Page 21 of The Trophy

“Is there anywhere we could talk in private?” Blaze says, looking around for anyone who might have ventured all the way back here.

For once I don’t blame him. The last thing we need for the awkward conversation of the century is a fucking audience.

Lakyn looks unsure. “Can this wait? I’m supposed to man the reception desk, my boss will be wondering where I disappeared to.”

“I think we have a few minutes,” I reassure her, unable to stifle an eye roll. “Your boss was at the reception desk when we got here. When we asked her where we could find you, she told us you were helping Prince Luca find what he needed.”

Blaze intervenes. “She sounded very proud of it. She added that having the prince come here to study is an honor. So I’m sure she’ll be ok for a few more minutes, since she knows you’re with Luca.”

I can’t help but snicker at the situation and at Luca’s satisfied smirk. I wish I could hate the guy, he was born with a platinum spoon encrusted with diamonds shoved in his mouth; our backgrounds couldn’t be any more different and yet, when you get past his arrogant veneer, Luca is a surprisingly decent guy. Both on and off the ice. That’s why I’m even entertaining this ridiculous situation. If Lakyn decided that Luca—or Blaze—is the one, I’d be sad, but both my teammates are really upstanding guys.

However that doesn’t mean that I don’t want Lakyn—and the captain spot—to myself.

“Ok,” Lakyn relents. “There’s somewhere we could talk. Follow me.”

I wrap my arm around her shoulders, satisfied that Blaze and Luca have no choice but to fall in line behind us.

Lakyn throws a look toward the study rooms on this side of the library when we walk past them. “Remind me to come back to clean up in there,” she sighs, pointing to the only open door. “A group used that room and it looks like some people were never taught to leave a school space as clean as you found it.”

There are crumpled pieces of paper and snack wrappers littering the table and the floors. “I’ll help you when we’re done.” I promise.

Yeah, I know. I’m totally trying to get brownie points with my girl and I’m not even sorry.

We follow Lakyn up a narrow flight of stairs and through a single full-length patio door that leads onto a small rooftop deck.

The space is private, hidden from view by the taller buildings that surround the library.

There are a few potted plants and a rickety wrought iron table with two chairs against one wall.

“What’s this place?” I ask.

“This library is one of the oldest buildings on campus,” Lakyn explains. “It dates to the late eighteen hundreds, when the university was founded. Originally this building was used as offices for some of the faculty members and the top floor had a couple of living quarters too. I guess who built it wanted to provide a space to get some fresh air? It used to be a smoking area once upon a time, but now that smoking is banned all over campus, Bobbie—the head librarian—decided to use it as a staff area. I come here to take my breaks almost every day, except when it’s really cold. But this is California, so it’s almost always nice.”

There’s a beat of silence.

The guys and I look at each other, as if trying to decide who should break the ice.

I hope my scowl conveys “go ahead motherfuckers.”

I’m not going to be the messenger that gets the brunt of Lakyn’s reaction if this goes south. I made it more than clear that my preferred solution for our predicament was to beat the shit out of Topher for suggesting this stupid challenge to begin with.

I’m still not sure that telling Lakyn what we got ourselves into is the best course of action and won’t come to bite us in the ass.

“Guys,” Lakyn interrupts our staring contest. “What’s the matter? Did you come here to break up with me? If this is the case, please say it already.”

This time I have no problem going first. “Fuck no, baby.” I take her hand into mine, giving her a reassuring squeeze. “If anything, it’s just the opposite. We, uh…”

Fuck this shit. Topher is lucky I’m the goalie. If I was on the ice with him, I’d make his stunt of the last game look like a moterfucking walk in the park. They’d have to scrape the fucker off the boards when I was done with him.

Thankfully Blaze takes over from me; after all, coming clean about the bet rather than trying to get out of it was his idea, so it’s only fair.

“No, pretty girl. That couldn’t be further from the truth. After the night in LA, we talked about our situation and we all concluded that we all care about you and want to keep seeing you, so we wanted to touch base with you and see where you’re at.”

I nod.

That’s smart. She might have already made her choice, in which case, telling her what transpired yesterday in the locker room would be totally pointless.

Lakyn sighs, the tension in her shoulders easing just a fraction. “I don’t know to be honest,” she admits. “Nothing has changed since LA. I still like all of you, I still could see myself dating each of you and that night in my room did nothing but confirm that. I guess I need time to get to know each of you better, before I can even consider choosing. If this is a deal breaker for anyone, I guess my job will be made easier. But?—”

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