Page 52 of Rule Breaker

“Smile. Laugh.”

“Fuck, no. Bad enough it happened once,” I replied, my face heating. I distracted myself by pulling out my phone. “What do you want to eat? Anddon’tsay food.”

“Lotsof food.”

I gave Kayden my best finger. He smirked and patted the spot beside him. No fucking way was I getting on that bed right now. I was still struggling with getting the image of his naked body in the shower out of my head—with no luck. Now this?

“Wings? Fries?” I asked.

“Yes.”

I placed the order, then plunked myself down on my chair. Reaching across my desk, I grabbed the gaming consoles and passed one to Kayden.

“How about a friendly wager?” Kayden asked.

“No.”

“If I win, you come to the party with me. If I lose, you come to the party with me.”

I bit my lower lip to keep that annoying fucking smile off my face. “You know that doesn’t make sense, right?”

“Just trying to cheer up my hockey roomie.”

“Well, don’t. I don’t need cheering up. I told you, I’m fine.”

Kayden stared at me and shook his head. He didn’t believe me. And what was scarier? He already knew me more than I was comfortable thinking about.

Kayden

Maddox appeared to be okay, but I knew he was still shaken up. There was a lot of fidgeting, which wasn’t like him. He’d had a panic attack because of the fight. It triggered him and that could only mean one thing. Jesus Christ. The thought of anyone hurting Mad like that pissed me off. I was dying to ask more questions, but I backed away. A good defenseman always knows how to read the players and the play. And pushing right now was not going to help.

Maybe normal was what Maddox needed now, anyway.

Not surprisingly, he was as fiercely competitive playing video games as he was on the ice. He won, I pouted, then we ate a shitload of wings.

An hour later, I was lying on his bed, and he was sitting on the floor while we listened to music. All the while, my phone kept vibrating.

“Will you reply to whoever that is, already?” Maddox finally snapped.

“It’s Ethan. And Finn. And Jace. They want us to get our asses over the party. Now.”

“Have fun,” Maddox replied.

“Come with me. You told them you’d go,” I reminded him. “Have a drink, let the guys know you’re okay, and get out of your head.”

Maddox looked back at me. “One hour. That’s it.”

Yes.

I watched as Maddox stood up and walked over to his nightstand. He pulled out a bag of candy and threw it at me.

“Take a few edibles. You’re welcome.”

“Sweet. Where’d you get these?”

“Back home,” he replied. “Pot’s legal for anyone nineteen and over.”

“Lucky you. We can’t even drink here, technically.”

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