9. Reese
“Alright, ladies. Hit the showers.”
Thank fuck. If Coach would’ve said “lines” one more time, I think I would have quit. Preseason is such shit. It’s mostly conditioning and not a lot of playing. It sucks big time.
“I never thought that practice was going to end,” Beckett grumbles from my left. “He’s got a stick up his ass this season.”
Gavin slaps him on the shoulder. “Nah, he just wants to win. I heard Mr. Kinnon is putting a lot of pressure on him this season.”
“I’d like to see Kinnon get his old ass on the ice,” Sawyer growls. He’s the biggest out of us and is also the guy who sweats the most during conditioning practices, so he tends to be the one who gets the most pissy about them.
Hot water burns against my chilled skin, but I welcome the sting. Coach prefers we take cold showers to help with muscle recovery, but none of us listen to that suggestion. Nothing feels better than a hot shower after four hours on the ice. Except maybe a massage.
When Winnie was little, Eli and I used to trick her into massaging our backs after hard practices by telling her we would buy her a roll of film. I wonder if that would still work… I haven’t seen or spoken to her since I showed up at her place. Can’t lie, I was hoping she would cave and call me by now, maybe even confess her love, but that has yet to happen.
I’m still holding my breath, though. I wasn’t lying when I told her my life would get hectic once school started. Who knew lawn care classes were hard? Not me. I kind of thought they would just be, like, what kind of blade do you cut grass with? I had no clue science went into it and shit. But I’ll graduate next year with a degree I can put to use almost right away. My old boss has been looking to pass his business down for a while, and when I saw him last and mentioned my degree, he promised he would save it for me.
Going pro is still the dream, but having a career ready for when my playing days are over was really important to me. Growing up listening to my parents scream about money scared me straight. As soon as I could, I got a job, and I’ve been saving my money ever since. Even got a few investments that have already doubled my savings.
I jump into Sawyer’s passenger seat, and Beckett and Gavin climb into the back. We stop off at McDonald’s and order nearly the entire menu before heading home. I only have two classes tomorrow, and then it’s the weekend, and I can’t fucking wait. Preseason weekends are great because Coach leaves us alone, unlike weekends during the season. I gotta think of something to do for Winnie this weekend, though. I considered standing outside her apartment with a boom box, but I’m not interested in fighting with Eli again. Getting rocked in the face by an infamous underground fighter isn’t exactly fun. But the flower bouquets aren’t cutting it. I need something big, but not too big. Something medium. Something perfect. It’ll come to me, and if not, then I’ll resort to a prank call telling her I’m in the hospital. It was Schmidt’s idea; I think he was kidding, but I’m getting to the point of desperation.
I toss what’s left of the food on Sawyer and Beckett’s table before crashing onto their couch. Bad move, because I’m not sure I’m going to be able to get up now.
Gavin falls next to me and rips a piece of his burger off. “I heard you got rocked at the party.” He just got to school, so he missed the whole ordeal.
“I did.”
“That’s embarrassing for you.”
Not as embarrassing as everything else that happened that night. “Yeah, well, what can you do?”
“Probably not mention fucking someone’s underage sister right to their face.”
I turn and glare at him, but he shrugs and stuffs the rest of the burger in his mouth.
“Just saying.”
“Have you guys seen Emma?” Sawyer emerges from his room, a frown on his face.
“No, where is she?” Gavin asks.
I slap the back of his head, and he complains. “He wouldn’t ask if he knew, dumbass.”
Much to my dismay, he barks at us to get up and help him look. The athletic dorms are big, but not three-guys-looking-for-one-girl big. If he didn’t find her, we’re definitely not going to.
“Maybe she finally moved into her dorm?” It’s late, and the last thing I want to deal with is a worried Sawyer. I’ve never seen anyone worry about their sister the way he does.
“No, maintenance said it would be another few weeks before it was ready.”
I lift the several McDonald’s bags in case she left a note, and ah-ha! Bingo.
“Saw!”
Went to bed early! Don’t bother me!!!
