AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The dark purple neon sign for Black Out glowed on the front of a brick building in the distance, and there was a medium-sized line at the door. It wasn’t too bad, and I doubted that security would make us wait because most of the staff knew the hockey team.
“Who all is coming tonight?” I asked.
Boss flashed me a dimpled smile, and his date, Sierra, did the same. She was a cute, compact woman who barely reached his chin, with long flaming orange hair—dyed not natural. The color reminded me of a highlighter.
“Well, last I knew, Thane for sure and Withers, and a few of the other guys from the team. Cloutier is always up for a good time. And Cohen and Brisco and maybe Yukio from the basketball team. There could be more of those guys. It’ll be fun.”
“This is exactly what I need,” I said with a smile.
Yes, anything that would take my mind off Wystan and his bullshit would be great. Maybe I would buy a whole bottle of tequila and try to erase the past twenty-four hours from my brain. Scrub the entire hard drive. If I tried hard enough, I could maybe take myself back to before I’d ever fucking met him. I slid a hand to my face and scratched my cheek.Fuck.
Sierra giggled and snagged my attention. When she noticed me looking at her, she twiddled her fingers. “Some of the girls from my service sorority are coming along, too.” Her wide smile made me understand why Boss was out with her. She was model pretty. Somehow, he always picked up the most amazing women. Not that he was bad looking, but I’d never seen him with anyone who wasn’t ready to be plastered on a billboard. I wasn’t sure if he was picky or if he had some magic charisma button that he was able to slap on around women that I’d never noticed.
Leaning in, I stage-whispered, “Boss, how did you find someone so pretty?”
She laughed and shook her head.
“Flirt with your own girls,” Boss said, smacking my arm.
“Not really my speed.” I smirked. “I just wondered how you tricked her.”
He punched my arm, and Sierra clapped a hand over her mouth, flashing big eyes at me. “Are you gay?” she asked.
I shrugged. Honestly, I wasn’t sure I fit into any one category, but I knew I preferred playing the game with guys. I just hadn’t found anyone who matched up with me yet. I was a little jealous of how easily Boss and Sierra fell into a soft conversation as we kept walking.
“Hey!” she said, apparently taking offense to something he’d said, though she was still smiling. She shook off his arm and gave him a look that could blister the paint off a car.
“You should be careful. If you piss off one of those sorority girls, they’re all mad at you,” I said.
She pointed at me. “See, he knows.”
Boss groaned and held up his hands, and she was laughing again. “I, unlike some people—” He elbowed me. “—know how to treat others. What the hell is up with your thing with Wystan?” He gave me a serious frown. “I wanted to ask without the guys around.”
I rolled my eyes. “Don’t make me say it.”
“This over the team captain thing?”
I glared at him.
He shook his head and knocked his shoulder against my arm. “You know, Hoffman took advantage of you,” he said quietly and gave me a long, serious look out of the corner of his eye. “He knew you wanted that spot this year, and you really put yourself out there for him.” He had a tone I didn’t appreciate—questioning. I wasn’t sure what he was driving at. “Most people wouldn’t do all that, even for the team captain, you know?”
“What are you asking me?”
“Were you two dating?” He blinked up at me.
My stomach churned and I felt ashamed, though I wasn’t sure why. “Someone like Hoffman wouldn’t have wasted time with me that way. He’s focused on the game. All about going pro.”
Boss scowled. “Well, he asked you to do enough shit for him, and then he didn’t come back to stand beside you when it would’ve looked good to have him there. I know you said he’d told you he would do it. If he’d shown up, at least a couple of people probably would’ve changed their vote.”
Acid bit at the back of my throat. Fuck, how did we start talking about this? “It’s done now,” I grumbled.
He shrugged, and my face burned as he studied me. “Tides turn, man. I voted for you. I would do it again.” He waggled his eyebrows. Was he saying maybe I should pressure for a new vote? “You need to jump if the right opportunity presents itself. My dad is on the city council. He made me read theArt of Warwhen I was like, eight. I’m telling you, half of life is just paying attention and moving at the right time.”
I gave Boss a one-armed hug. “Thanks, man. I’ll keep that in mind.”
When we made it to the line, I waved at the short bouncer stacked with muscles who was working the door. His name was Barnes, and he was an asshole if you got on his bad side, but he liked me.
“Hey, Barnes!”
