GRAYSON
Chapter Seven
I walked across the sprawling front lawn in front of the dormitories much later than I had planned. The night had been magical. We had been making out until our faces had gotten sore and then I invited him up to the loft.
Avery’s moment of hesitation had been priceless.
I could imagine how afraid he must have been that I had turned on everything I had said earlier.
“A. Trust me.” And he had. He’d given me his hand and followed me upstairs.
The bed was laid out in the middle of the loft, but the true purpose was the huge window that gave us the view of the night sky and the canopy of stars. That was why I had brought him up.
“There he is,” Spencer said. He was having breakfast in the kitchen on our floor at the beginning of the hallway. “You look like shit.”
I snorted. It was true. I hadn’t slept much last night.
Now, I wore my shirt untucked and my bowtie was hanging from my fist. I had dropped Avery off at Northwood before directing the chauffeur to bring me back here.
Truthfully, I hadn’t wanted to leave the houseboat. It was too good to leave behind.
“So?” Cole asked as I entered the kitchen and dropped into an empty chair. There were only the three of us in here. “How did it go?”
I stretched my lips before I could stop myself. The smile spilled out of me and I shook my head to diminish it at least a little. “It went great.”
Spencer drummed his fingers against the table. “Got proof?”
“I, uh…” Traitor, I snapped at myself. I’d asked him to trust me. And for what? To win a silly bet.
“What happened?” Cole asked. “I thought he agreed.”
“No, he did,” I said.
“Well?” Spencer was growing slightly impatient. “You changed the terms, Cap. We need to see the proof. Unless it’s explicit. Then I’d rather pass.”
That set my ass on fire. “It’s not explicit.”
“Didn’t you sleep with him? You look like you did,” Cole said, snickering.
“Technically,” I sighed. “We didn’t have sex.
We just…fell asleep. You know what? I don’t need to tell you that.
Forget it.” I slipped my phone out and swallowed my annoyance.
They were right. We’d had a deal for them to be at the restaurant until I bailed on that whole plan and booked a private houseboat instead.
“Here.” I pushed my phone across the dining table to my friends. It was a selfie from the limo.
“He looks like he’s about to harvest your kidneys,” Cole said.
“Shut up,” I snapped. “That’s just mean. He’s a great guy.”
Cole’s eyebrows rose high, his ears turning red. “I’m just fucking around. Jeez.”
“Well, don’t,” I said shortly.
Spencer pushed my phone back. “Why are you cranky? Need a snack?”
I gritted my teeth for a moment. “I’m not cranky. It’s just nasty to mock the guy for looking serious. So what? He doesn’t laugh like an idiot, so let’s all point fingers at him.”
“Nobody’s pointing anything,” Spencer said lazily. “Anyway, you won the bet. It’s over now.”
It was anything but over. This morning, when I startled myself awake, I discovered Avery lying on me.
My right arm was numb, but I didn’t want to roll him off of it.
He’d been lying on his side, facing me, and I couldn’t stop looking at his handsome face.
Those sharp cheekbones and his uniquely sandy hair.
I couldn’t bring myself to end the date.
“Oh shit,” Spencer said, looking at me. He had just bitten off a piece of his sandwich. He chewed it, shook his head, and swallowed. “It’s too late. You already got obsessed.”
“I’m not obsessed. Jesus, Spencer.” Hearing that was almost as bad as remembering that I had taken Avery out under false pretenses. But I’d only had good intentions. That had to count for something. Right?
Cole was oddly quiet. Maybe I had been too harsh, but he had to learn to mind his tongue. Spencer took another bite of his sandwich, then wiped his fingers on a paper napkin. “It was just a dare, Cap. Are you catching the feels?”
“Tsss. I’m not catching anything. And if I want to have a second date, I don’t think that’s anybody’s business.” I glanced at my phone. The morning was flying by. I should probably hit the gym before tonight’s drills. I was buzzing with excess energy. It needed to go somewhere.
“You’re serious, huh?” Spencer asked, not unkindly. “It’s not what we planned for you, Cap, but if you like him that much, then I’m happy for you.”
I chewed on my lip, slightly sulkily, although I couldn’t say why. Maybe because this whole setup undermined what I ended up wanting. “I like him.”
Spencer glanced at Cole. “We should start a matchmaking business.”
Cole relaxed a bit and laughed. He met my gaze and shrugged. “Sorry, Gray. I didn’t mean to be rude.”