-Em
He snatches it from my hand, and his frown deepens.
“What’s wrong? Isn’t she in her room?”
“No.”
Beckett saunters back into the room, carrying the other half of this note, by the looks of it, and Sawyer tugs it from his hands like he did to me.
Okay, I lied. I’m out. But I’m totally safe, and you do NOT need to come get me. I’ll be home before two. I love you!
PS. Please, please do not ruin this night for me!!!!!!
I’m not sure what I would do with a sister like Emma. Probably have a stroke from all the stress she causes. Elijah really lucked out by getting the sister he did. Winnie was always content just chilling with us.
“Fuck, that girl.” He tosses the papers down. “Where do people go on Thursdays?”
“Wayside, maybe? I don’t fucking know.”
He snatches his keys up and heads for the door, pausing once he reaches it to look at me expectantly. Lucky Beckett, who peaced out after bringing the note out, and Gavin, who ducked the moment Sawyer turned his back.
I truck forward, grumbling under my breath, and follow after him. We hit the parking lot, but on the way to his truck, I pause, narrow my eyes, and gaze at the blue Bronco parked a few spots away. Winnie is obviously not the only one to drive a blue Bronco, and if this were hers, it would have a small dent in the back where she backed into my truck years ago. I step back, and my stomach tenses when I find exactly that. I look up to the dorms, but I know she isn’t inside. I don’t know how I know, but I do. I jog over and throw myself into Sawyer’s truck.
“What are you in a hurry about all of a sudden?”
“That was Winnie’s Bronco.”
He glances my way curiously. “And?”
“And she’s probably out with your sister.” My voice is a growl. The words out and Winnie don’t go together in my book.
Eighteen minutes later, Sawyer and I come to a stop just short of the bar at Wayside.
Emma, Laney, and my Winnie all stand on the countertop, moving to the beat of some shitty throwback from high school dance days.
“I’m gonna fucking kill them,” Sawyer growls before stalking through the rowdy crowd that’s gathered around the girls.
I’ve only been to Wayside a few times, but it’s the hoppin’ place on campus. Lots of alcohol and little security checking IDs. Everyone knows it; hell, I bet the police even know it.
Thank fuck Sawyer and I are fucking huge, because the crowd is nearly impossible to get through, and without our size, I don’t know how we would. I shove past faceless people, and a few of them throw me glares until they see my size and who I am.
There’s a reason I’m called TheRapture in the rink. As soon as I touch that ice, everything logical leaves my head, and my only focus is hockey. I’m known for wrecking people when they are in my way. Usually, it doesn’t bleed off the ice, but when Winnie is involved, anything is possible.
We finally get to the front, and Sawyer argues with Emma to my left, but I’m more interested in what’s on the other end of the bar. I storm over until I’m directly under her swinging hips. Winnie has never been a good dancer, and the alcohol no doubt pumping through her body doesn’t change the fact. Still, she’s never looked so sexy. Thank fuck she’s not wearing a dress like the other girls on the bar, or I’d be able to see everything, and if that were the case, I’d have to pluck out every guy’s eyes in this place.
Winnie’s jeans are tight, showing every small curve on her body, and when she turns around, I nearly black out. Fuck, her ass. So round and perky, even with the ugly fanny pack sitting on top. I hate every guy here tonight. Her tank top is tiny and white, and her nipples are damn near visible through it. Hair pulled into a floppy pony, she’s so fucking beautiful it hurts.
“Winnie,” I shout, loud enough she can hear me over the music.
Her movements halt, and she whips around to look down at me. I see alcohol doesn’t make her like me any more than she does sober.
She rolls her eyes. “What are you doing hereeee?”
Yeah, she’s definitely drunk.
“Get down and I’ll tell you.”
The faintest, most mischievous smile pulls on her plump lips. “No, thanks. I’m good.”
She brings the drink in her hand to her lips and wraps them around the tiny straw, sucking back whatever is in that cup. What I would do to have her lips wrap around my cock like that.
