26. Schmoozin’ for a Bruisin’ #3
She gestures to Boone and Carter. They’re pushing against each other now, helmet pressed to helmet as they jostle for space. “I can swap if you want. My list finished early.”
“Nah. I’d only be waiting for Carter anyway. And I want to watch the press conference.”
“Everybody does. I think it’s full up there already.” She shakes her head. “That rivalry line Ness is pushing seems to be doing the trick. Everyone thinks they really despise each other. More than the team rivalry, y’know?”
“They do,” I say without thinking. I’m too tired for this.
Lauren tilts her head. “Now I really want to ask. Off limits?”
I shrug, toying with the lid of my coffee. “You’ll probably find out. We all went to college together. Me. Carter. And Boone.”
“I did not know that.” Lauren frowns. “Didn’t they graduate a year apart? I thought I remembered that from the Blackwater research.”
“Yeah.” I look over at her. “You know we were foster kids, right? Me and Carter.”
“I guessed,” she says after a moment. “From the interview thing with Ness.”
Nodding, I look out at the ice. “Boone’s parents were our last foster placement. We were with them for four years. His dad was the one who spotted Carter. Got him all the gear, got the scouts to come and watch him. Boone was already on track, but Carter… he had this magic.”
I shake my head, remembering. “Mike asked if he’d ever skated before. He had when he was younger, but not for years. Carter strapped on a pair of Boone’s old skates, and he took off on that ice like he was born to it.”
I breathe through the memories. “I got into the same college as them on a scholarship for underprivileged kids. Carter and Boone were heading for the NPHL. We were going to do it together.”
Lauren’s lips round in realization. “As a pack.”
“Yeah.” The two alphas on the ice threaten to blur together, and I blink furiously.
“Obviously, that didn’t happen. Boone dropped out before our final year.
Wouldn’t tell us why. Carter got signed to the Titans.
We met Liam and Jonas, and he picked them for our pack.
But Boone rocked up in the draft a year later and Reid Masterson signed him for the Aces. ”
“Wow.” Lauren follows my gaze. “He never explained why he left?”
I shake my head. “Carter traveled back home a few times, went to his parents. He really wanted them to come to the draft. They wouldn’t answer the door. Screened our calls. It told us everything we needed to know.”
And we knew exactly where we stood. On our own, as we always had.
“That explains… a lot, actually.” Lauren’s hand hovers somewhere in the vicinity of my shoulder. “I’m sorry, Rosie.”
“Don’t be. Shit happens.” I focus on downing the majority of my coffee. “Anyway, we met Liam and Jonas in our last year. Carter’s captain of the Titans. First draft pick. We never have to worry about money, or food, or a roof over our heads. That’s the dream. So, you know—”
I stop before I can say the words.
“Was it?” Her eyes are steady. “Worth it?”
I worry my lip with my teeth. “Nothing worth having ever came easy, right?”
Certainly not in my life. I don’t know why I ever thought having a pack would be any different.
“I’m sorry I caused you more trouble.” Lauren says into the silence. “It’s not what I wanted.”
That’s an answer I’ve been trying to understand since she first arrived. “What exactly do you want?”
“I don’t know,” she mutters. “But…I’m not sure this is it.”
My head turns to her. Somewhere on the ice, my name is called. But I can’t take my eyes off Lauren, my pulse suddenly spiking painfully until I feel lightheaded. “What do you mean?”
She shakes her head, a strange little half-laugh slipping out. “Do you think this is a good pack?”
What the fuck is wrong with people today? Defensiveness rises on the tip of my tongue, but nothing comes out. A little too close to breaking my commandments, apparently.
“Ro!” Carter taps the ice as he comes to a stop in front of me. “What time do we need to be at this press conference?”
When I don’t say anything, he tugs up his visor. Half joking, half concerned. “Earth to Ro. You in there?”
Do you think this is a good pack?
“You need to hurry up.” Lauren steps in when I can’t. “Twenty minutes to shower and change.”
“Thanks,” Carter says slowly without looking her way. He pulls off his glove, reaching for me. “Do I need to put some coffee in you? Have you eaten?”
I hold up my cup silently in answer, blocking his touch. Boone is on the other side of the ice listening to someone I don’t recognize. But his eyes are locked on me.
“I’m… fine,” I say eventually. “I might head upstairs actually, if you don’t need me. Grab a snack before it all kicks off.”
“Good idea.” He runs a hand over his face. “I’ll be glad when today is done.”
“Your suit is hanging up in the locker room.” He catches me as I jump off, his hands resting on my hips. “Shoes and everything else in the bag underneath.”
Carter looks down at me, his lips curving. “Don’t know how I’d function without you.”
Forcing my smile to reach my eyes, I duck out of his reach. “Get going. See you up there.”