Page 48 of The Trophy

“So what happened?” I ask.

Blaze adds another finger to the one already inside me.

My inner muscles react by fluttering around this welcome invasion and I’m about to ask him for more. I want to wrap my legs around his hips, feeling him come apart inside me.

I’m too invested in the story though, so I wait.

“She wasn’t someone who partied and hooked up, she was serious, into school and she worked hard. She thought our hookup meant something more. I had told her before that I didn’t date. Drunk Blaze didn’t think he needed to remind her. Now I know what happened was my fault. She started showing up at the Gamma house bringing lunch, texting me constantly. She thought we were together. One night she showed up at a party and she found me fucking someone else on the couch of the Gamma house, with the party raging around us.”

Remind me never to sit on that couch.

“She made a huge scene,” Blaze continues. “I didn’t handle it very well. In my defense, I was wasted. I told her to go home, that we weren’t together and to stop stalking me.”

His words cause a strange feeling in my chest. That’s exactly the perception I had of Blaze. Of all of them to be honest. It’s why at first I wasn’t so sure I wanted to go on the dates my sister bought me.

“Lake,” Blaze’s voice makes me snap out of the mini meltdown I was having at the thought that maybe I’m fooling myself too. That maybe this is just a hookup and now a competition to determine who is going to be the Cove Knights new captain.

Blaze seems to know exactly where my mind went. “It isn’t like that between us.”

It’s an odd conversation to have with two of his fingers deep inside my body, but I guess nothing has been normal since I stepped out of my apartment to go on that first date with Cash.

I bite on my bottom lip, not trusting my voice as unshed tears make my throat sting.

“Lake,” Blaze repeats. “I thought it was obvious after our conversation earlier but I’m gonna come out and say it so there’s no way you can have any doubts. We are dating. I’m your boyfriend and I don’t even give a shit about that stupid dare. Would I rather have you all to myself? Maybe. But it doesn’t even matter if you choose Cash or Luca or both of them, as long as you choose me too.”

I’m a fucking mess.

My lips open into a smile but my voice comes out scratchy, as if I had been crying. “My boyfriend?”

Blaze’s smile mirrors my own. “Damn skippy. I wasn’t ready for how much I like you when Bay bought that date. But you know what? I’ve never felt this way about anyone before. So yeah, you aren’t like Maya—the girl who inspired my devil tattoo. There’s something special between us. I didn’t want to fall for you, I really didn’t plan on falling for anyone but fuck it. I’d be a moron not to see where this is going when the chance at something really special slapped me right in the face.”

I know exactly what he means, because I feel the same way about all three of my guys.

“So what happened? With Maya, I mean.”

BLAZE

I don’t want to keep any secrets from her.

But that wasn’t exactly my proudest moment and there’s a part of me that hopes that telling her won’t change the way she feels about me.

“I was a real asshole. I humiliated her in front of everyone at that party. I didn’t just tell her that we weren’t together. I laughed at her and I said that I could choose any of the hottest girls on campus. Why would I want to date a nobody like her?”

Like I feared, she gasps. “Blaze.”

“I know. That night taught me a few things, Lake. I’m not that guy anymore. I’m a mean drunk. So I stopped with the out of control drinking and partying.”

The look she throws my way is full of skepticism and I guess I deserve it.

“I’m not saying I’m not partying anymore, I just learned to do it responsibly. After that night I looked at myself long and hard. I’m not an alcoholic, I don’t need to drink. This is why I accepted the position of master of ceremonies when Topher offered. I know exactly when to stop and I spearheaded a ‘party responsibly’ policy with the Greek government. I hope it teaches people not to be like me freshman year. I let the fame and popularity get to my head, lost control, hurt people and put my hockey career in jeopardy.”

There’s doubt in Lakyn’s eyes. “I thought you said your performance on the ice didn’t suffer?”

I sigh. “No, it didn’t. But after that night something happened and I almost lost everything I worked so hard for.”

“What happened?” Luca asks.

“I don’t know if you remember it,” I say to Lakyn. “But it was a real shit show. The day after that party, classes resumed after spring break. Coach had scheduled a conditioning session in the gym as part of our off-season training program. It was in the afternoon and it had been a strange day. I was nursing the worst hangover in the history of hangovers. I thought more than once that I must really look like shit when conversations seemed to stop the second I entered a room. People just stared and whispered. I mean fuck, I was used to getting a ton of attention, so I didn’t think much of it. It was just odd that it kept happening everywhere I went that day. I found out why people were looking and whispering when I got to the gym and the same thing happened with my teammates.”

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