Page 7 of Beneath the Surface

He raised a brow. “You don’t like hockey? But your dad?—”

“I’m a fucking disappointment to him,” I bit out before shaking my head. “Forget that. It doesn’t matter. I don’t want to talk about him. Ever. I’ll be there. Ava?”

She pulled back from me, biting down on her pouty lower lip. Damn, she was so beautiful.

“I guess I could come. Be a hockey fan for the night. Go Barracudas!” She raised her fist unenthusiastically, and Grayson laughed.

“Want me to get you a jersey with my name on it for the game, baby?”

“Hell no!” she snapped, turning to him. “That’s how rumors start, and I have no interest in being a target for the legions of thirsty bitches that want a piece of Grayson Cross.”

“Okay, okay. I was only joking.” He glanced at me, a question in his eyes, and I shrugged. Raising his brows, he turned back toher. “What did you mean by that comment? What rumors? No one’s gonna think you’re one of those girls.”

“They already do,” she muttered under her breath, shooting me a pleading look. Yeah, I knew how she felt. We both wanted to get away from Grayson Cross.

“Ava. You can sit with me if you want. Sometimes I have someone come with me to take notes while I photograph the game. If I get you a press pass, you can come as my plus-one. We won’t be bothered by the puck bunnies.”

She shot me a small smile. “Okay. Thanks, Micah.”

“Anytime.” I tugged her into me again, relishing the feel of her slim body and soft curves against mine, and noted with satisfaction the way Grayson’s eyes darkened as he watched the two of us together. “Friday night, then. We go to the game, and when it’s over?—”

“We find Cruz Martinez, and we make him fucking pay,” Grayson finished.

4

AVA

Misery is one lonely bitch. It doesn’t take a step forward unless someone is holding her hand. Whether it be anxiety or depression, but she never gets lonely. It was one thing to be miserable by myself, but knowing two other people were in the same boat, and we were all drowning—well, it made me feel better.

Was it morbid? Perhaps, but there was comfort in misery. To know that I was in a fucked-up state and that two other people understood the same fear I did. They could taste the same despair that often coated my lips. Macabre as it might be, finding comfort in desolate times was akin to peace.

The last time I went to a hockey game was during my sophomore year, and now here I was again because I was desperate to give my misery some company.

I sighed as I put my hair up in a high pony. It was my go-to hairstyle when I was going to battle. Well, for practice, since skating was a war all on its own. I didn’t know what an unexpected turn of events tonight would bring, but I knew I couldn’t afford to sit back and pretend like everything in the past few months hadn’t been a horrible nightmare.

My relationship with Micah had been strained, but his support the other day caused a warmness to spread over me. Even if I didn’t want to, I had the same insane feelings toward Grayson. I went from overlooking them to them being all I could see in the previous few days.

Micah had quickly fallen into our friendship again. It was as if the last few months had never been there. If anything, his company felt different—not stronger per se, but more intense. I could feel his gaze on me when I practiced in the morning, as if he were waiting for whoever was messing with us to claw their way out of the ice and hurt me.

As for Grayson, that was a different story. It was as if the messages had eviscerated the wall I had put between us. It was still there on my part, but he no longer cared for it. It had taken a week to undo months of work I had put into the space I had created for him. Just like Micah, I could feel him, too, whenever I was on the ice. He arrived earlier to practice when he didn’t have to be, and I was not going to fool myself into thinking it wasn’t because of me. I was glad that the girls in my sorority had not noticed—especially Ivy, our president.

There was no denying that Grayson was one of the hottest guys in school. He was one of those guys that had a growth spurt in their senior year of high school. When he came to college, he already had the upperclassman girls gagging for it. He knew he could have any girl and took advantage of the fact.

Everything was fine during my first year. No one noticed me. I mean, I knew I wasn’t ugly, but with there being older girls, I was just a dime in a dozen. Besides, in my freshman year, I had been so busy with skating and rushing that I had no time for boys.

It was my sophomore year that I began to regret my choices—especially my choice in sisterhood. Sorority sisterhood was a load of bullshit. Livy and I rushed together, if you could evencall it that. Her sister Ivy was the president at the time. She was already a legacy, and her sister was in power. She was practically royalty. Livy and I weren’t best friends, but we were friendly. That was until one of our mixers, when the great Grayson Cross noticed me.

There was no denying that I had been flattered by his attention. Who wouldn’t feel butterflies under his intense gaze? The fact that his accent had never gone away made him all that much irresistible.

If I weren’t so wrapped up in my sport, I would have seen the apparent signs that entertaining Grayson’s compliments violated some girl code. Livy had her eyes set on Grayson, and thus, I became a persona non grata at the sorority. Some of the girls knew it was wrong to vilify me for having the attention of a guy, but nepotism didn’t let them speak out for me.

So yeah, my hate toward Grayson was one-sided, and a part of me held resentment because, in my eyes, he ruined the good thing I had going on with my sorority. My mom had left a few years ago, and as an only child, I craved that connection, but one night took it all away.

My iciness toward Grayson had not gone unnoticed in the past year. It kept him at bay, and Livy remained happy. Now, all of that was changing. Grayson was a bit protective of the situation we had found ourselves in. This was good, mainly because that protectiveness seemed to be extended toward Micah, and I found that to be sweet. I know they weren’t friends, and all three of us would rather be anywhere else if we could, but the fact was we were stuck in this together.

All I could think of was that there were worse people to be stuck with.

With one look in the mirror, I caught myself sighing. If I could return to that night, I would make it all disappear. Noamount of spending time with Grayson or Micah was worth the emotional damage.

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