After a few more games, the Wolves finally look like they’re playing like a team. It seems like they’re communicating, they’re staying on each other, and they’re confident. Just then, I feel something loosen in my chest for the first time in weeks. Maybe I made the right decision by bringing the Storm here. Maybe this is what the guys needed. Some fresh faces and some new strategies.
By the time we finally step off the ice, everyone’s exhausted but the mood feels lighter. It feels like, for the first time since my injury, there’s hope.
Theo bumps my shoulder as we walk toward the locker room. “You weren’t kidding. They’ve got potential.”
“Yeah, well potential doesn’twin,” I mutter.
“No,” Billy says behind us. “But the right energy does. They’ve got it in them. They just needed a little nudge.”
I nod in agreement.
“Yeah, well, thanks for helping out. I appreciate you guys. I was going crazy over here.”
“We’ve got your back, you know that,” Theo says, a hand landing on my shoulder. “Now, let’s go eat some grub. I’mfucking starving.”
Chapter 30
Ellie
E
xhaustion has caught up to me. Between play rehearsals, fundraiser rehearsals, and all the extra stuff that comes with being director slash professor, my body is spent. Not to mention thoughts of Jamie swimming around in my brain, taking up more space than I care to admit. I’ve slept with him twice now. I’ve let myself fall victim to his charm and his magical dick.
I’m supposed to be smarter than this. I’m supposed to be the one with the answers, the sounding board for my friends and family. I’m practical. At least, I was. That is, until Jamie fucked it all up.
Except this time, it wasn’t by breaking my heart. This time it’s him trying to win it back.
God, the second Holland finds out, he’s going to freak. He’s bound to find out sooner than later since him and Lainey are coming to the fundraiser. Mom’s not feeling well, so she’s decided to stay home. It’s better that way anyway, since she and Holland had a big argument last year about a situation that I wasn’t privy to.
This week is the last week of rehearsals for the fundraiser, and there’s only three more weeks until the play and the end of the semester. Everything feels chaotic and my stress levels are at an all-time high. I know I can do this; I’ve proven to myself that I can, I just need to get through it.
Except, instead of being completely, one hundred percent focused on all of that, all I keep thinking about is the way Jamie demanded I was his. The way he demanded I say it back. The way that I think I may have actually meant that. Am I his? Do I want to be?
He’s been… tolerable the last several weeks since we started planning and rehearsing the fundraiser. It’s actually been quite endearing watching him work so hard to get me to forgive him. Like I said when we first got here all those weeks ago, I’d forgiven him a long time ago. I just needed to see that he was actually sorry. That he really did feel bad about what he did.
I see that now. I see how guilty he’s felt. I see how much he wants to make up for it. I’ve seen his demons, the way they affect him. I’ve witnessed his vulnerability. I know he’s not a monster. And that’s why I think I’ve fallen for him.
I’ve fallen for Jamie Patterson. Again.
With that realization, I take a quick shower and lie in bed, once again staring up at the ceiling. Right as sleep begins to take over my tired body, I hear… laughter?
But it’s not just one laugh I hear, it’s multiple laughs, and male voices.
What the hell?
Slipping out of bed, I throw my robe on and head down the stairs. I should have grabbed a weapon for defense, but in my haste, I forgot to arm myself. If anything, I’ll run and hide. The house is big enough.
Slowly, I make my way into the kitchen, and that’s when I see it. The glare from the tv, the popcorn bowl on the coffee table, and the five men sitting in the living room.
My heart rate slows as I recognize at least one of the faces. When we make eye contact, Jamie smiles brightly. That smile makes my want to melt into a puddle. But right now, I’m actually kind of pissed. My eyes wander over the other four very large men sprawled across my couch.
“Hey, Sweetheart,” Jamie drawls, and the four other men turn to look at me as I stand in my freaking robe in shock.
I could murder him.
“Why,” I say slowly, “are there strange men in my living room?”
One of them sits up straighter. “Oh shit. Is this the roommate?”
