Page 123 of Arctic Titans of Northwood U: Volume 3

DAMON

The Alpha Clan was an unmissable place the weekend before the semester officially kicked off. Had I not decided to live with my ice brothers in the team house, I would have gone through the whole wicked fun of hazing to be one of these devils. But as things were, I was an honorary guest at their parties.

My teammates didn’t love the idea of moving through the crowd of fraternity fuckboys. Apparently, we were too famous or something. Blades of Northwood had gone a long way in boosting our profiles, but the image they had created for me was in line with someone who’d go to a frat party to break some heads and screw around. Not that I would necessarily do either of those things unless compelled.

I pushed the heavy bar up, feeling my chest shudder with exertion, then placed it on the safety pegs before embarrassing myself. I was exhausted, but the pump was going to show tonight if I picked my shirt right.

After showering at the gym, I sprayed my neck with cologne three times for luck, dressed, and went back to the house for the final touches. The shirt, as expected, hugged me tightly around the chest and waist, fitted for my physique just the right way.

Mason snorted when he saw me getting dressed. “Can’t miss a single one?”

I flipped him off. If he knew what the meaning of life was, he would have joined me. But as things stood, he was a lost cause. Sure, hockey was fun, and it was everyone’s priority, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t have a hobby, right?

“Don’t wait up, Pops,” I said, strolling out of the room I shared with my mouthy hothead of a friend. I waved goodbye to the others as I passed through the house. Andrei and Griffin lounged in the living room, Griffin’s head resting in Andrei’s lap, all wild curls and sweet smiles.

My heart gave a little murmur of grief. But that was okay. I’d put it to work tonight. I wasn’t going around falling in love. That was for better people than this. I wasn’t as gallant or as tolerant for anyone to put up with me for long.

The steady beat of joyless music poured out of the colonial house a block away from my team house. The Alpha Clan had a reputation to uphold. They couldn’t play something soulful or entertaining. It had to sound like a construction site with the beat taking the roof off the house. Odd noises, strange movements of tones, and no melody to be found. Just like I liked it.

I stepped through the doors that were wide open and into a crowd of college students in the large living room. They had paper cups in their hands and were grouped in twos and threes and fours, warming up. Lights were dim and the music loud, but it didn’t stop people from talking.

This was basically the waiting room for the party downstairs. The basement was a bare thing with speakers and lasers mounted to the walls, kegs stacked in corners, and a stash of alcohol everyone pretended didn’t exist. God bless Greek life.

I went downstairs into the bowels of hell, the noise erasing all thoughts from my crowded skull, the scent of sweat and booze a promise of a night that would never end.

There was something poetic about it, if I took the time to think. It was a maze of nightmares, really, where you were supposed to wander hopelessly in the search for a sunrise.

But I didn’t take the time to think. My life was a maze of the same sort.

Someone put a drink in my hand, calling me a Titan and making me drink. It wasn’t so difficult to make me do things. I drank only to find that it was just beer.

The arm that had draped my shoulders fell away as the person got busy with other guests. The gazes I got were curious. This was the first campus party of the year and the first I attended since the wrap of Blades of Northwood. By now, those who watched along had seen twenty episodes of my life and the lives of my friends and teammates. They’d seen the forced narrative of my bad temper, seen the clashes against the Steel Saints and Blizzard Breakers, and seen the locker room scenes that never failed to make me look as ripped as I really was.

Yeah. I could see it in those eyes. They wondered if what they’d seen was real. The gaze slipped down my body, boys and girls equally curious.

A red-haired girl caught my gaze, held it, and pulled me in. I’d seen her on campus before, in passing, but she’d turned her head the other way after I’d caught her looking. Not now. She lifted the corners of her lips into an inviting smile that did its job.

I wandered in her direction, bumping into bodies that danced to the beat, hopping and jumping. A guy nearly as tall as me had one arm lifted high above his head, fist pumping in the rhythm of the music, topless torso glistening with perspiration, the scent working like an aphrodisiac. He moved to let me pass, turning his front to me, making me curious enough to slow down in the movement. His other hand reached for my upper arm, feeling my muscles as he nodded a greeting. The beat shifted, and his attention bounced back to the music.

I passed through to where another guy was chatting with the redhead. The two of them made a pretty pair. I could see it happening if the mood held until late into the night.

“What are you drinking?” the girl asked.

“Whatever you’re offering,” I said. “It’s Damon.”

“I know, Damon,” she said, her voice smoky and disarming. “Amber.”

“No way that’s your name,” I said.

Her eyes glowed with mischief. “It is tonight.”

“Alright, Red,” I said. “Give me your best.”

She swirled the contents of her cup and handed it to me. I was game. I downed her drink, discovering that it was whiskey inside. Not bad. I was no stranger to mixing booze, though I didn’t have the palate to appreciate something like this. I was all about the ends, not so much about the means.

The grin on Red’s face matched the guy’s, and it almost filled the hollowness inside my chest. “Good?” she asked, her hand resting on her friend’s shoulder.

I shrugged. “I’m a simple guy.” My gaze went to the friend. He was handsome, pretty eyes and strong jaw, mustache and goatee framing full lips and making me wonder what it felt like to kiss someone with facial hair. It was probably like all kissing, fun for a moment, then irritating.