Chapter 3 #2
“All right,” I said in surrender, “but I need something with caffeine if you want me to stay up. Do you want anything?”
Kate shook her head and motioned to the cup in her hand. “I’ll be with Mace. Find me as soon as you grab your drink.”
I followed her out of my bedroom and down the hallway.
As we reached the bottom of the stairs, Kate peeled off to find Bishop’s girlfriend, Macy, disappearing into the mass of bodies occupying every inch of the first level.
It wasn’t difficult navigating the crowd; they parted easily at the sight of me.
I could sense a shift in energy from the students.
By now, they had either witnessed or heard about my return to the ice.
Though they were no longer watching me with pity in their eyes, I still disliked the attention.
Tucked into the corner of the living room was our sad excuse for a bar.
The makeshift table was comprised of two stools and a large piece of plywood that was beginning to sink in the middle from overuse.
The players stuck on bartending duty nodded to me as I ducked under the plywood in search of something with caffeine.
I was elbow deep in the cooler when I heard my name.
“Evans is grabbing himself a drink. He can make you something before he leaves.”
Bryce was speaking to someone on the other side of the bar.
My hand clasped around a can of Diet Coke, and I straightened from my position crouched over the cooler to stand at full height.
Grace. Her eyes flashed in recognition as they met mine.
She was dressed in a denim skirt that showed off the lean muscles of her legs.
Her hair was pulled back into a braid, and her cheeks were flushed pink from the heat.
I let my gaze linger on her lips. They were shiny with something I was sure tasted just as sweet as she looked.
She’s a weed, I reminded myself. An unwanted growth that is taking over your mind. I couldn’t allow myself to think of her as anything but.
“Hey, man, mind making these ladies a quick drink while you’re back there?” Bryce asked.
For a moment, I considered taking the polite route.
I’d make her a drink, smile accordingly, and flee into the crowd.
But something wicked inside me wanted to make her feel as unsettled as I felt in her presence, and the burning desire to watch her cheeks flush even brighter won out.
It was a foolish decision, but I couldn’t help myself.
“I’m happy to provide refreshments for Caroline and Lydia, but I don’t make drinks for people I don’t know,” I said, making a point to look directly at Grace.
Her eyes remained glued to me as I popped open the tab on my soda and took a long drink. I could feel the question in Bryce’s gaze.
“This is Grace. She’s the new starting center for the women’s team,” he explained.
I didn’t bother to respond. Instead, I pulled out two red Solo cups and loaded them with ice from the cooler.
“Don’t be an asshole, Evans,” Bryce warned.
“That’s his only setting, unfortunately.” Grace spoke up for the first time, voice barely audible over the pounding music.
“You two know each other?”
She shook her head quickly. “I had the misfortune of running into him at the start of the semester. But don’t worry about the drink. I wouldn’t trust anything he handed to me anyway.”
My jaw ticked in irritation as she pivoted and disappeared into the mass of students.
I abandoned the half-made drinks in pursuit of her, ducking under the bar as soda sloshed over the side of the can gripped in my left hand.
Bryce called my name, but I was already lost in the crowd, following the path Grace had carved though the living room.
She was nearly to the front door when I threw myself forward to block her exit.
“Don’t act like you know me,” I said, reaching out to stop her as she attempted to dart around me. I wasn’t going to let her get away that easily, not after that insulting insinuation about the drink.
“But I do. You told me everything I needed to know the first time we met. And trust me, I don’t want anything from someone like you,” she hissed.
“Someone like me?”
“Someone who thinks they’re better than everyone.”
That made me laugh. “I am better than everyone. At least when it comes to hockey. And a few other strenuous activities.”
“A chauvinistic prick,” she continued, pretending she hadn’t heard me speak. “A pompous, rude, entitled—”
“I get it, you don’t like me. The feeling is mutual,” I interjected.
I didn’t hate the girl, but I wasn’t exactly pleased with my inclination to throw caution to the wind every time I laid eyes on her.
Grace was undeniably beautiful, and equally unwilling to put up with my shit.
In other words, she was a dangerous distraction waiting to happen, and that was the last thing I needed in my life.
Yet here I was, chasing after her like an impulsive fool.
Emotions could do a lot of damage if they were given free rein.
I needed to find some semblance of control, and fast.
“Then I suggest we get on with not liking each other from a distance,” she said.
“This is my house,” I pointed out. “Are saying I should leave?”
Grace shook her head in disbelief. “You stopped me, remember?”
Over her head, a familiar pair of deep blue eyes caught my attention. My gaze lingered on Kate for a brief moment, hoping that the sight of her would help douse the raging fire lit within me by the presence of Grace.
“Don’t worry,” I said, lip curling upward. “I’m not stopping you now.”
I shifted a fraction of an inch; it was just enough room for her to squeeze through the front door.
With one last withering glare, Grace shouldered her way past me.
Foolishly, I stole a glance at her retreating form, my traitorous eyes lingering on that perfect ass.
Who could blame me really? She had a phenomenal backside.
I had barely a second to collect myself when Kate appeared from the crowd, snaking her arms around my body.
“I was wondering where you went,” she shouted over the music, her lips hot across the bottom of my jaw. “Thought you were getting a drink?”
I held up my soda in answer, but Kate wasn’t convinced.
“Who was that girl?”
I schooled my face into an expression of disinterest as I said, “No one important, babe. The new center for the women’s hockey team.”
“Did she make a move?”
A snort of laughter escaped through my lips.
