Chapter Ten Sam
CHAPTER TEN
SAM
“Asshole,” I mutter as I burst out of the bathroom, flinging the door so hard it slaps against the wall, the sound ringing in my ears like a bell. Every nerve in my body is on edge, my skin still burning from the sting of his words.
You don’t belong here.
Those five little syllables cut deeper than he’ll ever know. Not because he was some angry beast set on antagonizing me. People are mean every day.
They stung because I already know that. I don’t belong here, and no amount of miniskirts and hockey parties is going to change that.
I storm forward, not daring to look back. He may be the man around here, and used to getting his way, but I won’t give him the satisfaction of knowing he’s gotten to me. Even if my pulse races a mile a minute and numbness pricks at my flesh. Kane will not know that he’s won.
Kane? I huff. When did he start going by his last name? Probably around the same time he decided to become a Grade A dick.
I hurry to get as far away from here as possible. At some point he is going to come out of that bathroom, and I don’t want to be here when he does. I definitely don’t want to be standing in this hallway; my nerves will already be all out of whack when Mountain finally joins the party.
How am I supposed to face him now?
Oh, jeesh. Sorry I walked in on you and your monster dick.
He’ll probably just stare at me until I do something stupid to embarrass myself more than I already have.
And I’ve had enough humiliation for one night.
For the briefest of moments, I regret not following my gut.
The moment my courage turned into hesitation, I should have gotten back in that car and went back to my dorm.
Maybe then I wouldn’t be feeling like shit right about now. Maybe then I could’ve held on to the childhood memories of Everest. But that’s gone now, forever tainted, the sweet boy from my past extinct.
The sound of girlish giggles brings me out of my thoughts, and my vision unblurs as two girls reach the top of the landing at the end of the hall.
They’re talking among themselves, barely sparing me a glance as they pass.
And even though it’s obvious they’re unfazed by my presence, I shrink into myself.
From the corner of my eye, I take in the tall, broad silhouette of Kane stepping out of the bathroom.
That nervous numbness returns, the adrenaline building almost instantly, damn near lighting a fire under my ass. But not before I hear the whispers. Not before I feel the very instant the rumor demon got his grubby hands on this moment.
“Was she in there with Kane?” one of the girls says.
“She’s one of the new scholarship kids, right?” the other responds. “Lucky slut.”
My stomach clenches and I take the stairs two at a time. My senses are immediately bombarded—flashes of moving bodies, laughter, and that overwhelming stench of liquor. All the air seems to leave my lungs in a rush, and I gasp in a breath.
Each step toward the door feels longer, and soon I tune out everything, my sights focused on the exit.
“You’re back.” Christina’s grip is suddenly on my wrist as she pulls me into her space like I belong there.
She’s wasted.
Scanning the room, I note the different levels of drunken chaos. Half the people here are a bad decision waiting to happen. The other half are already making them.
Christina leans too far into me, and I grab her shoulders, keeping her upright. “Hey, I was thinking about heading out—”
Her balance wavers, but she doesn’t fall.
“You bitch,” she says with a high-pitched squeal of laughter. “You just got here and have been in the bathroom the whole time.”
If only she knew. If only she had any clue that I was cornered, torn apart, and left raw in that goddamn bathroom. It wasn’t exactly some bubbly walk in the park.
Before I can argue, she snatches my phone, holds it up to my face, and taps away, moving through the apps on my screen. “Here, you’re now logged into my account. You can order a Ryde.”
I blink.
She’s serious.
“But only if you hang out first.” She grins, waving a hand toward the group of guys gathered nearby. “I want to introduce you to everyone.”
Since I don’t have the funds to cover that expensive Ryde back to SKU, I’ll just have to tough it out.
“There are a lot of cute guys,” she continues when I don’t answer her. Her arm hooks around my neck, turning me toward them.
Hockey players.
“That’s Jackson; he’s a winger.” She points out the cute guy from the photo she sent me earlier, the one sitting next to her when Gracie warned me. “And off-limits.”
“Have at it.” I let out a huff and hold my hand up in mock surrender. “He’s your guy?”
Christina smirks. “Something like that. We used to date, but he’s still obsessed with me. I mean, who wouldn’t be.”
