Page 4 of Arctic Titans of Northwood U: Volume 2

I was happy we won. Obviously. But did I feel the need to risk twisting my ankle by jumping up and down while wearing my blades? Hell no. I was smarter than that. And I didn’t like pointless risks. They did nothing for me.

So, while my reckless teammates jumped up and down, including even the pouty newbie, Asher Sullivan, I looked at the losing team. Most of them were taking their helmets off roughly as if wanting to smash them against the ice. But one of them wasn’t angry at all.

Grayson Reed.

He blazed around on his skates and tossed his stick to a teammate while taking his helmet off. And when he did, he wore the goofiest smile I had ever seen. You would have been excused for thinking he had just scored the biggest victory of his life. Someone on his team said something and Grayson Reed threw his head back and laughed out loud. As he slowed to a halt, he twirled on his skates. Like he could feel my cool gaze on him, he turned his head and looked directly into my eyes.

Even from here, I could see him clearly. I’d clashed with him countless times on the ice. Last year, he was promoted to assistant captain after only a couple of months. He had been on the offense like me since he joined the team. I knew his eyes were chestnut. I knew how veins appeared on his neck when he exhausted himself. I knew what his dusty blond hair looked like when it sweated under his helmet. And I knew those lips both when they sneered and when they grinned. I’d seen him bare his teeth under his helmet countless times. I’d seen him challenging me and mocking me in too many encounters.

A cold wind washed over me. The muscles in my neck stiffened. It was as though I was being pulled toward him by an invisible rope.

Grayson mock-saluted me with two fingers touching his temple. I didn’t reply but turned away from him. My teammates were preparing to leave the rink and I followed. In the locker room, the atmosphere was more relaxed than it had been in ages. The victory had brought us closer together, even if it was for just one moment. Beckett and Caden exchanged a respectful nod. Even Asher wasn’t as sullen and pouty as he usually was. Sebastian had Tyler in a headlock, rubbing his head with his knuckles, and Phoenix was next to them, laughing out loud. Jordan, Asher’s stepbrother, wore a subtle smile. Sawyer was on his phone, probably making plans to see his boyfriend, Noah, for a round of celebratory drinks.

After we showered and dressed, some of the guys took a raincheck, Beckett gave in and decided to join us for one drink but warned us not to go wild, and Caden shrugged and said he would sit with the team for a bit. I wondered if he had a date later or if he just didn’t want to be exposed to Beckett all that much. Whatever. I was in a good mood after the victory. It spoke of a turning tide.

Not that the Breakers were that hard to beat, but our season was already in shambles, so I would take what I got. When the smaller group of us walked out of the rink, we headed straight for the Thirsty Thinker tavern. It was a sizable establishment, so it wasn’t a big surprise to find a lot of the Blizzard Breakers congregating on one end. We smartly followed Beckett to the opposite side of the bar.

The chatter and the music of the bar were enough of a buffer between us and our opponents that we could safely joke, laugh, and celebrate without rubbing it in too much. A little was allowed, though.

We kicked things off with a round of beers. Our freshmen, Asher and Phoenix, waited for our seniors, Sebastian and Tyler, to bring a double order of drinks. Nobody asked too many questions at the Thinker, but we never pushed our luck by sending the baby-faced teammates to get their own drinks.

The party grew smaller after the first round. Jordan said something to Asher about drinking and Asher threw his hands up so wildly that it was obvious he was fed up. He drained his drink, slapped his roommate, Phoenix, on the shoulder, and said they would talk later. Phoenix, for his part, turned a friendly smile to everyone he came across. His tattooed arms and neck — and as I had noticed in the locker room, chest, and some parts of the sides of his torso and smaller areas of his legs — attempted to give him a bad-boy aura, but his grin shattered those ideas.

Jordan remained, shaking his head, and rolled his eyes when Beckett said something I could barely hear. “…him time. He’ll understand.”