“Don’t laugh at me,” she said, shoving me away in a playful manner. “The girls at this school are desperate to get with you.” Kate wasn’t the jealous type, but she was aware that there was a long line of girls willing to take me to bed whether we were together or not.
“That’s not why I laughed,” I assured her. “She’d rather hit me than hit on me.”
Somehow, Kate looked even more interested at this bit of information. “What did you do?”
“Why do you assume it’s something I did?”
“Because, Sebastian Evans, you’re a shit-starter.”
I shrugged. “It’s nothing, I promise you.”
Kate finally relented, pulling me back to the heat of her body. “Let’s get dinner tomorrow night. Something fancy. I’d like to dress up.”
“Tomorrow won’t work. I have a ton of homework, so I’ll probably post up at the library.”
Her lips formed an all-too-familiar pout. “Come on, we haven’t had a proper date since the hockey season started. It’s already October.”
“You know my schedule, babe. Sundays are homework days.”
“You seriously can’t make an exception this one Sunday?”
“I need to pass my classes, Kate. They almost didn’t let me back in this semester, and you know that.”
Three times. We’d had this talk three times, once before the school year started and twice since.
I’d been very honest with Kate. This year, more than ever, I was going to be busy.
I had to keep up my grades if I wanted to play on the team, and my only chance to sign an NHL contract at the end of the year was to prove myself on the ice.
I had to be better in every respect, which left little time to plan extravagant dates.
“Seb, please. I feel like you always choose hockey over me.”
And I always would, but she already knew that.
“Is this really how you want to spend the night? Fighting about how I don’t make enough time for you?”
She scoffed. “Well, when you say it like that—”
“Pointing out the obvious, babe.”
“You’re being an asshole!”
“Because all you want to do when we are together is complain about how we don’t spend enough time together!” Anger and frustration had my voice rising. “If you want to fight, find someone else to do it with.”
I shrugged off her touch and made a hasty retreat through the back door in the kitchen.
The stragglers outside grew quiet as I thumped down the stairs and collapsed into a lawn chair.
With one stony glance, I sent everyone around me scrambling back into the house.
At least some people were back to treating me with the respect I deserved.
Letting out a long sigh, I let my head fall against the back of the chair to look at the sky.
The scent of woodsmoke and burning leaves permeated the air.
It was a major upgrade from the stench of alcohol and sweat from inside the house, one that helped ease some of the tension in my shoulders.
Fall was my favorite time of the year. The familiar smells, the shift in weather, the darkening days—they were all changes I looked forward to because they signified the start of the regular hockey season.
When the heat of summer began to fade, I could sense the shift within me; it was as if my body knew what was coming.
Tonight, despite every single person who’d doubted me, I’d proved myself an asset.
No one had expected me to make such a successful comeback, not after my performance in the spring.
The entire hockey world had written me off.
But any uncertainty about my return to the team was squashed the second my skates hit the ice tonight.
And instead of congratulating me, or even acknowledging my success, Kate complained about how little time we spent together.
She knew that my dream was to play professional hockey.
She knew how important it was for me to honor my father’s memory.
But it was never enough for her. I was starting to doubt she’d ever understand.
Later in the evening, after the party had died down to a few drunkards, Kate found me out back. Without a word, she sat down in the chair beside me and settled into the silence.
“Today was an important day for me,” I explained, twisting my head to the side.
“Everyone expected me to fail, but I didn’t.
And rather than congratulate me on the win, on all the hard work we’ve both put into my recovery, you picked a fight.
I don’t have the energy to fight, Kate. I’m exhausted.
I’m exhausted, and I still chose to spend time with you at this party rather than catch up on sleep. ”
She studied me with careful eyes, her expression unreadable. But after a long moment, Kate nodded her head and reached for my face. Her hands were a shock of warmth against my chilled skin.
“I’m sorry. I should have congratulated you.”
I swallowed down a painful lump in the back of my throat. Are we destined to repeat this same fight time and time again?
“You were amazing out there. I even watched the whole game, I swear.” Her voice grew softer as she dragged her fingers through the ends of my hair.
I was caught off guard by her confession.
Kate didn’t like to watch me play, not since the injury.
I liked to pretend it was because she didn’t want to see me get hurt, but it was more complicated than that.
At first, I’d blamed her for the accident.
She was the reason I’d been so distracted on the ice that night: we’d had a massive fight right before the game.
I wouldn’t have been scrambling in the final seconds of the game if my head had been in it from the moment the clock started.
At the time, I’d wanted to find fault in anyone other than myself.
It had only taken a few days for me to come to my senses and apologize, but by then, it was too late.
The damage was done. Even though she’d forgiven me, there was an underlying tension that had everything to do with my dedication to the sport and my need to get back on the ice.
Maybe a part of her longed for me to quit, like she’d finally realized exactly how much of my life I was willing to sacrifice for hockey.
“Why don’t we go back to my place where it’s quiet and watch a movie?” she suggested.
I didn’t have the energy to walk back to campus, even if it was only a few blocks. My body was sore from the game. I’d taken my fair share of hard hits.
“We can stay here,” I suggested. “I’ll meet you in my room in a few minutes.”
Kate pressed a soft kiss to my check before she disappeared into the house.
The past few weeks had gone much better than I’d expected.
My knee was feeling strong, the team was shaping up to be unstoppable, and I was keeping up with classes.
Life hadn’t gone this well for me since before the injury.
But every time I felt high on hockey, Kate was there to drag me down.
It was complicated, feeling both gratitude and overwhelming frustration toward the person I trusted the most. She was the reason I was here now, but I wasn’t sure that was enough. Not anymore.