Page 38 of Arctic Titans of Northwood U: Volume 2

Mine. All mine. Only mine. The possessive, competitive nature kicked in. Haters could hate all they wanted, but this person belonged to me. I wasn’t giving him up.

Chapter Eleven

GRAYSON

I let my imagination run wild. Not that I was anywhere close to exhausting my ideas. The trick was to balance them with some more down-to-earth occasions, so I wouldn’t scare my man away.

Spencer tapped his foot in the kitchen, but he was typing furiously on his phone just like I was.

How about we rent tuxedos and crash a black-tie event?

Charming.

I can still get that carriage to take us downtown. Fair warning, though, it turns into a pumpkin if we let it wait for too long.

How about you just come over and we have a cozy evening?

Say no more. I’m in.

I slipped my phone into my pocket, stretched my arms high above my head, yawned, and got up. I carried my plate to the sink, washed it, and put it on the rack to dry. “I’m heading out.”

“Who would have guessed?” Spencer said sullenly.

I gritted my teeth and paused at the door, tempted to turn around and confront him. Not worth it, I thought, then slipped out. It took me the better part of the following hour to get ready and I refused to think about Spencer’s mood until I was out of the dormitory and on my merry way to see my boyfriend. Avery actually cared. Avery made things better. He made me feel like I was a fun, interesting person; he made me happy. Even walking in the direction of his campus, I felt my heart growing and warmth spilling through my chest.

This damn sulkiness was driving me crazy. Spencer was supposed to be my friend. He was supposed to be happy for me. I never would have put myself in the way of his happiness. And the more I thought about it, the clearer it was that Avery was my happiness. He was my happy place. He was my comfort person.

Spencer didn’t get it. He didn’t want to get it. It wasn’t like I hadn’t tried bonding. Just this morning, I’d asked him to head out with me and have coffee someplace nice.

“It’s snowing,” he complained. As if a little snow would harm him.

All he wanted was to go to frat parties, flirt with girls, and keep score. Not me, though. I didn’t need a score anymore. I had won. I had scored something so wildly beyond my expectations that I had to hold it close and grip it hard. It was mine. It was good.

And with those thoughts, I reached his team house and decided not to think of it as a nest of vipers. They were all good guys, but the fact that they were Titans still made me nervous about knocking. The competitive instinct was slow to die. Even so, for Avery, I would walk on hot coals. What could a house full of Arctic Titans do to me?

I rang the doorbell and waited. I was hoping Avery would be the first to the door, but it was the last person I wanted to face who opened the door. Their captain, Beckett Partridge, of the Partridge hockey royalty did. “Well, well, well,” he said smugly as he stood in the way. A little smirk touched the corners of his lips. “Came to distract one of my best guys?”

“You know it,” I said. “I’m this close to recruiting him for the Breakers.” I lifted both my hands and measured a solid eight inches.

Beckett snorted and opened the door wider. “Get in.”

“Thanks,” I said. I didn’t betray the fact that my palms were sweating. It was one thing to pass them by in a bar or at a party. It was totally different coming here. They’d never made me feel out of place, exactly, but there was always a reminder that we were natural enemies. Like lions and antelopes. I didn’t want to think who was who, but being this deep in their den made me feel like a twitchy antelope more than I would admit.

“Are you ready to reveal your strategy for next week’s game?” Beckett Partridge asked, throwing an arm around my shoulders as the door shut behind my back.

I almost asked him if his uncle was ready to retire and give someone else a chance, but that was a touchy subject. I didn’t mean to offend, so I kept my mouth shut and shook my head.

“Oh well. Next time,” Beckett said, winking. To my rescue came his assistant captain and the better part of their relationship.

“I thought we stopped torturing our enemies,” Caden Jones said as he appeared from the ground floor hallway. His tone didn’t allow for any debates and his grin was directed at me. “He’s upstairs.”

“And that’s where I’ll be, too,” I said and clapped my hands as I slipped out from under Beckett’s arm. As I passed Caden, I heard Beckett snicker. I was at the stairs when I overheard a bit of their conversation.

“Stop acting all tough,” Caden was teasing. “Or I’ll show you your place.”

“I’d love to see you try,” Beckett said cockily. It was followed by an audible kiss and I screamed at myself to hurry the fuck up and stop eavesdropping on their blatant foreplay.

“I just might,” Caden told him in a low voice.