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I needed to get dirt on him and get him out of our lives, now, before something bad happened.
My eyes fell to the jersey in Josh’s hand.
He read the questioning look in my eyes. “I thought I’d bring it, in case you didn’t have anything to wear…it’s dumb.”
“No, it’s kind. Thank you. I’d change into it right now if I could,” I muttered.
Josh laughed and handed me the shirt. “Feel free to take it. It’s an old one, and I don’t wear it anymore.”
I took it, too tired and fed up with the evening to argue. “Have you seen Eve? I’m going to head home.”
“She already left with Asher, some emergency with their mom.”
“What? An emergency?” I grabbed my phone out of the huge, baggy basketball shorts I’d borrowed from Beckett. It was unresponsive in my hand.
Josh grimaced. “You might need to leave that in rice for a few days, or like a week.”
I sighed. “Well, tonight was just as shitty as I thought it would be,” I murmured. “I’m going home.”
“Wait! Do you need a ride? Your house is so far from here, and Coach wouldn’t like you walking home.”
Ah, yes, Josh the suck-up.
“I’m heading out anyway,” he said. “I’m meeting someone across town.”
“Really? That would be amazing,” I said quickly. I could feel eyes on me now, and I knew exactly whose they were. Cayden had rejoined the party, and I was going to get the fuck out of here before I blew up at him. He was still right, after all—he held all my secrets in the palm of his hand, and therefore he had all the power.
“Sure thing. Let’s go.”
Josh held out a hand to me, and before I could consider the wisdom of such a move, I took it and let him lead me out through the crush of people.
I felt Cayden’s eyes on me every step of the way.
Cayden
The ice feltgood under my blades. The rink was busy, but not as busy as it would be if we were playing a tougher team. Tonight we were playing a lesser team, and I had no doubt we’d beat them easily. Still, it was good to play and do something with the excess energy that had been building up through the week.
I’d buried my black mood in the party after Lily had run off. I’d ended up drinking too much—a vice I’d promised myself I wasn’t going to indulge after leaving Uncle Jack’s influence—and slept in the pool house at Beckett’s. Thankfully, no puck bunnies had realized I was there and hung around to bother me.
On Sunday, Lily was out at her part-time job all day and then stayed at Eve’s house overnight. Asher and Eve’s mom was sick, and they were busy taking care of her.
Monday had passed in a blur of boring classes and anticipation for tonight’s game, and now, it was finally here.
We were warming up, and I had my eyes trained on the place where Lily and her mom would sit. This was the last home game for a week. The next game we’d play would be a much tougher one, against a team from Portland.
My muscles warmed, my focus honed, I skated alongside Marcus as we lapped the rink.
“So, did you make progress with Selena at the party?” I wondered, uncaring either way, but small talk was something I was trying out.
Marcus shook his head. “Naw, I’m not into it after all. She looks like she’d be a boring lay. And after pushing Bug into the pool, let’s just say I’m not turned on by jealous bitches.”
I kept my mouth shut about the pool incident. I could only guess the reason why Lily was avoiding me was because she knew I’d pushed her. There was only one person, besides Eve, who would have told her. Josh had put his name on my shit list the second he’d kissed her in that ridiculous game on Friday night. And he’d moved himself to the top when he’d driven her home and held her fucking hand. He had it coming and tonight, I’d finally get the chance to make my feelings known.
Sure, I’d pushed Lily into the pool, but the sight of her kissing Josh had snapped something inside me. Besides that, she was proving better at keeping away from me than I liked. It was time to escalate things.
Marcus went off to do his stretches by the goals while I circled the rink. I saw Lily the moment she entered. Her head was bent over her phone, and her red hair gleamed under the lights.
There she was.My girl.
