Chapter 14
fourteen
ISABELLE
Eve’s boyfriend drove us out to the surprise party place in his truck.
He was a billionaire’s son and had a car for every occasion.
I’d grown up around the same kind of people as Beckett, and was more than a little jealous that he’d finally found the person who made him feel real.
The difference in his smile was noticeable.
Today was Marcus’ surprise party, and I couldn’t muster up any excitement.
However, I’d promised Eve I’d go and I wasn’t about to let her down.
We were quite the incestuous little group: the hockey Ice Gods and the girls they were obsessed with.
Despite my best efforts, I had no hockey-playing hunk to call my own, not for lack of trying.
I’d hooked up with a couple of hockey players over the years, but it had always fizzled out.
It turned out my tastes ran rougher than that. Like a certain biker.
Marcus’ surprise party was in a cabin in the woods. It wouldn’t be the first time the Ice Gods kept their party private, but I’d never seen this place before.
I got out of the truck and slammed the door, the sound echoing around the quiet forest.
“Wow, you wanna try again to break the door, Isabelle, or was once enough?” Beckett grumbled, making me roll my eyes at him.
“It’s fine. It’s a truck, Beckett. I’m sure it can take some manhandling.”
“Kids, behave,” Eve called to us, coming around the side of the car and giving a small yelp when her big, burly defenseman boyfriend swept her off her feet, into his arms.
“What are you doing?” she protested.
“It’s muddy. Don’t get messy… that’s what I’m here for,” Beckett grinned at Eve.
I turned away before I got too nauseous at the lovey-dovey display.
“You guys are the worst,” I grumbled as Aisha rounded the car and joined me. She’d been in the back too, but had kept her nose buried in a medical text. We’d just had midterms and she was studying again already.
“Come on, let’s get inside… I suppose there’s no one to stop our feet from getting dirty,” I shot out.
Aisha followed, unconcerned. “What’s dirty?”
“Never mind.”
Behind us, two more cars pulled up. Car doors slammed and the front of the place swarmed with people.
“Ok, everyone. Guys on décor, girls on food prep and drinks!” Eve announced from her boyfriend’s arms.
“I never took you for a sexist, Eve,” Winter drawled.
Her white-blonde hair was piled on top of her head, and she had her trusty camera around her neck, ready to capture everyone in action.
She was Asher’s girlfriend, and before she’d met him, her nickname had been the Ice Queen.
It wasn’t hard to see why, but once you knew her, you realized that it was all a front.
“What gave it away? The fact that her boyfriend is literally carrying her through the mud, or…?” Asher drawled, eliciting a middle finger from Eve.
“Let’s get set up. There’s a game on in an hour,” Cayden pointed out. Cayden West, HHU’s legendary forward. His girlfriend, Lily, was one of my closest friends. She and Aisha had roomed together their freshman year and were both STEM girlies.
Eve was studying econ and planned to take over Beckett’s father’s business empire one day.
I’d call that pretty feminist myself, but that was me.
The one whose father wanted her to date and marry a man in his forties because it would suit his political campaign and give him an arm to twist on the city council. What did I know?
“Whose house is this anyway?” I wondered as I carried in a heavy case of beers.
We all spilled inside, kicking shoes off at the entryway, and moving farther into the beautiful cabin.
Inside the cabin was warm, and open. Huge windows lined one wall, offering a beautiful view of the dense green pines outside.
There was a huge fireplace, and an upper balcony ran along the entire second floor.
Rugs and pillows and art on the walls made the place cozy.
The wood glowed with polish. It was like the whole place had been made by hand.
“Mine, Goldilocks. It’s my cabin,” a deep and painfully familiar voice called out. I spun around to see Cole Bailey himself, the man who’d never been far from my thoughts lately, lounging in the kitchen doorway.
I nearly dropped the case of beers. Asher took it from me and walked away without another word. My eyes were locked on Cole’s.
“Oh, you’re here. Arianna said you were cool with holding the party here,” Beckett said to Cole.
“I’m not going to lie, I wasn’t… but she twisted my arm. Besides, I’m beginning to think it might not be too terrible,” Cole said, never once breaking eye contact with me.
Heat broke out across my body, my skin prickling at the look in his eyes. He looked just like he had the other night, when he’d kissed me and held me on his lap. Did he want something like that to happen again? Did I?
Yes. I didn’t even have to think twice about it. God, yes.
“Ok, cool. We’re going to set up, but we’ll try not to get in your way,” Beckett said.
“It’s fine,” Cole said, grabbing his cut off the back of a chair. The heavy leather vest gave him an irresistible edge of danger. “I’ve got to go out.”
Disappointment hit me, immediately followed by shame. What was wrong with me?
“Ok, will we see you later?” Eve asked, following Cole toward the door. “I’m sure Marcus would like to hang out, since it’s his birthday and all.”
“We’ll see,” Cole said, stopping on the threshold to look back at me. And then he was gone.