Page 50 of Callous Shot

“Move.”

I shifted over, because I was too tired to argue with him, and this was…not nice, but it wasn’t not nice. I wasn’t argumentative by nature, and anyone who said that was a lying slanderer who lies, so it was honestly a relief to not have to be combative with him for a minute. Then again, being combative came so easily when my nemesis was involved.

“Didn’t you learn manners in that fancy boarding school of yours?” I said as he stretched out next to me. “Or from your parents?”

“You think you deserve my manners?” He rolled onto his side, and I suddenly had a large hockey player pressed up against my arm, his minty breath skittering across my face. I turned, meeting his gaze.

“Nah, probably not. Back to the gatecrashing thing. You do realise that your team captain invited us, yeah?”

“That was a fucking stupid idea.”

“There were only, like, two fights, and everyone else left happy. You ended up happy, from what I remember⁠—”

“Don’t fucking speak of it,” he growled, his fingers reaching up to curl around my throat. Not this again. At this rate, I might as well tattoo his handprint on my neck. I was also starting to get a little concerned about the way my heart went all jumpy every time he did it. That definitely wasn’t normal.

“Don’t speak of what? The blowjob? Or the part where you gave me a little souvenir to remember you by?”

“Fuck you.” His fingers tightened, and my dick perked up in interest. No. This was not happening. We’d already compromised our fraught relationship tonight, probably irreversibly, and there was no way I was going to add to that.

Shaking my head, I curled my fingers around his palm. “Stop. Can we just…call a temporary truce? Just for tonight?” I kind of hated myself for even suggesting it, but I was so fucking tired. The last few days had been a lot to deal with, and tonight had been the worst yet.

He let me lower his hand, and when it was a safe distance from my face, I immediately pulled away. Shifting onto his back, he stared up at the ceiling. “A temporary truce for tonight? We can try, if you can manage not to irritate the fuck out of me. Want to, uh, watch TV or play PlayStation or something?”

“Try not to irritate me, and I’ll be my usual charming self. I’m sure we can manage one night. Maybe. Uh, as for TV… that’s a no go. I’m supposed to limit my screen time for the next couple of days.” I sighed. Now I was stumped. I couldn’t picture us sitting around playing board games or any of that cosy friends-and-family shit. “Music?”

“Music…” he said slowly. “Yeah, we can do that. What music⁠—”

“Don’t pretend that you don’t know my music tastes, Bellingham. You’ve stalked me enough to know what I like.”

“Fuck you, Hoyton. I bet you have a whole fucking dossier on me, like the little criminal you are.”

“I do not!” That was actually a lie, but there was no way I was going to tell him that. Anyway, there was that saying, something about “know thine enemy,” so I was just taking precautions.

He rolled his eyes, tapping at his phone, and less than a minute later, I heard the familiar sound of Sleep Theory playing softly from the speaker on his desk. I grinned as he continued tapping at his phone.

Eventually, his head rose. “I’ve unblocked you, okay?”

My grin widened. “I knew you wanted to stalk me again.”

“Fuck off, you’re the stalker. Speaking of, while we’re in a truce situation, why don’t we ask each other questions instead of you using your stalker surveillance methods?”

I stared at him. This was unexpected.

“Okay. We can play your little getting-to-know-you game, but I reserve the right to veto any I don’t want to answer. And I do not have any stalker surveillance methods, you dick.”

“If you say so. The veto goes for me too,” he murmured, his lips kicking up. “Okay. I’ll start. What do you want to do when you finish uni?”

Hmm…he was clearly easing me in before going for the throat. I hummed. “What I have to do and what I want to do…I guess they’re the same. I dunno, I’ll probably end up going into the family business. I’m not expected to take over or anything, but I’ll probably find a position somewhere. My family have done a lot for me, and I wanna repay them. They’re pretty chilled, so I can take my pick, really. Even do something else if I wanted to.”

“What if the business wasn’t a factor?”

I thought about it for a minute. “I guess…if that wasn’t a factor, maybe hockey. Not in the EIHL, because I’m not at that level, but there could be a small chance I could get on a team in the NIHL. That would be a good compromise, because I could potentially do that and still work for my family. Depends if any of the teams wanted me, I guess, and how far away they were from here. Honestly, though? I’d happily do something in the business and play hockey as a hobby.”

“Why wouldn’t they want you? You’re easily good enough.”

“Lincoln Bellingham, are you trying to compliment me?” I batted my lashes at him, and he snorted, shoving my arm.

“Fuck off. I’ve never known anyone as egotistical as you.”