Page 51 of Arctic Titans of Northwood U: Volume 2

“Oh, Sawyer,” I whispered to myself. “I’m gonna build a monument to your valiant contributions.” And again, I laughed. Impatience kicked in, but I contained myself. My instinct was to run to the Thinker and drag Avery out to talk to me. But that was wrong. Among his friends and worrying about Sawyer, he wouldn’t be in a loving mood. I had to be smart.

But that was okay.

I could arrange things and show him that I would bring down the stars from the sky for him. Because he still cared. Even if he hadn’t spoken to me, the emotionless mask had slipped for a moment there. He had revealed just how scared he was. He had allowed his feelings to shine for one brilliant moment and all the physical pain had gone away when I saw it.

My heart had healed, too. Not fully, but it was mending itself.

I wasn’t going to miss my last chance with the guy I loved.

Chapter Sixteen

AVERY

Our team didn’t linger at the bar for too long. Most of them went to the house after one drink, but a few remained. Sawyer had worse things to worry about than disciplinary actions hanging over his head. He had a boyfriend to explain this to. And I insisted on being there. Noah watched so few of our games that this was just terrible timing. And even when Sawyer explained his side of the story, Noah was angry.

“You hockey boys and all your testosterone,” he grumbled. “That was a ridiculous risk and just a terrible thing to do.” He turned his gaze to me. “And you? Do you condone this?”

My tongue was tied. Noah was easily the nicest guy ever. Until he wasn’t. Bristling like a disgruntled kitten, he was genuinely scary. “I…no. Not condone. But…”

“But?” he asked. “But what?”

I folded my lips like a scolded child. Sawyer glanced at me as if we were just boys in primary school, caught sword-fighting with umbrellas.

Noah slumped in his chair and took a gulp of his beer. “Seriously,” he exhaled. “I get it. I really do. If he ever broke my heart like that, I would want someone to kick his ass, but…not like that. And not for real. Violence isn’t the answer.”

“You’ve got a loyal guy here,” I said. “Loyal to friends and to you.”

Noah softened a little, visibly relaxing. He glanced at Sawyer and love pooled in his eyes. “I do.” He put a hand on the back of Sawyer’s neck. I could have been mistaken, but it looked like Noah was feeling a little more attracted to his boyfriend than usual. The glassy look in his eyes and the heated cheeks told me it was time to go home. The thing about a sweet boy like Noah? He had a weakness for the trouble-makers. And Sawyer had unlocked a whole new level tonight.

I left the lovebirds with only a slight sense of envy tainting my heart. As I headed back to the team house, I wondered if Grayson was alright. He hadn’t made a fuss about it. A cruel part of me said that it was the least he could do, but most of my heart still bled for him. He had been chivalrous beyond my imagination.

Damn him.

When I saw him sprawled out on the ice, blood coming from his nose, mouth red, and eyes distant, I wanted to fall on him and protect him. I wanted to hold him and kiss the pain away.

Why did I feel this way? Why couldn’t I kill it already and feel nothing? I was torn between all the pain over the betrayal and all the admiration at how he had taken this disaster.

Grayson remained in my thoughts despite my best efforts to block him out. He was there when I undressed for bed and there when I woke up. The somber atmosphere in the house on Saturday was the worst for distractions, so everything I did was observed by the imaginary Grayson I carried around. I didn’t want him there, but his quips and teases whispered into my ear throughout the day.

Caden admitted he had had a lot of pleasure in crashing Spencer into the boards. “Now we get to gloat, too,” he said. I hadn’t realized how many details everyone knew. I’d told most of the story to most of my teammates in bits and pieces, but it looked like they put the entire thing together between themselves. And they did a good job of that.

“Thank you,” I said. I was at a loss for anything smarter or more appropriate.

Beckett bristled. “I wish I’d gotten my hands on one of them.” He looked at me. “You got Cole, didn’t you?”

I shook my head. “Not like that. He was in the way.”

“Fair play,” Beckett said.

I shrugged. I didn’t doubt that Cole had participated in the dare that had made me look like a fool. Even so, he hadn’t fucking reveled in spoiling the best time of my life.

Neither had Grayson, to be fair, but I was still furious with him for lying to me.

There was no news about Sawyer that day. He wasn’t going to drills. Most likely, he would be suspended, but nobody knew for how long and to what end. The whispers were that he could be made into an example, which would suck. Beckett vowed he wouldn’t let that happen, but what he could do wasn’t clear to anyone.

Sebastian and Tyler stood like his bodyguards when we left the rink after practice. They had trailed him all afternoon, saying they would leave nothing to chance. “You never know if Grayson plans a revenge. Maybe that’s why he didn’t want to make a big deal out of it.”

I doubted it, but it was nice to see this level of camaraderie in the team. We hadn’t had that since before Cameron had joined the team last year and began his rivalry with Riley Brooks. For a breath, it had seemed like things cooled down, but then Beckett and Caden spent this semester fighting over the captaincy. Ironically, both pairs resolved their differences with the lights off.