I chuckle inwardly. She really does love herself.
“There is Ryker; he’s also a winger, and Jackson’s little brother.
You have Carlos, a defenseman. Luka is one of the goalies, even though he probably shouldn’t even be on the team.
And that’s Alexander, the captain and center, plus Chancellor Williamsburg’s son.
You’ve got to watch that one. He’ll try to convince a nun to give it up.
Then there are his two best friends—who must be somewhere around here—Kane, our star defenseman, and Mountain, our goalie.
You know him, though, since he’s in our class. ”
Little does she know, I needed no introduction of the last three she mentions.
Christina continues to ramble off names of the players…
all twenty-six of them. Meanwhile, I’ve tuned her out as Alex locks onto me with dark intent behind his eyes.
My stomach twists as his gaze drags over my legs, lingering where my skirt ends.
The girl beside him notices. Her expression hardens as she mutters something under her breath and places her hand on his bicep.
Alex slides her arm off his like it’s an afterthought, then strides toward me with that same cocky swagger that makes half the campus swoon and the other half want to punch him in the face.
Blond hair perfectly tousled like he just rolled out of someone’s bed complements green eyes sharp with calculation above a deceptively easy smile.
That effortless charm oozes off him like cologne, intoxicating and intentional.
And something about the slight lift of his chin tells me exactly what this is.
He’s about to try to smooth over how harshly he confronted me in that office, like he thinks a grin and a wink will be enough to make me forget.
Nope. Not happening.
I don’t have the patience for another one of these assholes tonight.
Alex stops in front of me, about to take my hand. Instead, I decide to shut him down before he can even get out words.
“No, thank you.” I snap my hand out of reach, crossing my arms instead.
His smirk. “I deserved that.”
Damn right you did.
Alex turns so that he’s standing beside me and leans in so that I can hear him over the music. “I think we started off on the wrong foot.”
I face Christina, trying but failing to ignore him. She raises a curious brow at our interaction.
“I was having a bad day and shouldn’t have spoken to you like that.” Alex cranes his neck to search my face, making it impossible to avoid him.
“Don’t worry about it.” I step off, walking around Christina.
He follows me, sandwiching me between them. “You really don’t like me, do you?”
“What do you want?” I let out, annoyed at the arrogant smirk on his face.
“To apologize.”
“Fine. You’ve apologized. All’s forgotten.” I roll my eyes.
“Let’s start over. I’m really a likeable guy if you get to know me.” Alex leans in so close I can smell the alcohol on his breath.
I snap my gaze to his, my brows knitted tight, my frustration only amplifying when I take in the flirty gleam in his eyes. Ugh, he’s insufferable, grinning and so sure of himself with his stupid handsome face.
He stares at my lips hungrily.
“Yeah, I’m not doing this with you.” And with that, I walk off but can still feel his eyes glued to my ass.
A shift in the room stops me in my tracks, yanking my attention to the stairs.
Mountain looms there, fresh from the shower, hair still damp and clinging to his broad shoulders.
I watch him scan the crowd, something akin to bored disapproval etched into his features.
An expression that seems on brand for him—always uninterested, never impressed.
Then his eyes burn into me, the hard set of his jaw making my throat dry.
My mind betrays me, flashing back to that brief, shocking moment earlier—him carved from muscle with water dripping down his skin. Now that image is seared into my brain, and I can’t unsee it.
Suddenly, a large frame blocks my line of sight, cutting off the noise of the room like a slammed door.
I blink, focus, and my breath hitches the second I register who it is.
Every muscle in my body goes rigid. My hands ball into fists, knuckles aching from the pressure.
It’s a useless attempt to ground myself.
Kane steps fully into view, his massive frame coiled tight, like he’s one wrong breath from snapping. That expression—pure stone, eyes like frostbitten steel—locks on me. No words. Just a look that says exactly what he’s thinking.
Like he’s trying to figure out why the hell I’m still here. Like if he stares hard enough, I’ll vanish into thin air. My fight-or-flight instincts kick in, but before I can react, a guy slides in front of me with a grin that doesn’t quite reach his eyes. “Sam, right? I’m Jackson.”
“I remember. We have physics together.”
“That’s right. You’re one of the new students,” he says as more of an observation than anything else.