Page 13 of Arctic Titans of Northwood U: Volume 2

Cole flipped one of those around and read it out loud. “Newsflash, heartbreaker: I am Tinkerbell. Your disdain for my letters has made my fairy wings sag. I am on my pixie deathbed. Send attention. ASAP. Winged and wounded — your Snarky Tink.”

I was damn proud of that one, but my friends rolled their eyes.

“Dearest Avery,” Spencer read. “I write to you with the utmost urgency to request your attendance at Tiki Lounge for a day of pampering. Please check the box for the date that suits you best and return to the sender. Note that there is no way to decline this. You are absolutely trapped. Yours desperately, Grayson Reed.” Spencer shot me a contemptuous look. “Have some dignity, dude.”

I laughed out loud. “Don’t you worry about my dignity.”

“Dear Avery, it looks like you are a hard guy to drag out of your room. Let me bring a date to you, then. No one has to know. I’ll bring a ladder and sneak in through your window. Gray.” Cole chuckled at that one and shook his head. “Do you maybe think we’re harassing the poor guy?”

My heart dropped. They didn’t know Avery. I mean, I didn’t know him either, but I knew a whole lot more about my date-to-be and rink-rival than my friends did. Deep down, Avery was enjoying it. His text messages, while sporadic as fuck, had told me as much. “He’s fine,” I said. “Now, I need to mail these out.”

Spencer sorted the cards for me the way they had been, then handed them back to me. But as I took them, the grip tightened on his end. “You’re really taking this dare seriously.”

I looked into his eyes and attempted a mix of iron determination and friendly playfulness. “Don’t dare me if you’re not ready to see me in action.”

Spencer surrendered the cards, but his expression remained unsure and reluctant.

“What?” I asked.

He shrugged and exchanged a look with Cole. “Nothing.” Sometimes, silence was a bigger motivator than any question you could ask. Spencer simmered in it for a minute, then finally broke. “You have an obsessive personality, Gray. I’m wondering if it was smart to challenge you like that.”

“I do not,” I said, incredulous, and grabbed my chest with over-the-top surprise.

“Oh yeah? Remember when you watched the original Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy every Friday for a year? You could quote the whole thing. More to the point, you never missed a chance to tell everyone it was the greatest movie trilogy since The Lord of the Rings.” Spencer’s piercing gaze was solely on me. Cole snickered at the revelation.

“Because it is,” I insisted. “I like my swashbuckling pirates swaggering on their ships. And Davy Jones is the greatest villain of all time.” I fake-choked up. “It breaks my heart to think about him.”

“That’s what I was telling you about,” Spencer explained to Cole, then turned to me again. “The fact is, when you get into something, you go all the way. And this isn’t the time to get distracted, Gray. We just lost our winning streak ten days ago. We should be focused.”

“You’re making a problem where there isn’t one,” I said coolly. I was the captain of this team, not my best friend. He needed to remember that. “I am giving it my best. This thing with Avery? It’s all for shits and giggles.”

Spencer surrendered. “If you say so. Alright.”

“You go get him, Cap,” Cole added, but not nearly as lightly as before.

I walked away with the cards in my hands. My friends were wrong. I wasn’t losing focus because of Avery. I was as dedicated to my team as ever. This whole thing was pure fun and nothing else. It was no different than hanging out with friends.

As for my obsessive nature, Spencer might have had a bit of a point. I tend to love things hard and fast. But those things passed, too, so it wasn’t like I had a problem on my hands.

My phone buzzed in my pocket when I turned the corner and saw Cupid’s at the end of the street. I might have been a tad too excited when I felt the vibration against my leg. I pulled my phone out and chuckled with delight.

Just when I thought I was out of choices, you finally gave up!

I was letting you catch your breath, honey. You’re never getting rid of me.

Avery left it at that, not even suspecting that he was about to receive a wizarding school level of mail unless he went out on a date with me.

“That’s an impressive stack,” the young man behind the counter said while counting the cards. Each card was from their shop and each was uniquely designed. I had decided against repeating them for these thirty days.

“I’d like him to get one each morning. Is that possible?” I already knew the answer.

“Absolutely,” the guy said. “We can have them delivered first thing every day.”

“And don’t stop unless I call and say so, please,” I said. In case Avery agreed on this date, I would flood him with gifts other than cards. For now, though, this was as good as it got.

The guy took my card and enabled a repeat payment option, then assured me they would start delivering them the following day. He wished me luck with my romantic endeavors and suggested I should look around the shop for more ideas. I said I was fully aware of their entire assortment and had grand plans, which made him laugh.

As I returned to campus, I wondered if Spencer would suggest dropping this whole dare. He seemed close to calling quits on it earlier. And what would I do then? Chase a guy mercilessly without a cute excuse? Creepy. Or worse, would I have to stop?