Page 13 of Trick Play

He narrowed his eyes. “But you already had us.”

“I was miserable. I missed her.”

“For a week or two. I’m pretty sure you got over it quickly.”

I tried to make it appear that way, but because I hung out with different girls didn’t mean I wasn’t still hurting.

“I lost my relationship with her family. Her parents treated me like a son. They were more emotionally there for me than my own parents.”

“You couldn’t really think they would betray their daughter by staying in contact with you, did you?”

I shook my head. I knew they would be another casualty of the breakup. “I still missed them.”

“All of that was your own doing, man,” Hunter said. “You don’t have much ground to stand on.”

“We feel for you. We do.” Reid patted my shoulder. “But you’re not going to get much sympathy from us. You made your decision and have to live with it.”

I dropped my head and stared down at my skates. I chose them over her. Well, not just them. Hockey. This life. My career. I put it first.

“I’m not going to lie,” Hunter said, and I glanced up. “I can’t wait to see this drama unfold.”

“Our own personal soap opera.” Reid waggled his brows.

“Thanks, guys. I’m glad my suffering is making you happy.”

Benjamin shoved me over and started pulling on his skates. “At least it can’t get any worse, right? She already hates you. Try to make it through the rest of the semester, and you’ll be fine.”

Encouraging words from my captain.

Chapter 5

Kennedy

“The audacity of that man!” Lauren picked up our drinks from the counter and followed me to two empty chairs in the back of the cafe. It was our favorite spot to catch up if we’d missed each other too many times in a row, which happened a lot more than either of us expected. We lived together, but our schedules were so different this year that if we didn’t plan on meeting, days could pass.

“He thinks he can march into your building and talk to you?”

She was serious, but when she phrased it like that, I had to wonder if we were both a little nuts.

“It’s not really my building.”

She swirled her cup, mixing the caramel in. “The art building is your domain. He doesn’t take classes there. He shouldn’t be hanging out, stalking you.”

“He wasn’t stalking me. He just wanted to talk.”

“Why are you defending him?”

Why indeed?

I felt nothing but white-hot rage when I thought about him, let alone seeing his stupid face in person. But we were adults. We could be cordial and professional through this.

“I don’t like throwing around words like that.”

She took a long sip and finally relented. “Fine. I see your point, but that doesn’t change the fact that he shouldn’t be hanging around your area. I thought that was a part of the truce.”

“What truce?”

She waved her cup around. “I don’t know. Whatever agreement you guys have to avoid each other.”