When I finally emerged from the stacks, I found Liana seated at a large, circular table in the centre of the library, along with Keisha and Ruby from our business course. I’d been so focused on them that I hadn’t even noticed who else was seated at the table.
My brother, Daniel, and Jay.
Brilliant.
“Nova,” Ryker greeted me with a nod. Daniel didn’t even look up from his laptop, and Jay was pointedly ignoring me. I could tell because he’d stiffened the second my brother had spoken my name.
“Sorry,” Liana murmured, leaning into me. “There weren’t any other free tables, and King asked us to sit here because, apparently, they were getting some unwanted attention.” She rolled her eyes. We both knew what she was referring to. The girls who threw themselves at the three of them, who stared daggers at me when they thought I wasn’t looking, never daring to do it openly because of my family name.
“It’s okay,” I assured her, and it was. I’d had plenty ofpractice in being around Jay Attwood and acting like he didn’t exist.
“Banks, you gonna help me with this or what? I don’t get this.”
My gaze flew to Daniel, who had abandoned his laptop to stare at Jay with his brows raised expectantly. Jay sighed, running his hand through his hair. He blinked slowly, his thick, dark lashes sweeping down, and I cursed myself for noticing. “If you stop calling me Banks, I’ll help.”
“I’ll stop for as long as we’re in the library. Deal?”
“No, but I guess I’ll help you anyway.” Jay pulled Daniel’s laptop closer. “What part are you stuck on?”
“This Phillips curve shit. What am I meant to be looking at on this graph?”
Doing my best to tune them out as Jay patiently went through the graph with his friend, I flipped open my textbook. My throat was tight. Why was he nice to other people and not to me? What had I ever done to him?
Ruby tilted her head to look between me and Liana, her inky hair falling over one eye. “Are you both coming to the game tonight? First game of the season.”
Liana leaned back in her chair, drumming her fingernails on the laminated tabletop. “Only because I don’t have any choice. I hate hockey, and I hate hockey players—especially assholes like Kane Worthington. At least they keep their distance, thanks to my dad being the coach.” She glanced over at the three hockey players seated at our table. “Mostly.”
Keisha laughed. “Yeah. Your dad would have their heads if they dared to disrespect his one and only daughter. You can sit with us. Bring a book or something, and we’ll shield you from your dad’s view.” Her gaze slid to mine. “I’massuming you’re going, what with your brother and your fiancé being on the team.”
Liana’s voice lowered. “We need to look out for her. She’s going to be wearing Anton’s jersey.” Keisha and Ruby exchanged glances, and I quickly shook my head.
“No one will say anything to me, and I’m used to people talking behind my back, so I don’t care about any of that. I wouldn’t wear it out of choice, though.”
“I would. Babes, he’s fucking hot,” Ruby said, loudly enough to gain the attention of the other occupants of the table.
Daniel smirked at her. “Talking about me again, Rubes? Want another go on my dick?”
“Fuck off, Arson. Once was enough.”
“Yeah. Coincidentally, that was the night she discovered she prefers women,” Keisha interjected, smacking an exaggerated kiss on Ruby’s cheek. “Oops. Guess your dick game needs some work.”
“Li, are you hearing this? Your friends are cruel. Vicious.” Daniel pouted at Liana, and she rolled her eyes.
“Perhaps if you stopped bringing up your penis in conversation, people might speak to you more politely.”
“You make a good point, my queen.” He flashed her a grin before turning back to Ruby. “If it wasn’t me you were talking about, then who? It better not be fucking Bellingham.”
“Don’t worry. We wouldn’t betray you by complimenting your rivals.” Ruby paused, then added, “Not while you can hear us, anyway. We were talking about Anton.”
He cocked his head, thinking. “Yeah. Fair point. Volksy’s a good-looking fucker. If we’re rating him out of ten, with me being a ten, then…”
“Going to the coffee machine.” Tuning Daniel out, Ipushed my chair back and rose to my feet. I couldn’t sit there listening to them discuss Anton Volkov so casually. It made it hard to breathe, like I was suffocating under the weight of my responsibilities.
Out in the silent hallway, I tapped my card on the contactless reader and selected a coffee from the limited list of options, the ancient machine whirring and creaking as it came to life. The money funnelled through Cranham University definitely didn’t go to the student facilities, that was for sure. I supposed it was all part of the punishing prison aesthetic.
“Didn’t want to join in the praise for your fiancé?”
Letting my head fall back against the wall, I closed my eyes. “Go away.”
