Page 11 of Arctic Titans of Northwood U: Volume 1

“Yes. Fucking yes.” I marched past him and out of the house. I didn’t need to look over my shoulder to know he was rushing to catch up with me.

“This isn’t going to work if you’re perpetually pissed, Brooks,” he said.

I snorted and gave no reply. For once, I wouldn’t rise to the bait. Within moments, he was walking slightly ahead of me and a late summer breeze lifted a wave of his scent, then shoved it up my nostrils. Smoky sandalwood and some kind of citrus in strong contrast. It was electric and dangerous, pushing itself into my memory and sparking images of him from years ago. Though it wasn’t the same scent I had once known him for, it was close enough that I remembered every curve of his body when it towered over me and took all the earthly pleasures for our time alone.

My throat closed and I struggled for breath, making it imperative that Cameron stayed totally unaware. It didn’t help at all that he was still fond of sleeveless T-shirts that left his entire arms bare and his armpits in plain view for all who cared to peek.

I didn’t care to peek, but it was just there, right in front of me, dammit. And it was distracting as fuck, so I hurried to walk in front of him.

We reached the gym that was just behind the student center. Inside, there were a few girls and guys, ears plugged with headphones. The start of the semester was still three weeks away, so only the jocks and the nerds were around.

I preferred a bigger crowd. Working out in an empty gym felt like being in a haunted house, but instead of ghosts, you had really crappy music blasting out of the speakers. However, right now, a haunted gym would be better than what I had on my hands.

Cameron and I went into the locker room, nearly tumbling over one another at the door when he tried to push in front of me. “Let me pass, dammit,” I grunted and headed for the far corner of the locker room. Cameron lingered closer to the door, staying at the opposite end.

Good.

I’d had enough of him undressing three inches away from me this entire week. It was like the universe was desperately trying to make us cross paths. But the universe wasn’t counting on how stubborn I could be. Changing into a T-shirt and shorts was quick, methodic, and without any room for looking around. With my fists clenched and lips pursed, I paced back to the door and muttered an invitation to Cameron, who followed silently.

If there was one thing we could agree on, it was that the lack of spoken words made us get along swimmingly. The moment he opened his mouth, my temper flared; and it wasn’t any different the other way around. But there was another, just as evident, truth of the universe. Cameron couldn’t keep his mouth shut. “Time to align our heads, I suppose,” he said in a low growl as we climbed adjacent treadmills. He checked something on his smart watch, made it beep once, then glanced over the treadmill’s control board.

“He told you the same thing,” I noticed. It bugged me that Coach had talked to Cameron before approaching me. “Why did you agree to this?”

Cameron was already setting a quick walking pace on his treadmill and I hurried to do mine. Glancing at his three and a half miles per hour, I set mine at three-point-eight. That wasn’t ideal since my legs were shorter than his; now, Cameron looked like he was walking, and I was skipping along next to him.

He shrugged. “Maybe because I’m here to play hockey, Riley.”

“And I’m not?” I demanded.

The contemptuous snort that erupted from him was designed to make my temper flare up. “Honestly? You seem preoccupied with this stupid animosity.”

He would be preoccupied with it, too, if he’d ever cared about anything that had existed between us. The fact that he so casually dismissed it only helped to entrench me in my position. And my position was, ‘Fuck. Him.’

“Can you maybe focus on what really matters here?” he asked, punching up his pace by half a mile per hour.

I raised mine a mere heartbeat later, sliding into a comfortable jog. “I am focused. I’m focused on bringing this team to the top. I’m focused on the championship. I’m focused on carving my way to the NHL no matter what it takes.” My breaths grew short.

I spotted him glancing at my dashboard and bringing up his own pace. That was enough to force me to steady my breathing and take lungfuls of air. If he wanted to play the game of endurance, he would definitely lose. After all, I was the one who had to endure life after he’d abandoned me. My pain tolerance was above average.

Not that I would ever tell him how much it fucking hurt to lose him. Of all the people in the world, Cameron Martinez deserved that knowledge the least. By right, I shouldn’t even be remembering it, but this cruel twist of fate that had brought him back in my vicinity meant I was reminded of it every waking moment.

It wasn’t fucking fair.

For the next few minutes, we kept outrunning one another in a pathetic duel of wills. The fucker seemed desperate to run faster than me, but I wasn’t just going to lie down and take it.

Sure enough, I ran like there was an ugly past chasing me. Sweat covered my brow and soaked my back, but that was nothing new to me. With controlled breathing and proper posture, I could do this all day.

Cameron pressed his dashboard and began speeding up, but a sudden, loud rhythm of four quick beeps made me look at him. His face twisted in annoyance.

“The hell? Are you dying?” I panted, embarrassed that I couldn’t force my voice to sound any more normal.

He began lowering his speed. Although I would rather drop dead than admit it, I was glad to lower mine, too.

“Ah, abnormal heart rate,” he huffed with an eye roll, tapping his smartwatch that had raised the alarm.

I scoffed. “Truly, the definition of smart.”

Cameron rolled his eyes, then went into cooldown on his workout. I matched it, bringing my pace back to a nice run, then to a speedy walk a few minutes later. He looked like he wanted to say something, but he thankfully kept it to himself for the remainder of our warmups.