Page 61 of Dark Delights

“No, of course I’m not.”

“You are! Asher really did a number on you…. Nearly nineteen and never been kissed...well, until recently, that is.”

“Wait…who kissed who?” Lily asked.

“Beckett kissed Eve in the hot tub, to make up for being a fucking pussy before.”

“He did?” Lily fixed me with a look. “I didn’t know that.” Her expression promised that we’d be discussing this further once we were alone.

“It was nothing…we were just messing around.” I turned my face away from everyone, trying to hide my blazing cheeks.

Tyler snorted. “Anderson doesn’t really strike me as the type to mess around.”

“Oh, he wasn’t messing.” Marcus winked at me. “Neither of them was.”

“You perv…were you watching?” I wondered.

“I was just making sure that Beckett followed through.” Marcus adjusted his hips. “Turns me on just to think about taking all those firsts.”

Just then, a hockey stick flew through the air from the doorway and landed on Marcus, doubling him up with pain.

“Ah, Jesus!”

“No, just me,” Beckett said, shooting his friend a grin. “Look alive, Bailey.” He’d just come in the door and launched his stick with terrifying accuracy at the couch.

“You bruised my balls,” Marcus complained and rolled into a ball on the sofa.

Beckett shrugged off his coat and hung it on one of the hooks by the door. There was a huge array of winter stuff there, as well as hockey gear. If you were ever confused about which sport the students in this dorm played, you wouldn’t be for long. It reminded me of Asher and our hallway at home, and I felt a pang of sadness. I missed him so damn much.

Beckett sauntered in and stared me up and down, his gaze lingering on my short skirt. It wasn’t scandalous in any way. I had leggings on underneath, yet it suddenly felt indecent.

“Get this piece-of-shit stick off me,” Marcus complained, knocking the stick onto the floor. “I only mess with custom sticks.”

“Fuck off,” Beckett muttered to him and came into the room.

Now that I studied it, Beckett’s hockey stick was different from his old one. That had been distinctive, with purple and yellow colors down the side. This one was standard and pretty scratched up. What had happened to his old one?

“Eve,” Tyler said from behind me and pulled my gaze from the door.

“Hmm?”

“I meant to tell you the space in my room got filled at the last minute, that’s who the last place setting is for.”

“Oh, really? Who’s the new player?”

Cayden sighed dramatically beside Tyler. “Some loser from my old high school.” He sounded annoyed about it.

Cayden’s old high school?I remembered that place. There had been one noteworthy player there, and I’d met him when Lily had taken me along to dig into Cayden’s past.

“Cade, my ears are burning,” a loud, deep voice boomed from the doorway. The newcomer had just walked in, a confident smile on his handsome face. He was immediately familiar. It was the other hockey player, the one from Cayden’s old school. He smiled around at everyone before his attention settled on me. “I remember you, gorgeous.”

“Likewise. You’re Chase, right?”

“The one and only.” Chase approached, all easy charm and twinkling eyes. “You’re Asher Martino’s sister, aren’t you? I didn’t know that when you and the redhead came to visit me last year.” He rocked back on his heels and took us in.

I stuck a hand out to Chase. “Nice to meet you, officially, this time.”

“Nice to meet you, too. I’m the Hellions’ new right wing. I’m your brother’s replacement.”

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