Slapshot Obsession (Off-Limit Plays #2)

Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE

ALL EYES ON ME

TARYN

My heart is pounding. Blood roars in my ears, and it’s not because I was running.

I blink as if that could change the words on my phone screen.

Unknown: Roses are red, violets are blue, someone’s a slut and I bet it is you.

Unknown: I know what you did this summer. End it with them, or everyone else in town will find out who you really are. XOXO.

Who is sending me these texts? When I got the first one a couple of days ago, I shrugged it off. I thought it was the wrong number.

Now I know that whatever this is, it isn’t a coincidence. Someone knows what I did, and they’re playing with me like a cat with a mouse. Or could that be something entirely different?

My mind immediately went to why I left Hemlock Beach. But what if these text messages have nothing to do with Tim’s murder?

Genevieve’s smile earlier in the auditorium comes back to me.

“I’m so jealous. You’re going viral.”

I force myself to look at those vile text messages again. Maybe when they say that they know what I did this summer, they aren’t talking about Tim. Maybe they’re talking about Tucker, Colsen, and Nash. It makes sense since the second message is demanding that I end it with them.

And there’s only one person jealous enough to do something like that. Maybe it was Gen herself who brought that photo of me and Tucker in the club to Carole’s attention.

Since the second we met when Jodie and I arrived in town, Gen has done nothing but try to get rid of us.

Of me in particular. She sees me as a competitor; as the biggest obstacle to her plan to be named team captain.

And she keeps telling me to leave Mack alone.

She’s convinced that I’m into her ex-boyfriend.

Maybe “end it with them” means Tucker and Mack?

I inhale a steadying breath. This is the most realistic option. That Gen is behind those messages. She’s been trying to get rid of me since the day of the solo performances when she tampered with my outfit.

She must have sent that photo to Carole, hoping that it would be enough to get me kicked out of camp.

The fact that we weren’t aware of the no fraternization rule means nothing. Gen’s mom must have told her about it, so she knew it was omitted from our paperwork even if due to a clerical error.

When the photo didn’t get me kicked out, Gen must have flipped out and sent those messages. The timeline is consistent with my theory.

On the one hand, it’s a good thing that this isn’t about Tim. On the other hand, it sucks.

I care about Tucker and Colsen. And after last night, after they brought up the possibility that they might not want me to choose between them, I was hoping things might work out with them.

Then there’s Nash. For some reason he looked furious last night and this morning. I was planning to speak to him before we were made aware that even being seen talking to each other for more than a few minutes could mean serious consequences.

The small hairs on the back of my neck stand at attention. Is someone here?

I have the feeling that I’m being watched. I turn my head left and right. There’s nobody there, and yet I can feel eyes on me.

After a few seconds pass, I tell myself that maybe I’m paranoid. If the texts are from Gen, she could be anywhere within the campgrounds. Actually, I doubt she would follow me. People like her are more likely to act in the shadows than risk being caught in broad daylight.

I should go too. We’re learning a new dance routine today, and the last thing I need after today’s events is to be late to class.

With my phone safely tucked into the side pocket of my training shorts, I turn around to get back to the main building. That’s when I see him.

Someone is standing behind me, partially hidden by a tree.

All I spot before they hide is that they’re tall and they’re wearing dark clothes.

I don’t know what comes over me. Maybe I’m crazy, or I might be just an idiot. But rather than retracing my steps to get back to class, I charge toward the tree.

“I saw you.” I yell. “You can run away if you want, but I fucking saw you.”

Rather than running, they stop in their tracks and come out of their hiding spot.

The dark clothes are a set of sweatpants and a hoodie, and now that I can see them from close enough, I notice the Star Cove Knights logo embroidered on the top left.

“Nash?” I gasp when he takes off the hood. “What the fuck? Why were you following me?”

His green eyes are so dark right now that they almost look black; a muscle in his jaw jumps before he speaks. “I wasn’t.”

It’s impossible to stop myself from rolling my eyes. “Is that really what you want to go with? Like you haven’t been hiding behind that tree for the past few minutes?”

“Fine.” His probing gaze roves all over my face as if he were looking for something. “I just wanted to make sure you were ok.”

I raise my voice. “Really? Is that how you check on your friends? Hiding in the shadows like a creep?”

The corners of his lips curl up as if he were amused, but it’s just for a second. “Are we friends now?”

