Page 25 of Arctic Titans of Northwood U: Volume 1

I didn’t dare open my mouth. If this was a hypothetical question, he wouldn’t appreciate a smart-ass answer.

Silence dragged on for an eternity and soured everything else in the room.

Coach moved his gaze between the two of us like he was trying to see something that wasn’t there. “Very well. Brooks, seeing as you are the captain of the team, you are going to bear the responsibilities for the discord of the entire team. The lack of focus, purpose, and camaraderie is solely on you. You will…”

“You can’t do that.” Silence dropped between us like an anvil. All eyes were on me before I realized these had been my words. My mouth dried and I worked it for a trace of saliva, but found none. Instead, I inhaled a shallow breath of air and avoided Riley’s eyes. I stared at Coach Murray. “It’s not his fault.”

“Pray tell.” Coach’s words were clipped and he seemed to forget all about his anger with Riley. As far as I could see, Riley could have walked out this very instant and Coach Murray would still be slicing me to pieces with a look.

“I’m the cause of discord,” I said.

“Shut up,” Riley hissed under his breath.

“I am. And you both know it. Since I got here, it has all gone downhill.” Shut up, I yelled at myself internally. “If you have to scratch one of us, it should be me.” My voice softened by the end of that and I couldn’t believe the stupid things that had come out of my mouth. In no universe was it my fault that Riley couldn’t focus on captaining this team because I played alongside him.

Except, I kind of was.

No matter how often I told myself that high school crushes were just passing fancies, I never made myself completely believe it. Riley had never moved on. Not truly. And I had never felt as complete as I had yesterday, not since I’d run away. I’d thought I was sacrificing something small, something temporary, but it had been more akin to severing a limb. Or carving my heart out, if I were being sappy.

Even the impatient side eye he had given me this past month filled me with annoyance. Every eye roll and every contemptuous snort. Every time he insisted he could run as fast or lift as much. But in that annoyance, I felt myself drawn to this stubborn, heart-bruised, silly guy.

Nobody on this planet pushed my buttons quite like Riley. Which wasn’t to say I would let him be full of himself, but I was going to try this risky mind game with the coach for both our sakes.

Come on, I thought. Please work.

Coach Murray narrowed his eyes at me, then looked at Riley. “Brooks, do you agree with Cameron’s assessment?”

Riley dragged his gaze off Coach Murray to meet mine. There were sparks of anger bursting out of his eyes, but he blinked and shook his head. “You were right, Coach. I’m the captain. It’s my job to ensure we get along.”

Coach Murray measured us for a time, then gave a grave nod. “Very well. If I see anything less than exceptional on Wednesday, you will share the responsibility. You are dismissed.”

We knew better than to argue or draw attention whatsoever. The way we left his office was easily the stealthiest on record. But it was only when we crossed the long hallway to the empty locker room that either of us felt safe enough to breathe again.

The locker room had a unique after-practice scent of sweat fading away to the overpowering body wash scents all the guys had used in the shower. There, we shut the door and began undressing in silence. By the time we stripped down to our waists, Riley couldn’t hold his tongue any longer. “You just had to play the hero.”

“What?” I demanded.

“He was almost done, Cam. You didn’t have to meddle like some sulky Prince Charming.” Riley looked right into my eyes, his face still glowing from the exertion on ice and the following embarrassment.

“I was trying to save your ass, you ungrateful little shit,” I snapped, my mind narrowing to annoyance as I rounded on him.

“I didn’t need you to save my ass.” He fought back for the sake of pride and that rubbed me the wrong way. My frustration was spilling and spreading, but I knew where it was coming from. And it wasn’t Riley’s stubbornness.

“He was about to scratch you and I intervened,” I said. “You’re welcome.”

“Now both our asses are on the line,” he hissed, tossing his jersey into the locker and shutting the door while still wearing the bottom half of his attire. “Do you seriously think we can just magic our way out of this, Cam? That we can just start playing well together by Wednesday?” He scoffed and gave a jerky shake of his head, his chest rising as he inhaled. “We’re screwed.”

“We’re not.” I wasn’t admitting defeat now. “I bought us time.”

“Great. Now all we have to do is figure out how to learn to play together.” The sarcasm cut me deeper than it should have.

I narrowed my eyes and leaned closer to him. “No. We just need to figure out how to focus on the game, rather than the player.”

His breath hitched audibly when he pulled a few inches back to look into my eyes. “Cam…”

I licked my lips with care. “I know what’s distracting me. And you know it, too.”

His eyebrows trembled briefly before he surrendered into a small frown. “Aren’t you getting the message from the universe?” His voice was thinner than ever as he asked this. “It keeps interrupting us.”