I nodded. Time was flying by too quickly for one morning but too slowly for a week of waiting.
I doubted I could drag Avery out of hiding before next weekend.
So, the first thing I did was make a quick trip to Cupid’s.
I wrote him a new postcard and canceled the old ones.
This one thanked him for a magical night and challenged him to a rematch.
I chuckled to myself as I wrote it, then handed it to the middle-aged woman with a kind, motherly look in her eyes.
Conditioning, studying, practice. Day after day, I busied myself to pass the time. It would have been a bleak routine if it weren’t for Avery’s text messages.
Got your postcard. Can this harassment stop?
I accept your challenge, by the way.
I’d almost fallen off the treadmill when the messages showed on my smartwatch. I finished my running session, threw a towel around my neck, and grabbed my phone to reply.
You will be picked up, good sir.
I refuse to be pulled by a horse.
I’ll pull you myself if I have to.
I wore a goofy smile on my face whenever I looked at my screen.
We sorted out the details of our next date over the course of a couple of days.
It would be a simple one. We’d catch a movie and have drinks after.
I was sure Avery would approve whatever creative decisions I made along the way.
But we couldn’t catch each other before Saturday night because he played a game on Thursday and I played on Friday.
And that just wasn’t good enough for me.
On Wednesday evening, I stood in the shadows, outside the pool of light the lamps cast on the pavement in front of Northwood’s rink.
I hugged myself for warmth and waited for his drills to end.
I knew his schedule vaguely, so I paced to keep myself busy because I wasn’t sure how long the wait would last.
The chatter and laughter of my natural enemies, the Arctic Titans, inspired me to stay back. They weren’t a violent gang of guys, but I was a lonely rival who didn’t want to push his luck. A few nasty words wouldn’t surprise me, though.
I spotted a few familiar faces. Beckett swaggered with Caden on his heels.
They seemed to be in a hurry. The two defensemen I’d often played against, Sebastian and Tyler, walked slower, deep in conversation.
Near them was the bulky winger, Jordan, and a couple of newbies I’d seen this season followed him.
A handful of guys I didn’t know by name, but I recognized a shaggy golden mane of one and the full buzzcut of another.
The last to come out were their goalie and my object of fascination.
I wasn’t sure if I wanted to join them like a creep and a stalker, so I grabbed my phone instead.
You’re being followed. Don’t worry. I’ve got you covered. (That jacket’s an excellent choice, by the way.)
It made my heart grow when he immediately pulled his phone out and slowed down.
“You alright?” Sawyer asked. It was barely louder than a murmur at this distance and I pulled deeper into the shadows.
“Uh, fine. Go ahead, I’ll catch up. I forgot my earbuds.” Avery looked around and one corner of his lips pulled up enough that I noticed from afar.
“Ah, of course. Your earbuds. Tell them we’ll kick their butt when we play against them in two weeks,” Sawyer said.
I swallowed a chuckle at Avery’s steel-like expression. He squared his shoulders, then reluctantly nodded. “Will do.”
Sawyer laughed and walked away. Avery, on the other hand, scanned the area methodically. When he found nothing, he turned his back to me and began to type.
I was light on my feet as I approached him from behind.
His black jacket fit him well, showcasing his broad shoulders and the V shape of his torso.
I was almost tempted to wrap my arms around him and carry him away.
Instead, I tiptoed until I was so close he had to be aware of me.
But before he could react, I covered his eyes from behind.
That moment of contact and the short, sharp inhale made me want to stay like this forever. Even when scared, he was cool and composed. I wondered if Avery Collins had ever made a single rash decision in his life. Those words were the first from my lips when I found my tongue.
I slowly pulled my hands away and he turned around to look at me. “Rash? I’m sure I have.”
“Like what?” I asked.
His gray eyes narrowed in thought. “One time, Sawyer and I were at this cocktail bar. I didn’t read the menu. I ordered the first thing I put my finger on.”
I laughed into the night sky and placed my hands on his chest for support. “Thrilling. What else?”
A note of amusement crossed his face. “The other night,” he said. “When I decided I wanted to kiss you.”
That took my speech away. On the ice, Avery was a ruthless machine.
At parties, he was an uninterested, robot-like presence.
Even I had called him a psycho not that long ago.
But privately, when he took that wax mask off, he said the most wonderful things.
He was funny in a way Cole and Spencer could never understand.
I wondered how many of Avery’s friends knew it, too. “Why don’t you decide that again now?”