Chapter Eighteen
My Girl - Wyatt
“Dude, this thing with Grace Walsh? It’s legit?
” Chase asks, dropping down in the chair next to me.
It’s Monday night, and I’d rather be anywhere than in the Alpha Xi Pi dining hall for this chapter bullshit.
Each exec officer will stand up, give an update—or lecture, depending on what is going on in the house.
It’s a tedious one to two hours of my life that I won’t get back.
And it’s one to two hours that is keeping me from Grace.
“If you mean thing as in dating Grace, yeah, it is,” I say, looking at Chase. “Why?”
He doesn’t even try to cover up the shocked look on his face.
“Well, for one thing, you said the last thing you wanted this year was a girlfriend,” he says, pulling the tab back on his can of Coke and taking a drink.
“I thought your focus was playing hockey and getting drafted, with an occasional hookup to take care of needs.”
“Grace changed my mind.” I swallow hard. That’s not a lie. And it’s a problem.
A big one.
Take tonight. I’m looking forward to studying with her after our chapters are finished this evening, even though I just saw her last night. I shouldn’t care. I shouldn’t want to see her two nights in a row.
But damn it, I do.
My mind flicks back to her in that hot sporty dress last night, the way her hair fell down her back, the glossy pink lips.
I can see the sparkle in her gorgeous blue eyes and hear her laugh.
I remember how I felt when she told me I’d be a good boyfriend—that she sees things in me I don’t see in myself.
That I’m someone outside of the rink.
For so long, it’s just been hockey. That’s been my entire identity. Even when girls look at me? A lot of them see a hockey player, not Wyatt.
But Grace has never looked at me that way.
I enjoyed having dinner with her last night at the dining hall, and she got on great with my roommates.
They all liked her, and even though it’s all fake, I felt proud to be with someone so smart and funny and gorgeous.
She’s an athlete, and a good one. What she does is incredible.
She showed me videos of her performances.
I could never ever do what Grace does in the water.
She’s just amazing, in ways I never thought about before.
Then I practically hear my dad’s voice in my head, warning me about getting into this exact situation. Don’t let girls distract me. My only focus should be hockey. I’ve worked way too hard and sacrificed too much to lose focus now.
A small wave of guilt prickles my skin. Am I losing focus? Will it show on the ice? Is it impossible to have hockey and be with Grace at the same time?
I abruptly stop my train of thought.
What am I doing? This is fake. Grace has no interest in dating. She told me that.
And I don’t need all the crap that comes with a relationship. Not now. Not when the goal is within sight.
“Truthfully, though? I can see why you made an exception for her. She’s like one of the hottest chicks on campus. Every guy wants her,” Chase says, interrupting my thoughts.
I frown at his words. Every guy wants her. Yeah, don’t I know it.
With the quarterback of the football team being one of them.
I remember how pissed off I was when I saw Asher talking to her in the dining hall. I had taken half a step to go over there, to remind him that Grace was mine, when I stopped myself because the last thing I need is to start something with Ryan.
Like punching him in the face.
Over a girl who will never truly be mine.
To my surprise, when Grace came back over to me with the plates, the first thing she did was flick me on the forehead, asking me why I didn’t rescue her from Asher.
I can’t even explain the warm feeling that spread across my chest when she said that.
I apologized, claiming I didn’t want to interfere if they were just talking, but Grace told me that as her boyfriend, it’s definitely my job to interfere when it comes not only to Asher, but any guy on campus.
I made up for it by dropping a kiss on her forehead. And the way she looked up at me after I did it?
Maybe I’m seeing things that aren’t there, but I swear she looked happy that I kissed her.
Rob walks by and takes a seat in the vacant chair on the other side of me. “Do you have a sec?”
I stare at him. Whenever I think of what he did to Grace, I want to punch him way more than I want to punch Asher.
“Yeah. What’s up?”
He swallows, and I can tell he’s nervous. “Um, are we like cool about Grace Walsh?” he asks.
“That depends. Are you done being a dick to not only my girl, but girls in general?” I stare him dead in the eyes. Seeing his face alone pisses me right off. I feel my jaw clench just being in his presence.
Rob goes white. Good. Let him feel what Grace did when he made unwanted moves on her last year. Let him be the uncomfortable one in the room instead of girls who dare to have no interest in him.
Dickhead.
“Bro, I had no idea you were into her, or I never—” Rob begins, but I immediately cut him off.
“Bro, shut up. You shouldn’t be putting moves on girls who don’t want them, or trashing girls anonymously on an app when you don’t get what you want.
Grow up. Be fucking decent for a change.
And if you do that, we have no problem. If you don’t?
You know what I—and Grace—will do. It shouldn’t be that hard, Brother Rob. ”
He blinks. “Yeah, yeah, understood. I … I just wanted to make sure we’re good, you know?”
“We’re good as long as you stay in your lane,” I say, picking up my water bottle and taking a swig.
“Cool. Erm, thanks,” Rob says, then gets up and leaves.
Chase snickers, and I look over at him. “He’s scared shitless of you,” he murmurs with his hand over his mouth so only I can hear him.
“He should be,” I murmur back, watching as Rob takes a seat with other assholes who thought the bet was a great idea. “What a dickhead.”
“That whole faction of the house are total shitheads,” Chase says.
I glance around the room at my brothers. There are guys I really like in this room. Most of them are decent guys. But this one shitty faction is toxic.
Then I remember how Grace reacted when she thought I was one of them, and I hated it.
I took care of the chucklefucks when I gave them a warning during the Baywatch mixer. But I’m only here now to make sure nothing is done to Grace or any other girl by Rob and his group. As soon as I’m sure they have the message, I’m out.
“I have no doubt Rob is spreading the fact that I’m the problem,” I say wryly.
“Yeah, but you’re a problem who knows how to drop gloves and is popular. Nobody is messing with you. Or the hockey team.”
“Being on the team has its privileges.”
As I think of hockey—which should be all I’m thinking about, but Grace has thrown a huge dart in that plan—my mind goes to the first scrimmage of the season next week.
God, I hope I get the yellow jersey and play on the first line.
It would be a chance to play with Antoine, the team phenom—and show what I’ve worked all summer for.
“Gentlemen,” Cade Carpenter, our president, says loudly, interrupting my thoughts, “it’s time for our first chapter meeting of the year.”
A bunch of groans go up around the room. We’re told each executive chair will speak, and as soon as they’re brought up and announced, my mind begins to drift. But I don’t go back to hockey like I should. I think of Grace, across the street in her own chapter meeting.
And I can’t help but wonder if she’s thinking of me, too.