me. “I thought I told you to stay the hell away from him and you came to his fucking game!”
“Chill the fuck out, man,” Hayes intervenes by stepping up to Kamden.
“It’s okay,” I whisper, stretching my hand out between the two of them.
“No!” Kamden growls before shooting daggers at Hayes. “It’s not okay. I see what the fuck you’re doing, Madden.”
Steam rolls from Kamden’s flared nostrils while Hayes just stands there, not affected in the least. I’m actually surprised, considering Hayes’s fight I witnessed in front of Piggy’s.
“And what is that?” Hayes asks nonchalantly.
“You’re trying to get a rise out of me by homing in on my girl.”
My eyes roll because it actually pisses me off that he’d even say that. Kamden has ignored me for days.
“Hayes didn't even know we were together, Kamden. But he’s right. You need to chill out. There is nothing going on here. Avery and I just came to watch the game because there’s a guy on the team who caught her eye.”
Kamden scoffs. “Of course there is.”
“Hey!” Avery snaps at him. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
With a deep exhale, he shoots her a scowl. “I think we both know what that means.”
I shake my head in disgust at Kamden and change the subject quickly before Avery claws his eyeballs out. “What are you even doing here, Kamden?”
Furious eyes turn toward me as he pulls out his phone and brings up a picture. “One of the hockey cheer girls posted this,” he says.
In the picture, Hayes has a guy slammed into the boards and it happened to be right in front of me. I remember that. It was just before Hayes made the winning goal.
And I’m grinning.
Kamden has no idea that the smile is because the guy landed an uppercut to Hayes’s chin and it was hilarious to me. But apparently Kamden doesn’t care what I have to say or he would have picked up his damn phone, so I just cross my arms instead.
“Damn, Donnelly. You sure do have a way with the ladies.” Hayes looks at me and shoots a thumb at Kamden. “You’re really dating this tool?”
My eyebrows pinch tightly together as I shake my head at Hayes. “Stop making things worse.”
He shrugs. “What? I’m just surprised is all. Especially since I also saw a pic today. Only this one was of him and that snooty girl he was dating. What's her name again?” He snaps his fingers. “Oh, right. It’s Gabby.”
Kamden’s jaw tics as he barrels toward Hayes. I jump in front of him while Hayes laughs, egging him on.
“Oh, was your girl not supposed to know about that? My bad.”
“What’s he talking about?” I ask Kamden as I shove him away to prevent him and Hayes from throwing down out here. As pissed as I am right now, I’m slightly afraid Hayes would pound his face into the asphalt and I don’t want the cheer team to be pissed at me for letting one of our best players get injured.
“He’s full of shit,” Kamden snarls, trying to reach over me, but I shove him back.
Avery holds her phone up with the screen on Gabby’s FlashChat page. “There’s nothing there.”
“Why would you say that?” I ask, turning toward Hayes who is thumbing through his own phone.
“Because it’s the truth. In fact, I took a screenshot of it.” He holds up the screen, showing me a picture of Gabby with her lips pressed to Kamden’s cheek.
“I was chilling on the couch and she just came up behind me and took it. I swear,” Kamden says remorsefully. His eyes are pleading and I know it would totally be a Gabby move, but he’s ignored me for days so my trust in him is minimal at this point.
My bottom lip quivers so I suck it between my teeth. “Where?”
He doesn’t answer, just lowers his head, and in my gut I think I already know. Grabbing Hayes’s phone from his hands, I get a good look at the couch in the picture. That's all I need to see. I shove it back into Hayes’s chest without even looking at him. I’m seething at Kamden.
“She was in your dorm last night!” My voice rises. “I was calling you over and over again and she was with you!”
His hands fly in the air before dropping abruptly to his sides. “She just showed up with Laney. What was I supposed to do, kick them out?”
Laney is Gabby’s best friend who is also on the squad. She’s had a thing for Kamden’s roommate Jeremiah since the start of the semester. Regardless, Kamden could have left, or at the very least, answered my calls and told me she was there.
“Are you seriously turning this around on me?” Kamden huffs. “I just found you in the parking lot with a guy I can’t stand who you spread your fucking legs for.”
I don’t know what to think or say. “I can’t believe you just said that to me.” My voice is low, shock still racing through my body. I might not be proud of what Hayes and I did, but no one gets to make me feel like a whore.
Shaking my head, I take a step back, then another. Tears well in my eyes, and I hate crying in front of people. It sits next to the discomfort of getting a tooth pulled. “I have to go.” My head drops as I walk away from them. A pang hits me in the chest and it's then that I realize, before Kamden showed up, I actually did have a good time tonight.
Avery walks briskly to my side and throws an arm around my shoulders. “I’m sorry, B.”
A single tear skates down my cheek, but I sweep it away aggressively. “I’m done with him. So fucking done.”
She sighs, and I’m sure it’s a sigh of relief. Kamden has been an ass to her since day one and that’s one red flag I shouldn't have ignored. Sometimes I think Avery knows what’s best for me when I don’t even know myself.
Suddenly, the symphony of shouting rings in our ears, followed by the sound of bone on bone. I turn around quickly and immediately run to Hayes and Kamden, who are rolling around on the asphalt. “Stop!” I shout at the top of my lungs. “Someone stop them!”
A group of people passing by stop, and a couple guys pull them apart. Spectators begin crowding around as the guys lash out at each other, vile and hateful words spilling from their mouths.
Avery holds me back with her arms wrapped around me.
“You think that uniform makes you something? It doesn’t.” Kamden fumes as blood drips from his nose onto the pavement. “You’re a scumbag piece of shit, just like you’ve always been and always will be!”
Hayes brushes a bead of blood from his lip. “And you fucking think Daddy’s money makes you something? Guess what? It doesn’t. Have fun living in his shadow for the rest of your fucking life.”
Tears flow from my eyes and I don’t even attempt to hold them back as my heart breaks in two.
I’m just not sure who it’s breaking for.
This isn’t about me. It goes far beyond me and Hayes or me and Kamden. Something big happened between these two and while I wanted to know before, I don’t think I do anymore. “Let's go,” I tell Avery.
She nods as she turns me away from the commotion. “I take it we're not going to Legends?”
Avery is pretty damn good at distracting me enough to make the tears subside while we get the hell away from whatever that just was.
A small laugh escapes me as I swipe away the tears on my cheeks. “Not this time, babe.”