Caden didn't stay with us for long. He moved over to the bar and struck up a conversation with some guy. It didn’t take a genius to see where things were headed. Even so, Caden made it clear after a time. He and his date were all handsy with one another, never missing a chance to lean in while laughing. Since Beckett had been named the captain, all Caden did was flirt around. I liked it. He deserved to have some fun. But there were moments when I felt like he was doing it in a much more destructive fashion.

Not my place to lecture him, I decided.

Beckett clapped his hands after putting his phone inside his jacket pocket, said something I missed, and then headed toward the bar. I watched him as he ordered drinks and the fury in his eyes when Caden and the guy kissed, bumping into Beckett’s elbow and spilling some of his beer. The altercation was brief because Jordan intervened, but it lasted only a minute, and then he returned, shaking his head. The two soon left the tavern one after the other and I didn’t see them for the rest of the night.

The shrinking group on our side of the bar ordered another round of drinks. Sawyer’s boyfriend, Noah, joined just then, and my friend’s attention was redirected completely to him. I didn’t blame him. Noah was an interesting guy and objectively handsome as hell. It was only right for Sawyer to forget about the rest of the world when Noah entered a room.

I looked to my left, where Jordan mulled over something, finished his drink, and decided to head back to the house. Across from where he had been sitting, the conjoined twins, Tyler and Sebastian, had their phones out, tapping hurriedly. They were probably texting their girlfriends, whose names I couldn’t remember and whose faces I couldn’t distinguish. I had seen them both, but I would be hard-pressed to match them with their boys. Both guys were smirking. And to my right, Sawyer and Noah were still experiencing their honeymoon phase even though they had been together for over half a year — I was starting to think they were just simply happy.

That left me. Alone. The fifth wheel.

My gaze wandered around the tavern. Fewer and fewer students remained. Most of the Breakers had left, too. And as I scanned the mostly empty tables Grayson Reed’s team had occupied, my gaze landed on his oblong face.

He had been staring at me. I didn’t know for how long. But when our gazes met, I saw the spike of panic on his face. He almost looked away but instead cocked up one side of his lips and lifted his head in a greeting. He was about to drink, so he paused and saluted me with a tall glass of foggy beer.

My eyes narrowed. A sort of humming filled my ears. My hands were clumsy when I reached for my glass like someone else was controlling them. I lifted the glass, pursed my lips for a moment, and then drank. Even when I looked away from him and then returned my gaze back to him, he was facing me.

Why? Was he mocking me? Or was he angry that I had blocked him to secure the win? It was his own fault. He had been careless, cackling like an idiot instead of focusing on the puck.

Sometimes, I felt like Sawyer was right. Maybe I was a robot. I had no clue why Grayson wasn’t talking to his friends but instead looking in my direction every so often. I tried to be cool about it and not reveal that I was observing him, too, but he caught me at it three or four times.

“We should head to your place,” Sawyer said to Noah. I looked at him, then checked the time. It wasn’t even eleven. Last year, before Sawyer had met Noah, he had been a menace. Taking him out usually meant staying until dawn. Occasionally, Sawyer would disappear for an hour or two, then reappear with the goofiest smile on his face. I’d always played along, but I hadn’t been all too happy seeing my friend waste his time on meaningless hookups.

Not that I wasn’t guilty of quite a few myself. But the tales of my bedroom conquests were greatly exaggerated. Back then, Sawyer had often assumed that if he was sleeping around, everyone was. Especially me. The truth was, I had never bothered correcting him. It changed nothing and it would have involved a lot of explaining of things that even I wasn’t sure of. I’d been around the block with a few people, but it had never felt right and so important that I would need to brag about it.

“Are you staying?” Sawyer asked me. “We’re watching Bride of Frankenstein. You can come with us.”

I wasn’t thrilled about third-wheeling tonight. “Nah, I think I’ll stay a while longer.”

“Your loss,” Sawyer singsonged.

“I really don’t think it is,” I replied.