“Come on, Win. Get down.”
She shakes her head.
I glance in Sawyer’s direction and snort seeing him with Laney draped over one shoulder while he attempts to reach for his sister, who is just out of reach. Thank fuck I only have one to worry about.
And if she won’t come down. Then I’ll just come up.
I plant my hands and jump with ease on top of the sticky bar so I’m upright next to Winnie. These girls have to be short as hell to not worry about the hanging lights that are swinging in my face.
“Reese!” She turns and gasps at finding me on the bar with her.
My shoes stick to the surface, but I grin. She stumbles a few times while heading for the edge, wanting to get away from me. She looks down at the ground and then back to me.
“Pick your poison, baby. Me or the floor.”
As disappointed as I am when she stumbles off, I’m not surprised.
My feet hit the floor with a loud thump as I jump after her and grab her arm before she can get away from me. I spin us, caging her between my arms against the bar.
Our heavy breaths mix, mine smelling of mint and hers smelling like apple liquor as she sasses, “I chose the floor, so that means back off, Reese.”
“I backed off for two whole years, Win. I can’t anymore. Not when you’re right in front of me.”
“Exactly.” She slips under my arms before I can stop her. “You had no problems ditching me for two years after you took my virginity. So do it again.”
I let her get a few feet away before I charge after her. Soft denim brushes against my palms as I grab her waist and pull her against my body. Fuck. Her ass pressed against me was a bad fucking idea if I want to keep this semi-appropriate for public. I’m not risking being on the front page of EU Student News again.
“You’re not the only one who lost their virginity that night, princess. So stop acting like it was easy for me to walk away. Because it wasn’t.”
Her body tenses, and she turns her head in my direction. “What?”
I don’t know if she will remember this or how drunk she actually is, but I let it all out. All on the table now, Win. “I was a virgin too. I felt that connection just as hard as you, but I was also eighteen, and you were barely sixteen, Win. Come on, you’re smart enough to know we couldn’t ‘play house.’ Your brother would have killed me.”
“Can’t play house but can sneak into my room, fuck me, and leave without a fucking goodbye? Fuck you, Reese Larson.”
“I wish you would,” I growl, but she pushes from my arms, and I let her walk over to the bar, order two shots, and throw them both back. Glaring, she storms onto the dance floor. The next song blasts from the speakers, and I swear Winnie must be the one in control of the music. “You’re a Jerk” by New Boyzblares around us while she stares at me with a smug expression, and fuck if my dick isn’t throbbing for her.
The DJ mixes it, and girlish screams fill the air at the new song. Sawyer stops next to me, his arms crossed over his chest and his jaw tight while watching Emma drag Laney onto the dance floor next to Winnie.
“You give up?”
“They’re fucking slippery. When I would grab one, the other would disappear. Fucking children.”
I bite back my laugh because I know he’s not in the mood. “Come on, Saw. You remember what it was like to be a freshman? That first taste of freedom.”
“I wasn’t basically naked,” he growls.
He’s got a point there. Emma’s and Laney’s outfits could be combined and still not be appropriate for every day. Thank fuck Winnie isn’t dressed the same. I don’t think I’d be as relaxed watching her dance if she were.
“Amy is going to fucking kill me for being here.”
“She can’t be mad. You’re here for your sister.”
He dips his chin, but we both know that’s not true. Amy will always find an issue with anything Sawyer does. If he’s not at home or with her, he can’t do anything right. When she transferred schools, I thought they would break up because she couldn’t have a tab on him constantly like she could before, but now she just calls him three hundred times a day.
“Shots” comes up next, and I slap Sawyer’s shoulder. “Since I’m not driving.” I order a shot of Jameson and throw it back. I’m not going to get drunk, but if I have to stand here and watch Winnie dance without being able to touch her, I’m going to need some fucking alcohol.
“You okay with that?” He nods at the dance floor toward the girls.
I drag my eyes over, and a smirk tugs up one side of my face. Winnie tilts her head back, her ponytail swaying and her arms in the air.
