Page 93 of Arctic Titans of Northwood U: Volume 1

Sawyer's laughter rang in my ears as he pulled me deeper into the crowd. "Just move to the rhythm, Noah. No one cares if you're a dancing prodigy or not."

Easy for him to say. I shuffled my feet, a mixture of embarrassment and amusement flooding me. "I'm more of a 'two left feet' kind of guy."

Sawyer's grin was infectious. "Well, your two left feet seem to be getting along just fine with my two right ones."

As minutes passed, our magnetic connection grew stronger, an invisible thread that tugged us closer with every shared smile, every soft touch of our fingers brushing against each other. We danced like no one was watching, even though we were well aware that eyes were on us, curious and intrigued.

"I promise you're the best part of this party," Sawyer murmured, his words creating a bubble of warmth around us.

I chuckled, my heart doing a little pirouette. "And you're the reason I'm not hiding in a corner right now."

We swayed together, but never too close, each step a reminder that this was new territory for me. But with Sawyer so near me, even the unfamiliar had its charms. It was…fucking fantastic. And that pull radiating from Sawyer, bringing all the other celestial objects closer to him, threatened to draw me in despite so many pairs of eyes in the room. I watched him as he bit his lip in ecstatic joy.

I wanted to leap at him and have him right this instant. I wanted to slam my lips against his and take my chance. Maybe, just maybe, we could turn the rules of nature around and see if a Sawyer would go for a Noah of this universe. Out here, in front of everyone. Would he push me away? Would he welcome it? I seriously didn’t have a clue. All we’d done was hook up in the privacy of my room, chat in secret, and platonically hang out. Whether real or not, I was sure there was a difference, a barrier, or some invisible threshold that still required crossing.

I counted down from three in my head before leaning into him.

Three.

Two.

What the hell? We both spun simultaneously when something crashed on the other side of the room.

My heart cracked, but the buzz around us was too frantic to let me pay attention to that. On the far side of the room, two guys were rolling on the floor, grappling and attempting to throw punches. The one on top, dark-haired and with an explosive frown on his face, was bleeding from a split eyebrow when I got a glimpse of his face. The other guy wrestled for control and turned them around, but the crowd stepped in and separated the two.

“The fuck? That’s Cameron,” Sawyer said. “What the hell is going on?”

“Who’s Cameron?” I asked in a low voice, trying not to appear thirsty for gossip.

Sawyer pulled me to the side as the crowd began to shift, and the other troublemaker was practically being dragged outside. A few more guys left after him while others shouted for peace. This Cameron person was growling and raising his hands in surrender, escorted by a blond guy that was just as tall and just as handsome as Cameron. “And that’s Riley,” Sawyer said. “They’ve been…hell, I don’t have a clue what they have been doing. They have this on-again-off-again thing, I think. Fuck, he kicked Jonah’s ass.” Sawyer shot me a naughty, meddling grin, then gestured for me to follow. We walked through the crowd of upset people, all scoffing and shaking their heads, until we reached the window. Out there, in the pouring rain, Riley and Cameron were visibly agitated.

I couldn’t hear a word they were saying, but the jerky, restrained moves of their tight fists told me they were fighting.

“Somebody’s in trouble,” Sawyer said.

“Do you think we should leave them alone?” I asked, my discomfort at watching a couple fight growing to unbearable levels. Never in my life had I experienced a fight like that. I’d never had a boyfriend to do it with, even if I wanted to. And however awesome it was to learn all these new and wonderful things with Sawyer in my bedroom, I couldn’t exactly pretend there was more to it. We weren’t really dating.

Just as I took a step back, the unexpected happened. The blond guy, Riley, grabbed the troublemaking Cameron, and the two began to fight. No. They were…kissing.

“What the hell is going on?” Sawyer moaned. “Right. Enough peeping.” He laughed, then pulled away from the window. I followed him, but my mind was racing. Out there, those two guys were fighting, kissing, and experiencing a storm of emotions.

And in here, I had no idea where I was heading.

But that didn’t matter right now. Sawyer was leading the way, and I could definitely afford to follow him unthinkingly for a while longer.

The truth was, he was way too much fun to be around. Even if the most he ever gave me were these Saturday evenings, I would be happy to have them. It was so much better than what my life had been before.

Cold reason told me it couldn’t last, but I silenced my cold reason. The same voice told me I’d failed at everything I’d ever tried after one lucky moment when I was a teen. And that voice could fuck right off tonight because Sawyer had chosen me. No matter what happened next, Sawyer had made me the center of his world tonight.

Chapter Eleven

SAWYER

The blades of my skates cut across the ice as my stick swiped in front of me and the puck ricocheted away from the goalpost.

The cheers erupted through half the rink while the other half groaned and booed. In spite of them, I lifted my stick and pirouetted a little before returning to my post. Whatever these sad little Blizzard Breakers were trying wasn’t working this time.

Far ahead, Cameron lifted his gloved fist at me in celebration. He and Riley worked like twins on the offensive, with Caden Jones leading the left wing. Behind him, in visible discord, Beckett Partridge was struggling to align his tactics. Those two were near the top of our team in talent but firmly sitting at the bottom when it came to their performance. Especially now that Cameron and Riley were working for the good of the team. And making out whenever they thought they were alone in the basement of our frat house. I supposed that was as good a way to smooth out the differences as any.