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“Come on. Let’s go.” He stands up and grabs my bag off the floor.
I close my laptop and textbook, gathering them against my chest. “Where are we going?”
“You can hang out at practice this afternoon. That way you can see Ethan as soon as we’re done.” He winks at me, and I follow him without question.
Watching the guys practice actually sounds like a pretty good way to spend the afternoon. It has to be better than hanging out here and potentially bumping into someone else who’s gonna taunt me or gush about the fact that I’m dating Ethan Galloway.
I don’t want to hear that he’s the hottest thing on two legs. I already know that, and I don’t need the added pressure of knowing how many people in this place want to get with him… or want to slap me for being the one who turned him monogamous.
CHAPTER52
ETHAN
I secure my pads and throw on a hockey jersey, yanking it down before brushing my hair off my forehead. I’m fired up and ready to put in a good practice today. I’m focused and?—
The locker room door swings open, catching my eye. I glance over in time to see Liam storming in, looking kind of dark.
“You okay, man?”
He wrenches his locker open and shakes his head at me.
“What’s up?”
His jaw clenches, which means he doesn’t really want to share. I stare at him for a little longer, wondering if he’ll change his mind, before shrugging.
“Okay. Well, maybe you can burn it off on the ice.”
“I was in the library.” He sighs, pulling off his shirt, his tense muscles flexing as he gets changed. “I heard these girls being real bitchy, you know? So I figured I’d swing past the table on my way out, make sure whoever they were harassing was okay.”
“Was she or he or… they?”
His lips dip into a sharp frown. “It was Mikayla.”
“What?” I swivel to face him, my voice coming out hard and snappy. “Who was it? What’d they say?”
“It was those Sig Be girls. They were going on about how she’d made a huge mistake by choosing you over them and that you were gonna cheat on her. Just talking general shit, circling her like vultures.” He grunts while I let out a string of curse words that draws the eyes of almost every guy in the room.
“What’s going on?” Asher calls from his locker.
“Nothing!” I bark.
“This about our girl?” He moves closer, and I can’t help a quick growl.
“She’s not your girl, she’s mine!”
“She’s ours,” he argues back, and my fingers curl into a fist. Ever since moving in, Mikayla’s become like our house mascot. It’s cute and all, but not when Asher starts talking shit about her belonging to all of us.
I stalk toward him and fist his collar. His eyes spark with challenge, and I’m seconds away from brawling when Liam’s hand lands on my shoulder.
He glares at Asher. “Would you shut your damn mouth? This isn’t helping.”
“I just want to make sure she’s okay. I heard you say something about circling vultures. And Mikayla might beyourgirl”—Asher gives me a pointed look—“but that doesn’t mean the rest of us want to see her getting harassed or hurt. We’re allowed to care about her too. She’s an awesome chick, and if someone is making her life hell, we’re gonna do something about it.”
I relax, letting go of Asher’s collar and shoving him away.
Liam quickly tells the guys what he told me, and they all mutter their disgust. Casey crosses his arms, looking just as dark as Liam.
“That wasn’t what got to me the most.” Liam shakes his head, resting his hands on his hips with a heavy sigh. “For a second there, she looked… so beaten, you know? That’s not Mick. She’s tough. That’s one of the things we love about her. She doesn’t take shit. But she just sat there today. Didn’t say a word.”
