Page 54 of Arctic Titans of Northwood U: Volume 3

“But there must be someone special. Someone you trust more than the others?”

Griffin’s face flashed through my mind. The way he’d looked at me in the locker room, those hazel eyes bright with encouragement. The wink that had sent my pulse skittering.

“Phoenix is our captain,” I said instead.

Jen made another note. “What about Griffin Shaw? You two seem to have great chemistry on the ice.”

My throat went dry. “We play well together.”

“That’s it?”

“That’s it.” I liked Jen, I won’t lie, but I wasn’t going to share the entire history of Griff and me with a big-eyed stranger, no matter how easy she made it to trust her. Griffin was my best friend. He had held that title for over a decade. He was in every good memory I had. He was in every important event of my life. He was a constant fact in my universe, like a monolith older than time itself. Those were the facts.

He also happened to be the only person I ever wanted to spend my life with. Now, that…that was daydreaming.

She watched me for a long moment, and I had the uncomfortable feeling she could see straight through whatever facade I thought I was maintaining.

“Okay,” she said finally. “One last question. What do you want people to see when they watch this show? What’s your story?”

I stared at the recording device, at the red light that meant everything I said was being captured, stored, ready to be broadcast to strangers who would judge me based on thirty-second clips.

“I don’t have a story,” I said.

“Everyone has a story, Andrei.”

“Then maybe mine isn’t interesting enough.”

She smiled again. “Oh, I think it is. I think you’re going to be exactly what this show needs.”

I left the office without understanding what she meant, but with a cold certainty that I’d just signed up for something that would cost me more than I was prepared to pay. Griffin was waiting in the hallway, spinning his stick between his hands, and when he saw me, his face lit up with that golden retriever enthusiasm that made my chest ache.

“How’d it go?” he asked.

“Fine.”

“Just fine? Come on, you must have crushed it. You’re mysterious and brooding. Chicks dig that.”

If only he knew how wrong he was.

“Your turn,” I said, nodding toward the office door.

He grinned and shouldered past me, close enough that I caught the scent of his shampoo. “Watch and learn, Sokolov. This is how you win over a room.”

The door closed behind him, and I was left standing in the hallway, knowing with absolute certainty that Griffin would charm Jen the same way he charmed everyone. He would, without a shred of doubt, be the star of this show. And knowing just as certainly that I’d agreed to spend the next year watching it happen, cameras rolling, while I pretended not to care.

Phoenix emerged from the other end of the hall, looking like he’d swallowed something bitter. He caught sight of me and shook his head.

“What a joke,” he muttered. “They want us to be characters, not players.”

Through the office door, I could hear Griffin’s laugh, warm and genuine, followed by Jen’s responding chuckle. My stomach twisted.

“Yeah,” I said. “What a joke.”

But I was already in it now, for better or worse. And mostly, I suspected, for worse.

Chapter Two

GRIFFIN