Page 54 of His Last Will

CHAPTER

TWENTY-FIVE

AIDEN

Ari:

You look too bored for someone who should be celebrating.

Iglance across the crowded room and see Ari chatting amongst some of the guys on the team. She’s got on her preferred skimpy silk dress mixed with combat boots tonight. Her hair is pulled back, which shows off her long neck and pale skin—fuck, I just want to bite it. Lust shoots through me. When she glances in my direction, I raise my eyebrow at her.

Aiden:

And what should I be doing?

Ari:

Socializing. Not sitting in the middle of a party looking like the Grim Reaper.

Aiden:

Just trying to live up to my reputation.

Looking around, the party is in full swing, given the late hour. The hockey house on campus is where most of the team lives. Brodie and I never lived here because, frankly, it’s gross and we have standards, but we spent most of our free time here. It has an all-black exterior, and the location being farther back on the road makes it a perfect place to throw the best campus parties.

Smoke fills the air, a mix of cigarettes and weed, and the floors are already sticky with liquor. Rooms in the house are very basic, given the fact that all guys live here. There are a few couches spread out in the main room and a large TV with several gaming hookups. In the kitchen, instead of a dining table, sits a ping-pong table, and the fridge is stocked full of beer and cheap liquors, and the sink is filled with some sort of cocktail concoction. Yeah, not touching that.

The bass from the speakers is maxed, which leaves a subtle vibration in the air, and with the number of bodies in the center of the room, people are starting to sweat. Nothing says a hockey Saturday night quite like the odor of alcohol, liquor, and sweat.

My phone vibrates in my pocket.

Ari:

Be a good boy, and maybe you’ll get a reward for your behavior.

Aiden:

Oh, yeah? And what is good behavior?

Ari:

Socialize! Talk to someone. Wipe that fucking scowl off your face.

Aiden:

And the reward?

Ari:

I’ll let you pick.

Aiden:

How tempting.

I look over at her and see her typing, turned away from the group she was chatting with. A light blush turns her cheeks red. Oh, this should be good.

Ari: