“Not yet, but soon.”
“Oh…well, that’s good then,” Nate is quick to find a way back to his cheerful mood, scooting closer to his brother. “Probably for the best. But hey, at least you figured out that you can be crazy good when playing for the same team! The Rebels are really lucky!”
“It’s a good thing that we know we can play together,” I admit, feeling a bit overwhelmed by all of Nate’s babble. It’s true that I had my reservations about playing with Van der Hoff, yet we did click incredibly well on the ice.
However, the relief over that is vastly overshadowed by the new confusion we created—and the misplaced stab of an unpleasant surprise.
I didn’t know Van der Hoff was seeing someone.
“I don’t know abouthim, but they sure will be lucky to haveme!” Van der Hoff grins, unabashed about his self-congratulation. Cocky bastard.
“If there’s any doubt, you can practice over the holidays. Xan’s coming home with us.”
“He what?!”
“I am?”
Nate raises his eyebrows at me. “Yeah, you are. You just said you won’t fly home, not even you need to study overChristmas, sitting around all by yourself in the dorms is depressing–”
I frown, trying to talk back, but Nate keeps going.
”–andour parents would be thrilled to see you again.”
“I mean thereisa lot you can learn from me, Hart,” Van der Hoff chimes in, tilting his head to catch the straw between his lips. His tongue peeks out for the briefest of moments as he pushes it to the side of his mouth. For the first time since sitting down, he looks right at me, then his eyes close as he sucks and enjoys the sweet treat.
I bite my tongue hard enough that copper mixes with the strawberry flavor of my milkshake. So much could be read into his words. Not that I want to. Why would I? He’s just being an obnoxious idiot as always. I’ve been there and done that now–and we both know it was unthinkably stupid, even as it happened.
Oh God,soincredibly stupid!
My heart hammered the whole way back down the hallway, and I must have only heard half of Coach’s speech, because the whole time I kept waiting for someone to turn to me and ask what the fuck I was doing sneaking around.
There’s no way I can let anything like that happen again. Despite my resolve, I nod before I can think of more reasons why I shouldn’t go with the twins.
“Okay, okay, you don’t have to twist my arm about it.”
“Great!” Nate grins, satisfied. He raises his huge milkshake glass as if we’re here to toast to some victory. Still, I raise my own and clink it against his.
Van der Hoff does the same.
I just barely catch the glance he shoots me before his eyes dart away again.No intentions at all, I remind myself.
Whatever is waiting for me at Casa Van der Hoff, at least Christmas won’t be boring.
Xander, December 18th
Van der Hoff takes another turn too fast. Without anything to hold on to, the momentum throws me against the car door. I swear he’s grinning, even though all I can see is the back of his head.
“Dick,” I mutter, rubbing my shoulder. My comment gets lost in Nate’s excited yell.
“We’re here!”
His brother huffs, throwing him an annoyed look as he pulls into the driveway of their parents’ house.
It’s beautiful—almost a mansion—with a white facade and dark window frames. A pathway of natural stones winds its way through the frozen grass to the front door. The house is large enough to promise a separate room for every family member, as well as several guest rooms. Because I’ve been here before, I know there’s a workout area, a huge living room and kitchen, and a backyard that’s big enough to tout a porch for barbecues, and a hot tub. Still, there’s enough lawn left over to play all sorts of ball games, and tall hedges to keep away the prying eyes of neighbors and passersby.
The casual luxury of all that space makes me feel just as intimidated as when I first visited Nate during summer break.
After about five hours of being stuck in the car, it feels good to stretch my legs. I took the first shift of driving while the twins kept arguing over the music. The result was hours of Nate’s weird mix of pop music with some rap thrown in that I only realized was in Dutch when we passed into Massachusetts.