“You tell me, Nash. I thought we were.”

His jaw ticks again. “Is that what you want? Putting me in the friend zone? It looks like you chose them.”

I rear back as if he had slapped me. “What are you talking about?”

“I saw you come out of that room with them last night. After you and Tucker were dry humping each other on the dance floor. You were in that room with him for a long time, and then Colsen came in. Call me crazy, but I don’t think you guys were playing board games in that room.

So I assume you were fucking. You chose them over me. ”

It isn’t a question.

“No, we weren’t playing board games, you’re right. And you’re jealous.”

Mine isn’t a question either.

Nash closes the distance between us with a sudden movement, so fast that I don’t realize what’s happening until my back hits the trunk of the tree he has been hiding behind.

His tall, strong body touches mine. “I told you I’m not the sharing type. Answer my question, Trouble. Did you choose them?”

Our noses are touching. His warm, minty breath fans over my lips, making me shiver.

“No.”

“Then what the fuck are you doing? Are you trying to fucking kill me?”

I blink, confused. “Kill you?” Does Nash know?

“Yes, Trouble. Kill me. What do you think it does to me knowing that you were fucking both of my teammates in that room last night?”

“So you are jealous.”

His big, slightly rough hand closes around my throat, pinning me to the tree. His touch is strangely gentle, though. Nash is just keeping me there; he isn’t trying to restrict my airways.

The pad of his thumb is actually stroking the spot behind my ear as he presses his body against mine.

He’s rock hard.

“Of course I’m fucking jealous!” He growls. “I wanted to burst into that room and kill them both for touching you.”

A zing of fear travels down my spine, collecting into a pool of heat between my thighs. “Why didn’t you?” I whisper.

“Because, believe it or not, what you want is what matters to me. Do you want me, Trouble?”

The tip of my tongue darts out to lick my bottom lip. “Yes.”

His hips grind against me at my words. His lips descend on mine with bruising force, and I open up to him.

It’s a furious, violent, intense kiss. “Then why?” he pants, nipping at my bottom lip. I can feel him pulsing against me through the fabric of our clothes.

“I want them too, Nash.”

“Fuck.” He steps away.

Without his hand and his body keeping me upright, my hands grab the rough tree trunk behind me. “I’m sorry if that isn’t what you wanted to hear. But I’m never gonna lie to you.”

His hot stare turns into a glare. “You know what, Taryn? I don’t think it matters who you want. Unless you want to quit the team.”

Taryn, not trouble. For some reason that hits me harder than the vitriol in his words.

But he’s right. “I don’t want to quit the team.”

For a second, he looks as sad as he is angry. “Well, fuck. Then I guess if I lost you, they did too. End it with them before it’s too late.”

Nash walks away.

As I watch his broad back, my mind is reeling.

End it with them. The same words in that text message. Could those texts have come from Nash?

I don’t want to think that’s possible. But is it a coincidence that I was with Nash right before I got that first text message the other day? And now Nash appears right after I got those texts.

A shuddering breath escapes me as I think about it. You don’t have to be close to someone to text them. But I can’t ignore the fact that he was with me before I got the first one and then again today.

If that’s the case, I know what you did this summer could be referring to Tucker and Colsen, but it could also be about Tim.

Maybe Nash remembered that I definitely was at that party. Maybe he saw me following Tim to his room.

Could he have been watching me then, like he has been now?

“I spent a lot of time thinking about you.” His words from when he admitted that my crush on him wasn’t one-sided echo in my ears.

“I might have been stalking you here and there since we had that class together.”

What if Nash’s stalking means that he knows I was with Tim that night? And even worse, what if he saw me and Jodie leave the Gamma house in the morning?

Am I reading too much into this? It could still very much be Gen who sent those texts.

She’s obsessed with me.

But so is Nash. “I might even be a little obsessed with you.”

Maybe I should tell Jodie and see what she thinks. I shake my head when I think about how much she’s gonna freak out.

She put everything on the line for me, and I wasn’t able to stay out of trouble for more than a couple of weeks.

Before I tell my best friend anything, I need to know if those texts have anything to do with Hemlock Beach.

I need to get back so I’m not late for class.

From the outside, I look like I’m just walking to the main building. On the inside, however, I’m spiraling. I hope I won’t have to find out who wants to mess with me.

Maybe whoever sent those texts will quit if I stay away from the hockey players.