“Yeah. She looks happy, doesn’t she?”
He eyes Winnie for a moment, then nods. “Yeah, I guess. What’s the deal with you two anyway?”
Now that’s a loaded question if I ever heard one. “It’s a long story, but basically, we grew up together. Elijah and I were best friends, and she was just always… there. I probably hung out with her more than him a lot of the time, honestly. To put it short, she kissed me when she was fifteen, and the rest was history. I stayed away for a while, but eventually, I couldn’t anymore. I was leaving for college and—” I shrug and blow out a breath. “It just happened. I know I should have never fucked her when she was underage, but I don’t know, man.”
“I can’t lie, bro. If that was Emma, I’d do a lot more than punch you.”
I snort. “Yeah. I know, and so would I, but I can’t explain it or why because I knew it was wrong then. It hit me that I was leaving for college and—” I pause for a moment, unsure what to say, then sigh. “I just wanted to strengthen our connection before I left.”
It’s a shit excuse, but not a lie. Our relationship had been weird since she kissed me. I hated how it felt awkward when we were alone, and I didn’t want to leave for college feeling that way. Winnie came on to me that night, in her own subtle way, and for once, I gave in to what we both wanted, even though I shouldn’t have. It killed me having to leave the next day, but I had to. She’s right, though. I should have said goodbye, and then maybe she’d be grinding on me right now instead of with her friends.
“I get it,” he mutters. “The pull, I mean.”
I eye him curiously because there’s no fucking way he’s talking about Amy right now. “Who?”
His focus drifts over to the girls.
“Laney?” I guess, assuming it’s not his sister he’s talking about.
He gives me a tight nod, still watching her. “She always had a crush on me, and I took advantage of that one time and kissed her. It was a dare, but still. It never should have happened, but I liked Laney’s attention. I liked knowing she wanted me, but I didn’t want her back. The kiss wasn’t meant to be more than a kiss, but.” He shrugs. “Something changed.” He clears his throat and bunches his eyebrows. “Anyway, Amy was there, but that was before we were serious. It didn’t take long after for her to demand we make it official.”
“Fuck.”
As if she knows we’re talking about her, Laney looks our way. Her head tilts, and her blonde hair tumbles to the side. She stares at Sawyer for a moment until she sees me watching, and then she quickly turns away.
“She still wants you?”
He shrugs. “I don’t know. Sometimes I think so, others I don’t.”
“But you want her to.”
He doesn’t answer—not that he needs to. I see it all over his face that he does.
“Fuck, man.”
His eyes flick back to me, and he lets out a deep breath. “I like teasing her. I like the deep pink that stains her cheeks when she sees me without a shirt. I like how she gets goosebumps when I say her full name.”
“But you say you don’t want her? Because it sounds a lot like you do, Saw.”
He finds her once again, but this time, she’s not dancing with her friends. A random guy has his arm snaked around her waist, holding her to his front. Anger burns deep in Sawyer’s eyes as he watches, yet some-fucking-how, he doesn’t go pull her away. If that was Winnie… Fuck, I would kill him for touching what’s mine. It’s like he likes the pain it causes.
“I’m with Amy.”
“You don’t look at her the way you look at Laney.”
He might kill me for saying it, but it’s true. Now knowing what I do, I can see it. The want, the need to be near her. He’s a hell of a lot stronger than me, that’s for sure.
“I love Amy. We make sense, and our families have been planning our wedding for years.”
“That’s not a good enough reason, Saw.”
He ignores me. “Now you know why she acts psycho sometimes. And why I just deal with it, because I caused her to act like that. I know she sees the way I look at Laney—as hard as I try not to. It’s there, and Amy hates it. Rightfully so.”
Maybe, and if I were Amy, I would hate Laney too. I can’t imagine how I would be if Winnie had a boyfriend, so I get it to a point. “Wouldn’t it just be easier to break up instead of both of you being miserable?”
He finally looks away from Laney and drags a hand down his face. “Maybe. But we do have good moments. I know you guys only see the bad, but when it’s just us, she’s not that bad and Laney won’t always be around.”
