“What are you doing here with Taryn?” Nash’s tone is full of blatant hostility.
Colsen responds with a sarcastic chuckle. “What does it look like? We were about to start playing Go Fish. Seriously, dude, why the fuck are you here? I got us a room so my girlfriend and I could spend some time together.”
“In here? With Coach and all the Shooting Star coaches downstairs? What if anyone saw you sneak out? Are you trying to get Taryn kicked out?”
“We were careful.” Colsen bites out. “No one saw us.”
Nash sounds more furious with every word he utters. “Bullshit. I fucking saw you.”
“How? I checked, and we were alone when we left the party.”
“Obviously you weren’t careful enough. I was standing right next to you, getting some money out of my wallet to pay the valet, and I saw you.”
“Were you hiding behind a piece of furniture like a creep?” Colsen snickers.
I squirm under his hold. He has been carrying me over his shoulder the entire time he’s been arguing with Nash, as if weighed nothing.
“Hey Colsen,” I raise my voice to make sure I’m louder than their constant bickering. “Would you mind putting me down?”
He immediately complies, grabbing me by my waist and sliding me down his hard body until my feet touch the carpetedfloor of our suite.
Nash’s eyes rove over me, as if to check that I made it onto my own two feet in one piece. His green eyes are intense, and a wave of heat rises to my face.
I know I’m blushing, but two can play this game; if he can check me out, so can I. Nash is drop dead gorgeous in the charcoal gray suit provided to the Cove Knights.
“I’m not a creep.” I have no idea who he’s saying that to. “You might not believe me, but I care about you.”
Ok, he’s talking to me.
I open my mouth to say something, but Colsen is faster than me.
“If you cared about her, you wouldn’t act like a jealous asshole and you wouldn’t ask her to choose. Or is that your excuse for walking away?”
“Why would I need a fucking excuse?” Nash bites back.
Colsen barks out a mirthless laugh. “Because you’re scared to risk your starting spot on the team if we get caught and Coach decides to bench you.”
The accusation hits its intended target. “I’m not scared. But I’m new here and I didn’t transfer to Star Cove to ride the bench. Besides, what kind of asshole would I be if I risked Taryn’s chance to make the team when I’m not sure I can deal with you and Prescott dating her too?”
“Aww,” Colsen provokes him. “How selfless. Drop the act, Belkin. You just don’t have the balls to admit that you don’t care enough to put everything on the line.”
Nash clenches his fists at his sides, his jaw ticking. “You know nothing about me.”
I’ve been watching them argue like you watch a tennis match. “Nash, I told you before. I might have not liked your decision, but I understood the reasons behind it. Why are you here?”
“I don’t know. I just…”
The look in his eyes is furious and desperate at the same time.
For one moment, I feel those same emotions coursing through me too. I’m falling for all three of them, but I can’t have them. Not without losing my chance to be a Shooting Star or without risking losing my freedom if my mysterious stalker decides to act on his threats.
But even if I weren’t being blackmailed, how can I ask these three men who could have anyone they wanted to love me? How can I ask them to put their reputations on the line to embark on an unconventional relationship when I can’t even be totally honest with them?
The truth is that I don’t know if I did that horrible thing I’m running from. I’ve been racking my head to try to remember, but there’s a lot of nothing where my memories should be.
If they knew what I might have done, though, would they stay?
“I don’t know either, Nash.” I swallow the tears that well up in my throat, hot and bitter.
