“Please.”
She studied him for a moment—his golden brown hair, hazel eyes, olive-toned skin, and angular but somewhat soft features. The boy was…pretty, if shorter than guys she normally went for.
Then again, she’d only truly been with one guy since spring break, and it’s not like anyone would ever measure up to a six-foot-three hockey player who was built like a Mack truck.
“What exactly did you have in mind?”
“Go on a date with me.”
Stunned, Jessica sputtered, “I don’t know…”
“Please,” he said again, pouting and giving her puppy dog eyes.
She’d had half a mind to turn him down. At first glance, Silas wasn’t her type, and it seemed too early in her college career to be going on dates. Then again, just because Silas didn’t seem like her type on the surface didn’t mean things between them couldn’t evolve into everything she’d ever dreamed of.
Even if she’d already had that…and lost it.
So she’d agreed, and they’d been together for the last three years. It hadn’t always been sunshine and rainbows—and there had been more than a few “breaks” in that time—but they always found their way back to each other.
But on days like today, when he got all pissed off and indignant because she was spending time with Kenzie—who was family thanks to the fact that her brother was married to Jessica’s sister—she wondered why she kept coming back.
“What is your problem?” she asked, returning to the conversation at hand.
“My problem is that hockey players are pricks, and you shouldn’t be going anywhere near them.”
Oh, if Silas only knew how close she’d been to one hockey player in particular, and how her vacationship with Jack DeLuca had shaped the way she would forever view relationships.
Jack DeLuca, here at Michigan State. And not onlyhere, but the starting goalie for the hockey team.
What were the odds?
It showed how little Jessica paid attention to the sport that she hadn’t heard his name mentioned once in the last three years. Plus, they’d never exchanged last names in Mexico. It had been one of her stipulations. Their time together had been magical, a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and Jessica hadn’t wanted tosully it by bringing it home and letting the real world poke holes in their bubble.
But now, he washere, and Jessica wasn’t sure what to do with that information. She had Silas, but…did she really? Things between them had been strained for a long time, and she knew they weren’t going to last after graduation. Not with him staying here and her hopefully…not.
Then again, she wasn’t about to leave Silas for Jack, for some pipe dream. She was not the same girl she’d been in Mexico, and she’d bet good money Jack had changed as well.
After all, he was the starting goaltender for one of the most storied college hockey programs in the country.
“I’m not going to argue with you about this in the middle of a football game,” she gritted out, clenching her teeth so hard her jaw ached. “We’ll discuss this later.”
“Fine,” he said, turning his back to her in favor of conducting a conversation with his frat brother at his side.
Internally, Jessica scoffed. Silas calling hockey players pricks was rich considering she had yet to meet a single one of his brothers she could stand.
The football game was nail-biting, the Spartans eking out a victory in overtime, and Jessica was thankful for the adrenaline rush distracting her from the showdown she knew she and Silas would have the moment they were away from prying eyes.
They moved with the throng from the stadium, his hot palm wrapped possessively around her upper arm, as though he was afraid she’d bolt at the first opportunity.
And Jessica couldn’t lie—she’d considered it.
When they finally broke free from the mass exodus, rivulets of people dispersed in all directions across campus. Silas directed Jessica toward Munn, where the crowd was the thinnest. They reached Munn Field, and Silas reached down to lace his fingers through hers, giving her an insistent tug onto the cool grass.
Without preamble, Silas spun on her. “I want you to stay away from Kenzie and Aiden and his teammates.”
“No.”
“No?” Silas parroted, a dark eyebrow arching toward his hairline.
