I slowed to a walk, content on enjoying Ryann for a little bit longer before every ounce of my attention went to the team. When her brother stood at the end of the track, my anxiety reared back up in a split-second.
“Yo, J.D., come on.” Michael’s face was blank, and his hands were on his hips. Patrick and Paxton stood on either side of him, and my small breakfast threatened to come up. Why the hell were they staring at me? Did he look pissed?
They know. They know I slept with Ryann.
I was such a fucking idiot.
“Sure.” I cleared my throat and walked over to them, feeling like I was walking through molasses. “What’s going on?”
“We’re grilling out at the house with most of the team. That includes you.” He put a hand on my shoulder and squeezed. There was no way to get out of this. If the team was there, I needed to be.
“Right.”
He let go of me and moved around to a couple other guys from the team while I stood there, watching Patrick eye me.
He arched one brow, his expression more than curious where Paxton’s was concerned. “Bad morning or what?”
“No. Not at all,” I said, my face heating as I thought about Ryann prancing around in her tiny shorts.
“You looked mad. Ain’t gonna help you with the ladies if you’re always walking around with a stick up your ass.”
“He might not be like you,” Paxton said, rolling his eyes. “There’s more to life than sleeping with women.”
“There are parties, too.” He flashed a grin and completely turned around to admire the two girls walking up to him. “Oh, hello.”
He flirted with them for a good few minutes before I felt someone tug on my sleeve. Patrick yanked me toward them and said my name.
“Hmm?”
“Paige and Rachel want to head to the house with us. Can you escort Rachel? Paige and I have things to discuss.”
He didn’t wait for a reply before taking off with Paige, leaving me, Rachel, and Paxton who didn’t even try to help. He abandoned me with a girl who looked way too happy to meet me.
“Uh, hi?” I said, awkwardness weighing me down. Did I tell her no? What was I supposed to do? Talk to her?
“Hey J.D. I’m a big fan of the team, and my friend has a huge crush on Patrick.” She twirled her hair in her finger and took a step closer to me. “If I’m honest, I’ve always had one on you too.”
“Oh.” My face flushed red, and I took a step back. I never handled blatant flirting well. It flustered me and caught me off-guard like now, and either way, one of us was walking around feeling stupid. “Uh, so you’re Rachel.”
“Yeah.” She giggled as Michael came around and saw Rachel. He winked at me and jutted his head.
“Let’s head out. Bring the girl.”
That was how I found myself walking from the gym to the hockey house with Rachel, who was talkative in a very different way than Ryann. She was nice and seemed to really like hockey, but when she ran her hand down my arm, it felt weird. Off. Not right.
Shit.
“What do you do for fun?” she asked once we were in the backyard of the hockey house. Lawn chairs sat around in a circle, and a bunch of guys from the team were there with as many girls. This wasn’t just a team get-together. This was an afternoon party disguised as a cookout. She said my name, and I forced a smile.At least pretend to be polite to her.
“Gym, watching tapes, that sorta thing.” I eyed my teammates getting too frisky with girls right in front of everyone, and my heart lodged into my throat when Ryann walked in wearing those sexy cut-off shorts and a hockey shirt.
What the hell is she doing here?
“Ry, hey.” Paxton greeted her with a hug, and she smiled up at him with all her teeth. I gripped the edge of the lawn chair tighter. She said something I couldn’t hear, and he laughed, causing her to smile even more.
What was so damn funny?
“I like to explore different movie theaters when I’m not volunteering or hanging out with friends,” Rachel said, making me feel even worse. I wasn’t interested in her like that. Patrick put me in this position, and when I glared at him, he was too busy with Paige to notice.