“Not that bad? Saw, you hear yourself, right? That’s not a relationship.” At least it shouldn’t be. Not one I would want, that’s for sure.
Emma runs up to us, and he shrugs, not having a chance to answer.
“Do you have a condom?”
Sawyer looks as if his head is about to explode. “Are you fuc—”
“Not for meeee, for Laney!”
Oh fuck. His anger doesn’t dwindle at all, and I follow his sharp gaze to Laney standing with that same guy down the bar now. He’s smirking, and it’s obvious he’s trying to get in her pants, but she is smiling equally as big. My heart beats harder for my best friend as he watches the woman he really wants be propositioned by another man.
“He looks familiar,” I mutter, mostly to myself.
Sawyer gives a sharp nod.
“No, and you need to get your friend away from him.” Sawyer shoots me a curious side-eye.
“What? Why?” Emma’s eyebrows pinch.
“I think that’s the guy I saw in the clinic getting tested.” I don’t know where I’ve seen this guy. Definitely not at a clinic, but anything to get him away from Sawyer’s girl. He might not realize it now, but Laney is his girl just like Winnie is mine.
“Tested for what?”
“An STD, Em,” Sawyer snaps, losing his patience.
“Oh!” She gasps before heading toward her friend on a rescue mission. She whispers in Laney’s ear, and her eyes widen. I can hear her weak excuse without actually being able to hear it as they stumble away.
Sawyer lets out a deep breath. “Thanks.”
“No problem. But that won’t work forever. You either gotta take the plunge or let go.” Rich coming from me, because I’m the king of not letting go, but it’s not fair to either of them for him to keep a hold when he’s still got one foot out.
The complete opposite of Winnie and me. I’ve never been more into anything.
“I know.” His voice is low, bitter even.
Knowing what I do, it’s so easy to see the tension between them, and now I wonder how I ever missed it. Her eyes widen a beat as she looks to him and gives him a hint of a smile. All of Sawyer’s tension releases, and he dips his head back. And I know there’s not a fucking chance he’s ever letting her go. There’s going to be a blowup at some point, and I just hope I’m there to see it.
I don’t know how long it’s been before Winnie finally stumbles my way from the dance floor. Technically, toward the bar, but I move in the direction she heads, so it might as well be toward me.
“You’re like a lost puppy. You know that, right?”
“So why don’t you claim me?” I reach for her belt loops with a grin, but she swats my hands away.
“Unwanted lost puppy, Reese.” She orders another drink, and I step behind her and throw down the money for it before she can dig into that ugly fanny pack resting on her ass.
“Come on, Win. We both know you’d never turn down a stray.”
“Thanks,” she shouts to the bartender, throws whatever drink she ordered back, and spins in my arms. A glare already melting into her pretty face. “You are the definition of pathetic, Reese Larson.”
“Keep going, I love some degradation.”
Her eyes widen before she rolls them. “Stop it.”
“Stop what?”
“Trying to make me like you.”
She pushes by me, and I trail after her. “Why? Is it working?”
Winnie shoots me a scowl over her shoulder, but she doesn’t answer, and I take that as a yes. I stop before the edge of the dance floor.
“You still don’t dance?”
I lift an eyebrow. “No, but I can think of a few different ways for us to move together.”
I love the way her chest heaves when I say stuff like that. I mean everything that comes out of my mouth. If only she would let me prove it to her and stop being so damn difficult. Then she would see how good things could actually be between us.
She snatches my hat from my head, places it on hers, and backs away with shaky legs, and I don’t think it’s from the liquor because she hasn’t taken her heated gaze off me. I’m so close to getting her to crack. And maybe it’s the alcohol pumping through her system, but if Winnie being tipsy is what it takes for her to cave, then so be it.
“I love this song!” Emma blurs past me, grabs ahold of my girl, and spins.
