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“Fair. Jax, Lucas, and Alex dragged me out.”
My lungs emptied, and my eyes scanned the room, but I didn’t spot the Huskies’ star defenseman. I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not.
River gave me a knowing look and shoved me toward the crowd. “I’ve got her. Go have fun.”
Even though he was the quietest of the bunch, River was really growing on me. He wasn’t standoffish so much as reserved. I’d only heard him laugh a few times, and they were all because Alex was doing something stupid.
Shana and I made our way through the shifting bodies to a small space by the front. There was barely an arm’s distance between us and everyone else. I leaned into Shana. “Why do we come to these again?”
Her mouth pulled to the side, and she bit back a smile. “’Cause, girl, you need to get laid. And if I left it up to you, it would be years.”
“Hey, you’re Piper, right?” a deep, gravelly voice asked from behind me, and I found myself taking him in in slow motion. He was at least six feet tall and two-hundred-plus pounds, and he topped it off with sandy-brown hair and baby blue eyes a few shades darker than mine.
I swallowed hard. “That’s me.”
He pointed back toward the opposite side of the room and smirked. “I’m Ethan. Your friend thought we should meet.”
I looked over and spotted a grinning Alex, quickly followed by a scowling Lucas. My gaze caught on his as he looked me over with heated eyes before downing half his beer. I spotted Jax’s back beside them, where he had some girl pressed against the wall. Ew.
“Do you play hockey with the guys?” Thank God for Shana stepping in to fill the awkward silence.
“I’m actually a quarterback.”
Drawn back into the conversation, I asked, “Football?”
“Not gonna lie, I’m a little sad you didn’t recognize me.” He chuckled, clearly kidding.
I grimaced. “Hockey fan, sorry.”
“That’s okay. How about you come to a game? You never know, you might be more into football than you know.” His voice was laced with innuendo, and my eyes darted to Lucas, but he was no longer there.
I stared up at Ethan. He was hot and clearly interested. I let out a breath and straightened my shoulders. I could do this. “Want to dance?”
“Hell yeah.” Ethan guided me toward the makeshift dance floor, and Shana twiddled her fingers, grinning like a freaking fool.
I mouthed, “It’s just a dance.”
She huffed out a laugh, and I was pretty sure she replied, “He’s hot. Fuck him.”
He was surprisingly agile for his size, moving perfectly with the beat as we danced song after song together. I let myself go with the music, enjoying the freedom of just being for a minute. Warm tingles traveled up my spine, raising the hair on the back of my neck, and I turned. I’d felt like I’d been watched several times tonight, but no one was ever looking.
The quarterback trailed his fingers up my arms, but instead of the warm fuzzies I’d expected from his touch, my blood cooled.
Dammit. This guy was a star athlete, admittedly superhot, and moved like the devil incarnate, and somehow, my body was reacting like he was my long-lost cousin. The thought made me scrunch up my nose.
“What’s that face for?” His low voice vibrated against where my hand rested on his chest, and I locked it in place as he went to step forward.
“I’m sorry, I just can’t tonight.” I stepped back, and he didn’t try to stop me.
“Can I get your number?”
I shook my head. “I don’t think so, but see you around, ’kay?”
He bit the side of his cheek and tilted his head, obviously not used to a girl turning him down. It looked for a second like he was going to decide to chase me, but his attention quickly moved through the crowd.
I patted his shoulder. “Good luck tonight.” If giving the guy I’d considered sleeping with—well, not really, but it still counted—a hookup pep talk didn’t mean it was time to go, then I didn’t know what did.
It didn’t take Shana long to catch up to me when I left Ethan and made my way through the crowd toward the kitchen to find Misty and let her know I was headed out.