I forgot how nice it is merely being in Winnie’s presence. She’s so beautiful, and not just physically. The light aura she gives off is like a drug. It makes me fucking happy to see her happy. I’ve never seen her with friends who weren’t Elijah and me, so seeing her, Emma, and now Laney singing and dancing like nothing else matters, well. Fuck, it’s a good sight.
Sawyer stops by my side, still sporting a scowl. “They are going to be trashed tomorrow.”
“Better them than me.”
He snorts. “Maybe this is where she pantses you in front of everyone.”
“Fuck, I wish.”
He slaps the back of my head and shakes his. “Who knew you were so twisted?”
“She makes me crazy.” I’d pay Winnie to take my pants off if I didn’t think that would offend her. “But I’m not me without her.”
After she downs a few more shots, her movements relax, and my hat hardly hangs off her head anymore. She’s more drunk than I would prefer her to be. Maybe we won’t have sex tonight, but sleeping next to her will be almost as good. Big emphasis on almost.
“I’m gonna piss, and then we should probably get them home,” I tell Sawyer before heading for the bathrooms. Being sober in a club is annoying, but being sober in a club bathroom is fucking nasty. There’s a couple in the corner, and the guy is getting head, while another dude is passed out across the room. I pay no attention to anything else, doing what I need to do and hurrying out.
I find Sawyer leaning against the bar with his head hung between his shoulders.
“You good?”
“Our talk is fucking with my head. And watching her dance…” his jaw clenches. “When we were kids she was always dancing. Em and I used to beg our driver to take us to her recitals, but once I got my license I’d sneak into her practices and just watch her. The way she moves—”
His mouth clamps shut and he doesn’t say anything more.
“You know, they say dancers and figure skaters are one in the same.”
“Yeah, I know.”
I clap his back. “You’re right.”
He glances at me and furrows his brows.
“You’re fucked. Now let’s go get our girls and get the fuck outta here.”
The place has only gotten more crowded as the night has gone on, so it takes longer than I’d like to find the girls, and when we do, everything inside me revolts at the sight.
“You gonna go get her?” Sawyer asks, stopping by me and glaring at the scene in front of us.
I take a step but pause. My chest burns with the need to get to her and push away the same guy from earlier, but not yet.
“No,” I tell him simply, even if everything inside me hates myself for saying it. “Not until she needs me to.”
It doesn’t take long. Winnie throws her hands in the air, spins to the guy, and rips into him. I wish I was close enough to hear, but her pissed-off face says enough.
Sawyer chuckles. “You got a feisty one, Reese. Sure you can handle her?”
She shoves a finger in the guy’s chest, and he holds his hands up in defeat and steps back.
I grin. “Yeah, I can handle her just fine.”
Winnie glares at him for a beat more before turning and throwing her hair over her shoulder to join her friends again. Sawyer and I tense when the guy doesn’t move. It’s like a switch goes off, and his wide eyes tighten as he zeros in on them. His jaw locks, and I don’t wait another second. Sawyer is right behind me, ready to back me up if I need it. The guy might be close to the same size, but I’d bet money I can hold more anger than he can, resulting in a meaner punch. He doesn’t get a step in before Sawyer and I block him from getting any closer.
“You were so close.” I tsk.
“Close to what?” he bites back.
“Not making me do this.” I pull my arm back and slam my fist into his nose. My knuckles pop, but I hardly feel it. Elijah was always the one who liked to fight, but there were several times I had to step in and help him out when he would take on too many or someone bigger than him. The guy drops, holding his nose. He makes a move to get up, and Sawyer places his foot across his chest.
“I wouldn’t.”
It takes longer than it should for the guy to make the right choice. There’s not a single way he thought he would take both of us, and there’s no one around him, so I’m guessing he’s alone. After a minute, Sawyer pulls him up. He tugs him close and mutters, “Think of touching our girls again, and I’ll break your hands.” Then he shoves him away. He scowls at us but eventually turns and disappears into the thick crowd.
Sawyer drops his eyes to my hand. “You good?”
“Yeah, I’ll ice it when we get home. Let’s get out of here.”